orward,
struck the mare lightly upon the left side of the neck, whereupon
without slackening speed she turned instinctively in that direction,
turning a little each time she felt the light touch, until Jill at last
perceived the outline of the oasis and the figure of the Arab servant
standing with folded arms awaiting the return of his beloved horses or
not, as should be the will of Allah; being, however, shaken from his
native calm when this woman when some hundreds of yards from him in a
straight line, without stopping the speed of the racing horse, suddenly
slipped from the saddle, remaining upon her feet without a tremor,
whilst the "Breeze" stopped of her own free-will within a few feet of
her attendant.

"And our master whom Allah protect," as recounted the native afterwards
to an astonished, almost unbelieving bevy of listeners, "bringing his
horse in a circle, suddenly picked up that woman rider. Yea! I tell
thee, thou disbelieving son of a different coloured horse, a
woman-rider, even she for whom the palace has been built; and swinging
her across the saddle so that her feet, as small as thine are big, thou
grandchild of a reptile with poisonous tongue, as I say her little feet
hung down on one side, and her head, and may Allah protect me from the
wrath of my master if I say that it was as the sun in all its glory,
hanging down on the other, dashed into the night with her, but _where_
it is not meet for me to know."

The "where," as it happened, being Jill's palace, in which, lying full
length upon a white divan, with a small brazier of sweet smelling
incense sending up spirals of blue haze around her dishevelled head,
and an ivory tray laden with coffee and sweetmeats at her side, she
promised never to run the risk of getting lost in the desert again, on
condition that the Breeze of the Desert became her own property, and
that she could ride untroubled whenever and wherever she liked;
cheerfully promising also to have made a habit, or rather riding-dress,
which, would combine the utility of the West with the protective
covering properties of the East. After which she got to her feet,
standing the very essence of youth and strength in the soft glow of the
lamps, smiled into the Arab's stern face with a look in the great eyes
which caused his mouth to tighten like a steel trap, clapped her hands
and disappeared through a curtain-shrouded door without even looking
back.

CHAPTER XXVIII

The recount