At least no revenge could lie against my followers;
for I was astranger and kinless. The Medina force,being short of animal transport,
could carry little with them.
There were water pools in the crags,and Merawin
tents under the fine trees which studded the flat.
The puffs of feverishwind pressed like scorching
hands against our faces, burning our eyes. The shot must have been fired from close
by;because the skin was burnt about one wound.
Except that all its events were happy, this day was
not essentiallyunlike Feisals every day. He was recognizedas a force transcending
tribe, superseding blood chiefs, greater thanjealousies. Efforts to make our men
hate the enemyusually made them hate the fighting. I stood in the entrance andgave
him a few moments delay which he spent crying on the ground.
Thefertility of the slopes was great: on them
grazed flocks of sheep andgoats.
This might dofor France and Germany, but would not
represent the British attitude. Victory could he purchased only by blood. If they
would go quietly the war wouldend.
Just before five in theafternoon, however, the way
got easier. I fired again,but was shaking so that I only broke his wrist. My vision
of the course of the Arab war was still purblind. I covered him with a pistol and
then spoke.
Feisal had secured it years ago, and hadretained it
by interchange of gifts from Medina and Yenbo. His body shivered a little, and I
called the Ageyl, whoburied him in the gully where he was. We ordered Sherif Nasir
to stay near Kalaat el Muadhdham, andkeep his men in hand for an effort. Nuri was an
old man, who had ruled his Anazeh tribesmen for thirtyyears.
Its sandy bed had been pitted by trickles ofwater
down the cliffs in the late rain.
Perhaps they would count me not qualified for
feud.
We worked out our possibleresources and arranged to
move them into contact with the railway. A shallow well near by was said to afford
tolerable water.
Oneach side were deep troughs, between the lava and
the hill-side. His body shivered a little, and I called the Ageyl, whoburied him in
the gully where he was.
His headship had been acquired by sheer force of
character.
Its shingleface, without loose rocks, was
plentifully grown over with trees.
I made him enter a narrow gully of the spur, a dank
twilight placeovergrown with weeds.
The camels loved this grass, which grew in tufts,
aboutsixteen inches high, on slate-green stalks.
It was not a base for us like Wejh, nor a threat
like WadiAis. I wrote asking Newcombe to come infor news. Seen from near by, it more
resembled a huge footballhalf-buried in the ground.
The camels, thin with the bad grazing of this
dryBilli territory, would have to go slowly. Murray had given us two armoured-cars,
Rolls-Royces, released from thecampaign in East Africa. After a while we came to a
fault in the flow,which served as a track to the other side.