"Camel drivers," answered one of the arrivals.
"Ah, Idris and Gebhr? What do you want?"
"We come to ask whether you will need us to-morrow."
"No. To-morrow and the day after are great holidays, during which it is not proper to make excursions. Come on the morning of the third day."
"Thank you, effendi."
"Have you good camels?" asked Mr. Rawlinson.
"Bismillah!" answered Idris; "real saddle-horses with fat humps and as gentle as ha'-ga (lambs). Otherwise Cook would not have employed us." "Do they jolt much?"
"Gentlemen, you can place a handful of kidney-beans on their backs and not a grain will fall during the fullest speed."
"If one is to exaggerate, then exaggerate after the Arabian fashion," said Pan Tarkowski, laughing.
"Or after the Sudânese," added Mr. Rawlinson.