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122 BY DESERT WAYS TO BAGHDAD
and there was much feasting and singing that
night.
• ....
On the morrow we mounted our horses once more
and rode away through the bell-shaped huts and past
the ancient ruins, over the rich plains, back again into
the city of Ur, at the foot of the grey hills.
CHAPTER VIII
THAT UNBLESSED LAND, MESOPOTAMIA
WE were encamped in the khan, the native inn,
at Severek, a dismal town in the dismal wilds
of Mesopotamia; the weather and the depth of mud
made it impossible for us to pitch our tents outside,
and the dirty, windowless sheds round the courtyard,
which afforded the only sleeping accommodation, were
not inviting, so we had fixed our tent in a covered
passage by tying the ropes to the pillars supporting
the roof. The Zaptiehs deputed to guard us for the
night hung about the door, plying Hassan and Arten
with questions as to our sanity. Why should two foreign
ladies choose the depth of winter to travel between
Urfa and Diarbekr along the caravan route which
had been long deserted owing to the raids of the
Hamidieh Kurds? I had often asked myself the
same question during the last few days, but had not
yet thought of an answer.
A pale, dishevelled young man in semi-European
clothes slouched into the courtyard and joined the
group. The Zaptiehs spoke roughly to him and he
gave a cringing reply. He forced his way past them
up to me.
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