tohimself
,
"
Tiens
!
ce
n'est
pas
un
'
bleu
'
18
—
ceci
!
What
a
rider
!
Dieu
de
Dieu
!
he
knows
more
than
we
can
teach
.
He
has
served
before
now
—
served
in
some
Emperor
's
picked
guard
!
"
And
when
he
had
passed
from
the
exercising-ground
to
the
campaign
,
the
Army
had
found
in
him
one
of
the
most
splendid
of
its
many
splendid
soldiers
;
and
in
the
folios
matricules
19
there
was
no
page
of
achievements
,
of
exploits
,
of
services
,
of
dangers
,
that
showed
a
more
brilliant
array
of
military
deserts
than
his
.
Yet
,
for
many
years
,
he
had
been
passed
by
unnoticed
:
he
had
now
not
even
the
cross
on
his
chest
,
and
he
had
only
slowly
and
with
infinite
difficulty
been
promoted
so
far
as
he
stood
now
—
a
Corporal
in
the
Chasseurs
d'Afrique
—
a
step
only
just
accorded
him
because
wounds
innumerable
,
and
distinctions
without
number
in
countless
skirmishes
,
had
made
it
impossible
to
cast
him
wholly
aside
any
longer
.
The
cause
lay
in
the
implacable
enmity
of
one
man
—
his
Chief
.
Far-sundered
as
they
were
by
position
,
and
rarely
as
they
could
come
in
actual
contact
,
that
merciless
weight
of
animosity
from
the
great
man
to
his
soldier
had
laid
on
the
other
like
iron
,
and
clogged
him
from
all
advancement
.
His
thoughts
were
of
it
now
.
Only
to-day
,
at
an
inspection
,
the
accidentally-broken
saddle-girth
of
a
boy-conscript
had
furnished
pretext
for
a
furious
reprimand
,
a
volley
of
insolent
opprobrium
hurled
at
himself
,
under
which
he
had
had
to
sit
mute
in
his
saddle
,
with
no
other
sign
that
he
was
human
beneath
the
outrage
than
the
blood
that
would
,
despite
himself
,
flush
the
pale
bronze
of
his
forehead
.
His
thoughts
were
on
it
now
.
"
There
are
many
losses
that
are
bitter
enough
,
"
he
mused
,
"
but
there
is
not
one
so
bitter
as
the
loss
of
the
right
to
resent
!
"
A
whirlwind
of
laughter
,
so
loud
that
it
drowned
the
music
of
the
shrill
violins
and
thundering
drums
,
echoed
through
the
rooms
and
shook
him
from
his
reverie
.
"
They
are
bons
enfants
,
"
he
thought
,
with
a
half
smile
,
as
he
listened
;
"
they
are
more
honest
in
their
mirth
as
in
their
wrath
,
than
we
ever
were
in
that
old
world
of
mine
.
"
Amidst
the
shouts
,
the
crash
,
the
tumult
,
the
gay
ringing
voice
of
Cigarette
rose
distinct
.
She
had
apparently
paused
in
her
dancing
to
exchange
one
of
those
passes
of
arms
which
were
her
speciality
,
in
the
Sabir
that
she
,
a
child
of
the
regiments
of
Africa
,
had
known
as
her
mother
tongue
.
"
Il
fait
suisse
?
"
20
she
cried
,
disdainfully
.
"
Paf
!
et
tu
as
bu
de
sa
gourde
,
chenapan
?
"
The
grumbled
assent
of
the
accused
was
inaudible
.
"
Ingrat
!
"
pursued
the
scornful
,
triumphant
voice
of
the
vivandière
;
"
you
would
bazarder
your
mother
's
grave-clothes
!
You
would
eat
your
children
,
en
fricassée
!
You
would
sell
your
father
's
bones
for
a
draught
of
tord-boyaud
!
22
Va
t'en
,
chien
!
"
The
screams
of
mirth
redoubled
;
Cigarette
's
style
of
withering
eloquence
was
suited
to
all
her
auditors
'
tastes
,
and
under
the
chorus
of
laughs
at
his
cost
,
her
infuriated
adversary
plucked
up
courage
and
roared
forth
a
defiance
.
"
Ma
cantche
!
white
hands
and
a
brunette
's
face
are
fine
things
for
a
soldier
.
He
kills
women
,
he
kills
women
with
his
lady
's
grace
!
Grand
'
chose
ça
!
"
"
He
does
not
pull
their
ears
to
make
them
give
him
their
style
,
and
beat
them
with
a
matraque
24
if
they
do
n't
fry
his
eggs
fast
enough
,
as
you
do
,
Barbe-Grise
,
"
retorted
the
contemptuous
tones
of
the
champion
of
the
absent
.
"
White
hands
,
morbleu
!
Well
,
his
hands
are
not
always
in
other
people
's
pockets
as
yours
are
,
sacripant
!
"
This
forcible
tu
quoque
recrimination
is
in
high
relish
in
the
Caserne
;
the
screams
of
mirth
redoubled
;
Barbe-Grise
was
a
redoubtable
authority
whom
the
wildest
dare-devil
in
his
brigade
dared
not
contradict
,
and
he
was
getting
the
worst
of
it
under
the
lash
of
Cigarette
's
tongue
,
to
the
infinite
glee
of
the
whole
ball-room
.
"
Dam
!
—
his
hands
cannot
work
as
mine
can
!
"
growled
her
opponent
.
"
Oh
,
ho
!
"
cried
the
little
lady
,
with
supreme
disdain
;
"
they
do
n't
twist
cocks
'
throats
and
skin
rabbits
they
have
thieved
,
perhaps
,
like
yours
,
but
they
would
wring
your
neck
before
breakfast
to
get
an
appetite
,
if
they
could
touch
such
canaille
.
"
"
Canaille
?
"
thundered
the
insulted
Barbe-Grise
.
"
Ma
cantche
!
if
you
were
but
a
man
!
"
"
What
would
you
do
to
me
,
brigand
?
"
screamed
Cigarette
,
in
fits
of
laughter
;
"
give
me
fifty
blows
of
matraque
,
as
your
officers
gave
you
last
week
for
stealing
his
jambon
from
the
blanc-bec
?
"
26
A
growl
like
a
lion
from
the
badgered
Barbe-Grise
shook
the
walls
;
she
had
cast
her
mischievous
stroke
at
him
on
a
very
sore
point
,
the
unhappy
young
conscript
's
rifle
having
been
first
dexterously
thieved
from
him
,
and
then
as
dexterously
sold
to
an
Arab
.
"
Sacre-bleu
!
"
he
roared
;
"
you
are
in
love
,
au
grand
galop
,
with
this
Vanqueur
des
belles
—
this
loustic
aristocrat
!
"
The
only
answer
to
this
unbearable
insult
was
a
louder
tumult
of
laughter
;
a
crash
,
a
splash
,
and
a
volley
of
oaths
from
Barbe-Grise
.
Cigarette
had
launched
a
bottle
of
vin
ordinaire
at
him
,
blinded
his
eyes
,
and
drenched
his
beard
with
the
red
torrent
and
the
shower
of
glass
shivers
,
and
was
back
again
dancing
like
a
little
Bacchante
,
and
singing
at
the
top
of
her
sweet
lark-like
voice
—
"
Turcos
!
Lignards
!
Bon
Zigs
!
Truffards
!
Autour
des
couscoussou
,
Sont
tous
mes
chers
zou-zous
!
Roumis
Spahis
Même
les
Arbis
,
Joyeux
Et
Bleus
,
Même
les
Recrues
,
Ont
pour
moi
Quand
on
boit
L'air
des
rois
L'air
des
rois
!
A
mon
coeur
le
chemin
N'est
qu
'
par
le
vin
!
Le
bidon
qu'on
savoure
Est
le
titre
à
m'amour
!
"
With
which
doggrel
declaration
of
her
own
mercenary
and
cosmopolitan
sentiments
chanted
in
Sabir
slang
,
the
little
Friend
of
the
Flag
resumed
her
wildest
bounds
and
her
most
airy
fantasias
.
