Ahmed and I sat on a rock and watched them.  Ahmed pretended he wanted to pray, too.  To impress me, he said he was a very devout Christian and that nothing should prevent the practice of his religion.  But he was very quick to take my advice not to start anything that might bring on a breach of the peace.  Old Anazeh’s short preliminary sermon to his followers, about the need of always keeping God in mind, was not addressed to us.

Prayers finished, they proceeded to cut up and cook the sheep.  Ahmed and I subdued the voice of conscience without noticeable effort and ate our share of the stolen goods.  Ahmed said that, seeing how little was left for him when the rest had all been served, he sinned only in small degree, but that my share, as an honoured guest, was huge, and the sin proportionate.  So I gave him some of my meat, and he ate it, and we were equally sinful—­ one more bond cementing an “eternal friendship!”

We had hardly finished eating when an Arab on a gray horse came riding furiously down a ravine that looked like a dry water-course.  He was brought up all-standing fifty yards away.  Every man in the party leveled a rifle at him.  Anazeh beckoned me to come and get behind him for protection.  He was very angry when I refused.  He cursed the language and religion of whatever fool had taught me manners in a land where pigs are lawful food.  However, after they had all had a good look at the horseman they let him draw near, and there followed a noisy conference, the man on the horse calling on Allah repeatedly with emphasis, and Anazeh and his followers all doing the same thing, but from an opposing viewpoint.  I persuaded Ahmed to go up close and listen.

“The man is from El-Kerak,” he said presently, while they all still fought with words, using tremendous oaths by way of artillery.  “A council of the tribes has been summoned, to meet at El-Kerak, but each sheikh is only to take two men with him, because of the risk of fighting among themselves.  Anazeh says there can be no proper council without his being present, and that he will attend the council; but as for taking only two men, he has pledged his word to escort you with twenty men to El-Kerak.  He swears that he will carry out that pledge, even should he have to fight the whole way there and back again!”

Anazeh suddenly cut short the war of words.  His gesture suggested that of Joshua who made the sun stand still.  He tossed a curt order to one of his men, who went off at a run toward a village, whose morning smoke rose blue over a spur of the range a mile away.  Then Anazeh sat down to await events, and took no more notice of the horseman’s arguments.  That did not worry the horseman much.  He kept on arguing.  Every few minutes one of Anazeh’s men would go to him and repeat some tid-bit, as if the old sheikh had not heard it; but all he got for his pains was a gesture of contemptuous dismissal.

Ahmed kept growing more and more uncomfortable all the time.  He had attended to his boat, making it properly fast and covering the engine, under the eyes of four men who were at pains to see that he did not crank up and desert.  Now he was back beside me, trying to bolster up his own courage by making me afraid.