Toward the farther end, a hole in
the floor was the family cooking-place, and behind it an elevation of
beaten earth made a wide shelf for a long row of jars shaped like the
Roman amphorae of two thousand years ago. Pegs driven into one of the
walls were hung with gandourahs and a foutah or two; and of furniture,
worthy of that name in the eyes of Europeans, there was none.
At the bedroom end of the room, several women were gathered round a
central object of interest, and though the light was dim after the vivid
sunshine outside, the visitors guessed that the object of interest was
the bride. Decorously they paused near the door, while a great deal of
arguing went on, in which the shriller voices of women mingled with the
guttural tones of the men. Nevill could catch no word, for they were
talking their own Kabyle tongue which had come down from their
forefathers the Berbers, lords of the land long years before the Arabs
drove them into the high mountains. But at last the group opened, and a
young woman stepped out with half-shy eagerness. She was loaded with
jewels, and her foutah was barbarically splendid in colour, but she was
almost as fair as her father; a slim creature with grey eyes, and brown
curly hair that showed under her orange foulard.
Proud of her French, she began talking in that language, welcoming the
guests, telling them how glad she was to see friends of her dear
Mademoiselle Soubise.
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