Ah,
yes, Irene, your grandfather has his hands full. But he knows how to
manage natives. You will see him in his element when we come to collect
a _kafila_."
So, smiling and soft-tongued, Mrs. Haxton turned in response to some
delighted exclamation from the girl. They made their way inland in the
wake of a swaggering negro, and, as Royson passed with the others,
Abdullah, the Arab, appraised him with critical eye.
"By the Holy Kaaba," said he, "there goes a man! I have seen few like
him, even at Khartoum, where the giaours swarmed in thousands. But he
is young, and his flesh is soft. The desert will thin his blood. And
that little bull, who went before--he, too, should feel the sap dry in
his bones. Tomb of my father! if the Hakim Effendi has brought such men
as these in his train, there will be deeds done at the foot of the Five
Hills, and I, Abdullah the Spear-thrower, shall be there to witness
them."
CHAPTER VII
MRS. HAXTON RECEIVES A SHOCK
Mr. Fenshawe, renewing his acquaintance with Arabic gutturals, and von
Kerber, walking apart with Mrs.
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