ied to the empty saddles of the beasts ahead. They were
neither as big nor in as good condition as old Ali Baba's
wonderful string, but very likely better than any that the
wool-merchant would provide, and by that much less likely to
reduce our speed after we should make the change.

"You see how easy it is," said Grim, "for a rascal like Ali Higg
to upset a whole country-side. Here we are getting the crime of
Palestine running in grooves, as it were, so's to regulate it
first and then reduce it to reasonable proportions, and all that
beast needs do is steal a woman and start civil war."

But I did not see that the wool-merchant's private plans for
vengeance amounted to civil war, and said so.

"Hah! Wait and see!" said Grim. "Woolly-wits goes after vengeance.
Somebody gets killed. That means a blood-feud. All the relatives
of the slain man--whether it's Ali Higg or one of his retainers
doesn't matter--take up arms; and all the relatives of Woolly-wits
do ditto. For each man killed in the war that follows the other
side is out for the equivalent in life or goods. Village after
village gets drawn in.

"Suppose that sheikh at the south end of the Dead Sea who's in
debt to Woolly-wits jumps at the chance to loot our caravan and
bag the lady, we'll be lucky if one or two of our men don't get
scuppered. That means a blood-feud between that village and all
old Ali Baba's clan.

"But that isn't nearly all, nor nearly the worst of it. Ali Higg
learns next that the Dead Sea outfit have tried to waylay his
wife; so he takes the warpath. And instead of that making a
three-cornered fight of it, it might mean an offensive alliance
between Ali Higg and Ali Baba's gang.

"Civil war would be a very mild name for that. There'd be brains
brought to bear on it. The administration might have to spend
twenty or thirty thousand pounds and jail a lot of estimable
Arabs. The thing to do is to stop that kind of thing before
it happens."

"By corraling Ali Higg, I suppose?" said I.

"Can't very well do that. He's a free man. Of course he's got no
right to cross our border and steal women, but, on the other
hand, he's made himself boss of a district that no other
government pretends to control.

"If we can catch him our side of the line he's our meat; but
that's reciprocal; if he can catch us on his side there's no law
to prevent his doing what he likes with us. We've got to use our
heads with Master Ali Higg."

I think that was