Mrs. Haxton has a very effective smile, I admit, but it requires
exceptional charm to make a smile distinctly visible at--how far did
you say?--two miles?"
The lady in question was certainly bending towards Mr. Fenshawe, and
the smile was a reasonable conjecture. But they had tacitly agreed to
forget their earlier conversation. They chatted freely now with the
friendly ease that was their wont ever since the exigencies of camp
life had thrown them together far more than was possible on board ship.
Five weeks ago the _Aphrodite_ dropped anchor off Pajura after crossing
from Aden, where Mr. Fenshawe had despatched his cablegrams and
obtained a portion of the equipment needed for the desert tour. The
arrival of such a large party occasioned no little excitement at the
French port. That tiny station had not seen so many white faces at one
time since its establishment, and, when its polite Commandant recovered
from his voluble surprise, he warned Mr. Fenshawe that the interior was
somewhat unsafe. But stories of Arab unrest were familiar to the
veteran.
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