eous they
were. They gathered round, looking with curiosity at our white skins
and strange dresses; but, out of respect to the chief, of whom they
seemed to stand in awe, they did not further annoy us.

"Come into my tent, O Nazarenes, and we will talk this matter over more
at our ease," said the sheikh, walking inside, and making a sign to
Ben--who, from the character we had given of him, was looked upon as an
important personage--to follow. The sheikh sank down on his carpet, and
we imitated his example, endeavouring, like him, to tuck our legs under
us--Halliday and Ben on one side, and I on the other. But our attempts
were not very successful. Halliday tried two or three times in vain,
and at last stretched them out comfortably before him; while Ben, after
rolling from side to side, fairly toppled over on his nose, before he
could get his legs stowed away--greatly to the amusement of the sheikh,
in whose estimation he was thereby considerably lowered, I am afraid.

After we were settled, and the sheikh's cachinnations had ceased, he
clapped his hands; on which one black damsel brought him in his hookah,
while another appeared with a piece of charcoal to light it. He did
not, however, hand us his pipe.

"You are hungry, strangers," he next observed.

"Yes, indeed we are, and very thirsty too," said Halliday, who had not
attempted to speak till now.

"I forgot," said the sheikh; and calling to the black damsels, he
ordered them to bring us food and water. In a short time one of them
returned with a large bowl of couscoussu, a sort of porridge made of
wheat beaten into powder. We had our fingers only to eat it with.

"Set to, strangers," said the sheikh, nodding; but he took none of the
food himself.

"It is not bad stuff when a fellow is hungry," observed Halliday,
stuffing the porridge into his mouth as fast as he could lift it with
his fingers; "but it's very flavourless; I wish we had some salt to put
into it."

"So do I, for more reasons than one," I answered. "I do not quite like
the appearance of things."

"But he seems to be a pretty good-natured kind of fellow; perhaps he
does not know we like our food salted," said Halliday.

"We must take people as we find them; and I hope he has not omitted the
salt intentionally, though I suspect he has not made up his mind whether
to trust us or not," I observed.

We all did justice to the sheikh's couscoussu, however; for,
notwithstanding its want o