Burning Sands Part 17

To some extent it might be said that his work in the Oasis was finished: his notebooks contained an enormous ma.s.s of information. Yet he was loth to consider that his task was accomplished. El Hamran and its inhabitants, and especially the saintly and benevolent Sheikh Ali, had become very dear to him; and the detachment from the world made an appeal to his nature which was very strong. His occasional journeys to Cairo were always disturbing to the peace of his mind; and how then could he expect to be happy in close daily contact with all that produced unrest?

There was this girl Muriel Blair, who, against his reason, had made some sort of impression upon him which was hard to eradicate. He had tried his best, even to the point of rudeness, to ignore her; and yet he had found himself interested in her welfare, and, on his return journey to the Oasis, he had given more thought to her than he supposed she deserved. And now he had to confess that Lord Blair's reference to her in his letter had aroused the response it was intended to arouse.

During the whole afternoon he turned the matter over in his mind, and at sunset he went out for a rambling walk into the desert behind his house; nor did he return until his mind was made up.

As he entered his gateway in the gathering darkness, he was met by the Sheikh, who had come to discuss further the subject which he had opened that morning.

Daniel led him into his lamp-lit sitting-room, and bade him be seated; but when the old man began to discuss the merits of his case and those of his enemy, his host held up his hand.

"I would first ask your advice upon my own affairs," he said. "My heart is sad tonight, my father."

"Let me share your sorrow," the Sheikh replied, with simple sincerity.

"My father," said Daniel, "you have told me that long years ago you resided for some years in Cairo and other great cities."

The Sheikh nodded his head. "It is so," he replied.

"Were you happy there?"

"My son, I was young."

"I mean," said Daniel, "do you believe that happiness is to be found in cities?"

The old man raised his hand and moved it from side to side. "No," he answered, "not happiness-only pleasure. Why do you ask?"

"Because I received a letter today...."

"I saw the messenger," said the Sheikh.

"I have been offered a position of some importance in Cairo. My friends want me to leave El Hamran, and to live in Egypt."

Sheikh Ali uttered an exclamation of distress. "What is your reply?" he asked.

"Advise me, my father," Daniel answered.

The Sheikh leant forward and silently examined his red leather shoes.

For some moments no word was spoken. At length he looked up, and his hand stroked his white beard. "What use is it for me to advise you?" he said. "Your decision is already made. You will leave us; but it is not the glory of office which attracts you, nor yet the call of your duty which bids you depart."

"What then is it?" Daniel asked.

"My friend," he answered, after a pause, "no son of Adam, having strength and vitality such as yours, and enjoying the springtime of life, can remain a _dervish_, an ascetic. It is true that you care little for the world, that you do not desire fine clothes, nor wealth, nor possessions. Yet you are man, and man looks for his mate. You go to choose for yourself a wife."

Daniel smiled. "You are mistaken," he answered. "I shall not marry for some years to come."

The Sheikh shook his head. "No man knows the secrets of his own heart,"

he replied, "yet his friend may read them like a book written in a fair hand. I say again, you go to choose for yourself a wife."

The ready denial was checked upon Daniel's lips. For a moment he paused, and it seemed to him that a sidelight had been flashed upon the workings of his brain: then he dismissed the thought as being something very nearly fantastic.

"No," he said, "I am going because I believe it to be my duty. My country needs me."

The Sheikh made a gesture which seemed to indicate the uselessness of argument. "It is not good for a man to live alone," he answered, with a sigh. "Some day, perhaps, you will return to us, bringing with you your wife."

Daniel smiled again, but there was sadness in his face. "El Hamran is my wife," he said. "When I go, my heart will remain here."

"When will your Excellency leave?" the Sheikh asked, becoming suddenly a man of action.

"In a few days" the other answered; "as soon as this matter of feud is set to rights." And therewith he turned the conversation into that channel.

In the night as he lay upon his bed upon the tower-top, gazing up into the immensity of the heavens, he repeated to himself, almost with derision, the words of the Sheikh: "You go to choose for yourself a wife." It was absurd, and yet somehow the thought made a way for itself amongst the crowded places of his mind. To choose for himself a wife...!