At
the
sound
of
the
animated
altercation
,
not
knowing
but
what
one
of
his
own
troopers
might
be
the
delinquent
,
he
who
leaned
out
of
the
little
casement
moved
forward
to
the
doorway
of
the
dancing-room
;
he
did
not
guess
that
it
was
himself
whom
she
had
defended
against
the
onslaught
of
the
Zéphyr
,
Barbe-Grise
.
His
height
rose
far
above
the
French
soldiers
,
and
above
most
even
of
the
lofty-statured
Spahis
,
and
her
rapid
glance
flashed
over
him
at
once
.
"
Did
he
hear
?
"
she
wondered
;
the
scarlet
flush
of
exercise
and
excitement
deepened
on
her
clear
brown
cheek
that
had
never
blushed
at
the
coarsest
jests
or
the
broadest
love-words
of
the
barrack-life
that
had
been
about
her
ever
since
her
eyes
first
opened
in
their
infancy
to
laugh
at
the
sun-gleam
on
a
Cuirassier
's
corslet
among
the
baggage-waggons
that
her
mother
followed
.
She
thought
he
had
not
heard
;
his
face
was
grave
,
a
little
weary
,
and
his
gaze
,
as
it
fell
on
her
,
was
abstracted
.
"
Oh
hé
!
beau
Roumi
!
"
thought
Cigarette
,
with
a
flush
of
hot
wrath
superseding
her
momentary
and
most
rare
embarrassment
.
"
You
are
looking
at
me
and
not
thinking
of
me
?
We
will
soon
change
that
!
"
Such
an
insult
she
had
never
been
subjected
to
,
from
the
first
day
when
she
had
danced
for
sweetmeats
on
the
top
of
a
great
drum
when
she
was
three
years
old
,
in
the
middle
of
a
circular
camp
of
Tirailleurs
.
It
sent
fresh
nerve
into
her
lithe
limbs
,
it
made
her
eyes
flash
like
so
much
fire
,
it
gave
her
a
million-fold
more
grace
,
more
abandon
,
more
heedlessness
,
more
piqued
and
reckless
désinvolture
.
She
stamped
her
tiny
spurred
foot
petulantly
.
"
Plus
vîte
!
Plus
vîte
!
"
she
cried
,
and
as
the
musician
obeyed
her
,
she
whirled
,
she
spun
,
she
bounded
,
she
seemed
to
live
in
air
,
while
her
soft
curls
blew
off
her
brow
,
and
her
white
teeth
glanced
,
and
her
cheeks
glowed
with
a
carmine
glow
,
and
the
little
gold
aiglettes
broke
across
her
chest
with
the
beating
of
her
heart
,
that
throbbed
like
a
bird
's
heart
when
it
is
wild
with
the
first
breath
of
Spring
.
She
had
pitted
herself
against
him
;
and
she
won
—
so
far
.
The
vivacity
,
the
impetuosity
,
the
antelope
elegance
,
the
voluptuous
repose
that
now
and
then
broke
the
ceaseless
,
sparkling
movement
of
her
dancing
,
caught
his
eyes
and
fixed
them
on
her
:
it
was
bewitching
,
and
it
bewitched
him
for
the
moment
;
he
watched
her
as
in
other
days
he
had
watched
the
fantastic
witcheries
of
eastern
almè
,
and
the
ballet
charms
of
opera-dancers
.
This
young
bohemian
of
the
barrack
danced
in
the
dusky
glare
and
the
tavern
fumes
of
the
As
de
Pique
to
a
set
of
soldiers
in
their
shirt-sleeves
with
their
short
black
pipes
in
their
mouths
,
with
as
matchless
a
grace
as
ever
the
first
ballerina
of
Europe
danced
before
sovereigns
and
dukes
on
the
boards
of
Paris
,
Vienna
,
or
London
.
It
was
the
eastern
bamboula
of
the
Harems
,
to
which
was
added
all
the
elastic
joyaunce
,
all
the
gay
brilliancy
,
of
the
blood
of
France
.
Suddenly
she
lifted
both
her
hands
above
her
head
.
"
A
moi
,
Roumis
!
"
It
was
the
signal
well
known
,
the
signal
of
permission
to
join
in
that
wild
vertigo
for
which
every
one
of
her
spectators
was
panting
;
their
pipes
were
flung
away
,
their
képis
tossed
off
their
heads
,
the
music
clashed
louder
and
faster
,
and
more
fiery
with
every
sound
,
the
chorus
of
the
Marseillaise
des
Bataillons
thundered
from
a
hundred
voices
—
they
danced
as
only
men
can
dance
who
serve
under
the
French
flag
,
and
live
under
the
African
sun
.
Two
,
only
,
still
looked
on
;
the
Chasseur
d
'
Afrique
,
and
a
veteran
of
the
10th
company
,
lamed
for
life
at
Mazagran
.
"
En
ta
maboull
?
Tu
ne
danses
pas
—
toi
?
"
muttered
the
veteran
Zéphyr
to
his
silent
companion
.
The
Chasseur
turned
and
smiled
a
little
.
"
I
prefer
a
bamboula
whose
music
is
the
cannon
,
bon
père
.
"
"
Bravo
!
Yet
she
is
pretty
enough
to
tempt
you
?
"
"
Yes
;
too
pretty
to
be
unsexed
by
such
a
life
.
"
His
thoughts
went
to
a
woman
he
had
loved
well
,
a
young
Arab
,
with
eyes
like
the
softness
of
dark
waters
,
who
had
fallen
to
him
once
in
a
razzia
as
his
share
of
spoil
,
and
for
whom
he
had
denied
himself
cards
,
or
wine
,
or
tobacco
,
or
an
hour
at
the
Café
,
or
anything
that
alleviated
the
privation
and
severity
of
his
lot
as
"
simple
soldat
,
"
which
he
had
been
then
,
that
she
might
have
such
few
and
slender
comforts
as
he
could
give
her
from
his
miserable
pay
.
She
was
dead
.
Her
death
had
been
the
darkest
passage
in
his
life
in
Africa
—
but
the
flute-like
music
of
her
voice
seemed
to
come
on
his
ear
now
.
This
girl-soldier
had
little
charm
for
him
after
the
sweet
silent
tender
grace
of
his
lost
Zelme
.
He
turned
and
touched
on
the
shoulder
a
Chasseur
who
had
paused
a
moment
to
get
breath
in
the
headlong
whirl
:
"
Come
,
we
are
to
be
with
the
Djied
by
dawn
!
"
The
trooper
obeyed
instantly
;
they
were
ordered
to
visit
and
remain
with
a
Bedouin
camp
some
thirty
miles
away
on
the
naked
plateau
;
a
camp
professedly
submissive
,
but
not
so
much
so
but
that
the
Bureau
deemed
it
well
to
profit
themselves
by
the
services
of
the
Corporal
,
whose
knowledge
of
Arabic
,
whose
friendship
with
the
tribes
,
and
whose
superior
intelligence
in
all
such
missions
rendered
him
peculiarly
fitted
for
errands
that
required
diplomacy
and
address
as
well
as
daring
and
fire
.
He
went
thoughtfully
out
of
the
noisy
reeking
ball-room
into
the
warm
lustre
of
the
Algerian
night
;
as
he
went
,
Cigarette
,
who
had
been
nearer
than
he
knew
,
flashed
full
in
his
eyes
the
fury
of
her
own
sparkling
ones
,
while
with
a
contemptuous
laugh
she
struck
him
across
the
lips
with
the
cigar
she
hurled
at
him
.
"
Unsexed
?
Pouf
!
If
you
have
a
woman
's
face
may
I
not
have
a
man
's
soul
?
It
is
only
a
fair
exchange
.
I
am
no
kitten
,
bon
zig
;
take
care
of
my
talons
!
"
The
words
were
spoken
with
the
fierceness
of
Africa
;
she
had
too
much
in
her
of
the
spirit
of
the
Zéphyrs
and
the
Chacals
with
whom
her
youth
had
been
spent
from
her
cradle
up
,
not
to
be
dangerous
when
roused
;
she
was
off
at
a
bound
,
and
in
the
midst
of
the
mad
whirl
again
,
before
he
could
attempt
to
soften
or
efface
the
words
she
had
overheard
,
and
the
last
thing
he
saw
of
her
was
in
a
cloud
of
Zouaves
and
Spahis
with
the
wild
tintamarre
of
the
music
shaking
riotous
echoes
from
the
rafters
.
