The officers, however, have learned to see beyond these little tricks, and few Arabs succeed in wriggling through their drag-net.

I have watched dozens of Arabs being brought in to the recruiting office on camels or horses, so weak were they, and welcomed into the service with a severe beating--the sick and the shammers sharing the same fate.
Thus it often happens that some of the new recruits die after their first day of garrison life.
Together with twenty of my comrades, I presented myself at the recruiting station at Acco (the St.Jean d'Acre of history).

We had been given to understand that, once our names were registered, we should be allowed to return home to provide ourselves with money, suitable clothing, and food, as well as to bid our families good-bye.

To our astonishment, however, we were marched off to the Han, or caravanserai, and locked into the great courtyard with hundreds of dirty Arabs.

Hour after hour passed; darkness came, and finally we had to stretch ourselves on the ground and make the best of a bad situation.