There was no decent corn or hay left in the countryside.

The third day he picked up a nice little Arab stallion: in poor condition, it is true, but perfectly sound.

For these beasts we paid good money, for Blenkiron was well supplied and we had no time to spare for the interminable Oriental bargaining.
Hussin said he had cleaned up the countryside, and I believed him.

I dared not delay another day, even though it meant leaving him behind.
But he had no notion of doing anything of the kind.

He was a good runner, he said, and could keep up with such horses as ours for ever.
If this was the manner of our progress, I reckoned we would be weeks in getting to Erzerum.
We started at dawn on the morning of the fourth day, after the old farmer had blessed us and sold us some stale rye-bread.