But
when
he
had
passed
out
of
sight
,
Cigarette
shook
herself
free
from
the
dancers
with
petulant
impatience
.
She
was
not
to
be
allured
by
flattery
or
drawn
by
entreaty
back
amongst
them
;
she
set
her
delicate
pearly
teeth
tight
,
and
vowed
with
a
reckless
contemptuous
impetuous
oath
that
she
was
tired
,
that
she
was
sick
of
them
,
that
she
was
no
strolling
player
to
caper
for
them
with
a
tambourine
;
and
with
that
declaration
made
her
way
out
alone
into
the
little
open
court
under
the
stars
,
so
cool
,
so
still
after
the
heat
,
and
riot
,
and
turbulence
within
.
There
she
dropped
on
a
broad
stone
step
,
and
leant
her
head
on
her
hand
.
"
Unsexed
!
unsexed
!
What
did
he
mean
?
"
she
thought
,
while
for
the
first
time
,
with
a
vague
sense
of
his
meaning
,
tears
welled
hot
and
bitter
into
her
sunny
eyes
while
the
pained
colour
burned
in
her
face
.
Those
tears
were
the
first
that
she
had
ever
known
,
and
they
were
cruel
ones
,
though
they
lasted
but
a
little
time
;
there
was
too
much
fire
in
the
young
bohemian
of
the
Army
not
to
scorch
them
as
they
rose
.
She
stamped
her
foot
on
the
stones
passionately
,
and
her
teeth
were
set
like
a
little
terrier
's
as
she
muttered
:
"
Unsexed
!
Unsexed
!
Bah
,
M'sieu
l
'
Aristocrat
!
If
you
think
so
,
you
shall
find
your
thought
right
;
you
shall
find
Cigarette
can
hate
as
men
hate
,
and
take
her
revenge
as
soldiers
take
theirs
.
CHAPTER
III
.
UNDER
THE
HOUSES
OF
HAIR
.
It
was
just
sunset
.
The
far-off
summits
of
the
Djurjura
were
tinted
with
the
intense
glare
the
distant
pines
and
cypresses
cut
sharply
against
the
rose-warmed
radiance
of
the
sky
.
On
the
slopes
of
the
hills
white
cupolas
and
terraced
gardens
,
where
the
Algerine
haouach
still
showed
the
taste
and
luxury
of
Algerine
corsairs
,
rose
up
among
their
wild
olive
shadows
on
the
groves
of
the
lentiscus
.
In
the
deep
gorges
that
were
channelled
between
the
riven
rocks
,
the
luxuriance
of
African
vegetation
ran
riot
,
the
feathery
crests
of
tossing
reeds
,
the
long
floating
leaves
of
plants
filling
the
dry
water-courses
of
vanished
streams
;
the
broad
foliage
of
the
wild
fig
,
and
the
glowing
dainty
blossoms
of
the
oleander
,
wherever
a
trace
of
brook
,
or
pool
,
or
rivulet
let
it
put
forth
its
beautiful
coronal
,
growing
one
in
another
in
the
narrow
valleys
,
and
the
curving
passes
,
wherever
broken
earth
or
rock
gave
shelter
from
the
blaze
and
heat
of
the
North
African
day
.
Farther
inland
the
bare
sear
stretches
of
brown
plain
were
studded
with
the
dwarf
palm
,
the
vast
shadowless
plateaux
were
desolate
as
the
great
desert
itself
far
beyond
;
and
the
sun
,
as
it
burned
on
them
a
moment
in
the
glory
of
its
last
glow
,
found
them
naked
and
grand
by
the
sheer
force
of
immensity
and
desolation
,
but
dreary
and
endless
,
and
broken
into
refts
and
chasms
,
as
though
to
make
fairer
by
their
own
barren
solitude
the
laughing
luxuriance
of
the
sea-face
of
the
Sahel
.
A
moment
,
and
the
lustre
of
the
light
flung
its
own
magic
brilliancy
over
the
Algerine
water-line
,
and
then
shone
full
on
the
heights
of
El
Biar
and
Bouzariah
,
and
on
the
lofty
,
delicate
form
of
the
Italian
pines
that
here
and
there
,
Sicilian-like
,
threw
out
their
graceful
heads
against
the
amber
sun-glow
and
the
deep
azure
of
the
heavens
.
Then
swiftly
,
suddenly
,
the
sun
sank
;
twilight
passed
like
a
grey
gliding
shade
,
an
instant
,
over
earth
and
sea
;
and
night
,
the
balmy
,
sultry
,
star-studded
night
of
Africa
,
fell
over
the
thirsty
leafage
longing
for
its
dews
,
the
closed
flowers
that
slumbered
at
its
touch
,
the
seared
and
blackened
plains
to
which
its
coolness
could
bring
no
herbage
,
the
massive
hills
that
seemed
to
lie
so
calmly
in
its
rest
.
Camped
on
one
of
the
bare
stretches
above
the
Mustapha
Road
was
a
circle
of
Arab
tents
.
The
circle
was
irregularly
kept
,
and
the
Krümas
were
scattered
at
will
;
here
a
low
one
of
canvas
,
there
one
of
goat-skin
;
here
a
white
towering
canopy
of
teleze
,
there
a
low
striped
little
nest
of
shelter
;
and
loftier
than
all
,
the
stately
beit
el
shar
of
the
Sheik
,
with
his
standard
struck
into
the
earth
in
front
of
it
,
with
its
heavy
folds
hanging
listlessly
in
the
sultry
breathless
air
.
The
encampment
stretched
far
over
the
level
arid
earth
,
and
there
was
more
than
one
tent
where
the
shadowing
folds
of
the
banner
marked
the
abode
of
some
noble
Djied
.
Disorder
reigned
supreme
,
in
all
the
desert
freedom
;
horses
and
mules
,
goats
and
camels
,
tethered
,
strayed
among
the
conical
houses
of
hair
,
browsing
off
the
littered
straw
or
the
tossed-down
hay
;
and
caldrons
seethed
and
hissed
over
wood
fires
,
whose
lurid
light
was
flung
on
the
eagle
features
,
and
the
white
haiks
of
the
wanderers
who
watched
the
boiling
of
their
mess
,
or
fed
the
embers
with
dry
sticks
.
Round
other
fires
,
having
finished
the
eating
of
their
couscousou
,
the
Bedouins
lay
full
length
,
enjoying
the
solemn
silence
which
they
love
so
little
to
break
,
and
smoking
their
long
pipes
,
while
through
the
shadows
about
them
glided
the
lofty
figures
of
their
brethren
,
with
the
folds
of
their
sweeping
burnous
floating
in
the
gloom
.
It
was
a
picture
,
Rembrandt
in
colour
,
Oriental
in
composition
,
with
the
darkness
surrounding
it
stretching
out
into
endless
distance
that
led
to
the
mystic
silence
of
the
great
desert
,
and
above
,
the
intense
blue
of
the
gorgeous
night
,
with
the
stars
burning
through
white
transparent
mists
of
slowly
drifting
clouds
.
In
the
central
tent
,
tall
and
crimson
striped
,
with
its
mighty
standard
reared
in
front
,
and
its
opening
free
to
the
night
,
sat
the
Khalifa
,
the
head
of
the
tribe
,
with
a
circle
of
Arabs
about
him
.
He
was
thrown
on
his
cushions
,
rich
enough
for
a
seraglio
,
while
the
rest
squatted
on
the
morocco
carpet
that
covered
the
bare
ground
,
and
that
was
strewn
with
round
brass
Moorish
trays
,
and
little
cups
emptied
of
their
coffee
.
The
sides
of
the
tent
were
hung
with
guns
and
swords
,
lavishly
adorned
,
and
in
the
middle
stood
a
tall
Turkish
candle-branch
in
fretted-work
,
whose
light
struggled
with
the
white
flood
of
the
moon
,
and
the
ruddy
,
fitful
glare
from
a
wood
fire
without
.
Beneath
its
light
,
which
fell
full
on
him
,
flung
down
upon
another
pile
of
cushions
facing
the
open
front
of
the
tent
,
was
a
guest
whom
the
Khalifa
delighted
to
honour
.
