The Hidden Treasure
(to see that I really did so). They would rest a few hours
and catch us up on their faster horses.
The master of the tents now appeared with a chicken ready
roasted on its wooden spit: the lieutenant dismembered it
with delicate fingers and deposited half of it before me. I
sacrificed one of my three remaining boxes of sardines, and
shared them with my captor, who soon rode off, as I afterwards
discovered, to make further enquiries into our doings among
the tribes of the ravines. As for me, I slept for an hour while
the ponies finished their unappetizing meal of chopped straw,
and then, with a sobered retinue, and leaving a hush behind me,
set out again on a track that led towards the Unbelievers'
Defile.
We rode now in the late afternoon, and descended on the
valley of the Rua with level sun rays slanting from our left.
We were made welcome from far off by our friends of the
Dusan camp, who evidently expected to see me brought along
in shackles, having been strictly interrogated by the police
that morning. Now that our captors were out of sight, it
became obvious that to be in disgrace with the law was one
way of being really popular among the tribesmen. A feeling
of cordiality was noticeable everywhere. The women came
up to pat niy knees and admire the new givas, and begged me
to stay the night. Our guide brought out the result of his
digging, a piece of carved stucco column and a cornelian bead
from the centre of the defile: three spear-heads found there
some while before, were added to the booty. We refused to
dismount, as it was late already, but turned our horses home-
ward up the valley, at a brisk pace among the tamarisks of the
river bed.
We had hardly crossed to the northern side, when the
policemen and the old kadkhuda appeared in die distance, and
shouted to us to stop the night. I still did not realize that I was