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Show -,-===----. ~~- ' -' _,.,... ed the cork out of a bottle of brandy. -:- ,..._,__ ·' _ ~- Achmed gave him a glass. He half 1"5-::__ · -~~[;~'.filled it, poured in s~me soda-water, 1 : > ~~-~.and drank 1t off, whtle Achmed got •, ~ ' the provisions. Then he poured more "· -~~brandy into a large silver flask, put it into his pocket, and mounted a mule. Achmed was going to walk They set off together and soon lost sight of the camp. Achmed walked in front at first to show the way, but presently he dropped back and kept by the side of the mule. He wanted to talk, to satisfy his curiosity. He was not shy. No desert Arab is. But when he glanced up at Sir Claude an uneasiness took possession of him. The Roumi looked different, like a changed man, changed even in feature. It was Sir Claude who spoke first. "You know what I want," he said, roughly. "I want you to take me to the mountain above the gorge, to a <68 place from which I can get down among the rocks, get down as low as I like, right down if I wish to." "Monsieur, it is not easy." "That don't matter. Have you ever done it?" "Monsieur, I can go wherever a goat can go. But I go with naked feet." "Where you can get down, I can." "I will show monsieur a place. If monsieur goes where I show him, monsieur could get down to near the rock where Benchaalal sat when we passed by this morning." \ "That's it." " If Benchaalal should ~e there tonight, he would be surpnsed to see monsieur.'' -=: There was a vicious sound in the ~-Arab's soft voice. . "Why should Benchaalal be there -=- to-night?" said Sir Claude, fiercely. \::--- "What do you mean?" -- . J60 |