that his burnoose was of finer cotton,
and his silken sash of brilliant colours, richer and more showy. With
this exception the whole costume was white, and although some of the
Arab sheiks wore coloured burnooses, Edgar chose a white one, as both
his friend and his father wore that colour. He bought two or three
changes of clothes, for he knew that water was often scarce, and that
washing of garments could not be indulged in frequently. That night when
the camp was pitched he donned his new costume, and placed his pistols
in his sash in Arab fashion. Sidi wound his turban for him, and gave him
instructions how the clothes were to be worn. Those he had taken off
were made into a bundle so that they could be resumed if necessary. He
felt rather awkward as with his friend he sallied out from the tent
which they now shared between them.

"You look well, Edgar," the sheik said approvingly, "but you will need
to stain your arms and legs, and it will be better for you to stain your
face and neck also, for you would attract quite as much attention as a
white Arab as you would in your European dress."

"I was thinking so myself, sheik; it will be much pleasanter for me to
be able to pass anywhere without comment."

"You are taller than I thought," the sheik said; "it had not struck me
that you were much taller than Sidi, but I see now that you are as tall
as I am."

"I suppose the flowing garments make one look taller," Edgar said. "I
have often been surprised, when standing near a native who looked to me
a good deal taller than myself, to find that he was really not above my
own height."

"My wife shall make a stain for you as soon as she can get the material.
There will be no difficulty about that, for we often dye our burnooses
brown, especially when we are starting on a long journey."

The sheik's wife and the other women were voluble in their expressions
of satisfaction at the change in Edgar. They had been but little in the
towns, and the comparatively tight-fitting European garments were, in
their eyes, ugly and unbecoming. Seen in the more graceful dress of the
Arabs they recognized for the first time that their guest was a
good-looking young fellow, tall, active, and not ungraceful in figure,
and that he could even compare not unfavourably with Sidi, who was a
favourite with the whole camp. Even the men, impassive as they usually
were, uttered a few words of satisfaction at Edgar having adopted an
Arab costume,