The camel rider was a Hebrew by the beast that bore him. Egypt had no
liking for the bearer of the Orient's burdens and small acquaintance
with him. Likewise the litters were Hebraic, for the attendant was
bearded. The soldier kept his place before the stela and contemplated
the distance.
The time was not long, though in that land of distances the camel had
far to come from the horizon to the well, until by the soft jarring of
the earth the motionless sentinel knew that the swifter traveler had
arrived. Haste is not common in tropical countries, and the camel had
been put to his limit of speed. A commoner spirit than the soldiers
could not have resisted the impulses of curiosity concerning this hot
haste. But he did not turn his eyes.
The traveler alighted before his mount ceased to move, and undoing his
leathern belt with a jerk, he struck the camel a smart blow on the
shoulder. There was the protesting buzz of a large fly and an angry,
disabled blundering on the sand, silenced by the stamp of a sandal.
"Thou wouldst have it, pest!" the traveler exclaimed. "Thy kind is not
to be persuaded from its blood-sucking by milder means. Ye mind me of
the Pharaoh!"
He turned toward the well, and his glance fell on the man-at-arms for
the first time.
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