CHAPTER II

"_Dog, ounce, bear and bull,

Wolf, lion, horse_."

DU BARTAS.

Damaris should not have been strolling by herself in the native quarter.

If you are drab or flat of chest or soul or face, you can saunter your

fill in any bazaar without adventure befalling you; if, however, nature

should have endowed you with the colouring of a desert sunset, if, in

short, you _can_ add a splash of colour to anything so colourful as a

native bazaar, then 'twere wise to do your sauntering under the wing of

a vigilant chaperon, so that the curiosity and interest resultant on

your splash may reach you obliquely and "as through a glass, darkly."

But there was no one to worry the girl at this hour before sunset, so

that little by little and quite unconsciously she moved forward until

she stood outside the doorway.

She stood, outlined against a background of blazing colours, which

served in no way to dim her beauty. Through the yellow-white arch of

the doorway showed a stretch of turquoise-blue sky across which, upon a

string, swung golden onions and scarlet peppercorns, whilst underneath

ruminated a fine, superbly indifferent dromedary.

For a moment Hugh Carden Ali, jogged by Fate, looked straight across at

the beautiful picture, staying his talk with Abdul, who, with the

courtesy of the East, did not turn his head as he stroked the breast

and head of the _shahin_ on his fist.

But Damaris, with envy rampant in her heart, had no eyes for mere man;

she wanted to walk across and get near the coal-black stallion from

Unayza, a district famous for its breed of large, heavy-built horses.

He stood impatiently, with an occasional plunk of a hoof on the sandy

stones, or nuzzled his master's sleeve, or pulled at it with his teeth,

whilst two shaggy dogs of Billi lay stretched out awaiting the signal

to be up and going, perhaps, in a sprint across the desert after the

_hosseny_ or red rascal of a fox which had been trapped and caged for

the sole purpose of hunting.

Ride out with the caged _hosseny_ on a thoroughbred camel or

thoroughbred horse, take with you a couple of greyhounds and a dog or

so from Billi, get right off the tourist track and let the red rascal

out, and see if you don't have some fun before breakfast.

Only get off the tourist track, else you will have all the bazaar

camels and ponies loping along behind you.

The only wild beast this afternoon for sale was a jaguar, black as ink,

smooth as satin, short, heavy, with half-closed green eyes fixed

steadfastly upon a plump white pigeon foolishly strutting just out of

reach of the steel-pointed claws.

"Take her upon thy fist, O Master," said Abdul of Shammar, as he

lengthened the jesses, the short, narrow straps of leather or woven

silk or cotton with which to hold the hawk. "See, she is well

reclaimed, being tame and gentle and altogether amiable. When thrown,

she is as a bullet from a rifle, binding her quarry in high air even as

a man holds his woman to his heart upon the roof-top under the stars.

She is full summed"--and he ran his slender fingers through the new

feathers, full and soft after moulting; "she is keen as the winter

wind--behold the worn and blunted nails; she will not give up, my

master, yet will she come to the lure as quickly, as joyfully as a maid

to her lover."

Hugh Carden Ali, the greatest authority after Abdul on the _shahin_,

took the bird upon his fist, looked at the sunken, piercing eyes which

were partially seeled; ran his hand over the narrow body, short tail

and black back, and a finger over the large beak and deep mouth; held

up the ugly face to the light, examined the flight-feathers and, moving

his hand quickly up and down, caused the bird to flutter its wings--and

so give him a chance of measuring the distance of the wings from the

body. Finding her altogether lovely, he nodded and handed her back to

the delighted falconer of Shammar, just as with a decisive pat the

jaguar landed, its huge paw upon the strutting pigeon, which had

forgotten to keep its distance.

For a moment the attention of the spectators, who were mostly squatting

on their heels, was diverted from the master and the falconer. They

laughed, they moved, whilst some in the back row stood up to see the

fun, leaving for one second an open space through which Damaris could

see the fluttering white bird.

"Ah!" she cried, heartbroken at the sight; then, "Fetch!" she commanded

the dog, pointing across the square.

Now, the dog, who had dispensed with his spiked collar on account of

the heat, had no more idea than the man in the moon what he had to

fetch for his beloved mistress; but, restless from prolonged inactivity

and the smell of strange beasts, he hurled himself in the direction

pointed; and his speed, once he got going, was as surprising as that of

the elephant or rhinoceros and other clumsy-looking animals, and in

very truth, his appearance was just as terrifying.

He crashed head-foremost into the back row of spectators, which, as one

man, yelled and fled; tore along the path made clear for him, and

sensing an enemy in the growling jaguar, was at its throat like a

thrown spear; missing it by an inch as the black beast flung itself

back to the full length of the steel chain which fastened it to an iron

ring in the ground.

Damaris in her turn rushed, across the square, passing the astounded

spectators, who salaamed as she ran. And as she ran she shouted:

"Let the animal loose," she cried. "Give it a chance; let it loose."

But Hugh Carden Ali, not in the least understanding the sudden

onslaught, but with every sporting instinct uppermost, had already

leant down in the seething, growling mass of fur and hate, and loosened

the chain; whilst, with screams of fear and delight, the crowd raced

for the adjacent houses, from the upper windows of which they could

hang in safety to watch the fight.

Disgusting?

Quite so! But have you ever heard of bull-fighting or pigeon-shooting

in civilised, humane Europe?

There followed a frightful scene, during which Abdul, having picked up

the pigeon, hastily flung his birds far behind the growling, spitting,

raging couple, whilst the stallion, rearing in terror, nearly jerked

his master, who had the bridle slipped over his arm, off his feet.

