s fairness smote the real culprit.

The resulting blasphemous bad language brought Ali Baba to the
scene at once as peacemaker, with all the gang behind him; and in
a minute they had all joined hands, with Mahommed standing in the
center, and were dancing like a lot of pouter-pigeons, singing a
new song about Mujrim's leg, and a razor, and blood on the sand,
and palm-trees, and a saint, and my superhuman ability to let
daylight into the very heart of boils. You don't have to believe
any one who tells you that Arabs haven't humor.

There were the ruins of half a dozen mud-walled huts near the
spring in that oasis. There had once been a sort of rampart and a
gate, but there was hardly enough of that left to show where it
stood. The only building still quite intact was a stone tomb of
about the height of a man, with a plastered cupola roof; and Ali
Baba, who always knew everything, swore that was a great saint's
grave, and that there was much virtue and good luck to be gained
by praying inside the tomb. So they all took turns to go in and
pray fervently--two-bow prayers as they called them--reciting
thereafter such scripture as Ali Baba thought suitable and
could remember.

Hunting about in the ruins I found indubitable human bones.
Ayisha, when asked about it, said that Ali Higg had raided the
place several months ago and killed or captured every one.

"Because he is lord of the waters," she explained, and seemed to
think that reason unassailable.

There was quite a dispute at that place as to who should stand
first guard while the rest of us slept, but Grim settled it by
casting lots with date-stones in a way that was new, but that
seemed to satisfy every one--especially as the first watch fell
to Narayan Singh and me.

"That is because the rest of us said our prayers," explained Ali
Baba piously.

But I think it was really because Grim knew how to play tricks
with the date-stones.

The Sikh and I kept making the circuit of the palm-trees and
talking to keep each other from getting too sleepy, for there is
no time when desire to sleep so loads you down as in the noon
heat after a long march. You very often can't sleep then because
of the very heat that makes you drowsy; but the glare has been so
trying to your eyes that you yearn to shut them, and inertia sits
on your spine and shoulders like a load of lead.

"Thou and I must watch that woman, sahib," said Narayan Singh.
"Our Jimgrim will make use of her; b