f kettle-drums, long red
flutes and guitars of sand-tortoise shell with goat-skin heads--music
furnished by a dozen Arabs squatting on their hunkers half-way down the
hall. The gracious weaving of those lithe, white bodies of the girls
as they swayed from sunlit filigree to dim shadow, stirred even the
coldest heart among the Legionaries, that of the Master himself. As
for Bohannan, his cup of joy was brimming.

The dance ended, one of the girls sang with a little foreign accent,
very pleasing to the ears of the Master and Leclairs the famous chant
of Kaab el Ahbar:

A black tent, swayed by the desert wind
Is dearer to me, dearer to me
Than any palace of the city walls.
Dearer to me!

[1]_And the earth met with rain!_

A handful of dates, a cup of camel's milk
Is dearer to me, dearer to me
Than any sweetmeat in the city walls.
Dearer to me!

_And the earth wet with rain!_

A slender Bedouin maid, freely unveiled
Is dearer to me, dearer to me
Than harem beauties with henna-stained fingers.
My Bedouin maid is slim as the _ishkil_ tree.
Dearer to me!

_And the earth wet with rain!_

Black tent, swift white mare, camel of Hejaz blood
Are dear to me, are dear to me!
Dearest is my slim, unveiled one of the desert sands!
Dearest to me!
Ibla her name is; she blazes like the sun,
Like the sun at dawn, with hair like midnight shades,
Oh, dear to me!
Paradise is in her eyes; and in her breasts, enchantment.
Her body yields like the tamarisk,
When the soft winds blow over the hills of Nedj!
Dearest to me!

_And the earth wet with rain!_

[Footnote 1: _W'al arz mablul bi matar._ A favorite refrain for songs
among the Arabs, to whom rain represents all comforts and delights.]

A little silence followed the ending of the song and the withdrawal
of the girls and musicians. The major seemed disposed to call for
an encore, but Janina silenced his forthcoming remarks with a sharp
nudge. All at once, old Bara Miyan removed the amber stem of the
water-pipe from his bearded lips and said:

"Now, White Sheik, thou hast eaten of our humble food, and seen
our dancing. Thou hast heard our song. Wilt thou also see jugglers,
wrestlers, trained apes from Yemen? Or wilt thou take the _kaylulah_
(siesta)? Or doth it please thee now to speak of the gifts that my
heart offers thee and thine?"

"Let us speak of the gifts, O Bara Miyan," answered the Master, while
Leclair