"There are no other houses for a long distance in either direction. They might have stopped here."
"But they did not!" And as Renwick gave up despairingly, "You see, I worked very hard all last week and slept like a dead man."
"It was not last week," said Renwick gloomily, "almost two months ago——"
"Ah, as to that——" and Selim shrugged again. "One has no recollection of things that happened before the Hegira."
Of course it was hopeless. Renwick had only unraveled the thread to see how far it would lead. Here it broke off, and so he relinquished it. Rather wearily he sank back into his chair and gazed out of the window into the sunset.
Selim's wife entered with a tray to take away the dishes. She wore no yashmak, for Selim, though professing the Moslem faith, was somewhat lax in carrying out its articles. He did not believe in running a good thing into the ground, he said. So Zaidee came and went as she chose.
"I have been listening from the kitchen," she said with a smile. "It is always a woman that makes the trouble, nicht wahr?"
"Then how can Paradise be Paradise?" grunted Selim.
"Thou wouldst get on poorly without us, just the same," said Zaidee demurely.
"But I should not go to the ends of the earth, like Stefan, here."