'Has the Sheykh Yusuf been deceiving us ?' He shook his head with a disgusted frown before replying: 'No, it is these others who are lying through dislike of him.

Is your heart set upon the purchase of that land ?' 'By no means.' 'That is good; because this village is a nest of hornets.

The headman has long marked that land out for his own.

Were we to pay Sheykh Yusuf a good price for it, enabling him to leave the neighbourhood with honour, they would hate us and work for our discomfort in a multitude of little ways.

We will call upon the Sheykh to-morrow and cry off the bargain, because your Honour caught a touch of fever from the land to-day.