"I'm Hi Jolly." Ali gave the Americanized version of his name.
Hud Perkins said, "I looked out an' saw a man comin' on a camel, I couldn't believe it! Of course, lots of men come, hardly a week passes but what somebody goes up or down river, but not on camels. Is he tame?"
"Tamer than he was at one time," Ali answered. "He has been among so many people that almost anybody can pet him now."
Hud Perkins said, "Don't know as I'd hold with pettin' him, but such a critter sure makes a man think. On my way out here, I run across a passel of 'em."
Ali's interest quickened. "You did? Where?"
"On the Heely River," Hud Perkins stated, "an' there wasn't rightly a passel. There was five, but five such critters look like a passel. Will yours stay about or do you picket him?"
"He'll stay."
"Then take his gear off an' let him fill up. Plenty of grass hereabouts an' nary a critter to eat it most times."
Ali removed Ben Akbar's saddle and bridle and the big dalul padded out to forage. Intrigued by his host's reference to five camels on the Heely River, Ali straightened to ask for more information and found Hud Perkins staring at Ben Akbar.
He turned to Ali. "What's wrong with him?"