172 CHALLENGER 



laboriously set up the day before. So Ashton, with some members 

 of the camp, went that evening to see the Sheikh at Khor. The 

 township seemed deserted, but as the little party walked through 

 the ruins towards the centre of the town they caught an occasional 

 glimpse of the black-clothed figure of a veiled woman scuttling 

 for shelter like a nocturnal animal surprised away from its lair 

 before sunset. However, a small boy was headed off as he ran for 

 cover, and he was persuaded to lead the party to a wooden door 

 in the high, browoi stone wall surrounding the Sheikh's residence. 

 The party were admitted by a man of negroid appearance and con- 

 ducted to a cool, high room with whitewashed walls. The slave 

 at once began to pull down bundled rugs and laid them one upon 

 another on the floor, and then the Sheikh shuffled in. He may 

 only have been a headman but he was always referred to by the 

 camp party as the Sheikh of Khor, and it seemed a flattering title. 

 With sign language, a dictionary and the little Arabic he knew, 

 Ashton told his tale to the Sheikh of how all his marks had 

 vanished overnight. The old man seemed both surprised and dis- 

 tressed by the news ; for he had heard from Doha that the survey 

 was connected with oil and he had hopes that in some way part 

 of the oil royalties would eventually reach him. In fact he planned 

 to spend much time in Doha when the oil began to flow, for he 

 was a relation, perhaps a little distant, of the Sheikh of Qatar 

 himself. 



It was agreed that the old man would accompany Ashton on 

 a jeep next day when they would make a whole day's round trip 

 visiting the beduin communities to the north of Khor. As each of 

 these sparse communities was visited the headmen would at once 

 deny knowledge of the stealing of the marks, but Ashton usually 

 caught sight of some piece of naval bunting or wire rope lying 

 unhidden outside the tents. With his cheerful approach to this 

 matter and his readiness to take coffee with those who had so 

 recently stolen his marks, Ashton made a good impression on these 

 people, who slowly produced the missing equipment, which was 

 loaded onto the jeeps. The day spent in travelling from beduin 

 encampment to beduin encampment was a considerable success, 

 for never again did these people interfere with the marks. 



The Sheikh of Khor also supplied a small party of ruffians, 

 armed with an assortment of muskets, to guard the camp and they 



