The sweat was falling from his brow, and his eyes were
strained and bloodshot with agony. He had no stick, his vow, I
presume, debarring him from such assistance, and he limped along,
putting to the ground the heel of the unprotected foot. I could see
it, and it was a mass of blood, and sores, and broken skin. An
Irish girl would walk from Jerusalem to Jericho without shoes, and
be not a penny the worse for it. This poor fellow clearly suffered
so much that I was almost inclined to think that in the performance
of his penance he had done something to aggravate his pain. Those
around him paid no attention to him, and the dragoman seemed to
think nothing of the affair whatever. "Those fools of Greeks do not
understand the Christian religion," he said, being himself a Latin
or Roman Catholic.
At the tail of the line we encountered two Bedouins, who were in
charge of the caravan, and Joseph at once addressed them. The men
were mounted, one on a very sorry-looking jade, but the other on a
good stout Arab barb. They had guns slung behind their backs,
coloured handkerchiefs on their heads, and they wore the striped
bernouse.
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