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50 BY DESERT WAYS TO BAGHDAD
Then we heard the low, familiar tinkle of camel bells,
and a score or more of laden animals paced slowly
into the open ground round the station. They have
a more discreet and tuneful way of announcing their
arrival than the Monster, and when they appear
on the scene they do so in a more dignified, calmer
manner. Having arrived also, they do not look as
if they were off again the next minute ; they look
as if they had come to stay for ever, and they give
you time to think. One by one, in answer to a word
of command, they knelt down in the dust, and the
great baskets holding the goods were unfastened and
rolled about on the ground. Their owners seemed
too slack to do any more. They let them lie there
while they looked at the sun. The Monster is slowly
replacing these carriers of the East; but their day is
not yet done by a long way, for they must feed him
from the interior. His life is still dependent on
the life of those he is working to destroy.
• •••*•
At last we heard his distant shriek. Down upon
us he came, dashing up all in a minute, in such
a splutter and such a hurry, waking us all up.
Officials rushed up and down the platform, and swore
at the natives who were loading our baggage. Every
body talked at once to everybody else, and the
Monster hissed impatiently, noisy even when he was
standing still.
There were not many passengers; in a first-class
carriage a Pasha travelled in solitary state; all his
harem were delegated to a second-class carriage,
where the blinds were pulled down. In the third-
'WE HAD ESTABLISHED SOCIAL INTERCOURSE."
(See page 4 1.)
Jacc fee 50. CAMELS AT MEKIDJE STATION.
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