"It would be tolerably nice," he replied, "to ride into Baghdad even without it. Honestly, I do not much care which it is. I waive all claim to carrying the Golden Girdle."
"What a scoffer you are," I said. "You do not really believe in its existence. For my part, I should not be a bit surprised if at this very moment it was in the Jelas camp. Faris is as keen about it as I am, and he would not waste any time in preparing for his raid on the Shammar. I agree that we must go to Adiba now, but as soon as we leave the place, we will make straight for our old quarters, see what the sheik has been about, and find out if he has heard anything of the girdle."
"All right," said Edwards, "I will see you through the business. You shall have your way, and I will stick to you. But I beg of you not to let me in for adventures such as you and Faris have just been indulging in. My feeble brain would not stand that sort of thing."
During the journey of the succeeding fortnight or more, we made friends with all the members of the caravan, and George Edwards covered himself with glory by looking after the ailments of the party. Fortunately, no one had attempted to rifle his saddle-bags, and, when starting with Sedjur on the ride to meet me, he had taken the precaution to bring with him his travelling medicine-case and instruments. It was an uneventful ride, through a barren and ugly country, and glad were we when, at last, we came in sight of the walls of Adiba, and saw a body of horsemen issuing out to greet their Governor.
CHAPTER XII.
RIVAL DOCTORS.
Our entry into Adiba much resembled the procession in the Lord Mayor's Show. There were trumpeters and drummers, camelmen armed with matchlocks, horsemen with spears, and foot soldiers carrying bludgeons, knives, and a variety of weapons. Crowds of people lined the principal thoroughfare, leading from the gateway by which we had entered to the palace of the Governor—for it was dignified by the name of palace, though in reality it was by no means a sumptuous dwelling. Edwards and I rode on either side of the great man, and our presence created a considerable amount of interest, since the news had already spread that we were Englishmen, and that one of us was a famous doctor. Yet, I noticed that there were faces in the crowd that did not look on us with favour, which, as I said to myself, was only natural in a country hitherto practically forbidden to Europeans.
A separate apartment in the palace was allotted to us, and we were made thoroughly comfortable, the floor being spread with rich Persian carpets and hung with silken draperies; but the most delightful part of our quarters was the flat roof, up to which a flight of steps led from the corner of the room. The palace itself abutted on the fortified wall of the town, and our room and roof-top formed a kind of bastion, surmounted by a low parapet with loopholes. It had the advantage of seclusion, since it was a little higher than the other buildings of the town; and on the roof, during our stay in Adiba, we slept at night and enjoyed the cool hours of the day.
Hardly had we settled down than Edwards was summoned to visit the sick child, and as, during our march, I had always assisted him in his medical duties, I went with him. We were conducted, through several apartments, to the women's quarters, where we found Ali Khan and his chief wife, sitting by the side of a frail boy of about twelve years of age. The mother was weeping bitterly, and begged us to do what we could to save the life of her only son. Three grave-looking and aged native physicians were also present, and were evidently none too well-pleased at our interference, one of them even going so far as to remonstrate with the Governor for having called in a foreigner and an unbeliever, an act which he pronounced to be equivalent to lack of faith.