Only
a
Corporal
of
Chasseurs
,
and
once
a
foe
,
yet
one
with
whom
the
Arab
found
the
brotherhood
of
brave
men
,
and
on
whom
he
lavished
,
in
all
he
could
,
the
hospitalities
and
honours
of
the
desert
.
The
story
of
their
friendship
ran
thus
:
The
tribe
was
now
allied
with
France
,
or
,
at
least
,
had
accepted
French
sovereignty
,
and
pledged
itself
to
neutrality
in
the
hostilities
still
rife
;
but
a
few
years
before
,
far
in
the
interior
and
leagued
with
the
Kabailes
,
it
had
been
one
of
the
fiercest
and
most
dangerous
among
the
enemies
of
France
.
At
that
time
the
Khalifa
and
the
Chasseur
met
in
many
a
skirmish
;
hot
desperate
struggles
,
where
men
fought
horse
to
horse
,
hand
to
hand
;
midnight
frays
,
when
in
the
heart
of
lonely
ravines
,
Arab
ambuscades
fell
on
squadrons
of
French
cavalry
;
terrible
chases
through
the
heat
of
torrid
suns
,
when
the
glittering
ranks
of
the
charging
troops
swept
down
after
the
Bedouins
'
flight
;
fiery
combats
,
when
the
desert
sand
and
the
smoke
of
musketry
circled
in
clouds
above
the
close-locked
struggle
,
and
the
Leopard
of
France
and
the
Lion
of
Sahara
wrestled
in
a
death-grip
.
In
these
,
through
four
or
five
seasons
of
warfare
,
the
Sheik
and
the
Chasseur
had
encountered
each
other
,
till
each
had
grown
to
look
for
the
other
's
face
as
soon
as
the
standards
of
the
Bedouins
flashed
in
the
sunshine
opposite
the
guidons
of
the
Imperial
forces
;
till
each
had
watched
and
noted
the
other
's
unmatched
prowess
,
and
borne
away
the
wounds
of
the
other
's
home
strokes
,
with
the
admiration
of
a
bold
soldier
for
a
bold
rival
's
dauntlessness
and
skill
;
till
each
had
learned
to
long
for
an
hour
,
hitherto
always
prevented
by
waves
of
battle
that
had
swept
them
too
soon
asunder
,
when
they
should
meet
in
a
duello
once
for
all
,
and
try
their
strength
together
till
one
bore
off
victory
and
one
succumbed
to
death
.
At
last
it
came
to
pass
that
after
a
lengthened
term
of
this
chivalrous
antagonism
the
tribe
were
sorely
pressed
by
the
French
troops
,
and
could
no
longer
mass
its
fearless
front
to
face
them
,
but
had
to
flee
southward
to
the
desert
,
and
encumbered
by
its
flocks
and
its
women
,
was
hardly
driven
and
greatly
decimated
.
Now
among
those
women
was
one
whom
the
Sheik
held
above
all
earthly
things
except
his
honour
in
war
,
a
beautiful
anteloped-eyed
creature
,
lithe
and
graceful
as
a
palm
,
and
the
daughter
of
a
pure
Arab
race
,
on
whom
he
could
not
endure
for
any
other
sight
than
his
own
to
look
,
and
whom
he
guarded
in
his
tent
as
the
chief
pearl
of
all
his
treasures
;
herds
,
flocks
,
arms
,
even
his
horses
,
all
,
save
the
honour
of
his
tribe
,
he
would
have
surrendered
rather
than
surrender
Djelma
.
It
was
a
passion
with
him
;
a
passion
that
not
even
the
iron
of
his
temper
and
the
dignity
of
his
austere
calm
could
abate
or
conceal
;
and
the
rumour
of
it
and
of
the
beauty
of
its
object
reached
the
French
camp
,
till
an
impatient
curiosity
was
roused
about
her
,
and
a
raid
that
should
bear
her
off
became
the
favourite
speculation
round
the
picket-fires
at
night
,
and
the
scorching
noons
when
the
men
lay
stripped
to
their
waist
,
panting
like
tired
dogs
,
under
the
hot
withering
breath
that
stole
to
them
from
sweeping
over
the
yellow
seas
of
sand
.
Their
heated
fancies
had
pictured
this
treasure
of
the
great
Djied
as
something
beyond
all
that
her
sex
had
ever
given
them
,
and
to
snare
her
in
some
unwary
moment
was
the
chief
thought
of
Zéphyr
and
Spahis
when
they
went
out
on
a
scouting
or
foraging
party
.
But
it
was
easier
said
than
done
;
the
eyes
of
no
Frank
ever
lit
on
her
,
and
when
he
was
most
closely
driven
the
Khalifa
Ilderim
abandoned
his
cattle
and
sheep
,
but
with
the
females
of
the
tribe
still
safely
guarded
,
fell
more
and
more
backward
and
southward
,
drawing
the
French
on
and
on
farther
and
farther
across
the
plains
in
the
sickliest
times
of
hottest
drought
.
Reinforcements
could
swell
the
Imperial
ranks
as
swiftly
as
they
were
thinned
,
but
with
the
Arabs
a
man
once
fallen
was
a
man
the
less
to
their
numbers
for
ever
,
and
the
lightning-like
pursuit
began
to
tell
terribly
on
them
:
their
herds
had
fallen
into
their
pursuers
'
hands
,
and
famine
menaced
them
.
Nevertheless
,
they
were
fierce
in
attack
as
tigers
,
rapid
in
swoop
as
vultures
,
and
fought
flying
in
such
fashion
that
the
cavalry
lost
more
in
this
fruitless
,
worthless
work
,
than
they
would
have
done
in
a
second
Hohenlinden
or
Austerlitz
.
Moreover
,
the
heat
was
intense
,
water
was
bad
and
very
rare
,
dysentery
came
with
the
scorch
and
the
toil
of
this
endless
charge
;
the
chief
in
command
,
M
.
le
Marquis
de
Châteauroy
,
swore
heavily
as
he
saw
many
of
his
best
men
dropping
off
like
sheep
in
a
murrain
,
and
he
offered
two
hundred
Napoléons
to
whosoever
should
bring
either
the
dead
Sheik
's
head
or
the
living
beauty
of
Djelma
.
One
day
the
Chasseurs
had
pitched
their
camp
where
a
few
barren
withered
trees
gave
a
semblance
of
shelter
,
and
a
little
thread
of
brackish
water
oozed
through
the
yellow
earth
.
It
was
high
noon
;
the
African
sun
was
at
its
fiercest
;
far
as
the
eye
could
reach
there
was
only
one
boundless
,
burning
,
unendurable
glitter
of
parching
sand
and
cloudless
sky
,
brazen
beneath
,
brazen
above
,
till
the
desert
and
the
heavens
touched
,
and
blent
in
one
tawny
fiery
glow
in
the
measureless
distance
.
The
men
lay
under
canvas
,
dead
beat
,
half
naked
,
without
the
power
to
do
anything
except
to
fight
like
thirst-maddened
dogs
for
a
draught
at
the
shallow
stream
that
they
and
their
breathless
horses
soon
drained
dry
.
Even
Raoul
de
Châteauroy
,
though
his
frame
was
like
an
Arab
's
,
and
knit
into
Arab
endurance
,
was
stretched
like
a
great
bloodhound
,
chained
by
the
sultry
oppression
.
He
was
ruthless
,
inflexible
,
a
tyrant
to
the
core
,
and
sharp
and
swift
as
steel
in
his
rigour
,
but
he
was
a
fine
soldier
,
and
never
spared
himself
any
of
the
hardships
that
his
regiment
had
to
endure
under
him
.
Suddenly
the
noon
lethargy
of
the
camp
was
broken
;
a
trumpet-call
rang
through
the
stillness
;
against
the
amber
transparency
of
the
horizon
line
the
outlines
of
half
a
dozen
horsemen
were
seen
looming
nearer
and
nearer
with
every
moment
;
they
were
some
Spahis
who
had
been
out
"
sondant
le
terrain
aux
environs
.
