d the lines where a man could drink his glass
of beer while he sat and watched the pictures, for example; nor were the
Judaean hills exactly the ideal place wherein to set up a cinema or theatre
of your own. Those who were fortunate enough to be stationed near Jaffa
could, of course, visit that delectable spot, with its glorious
surroundings and incredibly filthy streets; where they could see the
alleged house of Simon the Tanner, or tread the sands whereon Napoleon
slaughtered some three thousand prisoners in cold blood because he had no
idea what else to do with them; and where, if they had a mind to renew the
agony of their schooldays, they could pick out the extremely common-place
rocks to which that unfortunate lady Andromeda was chained before her
sensational rescue by Perseus.

These about exhausted the amusements of Jaffa, and you will notice that
they do not exactly make for hilarity. A few miles away to the south were
the Jewish colonies at Richon and Duran, whose inhabitants were extremely
hospitable, and any troops quartered there subsequent to the fall of
Jerusalem were assured of a warm welcome. At the former there was a
considerable vine-growing industry and, as a natural concomitant, the
troops showed commendable industry in drinking the produce.

Personally, I remember Richon chiefly because a tragedy befell me there.
The village contained a real barber's shop, if one may judge from the word
"Coiffeur" writ large on the sign outside, and having heard of this
startling phenomenon I rode over one evening for a hair-cut and shampoo. My
foot was on the very threshold when a large person clad in fine raiment and
wearing an armlet inscribed with the mystic letters "A.P.M." emerged from
the shop, banged the door and pinned thereon a notice: "Out of Bounds." I
pointed dramatically to my tangled mop of hair. "Eight weeks," I murmured
brokenly. Whether or no that young man thought I was repeating the name of
an erotic novel I cannot say, but he made a very tactless answer. I
retired discomfited to find that my camel, having succeeded in breaking his
head-rope, had returned to home and friends, leaving me to trudge back to
camp and the tender mercies of the horse-clippers. I never heard for what
crime the barber had been arraigned, though it would appear that the word
"Coiffeur" can be sometimes misinterpreted; but I find it hard to forgive
the A.P.M. for not allowing him to continue in his nefarious career,
whate