“No, sir; by following our example, importing from us, and planting walnut-trees and these magnificent planes all about his place. Look at these! Why, I could almost fancy myself in Gray’s Inn Gardens.”
“My dear Burne, are you serious?”
“Serious, sir? Never more so in my life. They are beautiful.”
“Yes, they are very beautiful,” said the professor drily. “But I always thought that these trees were the natives of this country, and that instead of the Turks imitating us, we had seen the beauty of these trees, and transplanted some of them when young to our own land.”
“Absurd!” said the old lawyer dictatorially, and he was about to say more when Yussuf stopped at a rough kind of inclosure, where a Turk was seated upon the grass beneath a shady tree smoking thoughtfully, and apparently paying no heed to the new-comers.
“The horses are here,” he said; and upon being spoken to, the Turk rose, laid aside his pipe, and bowed.
It was not a long business, for Yussuf and the owner of the horses were compatriots, but Lawrence stared at the animals in dismay when he followed his companions into the inclosure. He had pictured to himself so many lovely flowing-maned creatures of Arab descent, large-eyed, wide of nostril, and with arched necks, and tails that swept the ground. He expected to see them toss up their heads and snort, and dash off wildly, but on the contrary the dozen horses that were in the inclosure went quietly on with their grazing in the most business-like manner, and when a boy was sent to drive them up, they proved to be shaggy, heavy-headed, rather dejected-looking animals, with not an attractive point about them.
“Surely you will not buy any of these, Preston,” said Mr Burne. “I do not understand horses, but those seem to be a very shabby lot.”
“They are young, effendi, healthy and strong,” said Yussuf gravely. “They are accustomed to the mountains, and that is what we require. Large, handsome horses, such as you see in the desert or at Istamboul, would be useless here.”
“There, I am not going to doubt your knowing best,” said Mr Burne quietly; and the bargain was made, four being selected for riding, and two that were heavier and stronger for baggage animals.