"
27
The
mighty
frame
of
Châteauroy
,
almost
as
unclothed
as
an
athlete
,
started
from
its
slumberous
panting
rest
;
his
eyes
lightened
hungrily
;
he
muttered
a
fiery
oath
,
"
Mort
de
Dieu
!
—
they
have
the
woman
!
"
They
had
the
woman
.
She
had
been
netted
near
a
water-spring
,
to
which
she
had
wandered
,
too
loosely
guarded
,
and
too
far
from
the
Bedouin
encampment
.
The
delight
of
the
haughty
Sidi
's
eyes
was
borne
off
to
the
tents
of
his
foes
,
and
the
Colonel
's
face
flushed
darkly
,
with
an
eager
,
lustful
warmth
,
as
he
looked
upon
his
captive
.
Rumour
had
not
out-boasted
the
Arab
girl
's
beauty
;
it
was
lustrous
as
ever
was
that
when
,
far
yonder
to
the
eastward
,
under
the
curled
palms
of
Nile
,
the
sorceress
of
the
Cæsars
swept
through
her
rose-strewn
palace-chambers
.
Only
Djelma
was
as
innocent
as
the
gazelle
,
whose
grace
she
resembled
,
and
loved
her
lord
with
a
great
love
.
Of
her
suffering
her
captor
took
no
more
heed
than
if
she
were
a
young
bird
dying
of
shot-wounds
;
but
,
with
one
triumphant
admiring
glance
at
her
,
he
wrote
a
message
in
Arabic
,
to
send
to
the
Khalifa
,
ere
her
loss
were
discovered
—
a
message
more
cruel
than
iron
.
He
hesitated
a
second
,
where
he
lay
at
the
opening
of
his
tent
,
whom
he
should
send
with
it
.
His
men
were
almost
all
half
dead
with
the
sun-blaze
.
His
glance
chanced
to
light
in
the
distance
on
a
soldier
to
whom
he
bore
no
love
—
causelessly
,
but
bitterly
all
the
same
.
He
had
him
summoned
,
and
eyed
him
with
a
curious
amusement
:
—
Châteauroy
treated
his
squadrons
with
much
the
same
sans-façon
familiarity
and
brutality
that
a
chief
of
filibusters
uses
to
his
.
"
So
!
you
heed
the
heat
so
little
,
you
give
up
your
turn
of
water
to
a
drummer
,
they
say
?
"
The
Chasseur
gave
the
salute
with
a
calm
deference
.
A
faint
flush
passed
over
the
sun-bronze
of
his
forehead
.
He
had
thought
the
Sydney-like
sacrifice
had
been
unobserved
.
"
The
drummer
was
but
a
child
,
mon
Commandant
.
"
"
Be
so
good
as
to
give
us
no
more
of
those
melodramatic
acts
!
"
said
M
.
le
Marquis
,
contemptuously
.
"
You
are
too
fond
of
trafficking
in
those
showy
fooleries
.
You
bribe
your
comrades
for
their
favouritism
too
openly
.
Ventre-bleu
!
I
forbid
it
—
do
you
hear
?
"
"
I
hear
,
mon
Colonel
.
"
The
assent
was
perfectly
tranquil
and
respectful
.
He
was
too
good
a
soldier
not
to
render
perfect
obedience
,
and
keep
perfect
silence
,
under
any
goad
of
provocation
to
break
both
.
"
Obey
,
then
!
"
said
Châteauroy
,
savagely
.
"
Well
,
since
you
love
heat
so
well
,
you
shall
take
a
flag
of
truce
and
my
scroll
to
the
Sidi
Ilderim
.
But
tell
me
first
—
what
do
you
think
of
this
capture
?
"
"
It
is
not
my
place
to
give
opinions
,
M
.
le
Colonel
.
"
"
Pardieu
!
it
is
your
place
when
I
bid
you
.
Speak
,
or
I
will
have
the
matraque
cut
the
words
out
of
you
!
"
"
I
may
speak
frankly
?
"
"
Ten
thousand
curses
—
yes
!
"
"
Then
,
—
I
think
that
those
who
make
war
on
women
are
no
longer
fit
to
fight
with
men
.
"
For
a
moment
the
long
,
sinewy
,
massive
form
of
Châteauroy
started
from
the
skins
on
which
he
lay
full
length
,
like
a
lion
starting
from
its
lair
.
His
veins
swelled
like
black
cords
;
under
the
mighty
muscle
of
his
bare
chest
,
his
heart
beat
visibly
,
in
the
fury
of
his
wrath
.
"
By
God
!
I
have
a
mind
to
have
you
shot
like
a
dog
!
"
The
Chasseur
looked
at
him
carelessly
,
composedly
,
but
with
a
serene
deference
still
,
as
due
from
a
soldier
to
his
chief
.
"
You
have
threatened
it
before
,
M
.
le
Colonel
.
It
may
be
as
well
to
do
it
,
or
the
army
may
think
you
capricious
.
"
Raoul
de
Châteauroy
crushed
a
blasphemous
oath
through
his
clenched
teeth
,
and
laughed
a
certain
short
,
stern
,
sardonic
laugh
,
which
his
men
dreaded
more
than
his
wrath
.
"
No
;
I
will
send
you
instead
to
the
Khalifa
.
He
often
saves
me
the
trouble
of
killing
my
own
curs
.
Take
a
flag
of
truce
and
this
paper
,
and
never
draw
rein
till
you
reach
him
,
if
your
beast
drop
dead
at
the
end
.
"
The
Chasseur
saluted
,
took
the
paper
,
bowed
with
a
certain
languid
,
easy
grace
,
that
camp
life
never
cured
him
of
,
and
went
.
He
knew
that
the
man
who
should
take
the
news
of
his
treasure
's
loss
to
the
Emir
Ilderim
would
,
a
thousand
to
one
,
perish
by
every
torture
desert
cruelty
could
frame
,
despite
the
cover
of
the
white
banner
.
Châteauroy
looked
after
him
,
as
he
and
his
horse
passed
from
the
French
camp
in
the
full
burning
tide
of
noon
.
"
If
the
Arabs
kill
him
,
"
he
thought
,
"
I
will
forgive
Ilderim
five
seasons
of
rebellion
.
"
The
Chasseur
,
as
he
had
been
bidden
,
never
drew
rein
across
the
scorching
plateau
.
He
rode
to
wha
he
knew
was
like
enough
to
be
death
,
and
death
by
many
a
torment
,
as
though
he
rode
to
a
midnight
love-tryst
.
His
horse
was
of
Arab
breed
—
young
,
fleet
,
and
able
to
endure
extraordinary
pressure
,
both
of
spur
and
of
heat
.
He
swept
on
,
far
and
fast
,
through
the
sickly
lurid
glitter
of
the
day
,
over
the
loose
sand
,
that
flew
in
puffs
around
him
,
as
the
hoofs
struck
it
flying
right
and
left
.
At
last
,
ere
he
reached
the
Bedouin
tents
,
that
were
still
but
slender
black
points
against
the
horizon
,
he
saw
the
Sheik
and
a
party
of
horsemen
returning
from
a
foraging
quest
,
and
in
ignorance
as
yet
of
the
abduction
of
Djelma
.
He
galloped
straight
to
them
,
and
halted
across
their
line
of
march
,
with
the
folds
of
the
little
white
flag
fluttering
in
the
sun
.
The
Bedouins
drew
bridle
,
and
Ilderim
advanced
alone
.
He
was
a
magnificent
man
,
of
middle
age
,
with
the
noblest
type
of
the
eagle-eyed
,
aquiline
desert
beauty
.
He
was
a
superb
specimen
of
his
race
,
without
the
lean
,
withered
,
rapacious
,
vulture
look
,
which
often
mars
it
.
His
white
haick
floated
round
limbs
fit
for
a
Colossus
;
and
under
the
snowy
folds
of
his
turban
,
the
olive-bronze
of
his
bold
forehead
,
the
sweep
of
his
jet-black
beard
,
and
the
piercing
luminance
of
his
eyes
,
had
a
grand
and
kingly
majesty
.
A
glance
of
recognition
flashed
from
him
on
the
lascar
,
who
had
so
often
crossed
swords
with
him
;
and
he
waved
back
the
scroll
with
dignified
courtesy
.
