"It is all far away, where
we see the hills which look golden as ripe grain. And we cannot reach
those hills by evening."
"My cousin always carries the sand for her divining. Every night she
reads in the sand what will happen to her on the morrow, just as the
women of Europe tell their fate by the cards. It is sand from the dunes
round Touggourt; and mingled with it is a little from Mecca, which was
brought to her by a holy man, a marabout. It would give her pleasure to
read the sand for thee."
"Then I will ask her to do it," Victoria promised.
As the day grew, its first brightness faded. A wind blew up from the
south, and slowly darkened the sky with a strange lilac haze, which
seemed tangible as thin silk gauze. Behind it the sun glimmered like a
great silver plate, and the desert turned pale, as in moonlight.
Although the ground was hard under the camels' feet, the wind carried
with it from far-away spaces a fine powder of sand which at last forced
Victoria to let down the haoulis, and Maieddine and the two Negroes to
cover their faces with the veils of their turbans, up to the eyes.
"It will rain this afternoon," M'Barka prophesied from between her
curtains.
"No," Maieddine contradicted her. "There has been rain this month, and
thou knowest better than I do that beyond El Aghouat it rains but once
in five years. Else, why do the men of the M'Zab country break their
hearts to dig deep wells? There will be no rain.
Pages:
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341