he least disciplined. There were
whispered rumors going about the conference as to the identity of the
mysterious raiders who were preying upon the new oases, the oil and road
building camps and the endless other new projects springing up, all but
magically, throughout the northwestern Sahara.

The gymkhana was in full swing with racing and feasting, and
storytellers and conjurers, jugglers and marabouts. And in the air was
the acrid distinctive odor of _kif_, for though Mohammed forbade alcohol
to the faithful he had naught to say about the uses of _cannabis sativa_
and what is a great festival without the smoking of _kif_ and the eating
of _majoun_?

The tribes of the Chaambra were widely represented, Berazga and Mouadhi,
Bou Rouba and Ouled Fredj, and there was even a heavy sprinkling of the
sedentary Zenatas come down from the towns of Metlili, El Oued and El
Goleo. Then, of course, were the Haratin serfs, of mixed Arab-Negro
blood, and the Negroes themselves, until recently openly called slaves,
but now--amusingly--named servants.

The Chaambra were meeting for a great ceremonial gymkhanas, but also, as
was widely known, for a _djemaa el kebar_ council of elders and chiefs,
for there were many problems throughout the Western Erg and the areas of
Mzab and Bourara. Nor was it secret only to the inner councils that the
meeting had been called by Abd-el-Kader, of Shorfu blood, direct
descendent of the Prophet through his daughter Fatima, and symbol to the
young warriors of Chaambra spirit.

Of all the Ouled Touameur clan Abd-el-Kader alone refrained from
discharging his gun into the air as they dashed into the inner circle of
khaima tents which centered the gymkhana and provided council chambers,
dining hall and sleeping quarters for the tribal and clan heads.
Instead, and with head arrogantly high, he slipped from his stallion
tossing the reins to a nearby Zenata and strode briskly to the largest
of the tents and disappeared inside.

_Bismillah!_ but Adb-el-Kader was a figure of a man! From his turban,
white as the snows of the Atlas, to his yellow leather boots, he wore
the traditional clothing of the Chaambra and wore them with pride. Not
for Abd-el-Kader the new clothing from the Rouma cities to the north,
nor even the new manufactures from Dakar, Accra, Lagos and the other
mushrooming centers to the south.

His weapons alone paid homage to the new ways. And each fighting man
within eyesight noted that it wa