"
Read
it
me
.
"
It
was
read
.
Bitterly
,
blackly
,
shameful
,
the
few
brutal
words
were
.
They
netted
him
as
an
eagle
is
netted
in
a
shepherd
's
trap
.
The
moment
that
he
gave
a
sign
of
advancing
against
his
ravishers
,
the
captive
's
life
would
pay
the
penalty
:
if
he
merely
remained
in
arms
,
without
direct
attack
,
she
would
be
made
the
Marquis
's
mistress
,
and
abandoned
later
to
the
army
.
The
only
terms
on
which
he
could
have
her
restored
were
instant
submission
to
the
imperial
rule
,
and
personal
homage
of
himself
and
all
his
Djouad
to
the
Marquis
as
the
representative
of
France
;
homage
in
which
they
should
confess
themselves
dogs
and
the
sons
of
dogs
.
So
ran
the
message
of
peace
.
The
Chasseur
read
on
to
the
end
,
calmly
.
Then
he
lifted
his
gaze
,
and
looked
at
the
Emir
;
—
he
expected
fifty
swords
to
be
buried
in
his
heart
.
As
he
gazed
,
he
thought
no
more
of
his
own
doom
:
he
thought
only
of
the
revelation
before
him
,
of
what
passion
and
what
agony
could
be
—
things
unknown
in
the
world
where
the
chief
portion
of
his
life
had
passed
.
He
was
a
war-hardened
campaigner
,
trained
in
the
ruthless
school
of
African
hostilities
,
who
had
seen
every
shape
of
mental
and
physical
suffering
,
when
men
were
left
to
perish
of
gun-wounds
,
as
the
rush
of
the
charge
swept
on
;
when
writhing
horses
died
by
the
score
of
famine
and
of
thirst
;
when
the
firebrand
was
hurled
among
sleeping
encampments
,
and
defenceless
women
were
torn
from
their
rest
by
the
unsparing
hands
of
pitiless
soldiers
.
But
the
torture
,
which
shook
for
a
second
the
steel-knit
frame
of
this
Arab
,
passed
all
that
he
had
dreamed
as
possible
;
it
was
mute
,
and
held
in
bonds
of
iron
,
for
the
sake
of
the
desert
pride
of
a
great
ruler
's
majesty
;
but
it
spoke
more
than
any
eloquence
ever
spoke
yet
on
earth
.
With
a
wild
shrill
yell
,
the
Bedouins
whirled
their
naked
sabres
above
their
heads
,
and
rushed
down
on
the
bearer
of
this
shame
to
their
chief
and
their
tribe
.
The
Chasseur
did
not
seek
to
defend
himself
.
He
sat
motionless
.
He
thought
the
vengeance
just
.
The
Sheik
raised
his
sword
,
and
signed
them
back
,
as
he
pointed
to
the
white
folds
of
the
flag
.
Then
his
voice
rolled
out
like
thunder
over
the
stillness
of
the
plains
:
"
But
that
you
trust
yourself
to
my
honour
,
I
would
rend
you
limb
from
limb
.
Go
back
to
the
tiger
who
rules
you
,
and
tell
him
that
—
as
Allah
liveth
—
I
will
fall
on
him
and
smite
him
,
as
he
hath
never
been
smitten
.
Dead
or
living
,
I
will
have
back
my
own
.
If
he
take
her
life
,
I
will
have
ten
thousand
lives
to
answer
it
:
if
he
deal
her
dishonour
,
I
will
light
such
a
holy
war
through
the
length
and
breadth
of
the
land
,
that
his
nation
shall
be
driven
backward
,
like
choked
dogs
into
the
sea
,
and
perish
from
the
face
of
the
earth
for
evermore
.
And
this
I
swear
by
the
Law
and
the
Prophet
!
"
The
menace
rolled
out
,
imperious
as
a
monarch
's
,
thrilling
through
the
desert
hush
.
The
Chasseur
bent
his
head
as
the
words
closed
.
His
own
teeth
were
tightly
clenched
,
and
his
face
was
dark
.
"
Emir
,
listen
to
one
word
,
"
he
said
,
briefly
.
"
Shame
has
been
done
to
me
as
to
you
.
Had
I
been
told
what
words
I
bore
,
they
had
never
been
brought
by
my
hand
.
You
know
me
.
You
have
had
the
marks
of
my
steel
,
as
I
have
had
the
marks
of
yours
.
Trust
me
in
this
,
Sidi
.
I
pledge
you
my
honour
,
that
,
before
the
sun
sets
,
she
shall
be
given
back
to
you
unharmed
;
or
I
will
return
here
myself
,
and
your
tribe
shall
slay
me
in
what
fashion
they
will
.
So
alone
can
she
be
saved
uninjured
.
Answer
—
will
you
have
faith
in
me
?
"
The
desert
chief
looked
at
him
long
;
sitting
motionless
as
a
statue
on
his
stallion
,
with
the
fierce
gleam
of
his
eyes
fixed
on
the
eyes
of
the
man
who
so
long
had
been
his
foe
in
contests
whose
chivalry
equalled
their
daring
.
The
Chasseur
never
wavered
once
under
the
set
,
piercing
,
ruthless
gaze
.
Then
the
Emir
pointed
to
the
sun
,
that
was
now
at
its
zenith
:
"
You
are
a
great
warrior
:
such
men
do
not
lie
.
Go
,
and
,
if
she
be
borne
to
me
before
the
sun
is
half-way
sunk
towards
the
west
,
all
the
branches
of
the
tribes
of
Ilderim
shall
be
as
your
brethren
,
and
bend
as
steel
to
your
bidding
.
If
not
—
as
God
is
mighty
—
not
one
man
in
all
your
host
shall
live
to
tell
the
tale
!
"
The
Chasseur
bowed
his
head
to
his
horse
's
mane
;
then
,
without
a
word
,
wheeled
round
,
and
sped
back
across
the
plain
.
When
he
reached
his
own
cavalry
camp
,
he
went
straightway
to
his
chief
.
What
passed
between
them
none
ever
knew
.
The
interview
was
brief
:
it
was
possibly
as
stormy
.
Pregnant
and
decisive
it
assuredly
was
;
and
the
squadrons
of
Africa
marvelled
that
the
man
who
dared
beard
Raoul
de
Châteauroy
in
his
lair
,
came
forth
with
his
life
.
Whatever
the
spell
he
used
,
the
result
was
a
marvel
.
At
the
very
moment
that
the
sun
touched
the
lower
half
of
the
western
heavens
,
the
Sheik
Ilderim
,
where
he
sat
in
his
saddle
,
with
all
his
tribe
stretching
behind
him
,
full
armed
,
to
sweep
down
like
falcons
on
the
spoilers
,
if
the
hour
passed
with
the
pledge
unredeemed
,
saw
the
form
of
the
Chasseur
reappear
between
his
sight
and
the
glare
of
the
skies
;
nor
did
he
ride
alone
.
That
night
the
Pearl
of
the
Desert
lay
once
more
in
the
mighty
sinuous
arms
of
the
great
Emir
.
But
,
with
the
dawn
,
his
vengeance
fell
in
terrible
fashion
on
the
sleeping
camp
of
the
Franks
;
and
from
that
hour
dated
the
passionate
,
savage
,
unconcealed
hate
of
Raoul
de
Châteauroy
to
the
most
daring
soldier
of
all
his
fiery
Horse
,
known
in
his
troop
as
"
Bel-à-faire-peur
.
"
It
was
in
the
tent
of
Ilderim
now
that
he
reclined
,
looking
outward
at
the
night
where
flames
were
leaping
ruddily
under
a
large
caldron
,
and
far
beyond
was
the
dark
immensity
of
the
star-studded
sky
.
The
light
of
the
moon
strayed
in
and
fell
on
the
chesnut
waves
of
his
beard
,
out
of
which
the
long
amber
stem
of
an
Arab
pipe
glittered
like
a
golden
line
;
and
the
delicate
feminine
cast
of
his
profile
,
which
,
with
the
fairness
of
the
skin
(
fair
despite
a
warm
hue
of
bronze
)
and
the
long
slumberous
softness
of
the
hazel
eyes
,
were
in
as
marked
a
contrast
of
race
with
the
eagle
outline
of
the
Bedouins
around
as
Frank
and
Arbi
ever
showed
.
