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i I
62 BY DESERT WAYS TO BAGHDAD
Baghdad Railway was everywhere in the air. 1 No one
spoke openly about it; its coming seemed enveloped
in such a shroud of mystery that one felt there was a
sort of halo around its birth. At first one mentioned
it baldly by name; and at once the official would put
on his most discreet and impressive manner and refer
to the will of Allah; the merchant would nod
mysteriously and then wink with evident satisfaction.
" It comes! oh yes, it conies! but it is better not to
talk of it yet." And the Zaptieh would sigh heavily,
thinking of his unpaid wages, and say, " Please God,
it comes," and then look hastily round to see who
had overheard him.
And so at last we also learnt to speak of the Coming
of the Monster with bated breath and lowered tones,
and were duly infected with the impressiveness of his
arrival—the arrival of the Being whose touch was to
bring new life into this dead land.
II.
It was on the morning of the third day after our
arrival at Konia that we made the plunge into the
great plain from the spot where the Monster had left
us. We collected in the square in front of the Konak.
There were two covered arabas to convey the
baggage, and in one of these Constantin and Hassan
also rode; X and I rode horses and had saddle-bags
slung under our saddles. Our escort consisted of
1 The Baghdad Railway is now running as far a.s Bulgurlu, a
point some seven miles beyond Eregli.