entical one made by the angel Gabriel to provide
water for Hagar and Ishmael--there are twenty or thirty of those
identical wells in Palestine alone, to say nothing of Arabia--she
began to take a particular fancy to Grim and to treat him with
more respect, giving him the title of prince on occasion, and
abusing the men for not attending more swiftly to his needs.

Now, whatever the alleged custom of other lands may be--and I
refuse to be committed on that point--there is no doubt whatever
about the East. There it is the woman who makes the first
advances. Grim took to sleeping in a tent with Mujrim and
Ali Baba.

Considering the customs of that land--the savage, accepted
way in which women swap owners when tribes are at war, and
between times when the raids are made on caravan routes--it
would be altogether wide of the mark to blame her too severely.
Grim is a good-looking fellow, even in the khaki officer's
uniform that makes most Christians look alike. Disguised as
an Arab he takes the eye of any man, to say nothing of women.

The lines of his face are just deep enough to accent the powerful
curve of his nose and chin; and his eyes, with their baffling
color, arrest attention. Then he stands, too, in that gear like a
scion of an ancient race, firmly, on strong feet, with his head
held high and arms motionless--not fidgeting with one or both
hands, as white men usually do. The wonder really is that Ayisha
did not betray her designs on him sooner.

Narayan Singh grew as nervous as a hen in the presence of snakes,
for he foresaw how Grim's star would surely wane from the moment
any such woman as Ayisha should establish a claim on him; and he
did not quite realize the full extent of Grim's resourcefulness
in making the most of a situation. Old Ali Baba's advice, on the
other hand, was just what he would have given to any of his sons.

"Let Ali Higg keep his wives within reach if he hopes to call
them his! _Wallahi!_ I would laugh to see the Lion of Petra
tearing his clothes with rage for such a matter as this!"

And all the gang agreed.

Ayisha began to question Grim openly about his home and belongings.
She wanted to know how many wives he had, and he told her none,
which made her all the more determined. If he had affected
squeamishness she would have despised him, and that would
have been the end of her usefulness; for scorn is very close
indeed to hate, and hate to spitefulness in the land where
she was rai