From
the
hour
of
the
restoration
of
his
treasure
the
Sheik
had
been
true
to
his
oath
;
his
tribe
in
all
its
branches
had
held
the
French
lascar
in
closest
brotherhood
;
wherever
they
were
he
was
honoured
and
welcomed
;
was
he
in
war
,
their
swords
were
drawn
for
him
;
was
he
in
need
,
their
houses
of
hair
were
spread
for
him
;
had
he
want
of
flight
,
the
swiftest
and
most
precious
of
their
horses
was
at
his
service
;
had
he
thirst
,
they
would
have
died
themselves
,
wringing
out
the
last
drop
from
the
water-skin
for
him
.
Through
him
their
alliance
,
or
more
justly
to
speak
their
neutrality
,
was
secured
to
France
,
and
the
Bedouin
Chief
loved
him
with
a
great
,
silent
,
noble
love
that
was
fast
rooted
in
the
granite
of
his
nature
.
Between
them
there
was
a
brotherhood
that
beat
down
the
antagonism
of
race
,
and
was
stronger
than
the
instinctive
hate
of
the
oppressed
for
all
who
came
under
the
abhorred
standard
of
the
usurpers
.
He
liked
the
Arabs
and
they
liked
him
;
a
grave
courtesy
,
a
preference
for
the
fewest
words
and
least
demonstration
possible
,
a
marked
opinion
that
silence
was
golden
,
and
that
speech
was
at
best
only
silver-washed
metal
,
an
instinctive
dread
of
all
discovery
of
emotion
,
and
a
limitless
power
of
resisting
and
suppressing
suffering
,
were
qualities
the
nomads
of
the
desert
and
the
lion
of
the
Chasseurs
d
'
Afrique
had
in
common
;
as
they
had
in
unison
a
wild
passion
for
war
,
a
dauntless
zest
in
danger
,
and
a
love
for
the
hottest
heat
of
fiercest
battle
.
Silence
reigned
in
the
tent
,
beyond
whose
first
division
,
screened
by
a
heavy
curtain
of
goat
's
hair
,
the
beautiful
young
Djelmar
played
with
her
only
son
,
a
child
of
three
or
four
summers
;
the
Sheik
lay
mute
,
the
Djouad
and
Marabouts
around
never
spoke
in
his
presence
unless
their
lord
bade
them
,
and
the
Chasseur
was
stretched
motionless
,
his
elbow
resting
on
a
cushion
of
Morocco
fabric
,
and
his
eyes
looking
outward
at
the
restless
,
changing
movement
of
the
firelit
,
starlit
camp
.
After
the
noise
,
the
mirth
,
the
riotous
songs
,
and
the
gay
elastic
good-humour
of
his
French
comrades
,
the
silence
and
the
calm
of
the
Emir
's
"
house
of
hair
"
were
welcome
to
him
.
He
never
spoke
much
himself
;
of
a
truth
,
his
gentle
immutable
laconism
was
the
only
charge
that
his
Chambrée
ever
brought
against
him
.
That
a
man
could
be
so
brief
in
words
,
while
yet
so
soft
in
manner
,
seemed
a
thing
out
of
all
nature
to
the
vivacious
Frenchmen
;
that
unchanging
stillness
and
serenity
in
one
who
was
such
a
reckless
,
resistless
croc-mitaine
,
swift
as
fire
in
the
field
,
was
an
enigma
that
the
Cavalerie
and
the
Demi-cavalerie
of
Algeria
never
solved
.
His
corps
would
have
gone
after
him
to
the
devil
,
as
Claude
de
Chanrellon
had
averred
;
but
they
would
sometimes
wax
a
little
impatient
that
he
would
never
grow
communicative
or
thread
many
phrases
together
even
over
the
best
wine
which
ever
warmed
the
hearts
of
its
drinkers
or
loosened
all
rein
from
their
lips
.
"
I
wish
I
had
come
straight
to
you
,
Sidi
,
when
I
first
set
foot
in
Africa
,
"
he
said
at
last
,
while
the
fragrant
smoke
uncurled
from
under
the
droop
of
his
long
pendent
moustaches
.
"
Truly
it
had
been
well
,
"
answered
the
Khalifa
,
who
would
have
given
the
best
stallions
in
his
stud
to
have
had
this
Frank
with
him
in
warfare
and
in
peace
;
"
there
is
no
life
like
our
life
.
"
"
Faith
!
I
think
not
,
"
murmured
the
Chasseur
,
rather
to
himself
than
the
Bedouin
.
"
The
desert
keeps
you
and
your
horse
,
and
you
can
let
all
the
rest
of
the
world
'
slide
.
'
"
"
But
we
are
murderers
and
pillagers
,
say
your
nations
,
"
resumed
the
Emir
,
with
the
shadow
of
a
sardonic
smile
flickering
an
instant
over
the
sternness
and
composure
of
his
feature
.
"
To
rifle
a
caravan
is
a
crime
,
though
to
steal
a
continent
is
glory
.
"
Bel-à-faire-peur
laughed
slightly
.
"
Do
not
tempt
me
to
rebel
against
my
adopted
flag
.
"
The
Sheik
looked
at
him
in
silence
;
the
French
soldiers
had
spent
twelve
years
in
the
ceaseless
exertions
of
an
amused
inquisitiveness
to
discover
the
antecedents
of
their
volunteer
;
the
Arabs
,
with
their
loftier
instincts
of
courtesy
,
had
never
hinted
to
him
a
question
of
whence
or
why
he
had
come
upon
African
soil
.
"
I
never
thought
at
all
in
those
days
,
else
,
had
I
thought
twice
,
I
should
not
have
gone
to
your
enemies
,
"
he
answered
,
as
he
lazily
watched
the
Bedouins
without
squat
on
their
heels
round
the
huge
brass
bowls
of
couscoussou
which
they
kneaded
into
round
lumps
and
pitched
between
their
open
bearded
lips
in
their
customary
form
of
supper
.
"
Not
but
what
our
Roumis
are
brave
fellows
enough
;
better
comrades
no
man
could
want
.
"
The
Khalifa
took
the
long
pipe
from
his
mouth
and
spoke
;
his
slow
sonorous
accents
falling
melodiously
on
the
silence
in
the
lingua
sapir
of
the
France-Arab
tongue
.
"
Your
comrades
are
gallant
men
;
they
are
lascars
kébirs
,
28
and
fearless
foes
,
against
such
my
voice
is
never
lifted
,
however
my
sword
may
cross
with
them
.
But
the
locust-swarms
that
devour
the
land
are
the
money-eaters
,
the
petty
despots
,
the
bribe-takers
,
the
men
who
wring
gold
out
of
infamy
,
who
traffic
in
tyrannies
,
who
plunder
under
official
seals
,
who
curse
Algiers
with
avarice
,
with
fraud
,
with
routine
,
with
the
hell-spawn
of
civilisation
.
It
is
the
"
Bureaucratie
,
"
as
your
tongue
phrases
it
,
that
is
the
spoiler
and
the
oppressor
of
the
soil
.
But
,
—
Inshallah
!
we
endure
only
for
a
while
.
A
little
,
and
the
shame
of
the
invader
's
tread
will
be
washed
out
in
blood
.
Allah
is
great
!
We
can
wait
.
"
And
with
Moslem
patience
that
the
fiery
gloom
of
his
burning
eyes
belied
,
the
Djied
stretched
himself
once
more
into
immovable
and
silent
rest
.
The
Chasseur
answered
nothing
;
his
sympathies
were
heartfelt
with
the
Arabs
,
his
allegiance
and
his
esprit
du
corps
were
with
the
Service
in
which
he
was
enrolled
.
He
could
not
defend
French
usurpation
;
but
neither
could
he
condemn
the
Flag
that
had
now
become
his
Flag
,
and
in
which
he
had
grown
to
feel
much
of
national
honour
,
to
take
much
of
national
pride
.
