body spoke to him he said 'Humph!' Just 'Humph!' and no more.

Presently the Horse came to him on Monday morning, with a saddle on his
back and a bit in his mouth, and said, 'Camel, O Camel, come out and
trot like the rest of us.'

'Humph!' said the Camel; and the Horse went away and told the Man.

Presently the Dog came to him, with a stick in his mouth, and said,
'Camel, O Camel, come and fetch and carry like the rest of us.'

'Humph!' said the Camel; and the Dog went away and told the Man.

Presently the Ox came to him, with the yoke on his neck and said,
'Camel, O Camel, come and plough like the rest of us.'

'Humph!' said the Camel; and the Ox went away and told the Man.

At the end of the day the Man called the Horse and the Dog and the Ox
together, and said, 'Three, O Three, I'm very sorry for you (with the
world so new-and-all); but that Humph-thing in the Desert can't work,
or he would have been here by now, so I am going to leave him alone, and
you must work double-time to make up for it.'

That made the Three very angry (with the world so new-and-all), and they
held a palaver, and an _indaba_, and a _punchayet_, and a pow-wow on
the edge of the Desert; and the Camel came chewing on milkweed _most_
'scruciating idle, and laughed at them. Then he said 'Humph!' and went
away again.

Presently there came along the Djinn in charge of All Deserts, rolling
in a cloud of dust (Djinns always travel that way because it is Magic),
and he stopped to palaver and pow-pow with the Three.

'Djinn of All Deserts,' said the Horse, 'is it right for any one to be
idle, with the world so new-and-all?'

'Certainly not,' said the Djinn.

'Well,' said the Horse, 'there's a thing in the middle of your Howling
Desert (and he's a Howler himself) with a long neck and long legs, and
he hasn't done a stroke of work since Monday morning. He won't trot.'

'Whew!' said the Djinn, whistling, 'that's my Camel, for all the gold in
Arabia! What does he say about it?'

'He says "Humph!"' said the Dog; 'and he won't fetch and carry.'

'Does he say anything else?'

'Only "Humph!"; and he won't plough,' said the Ox.

'Very good,' said the Djinn. 'I'll humph him if you will kindly wait a
minute.'

The Djinn rolled himself up in his dust-cloak, and took a bearing across
the desert, and found the Camel most 'scruciatingly idle, looking at his
own reflection in a pool of water.

'My long and bubbling friend,' said the Djinn, 'what'