"Good Lord!" he muttered; "what a horrible idea!"

CHAPTER XII-THE HELPMATE

Daniel was drying himself after his bath early next morning when Hussein came to tell him that the soldier of the Frontier Patrol craved permission to ask whether the reply was ready, as he was anxious to start back as early as possible, so as not to delay the messenger who wished to leave for Cairo at noon.

He therefore fastened a towel around his waist, and, striding into the adjoining room, scribbled his answer on a half-sheet of paper.

"Excuse scrawl," he wrote, "but am having my bath, and the messenger, whom I've kept all night, can't wait any longer. All right, I'll turn up within a week or so and take on the job you so flatteringly offer. No knighthood, please. D. L."

He thrust the sheet into an envelope, and with a broad smile addressed it: "The Rt. Hon. The Earl Blair of Hartlestone, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., etc.; His Britannic Majesty's High Commissioner and Minister Plenipotentiary."

He felt that, since he was now to be a respectable member of society, he ought to accustom himself at once to the world's accepted ways, even though they seemed to him to belong to the realm of comic opera.

High-sounding t.i.tles always made him laugh. He could not explain it: it was just a clear sense of actuality, a looking at things as they are and not as ceremony presents them.

Now that his mind was made up, and Lord Blair's invitation accepted, he felt no longer troubled; and, his reply having been dispatched, he set about packing his belongings and rounding off his affairs with the greatest equanimity.

To his great regret, however, he failed to bring the matter of the feud to a successful conclusion. The chief members of the family opposed to Sheikh Ali would not be reconciled; and all that Daniel's eloquence and persuasion could accomplish was an agreement to maintain the _status quo_ during the Sheikh's lifetime. But as the old man was already bending under the weight of years, and as his hopes were concentrated upon the succession of his son, Ibrahim, this compromise was not very satisfactory.

Daniel's departure was the cause of much regret in the Oasis, for he had come to be regarded by the inhabitants as a loyal and helpful friend, one who was full of wisdom and benevolence, and who could doctor both their souls and their bodies. But in the case of Sheikh Ali the parting was the occasion of deep sorrow; and the old man endeavoured on these last days to pour into his ears all the good advice he could command.

"This is my parting gift," said Daniel to him, when at length the hour of setting out had arrived. "I give you my promise that when you go to rest with your fathers, I will support with all my might the candidature of your son, Ibrahim, for the office of Sheikh."

The old man spread his arms wide. "G.o.d be praised!" he cried. "Now _am_ I at peace, my dear."

A crowd of natives followed his caravan for some distance, the men firing their guns in the air and shouting words of encouragement and blessing to him; and when at last the desert hills had swallowed him, he felt that he had set behind him a phase of his life the happiness of which he could never hope to enjoy again.

The journey was accomplished at a moderate speed, and on the fifth morning, soon after sunrise, they sighted the Pyramids in the distance ahead of them, backed by the green belt of the Nile valley. The early sun now struck full in their eyes; and Daniel, turning down the brim of his hat, did not often look far in advance of his camel's nose until he was within some two miles of the Pyramids.

As he jogged along at the head of his caravan, his three yellow dogs trotting after him, his thoughts began to be coloured by a gentle excitement; and, for the first time, the future seemed to him to hold a variety of interesting possibilities.

After all, he said to himself, a man should rise above his surroundings; and indeed his philosophy would be proved a mere pretence if his happiness were dependent upon circ.u.mstances. Why should he dread the restlessness of Cairene life? If there were to be unease it would arise from within, not from without; and the citadel of his soul, of his individuality, would hardly be a fortress worth holding if the clamour of the world outside should be able to arouse an answering and traitorous disturbance within. Even in Cairo he would remain master of himself: one can be free anywhere.

"One can be free anywhere" ... Why, those were the words used by Muriel Blair when he had first met her; and he had laughed at them. Well, certainly she had not appeared to be very free as she sat there in the moonlight, with the diamonds sparkling around her throat. She did not know what freedom was: she was a product of the social conventions. He wondered whether she had taken his advice and had endeavoured to break loose from them.