"And the maid?" asked Abdullah.
"We have travelled a day and a part of a night together," said Ali, "and she will believe what I tell her to believe."
"The old religion is good in some respects," said Abdullah. "Call the maid;" and they went to the hut.
"Here are the witnesses," said Abdullah, "ready to be Christians."
"It is not necessary," said the priest, "if they can make their mark; that is all that is required."
So, in the little hut, before an improvised altar, they were married—the camel-driver and the daughter of the Chief of Ouled Nail.
The next morning the caravan took up the march for Biskra.
THE MOTHER OF THE ALMEES
It was the great fast of Rhamadan, and the square of Biskra was crowded with white-robed men waiting for the sun to set that they might eat.
The rough pavement was dotted with fires over which simmered pots filled with what only a very jealous God indeed would have called food. About them were huddled the traders from the bazaars, the camel-drivers from the desert, the water-carriers from Bab el Derb. Each man held a cigarette in his left hand and a match in his right. He would smoke before he ate.