The two dogs of Billi and the two greyhounds leapt and barked and

snapped at the belligerents until Wellington, taking an off-chance,

suddenly turned and bit one of them clean through the shoulder;

whereupon it yelped and howled and fled, whilst shouts of "_Ma

sha-Allah_" and much clapping came from the upper windows.

Damaris ran straight towards the man, who, slipping the bridle, put

both arms round her to draw her to safety; then, suddenly realising the

beauty, the youth and the pure whiteness of her, as suddenly let her go.

"Shall I separate them?" he asked simply.

"No! Not even if you could. Once my dog's blood is up, nothing but

death will satisfy him."

She stood quite still, as white as a sheet, with both hands on his arm,

whilst the great dog hurled himself at the spitting brute, only to meet

the teeth and claws which drew blood at every attempt, until the ground

was crimson where they fought.

And then, with tears streaming down her cheeks, Damaris looked up into

the man's face; then buried her face on his shoulder.

And the seed of love which is in the heart of every human burst

through, the clogging mould of custom and convention and, taking root,

put forth shoots and sprang in one moment into the great tree of love

of which the fruits, being those of purity, honour and sacrifice, are

golden.

Yet he did not touch her, having learned his lesson; instead, he raised

his right hand above his head.

"Allah!" he said, in praise of that which had come unto him, "Allah,

there is no God but Thee," just as, with a sudden swish, a flock of

startled pigeons flashing like jewels in the setting sun new low down

across his head, bringing an end to the battle.

For one half-second the jaguar's green eyes shifted, and the dog was at

its throat. There was a mighty, convulsive effort of the hind-legs

which ripped the bulldog's sides, a click, a shiver, and the black

brute fell dead, as the dog, a mass of blood, foam and pride, hurled

himself onto the skirt of his beloved mistress, whilst the enraptured

spectators, yelling with excitement, rushed out into the square with

shouts of "_Ma sha-Allah_," which means, "Well done, well done!"

"Keep quite still," said Hugh Carden Ali, gently, as Damaris made an

effort to turn; then, speaking quickly to the beaming, salaaming

spectators, who had had the time of their lives gambling on the chances

of either animal, ordered them to remove the dead beast and to strew

the place with sand. And "_Irja Sooltan_," he called to the stallion,

which, terrified at the sounds and sight and smell of battle, had

bolted up a side street, where he stood fretting and fidgeting himself

into a fine sweat, until he heard the clear call which could always

bring him back to the man he loved. He stood for one second, then

flung up his heels to the devastation of a stall of earthenware, and

raced back to the square at a most unseemly pace, causing the

spectators once more to fly in all directions with cries of "U'a u'a,"

which means, "Look out, look out!"

He pushed his soft nose with determination against the woman who stood

so close to his master, so that she looked up, and then smiled and

stretched out her arms.

"You beauty!" she cried. "Oh, you _beauty_!"

"You ride?"

Damaris, thinking of the hack, the only thing with the shape of a horse

she had been able to get so far, and upon the back of which she loathed

to be seen, made a grimace.

"I go out on horseback," she said. "I have not ridden since I left

home."

The man's reply, whatever it might have been, was interrupted by Abdul,

who, all smiles, stood before them, with the white pigeon in the left

hand and the _shahin_ upon his right fist.

The native had no intention of causing the white woman pain; in fact,

wishing to find favour in the eyes of the nobles, he only wanted to

give them a chance of witnessing a little of, to him, the finest sport

in the world.

"Look, lady!" he cried.

He tossed the pigeon high into the air, allowed her a little distance,

then threw the hawk.

"No! Oh, no! don't!" cried Damaris, as the hawk rose, "stooped" and

missed the pigeon by a hair's-breadth as it "put in", which means that

it flew straight into a small niche of a minaret for cover.

"Ah!" cried Damaris, and "_Bi-sma-llah_!" ejaculated Abdul, as he threw

the lure of a dead plover and called his hawk with the luring Eastern

call. "Coo-coo," he called; "coo-coo," to which the hawk responded as

a well-trained _shahin_ should.

Hugh Carden Ali stood with his hand on the stallion's mane, looking up

at the sky, in which shone a great star.

"The hawk of Egypt failed," he said to himself. "Flown at a white

bird, it failed. The House of Allah, who is God, gave sanctuary to the

little white bird. Praise be to Allah who is God."

He looked down at the girl, who was kneeling, consoling the dog, who,

reft 'tween pride and pain, showed a lamentable countenance. Suddenly

she looked up and rose, and stood silently.

"Come," he said simply, while he longed to pick her up and ride with

her to his home in the Oasis. "I will take you to your hotel."

"My car is waiting for me in the Sikket el-Gedideh," she replied.

* * * * *

Later, a vision of loveliness, she walked down the dining-room behind

the Duchess of Longacres, whilst continuous lamentations were wafted

through the spring-doors from the spot where sat a dog with

sticking-plaster across his nose and middle girt with a cummerbund of

pink boracic lint.

Beside the girl's place lay a huge bunch of crimson roses tied with

golden tassels; there was no card, name nor message.

She asked no question, neither did her godmother.

To what purpose should they? The one _knew_; the other firmly believed

in allowing the young to work out the salvation of their own souls;

which did not, however, mean that she would not keep a sharp look-out

in the future over the troubled sea of Life.

"I knew something would happen," thought the wise old lady, as she

passed a biscuit up to the parrot on her shoulder.

"_Kathir Khairak_," it said delightedly.

It merely means "thank you," but had taken weeks of teaching and

repeating to master.