I gathered that Qway was in the position of an honoured guest, for nearly every time I saw him he dilated upon Sheykh Senussi’s kindness to him. At times he became almost sentimental on the subject, declaring that he was like a brother to him. The reason for Qway’s affection evidently being that his camel, of which he was so proud, was being fed on the fat of the land and that he apparently was getting unlimited tea. This rapprochement between Qway and the Senussi, added to the rather secretive manner in which it was going on, made me suspect that this lavish hospitality had some ulterior object, though it was difficult to see what they were planning.
There were signs, too, that the Senussi were endeavouring to get round my other men, for when I went one morning to look at the camels, I saw an unpleasant-looking, pock-marked Arab skulking about in the yard to which Abd er Rahman had moved them to protect them from the wind—or the afrit. He kept dodging about behind the beasts and making for the entrance to the yard, evidently trying to avoid being seen. When I called him up and spoke to him, he told me he had come from “the north,” and tried to give the impression that he had recently left Assiut.
But on questioning Abd er Rahman about him afterwards I found that he was one of Sheykh Ahmed’s men, who had come down from his ezba in charge of two camels on some mysterious errand, the nature of which was not quite clear. Abd er Rahman, when I told him that he looked a disreputable scoundrel, was loud in his praise.
I managed to elicit one useful piece of information from him, as he told me that, owing to most of the camels belonging to the Senussi having gone with old Mawhub, on his journey to Kufara, they only had three left in the oasis. This was rather welcome news, as I was afraid that they might go out and tamper with the depots I was intending to make in the desert.
CHAPTER XV
AS soon as the camels had been got into good condition I sent Qway, Abd er Rahman and Ibrahim off with the caravan loaded with grain, which the two Sudanese were to deposit at Jebel el Bayed, the hill we had reached at the end of our last journey the season before.
Ibrahim had not been with me at all the previous season and, as Abd er Rahman had never even been within sight of the hill, as I had sent him back to Mut to bring out more water on the journey on which I reached it, I arranged that Qway should ride with them as far as the edge of the plateau, where he was to give Abd er Rahman directions to take him to Jebel el Bayed. Here, however, he was to leave the caravan and to ride west along the tableland and come back and report what he had seen.
Abd er Rahman, following the directions given him by Qway, easily found Jebel el Bayed, and left the grain to form the depot in the neighbourhood. Qway himself rejoined the caravan on their way back just before reaching Mut, so they all returned together.
Qway, of course, had done practically nothing. It was difficult to see the best way of dealing with him. I could, of course, have discharged him, but drastic remedies are seldom the best, and to have done so would only have had the effect of playing straight into the hands of the Senussi, as he was a magnificent guide and they would have at once gained him as a wholehearted recruit. As he unfortunately knew the whole of my plans, the better scheme seemed to be to keep him with me and to tie him up in such a way that he could do no harm. In the circumstances I thought it best to send Sheykh Suleyman a letter, asking him to let me have Abdulla and the best hagin he could find. This, at any rate, would ensure my having a guide if Qway went wrong; and I hoped by stirring up a little friction between him and Abdulla to make the latter keep an eye upon his actions.
Soon after the return of the caravan the mamur left and I went round to see him off. On the way I looked into the enclosure where the camels were housed, and again caught Sheykh Ahmed’s pock-marked camel-man hobnobbing with my men, and saw that he was stabling his two camels in the neighbouring yard.