The Arabian struck down her arms as Yussuf pulled Ralph Trenchard back.
“Come thou with me, thou infidel!” he cried.
“Get thou up, Helen R-r-aynor-r,” commanded the Arabian.
The stars blazed in the sky as the women scuttled back to their quarters and the men talked together.
“Behold, has my acacia tree no luck!” said the handsome youth.
“As saith the proverb of those whose luck changeth not,” replied Bowlegs, as he shook his fist after his retreating, obese and second wife. “‘The misfortune either falls upon the camel or upon the camel driver or upon the owner of the camel.’ Ha! wouldst show me what thou hast learned from the white man?”
He caught the Arab who had sprung at him in a friendly desire to show his pugilistic skill, tossed him on one side like a bundle of clothes, and shouted defiance to the whole camp.
So that the tournament, if somewhat impromptu and lacking a referee, took place after all and lasted well into the night.