"
They
will
never
really
win
again
,
I
am
afraid
,
"
he
thought
,
as
his
eyes
followed
the
wraith-like
flash
of
the
white
burnous
,
as
the
Bedouins
glided
to
and
fro
in
the
chiar'oscuro
of
the
encampment
,
now
in
the
flicker
of
the
flame
,
now
in
the
silvered
lustre
of
the
moon
.
"
It
is
the
conflict
of
the
races
,
as
the
cant
runs
,
and
their
day
is
done
.
It
is
a
bolder
,
freer
,
simpler
type
than
anything
we
get
in
the
world
yonder
.
Shall
we
ever
drift
back
to
it
in
the
future
,
I
wonder
?
"
The
speculation
did
not
stay
with
him
long
;
Semitic
,
Latin
,
or
Teuton
race
was
very
much
the
same
to
him
,
and
intellectual
subtleties
had
not
much
attraction
at
any
time
for
the
most
brilliant
soldier
in
the
French
cavalry
;
he
preferred
the
ring
of
the
trumpets
,
the
glitter
of
the
sun
's
play
along
the
line
of
steel
as
his
regiment
formed
in
line
on
the
eve
of
a
life-and-death
struggle
,
the
wild
breathless
sweep
of
a
midnight
gallop
over
the
brown
swelling
plateau
under
the
light
of
the
stars
,
or
,
—
in
some
brief
interval
of
indolence
and
razzia-won
wealth
,
—
the
gleam
of
fair
eyes
and
the
flush
of
sparkling
sherbet
when
some
passionate
darkling
glance
beamed
on
him
from
some
Arab
mistress
whose
scarlet
lips
murmured
to
him
through
the
drowsy
hush
of
an
Algerine
night
the
sense
if
not
the
song
of
Pelagia
:
"
Life
is
so
short
at
best
!
Take
while
thou
canst
thy
rest
,
Sleeping
by
me
!
"
His
thoughts
drifted
back
over
many
varied
scenes
and
changing
memories
of
his
service
in
Algiers
,
as
he
lay
there
at
the
entrance
of
the
Sheik
's
tent
,
with
the
night
of
looming
shadow
,
and
reddening
firelight
,
and
picturesque
movement
before
him
.
Hours
of
reckless
headlong
delight
,
when
men
grew
drunk
with
bloodshed
as
with
wine
;
hours
of
horrible
,
unsuccoured
suffering
,
when
the
desert
thirst
had
burned
in
his
throat
,
and
the
jagged
lances
been
broken
off
at
the
hilt
in
his
flesh
,
while
above
head
the
carrion
birds
wheeled
,
waiting
their
meal
;
hours
of
unceasing
,
unsparing
slaughter
,
when
the
word
was
given
to
slay
and
yield
no
mercy
,
where
in
the
great
,
vaulted
,
cavernous
gloom
of
rent
rocks
,
the
doomed
were
hemmed
as
close
as
sheep
in
shambles
.
Hours
,
in
the
warm
flush
of
an
African
dawn
,
when
the
arbiter
of
the
duel
was
the
sole
judge
allowed
or
comprehended
by
the
tigers
of
the
tricolour
,
and
to
aim
a
dead
shot
or
to
receive
one
was
the
only
alternative
left
,
as
the
challenging
eyes
of
"
Zéphyr
"
or
"
Chasse-Marais
"
flashed
death
across
the
barrière
,
in
a
combat
where
only
one
might
live
,
though
the
root
of
the
quarrel
had
been
nothing
more
than
a
toss
too
much
of
brandy
,
a
puff
of
tobacco-smoke
construed
into
insult
,
or
a
fille
de
joie
's
maliciously
cast
firebrand
of
taunt
or
laugh
.
Hours
of
severe
discipline
,
of
relentless
routine
,
of
bitter
deprivation
,
of
campaigns
hard
as
steel
in
the
endurance
they
needed
,
in
the
miseries
they
entailed
;
of
military
subjection
,
stern
and
unbending
,
a
yoke
of
iron
that
a
personal
and
pitiless
tyranny
weighted
with
persecution
that
was
scarce
less
than
hatred
;
of
an
implicit
obedience
that
required
every
instinct
of
liberty
,
every
habit
of
early
life
,
every
impulse
of
pride
,
and
manhood
,
and
freedom
,
to
be
choked
down
like
crimes
,
and
buried
as
though
they
had
never
been
.
Hours
again
,
that
repaid
these
in
full
,
when
the
long
line
of
Horse
swept
out
to
the
attack
,
with
the
sun
on
the
points
of
their
weapons
;
when
the
wheeling
clouds
of
Arab
riders
poured
like
the
clouds
of
the
simoom
on
a
thinned
,
devoted
troop
that
rallied
and
fought
as
hawks
fight
herons
,
and
saved
the
day
as
the
sky
was
flushed
with
that
day
's
decline
;
when
some
soft-eyed
captive
,
with
limbs
of
free
mountain
grace
,
and
the
warm
veins
flushing
under
the
clear
olive
of
her
cheeks
,
was
first
wild
as
a
young
fettered
falcon
,
and
then
,
like
the
falcon
,
quickly
learned
to
tremble
at
a
touch
,
and
grow
tame
under
a
caress
,
and
love
nothing
so
well
as
the
hand
that
had
captured
her
.
Hours
of
all
the
chanceful
fortunes
of
a
soldier
's
life
,
in
hillwars
and
desert
raids
,
passed
in
memory
through
his
thoughts
now
,
where
he
was
stretched
,
looking
dreamily
through
the
film
of
his
chibouque
smoke
at
the
city
of
tents
,
and
the
couchant
forms
of
camels
,
and
the
tall
,
white
,
slowly-moving
shapes
of
the
lawless
marauders
of
the
sand
plains
.
"
Is
my
life
worth
much
more
under
the
French
Flag
than
it
was
under
the
English
?
"
thought
the
Chasseur
,
with
a
certain
careless
,
indifferent
irony
on
himself
,
natural
to
him
.
"
There
I
killed
time
—
here
I
kill
men
.
Which
is
the
better
pursuit
,
I
wonder
?
The
world
would
rather
economise
the
first
commodity
than
the
last
,
I
believe
.
Perhaps
,
it
do
n't
make
an
over
good
use
of
either
.
"
His
thoughts
did
not
stay
long
with
that
theme
.
He
was
no
moralist
and
no
philosopher
,
though
he
practised
,
without
ever
knowing
it
,
a
philosophy
of
the
highest
and
simplest
kind
with
every
day
that
found
him
in
the
ranks
of
the
Algerian
army
;
and
had
found
thought
grow
on
him
,
in
a
grave
if
a
desultory
fashion
,
many
a
time
when
he
had
ridden
alone
through
defiles
that
,
for
aught
he
knew
,
might
harbour
death
with
every
step
;
or
sat
the
only
wakeful
watcher
beside
a
bivouac-fire
,
while
his
comrades
slept
around
him
,
and
the
roar
of
angry
beasts
rolled
upward
from
the
ravines
;
or
paced
to
and
fro
in
solitude
on
patrol
duty
,
with
a
yawning
mountain
pass
,
or
a
limitless
night-veiled
plain
before
him
in
the
light
of
the
moon
.
He
was
more
silent
and
more
meditative
than
seemed
in
keeping
with
a
wild
lion
of
the
Chasseurs
,
whose
daring
out-dared
all
the
fire-eaters
,
and
whose
negligent
courage
had
become
a
password
all
over
Africa
,
till
"
quel
p'tit
verre
a
bu
Bel-à-faire-peur
?
"
(
alias
,
"
what
special
exploit
has
he
done
to-day
?
"
)
became
the
question
put
after
every
skirmish
or
expedition
.
But
he
was
much
more
of
a
soldier
than
a
thinker
at
any
time
,
and
,
instead
of
following
out
the
problem
of
the
world
's
uses
of
its
two
raw
materials
,
time
and
men
,
he
found
a
subject
more
congenial
in
the
discussion
of
stable
science
with
the
Emir
.
To
him
the
austere
chief
would
unbend
;
with
him
the
thin
,
compressed
lips
of
the
Arab
would
grow
eloquent
with
an
impressive
oratory
;
for
him
all
the
bonds
of
hospitality
would
grow
closer
and
warmer
.
Ilderim
might
be
a
pillager
,
