"First, I must warn you, before beginning this work, not to be surprised to hear me calling barbarians by Grecian names.

"PL !" Critias

ATLANTIDA
Pierre Benoit
Translated by Mary C. Tongue and Mary Ross ACE BOOKS, INC. 11 ! A"enue o# t$e A%er&'as Ne( )or*, N.). 1!!+,

To Andr- Suar.s

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/ASSI0INI1EL, NO2EMBER 3, 14!+.

If the following pages are e8er to see the light of day it will be because they ha8e been stolen from me. !he delay that I e9act before they shall be disclosed assures me of that. :;< s to this disclosure, let no one distrust my aim when I prepare for it, when I insist upon it. 1ou may belie8e me when I maintain that no pride of authorship binds me to these pages. lready I am too far remo8ed from all such things. "nly it is useless that others should enter upon the path from which I shall not return. Four o6clock in the morning. #oon the sun will kindle the hamada with its pink fire. ll about me the bord= is asleep. !hrough the half,open door of his room I hear ndr> de #aint, 8it breathing ?uietly, 8ery ?uietly. In two days we shall start, he and I. .e shall lea8e the bord=. .e shall penetrate far down there to the #outh. !he official orders came this morning. (ow, e8en if I wished to withdraw, it is too late. ndr> and I asked for this mission. !he authori@ation that I sought, together with him, has at this moment become an order. !he hierarchic channels cleared, the pressure brought to bear at the )inistryAand then to be afraid, to recoil before this ad8entureB... !o be afraid, I said. I know that I am not afraidB "ne night in the Gurara, when I found two of my sentinels slaughtered, with the shameful cross cut of the 4erbers slashed across their stomachsthen I was afraid. I know what fear is. 5ust so now, when I ga@ed into the black depths, whence suddenly all at once the great red sun will rise, I know that it is not with fear that I tremble. I feel surging within me the sacred horror of this mystery, and its irresistible attraction. +elirious dreams, perhaps. !he mad imaginings of a brain surcharged, and an eye distraught by mirages. !he day will come, doubtless, when I shall reread these pages with an indulgent smile, as a man of fifty is accustomed to smile when he rereads old letters. +elirious dreams. )ad imaginings. 4ut these dreams, these imaginings, are dear to me. "*aptain de #aint, 8it and Lieutenant FerriCres," reads the official dispatch, "will proceed to !assili to determine the statigraphic relation of lbien sandstone and carboniferous limestone. !hey will, in addition, profit by any opportunities of determining the possible change of attitude of the 9d=ers towards our penetration, etc." If the =ourney should indeed ha8e to do only with such poor things I think that I should ne8er undertake it. #o I am longing for what I dread. I shall be de=ected if I do not find myself in the presence of what makes me strangely fearful. In the depths of the 8alley of .adi )ia a =ackal is barking. (ow and again, when a beam of moonlight breaks in a sil8er patch through the hollows of the heat,swollen

clouds, making him think he sees the young sun, a turtle do8e moans among the palm trees. I hear a step outside. I lean out of the window. shade clad in luminous black stuff glides o8er the hard,packed earth of the terrace of the fortification. light shines in the electric blackness. man has =ust lighted a cigarette. %e crouches, facing southwards. %e is smoking. It is *egh>ir,ben,*heikh, our !arga guide, the man who in three days is to lead us across the unknown plateaus of the mysterious Imoschaoch, across the hamadas of black stones, the great dried oases, the stretches of sil8er salt, the tawny hillocks, the flat gold dunes that are crested o8er, when the "ali@>" blows, with a shimmering ha@e of pale sand. *egh>ir,ben,*heikhB %e is the man. !here recurs to my mind +u8eyrier6s tragic phrase, " t the 8ery moment the *olonel was putting his foot in the stirrup he was felled by a sabre blow." :/< *egh>ir,ben,*heikhB !here he is, peacefully smoking his cigarette, a cigarette from the package that I ga8e him.... )ay the Lord forgi8e me for it. !he lamp casts a yellow light on the paper. #trange fate, which, I ne8er knew e9actly why, decided one day when I was a lad of si9teen that I should prepare myself for #aint *yr, and ga8e me there ndr> de #aint, 8it as classmate. I might ha8e studied law or medicine. !hen I should be today a respectable inhabitant of a town with a church and running water, instead of this cotton,clad phantom, brooding with an unspeakable an9iety o8er this desert which is about to swallow me. great insect has flown in through the window. It bu@@es, strikes against the rough cast, rebounds against the globe of the lamp, and then, helpless, its wings singed by the still burning candle, drops on the white paper. It is an frican )ay bug, big, black, with spots of li8id gray. I think of others, its brothers in France, the golden,brown )ay bugs, which I ha8e seen on stormy summer e8enings pro=ecting themsel8es like little particles of the soil of my nati8e countryside. It was there that as a child I spent my 8acations, and later on, my lea8es. "n my last lea8e, through those same meadows, there wandered beside me a slight form, wearing a thin scarf, because of the e8ening air, so cool back there. 4ut now this memory stirs me so slightly that I scarcely raise my eyes to that dark corner of my room where the light is dimly reflected by the glass of an indistinct portrait. I reali@e of how little conse?uence has become what had seemed at one time capable of filling all my life. !his plainti8e mystery is of no more interest to me. If the strolling singers of 'olla came to murmur their famous nostalgic airs under the window of this bord= I know that I should not listen to them, and if they became insistent I should send them on their way. .hat has been capable of causing this metamorphosis in meD story, a legend, perhaps, told, at any rate by one on whom rests the direst of suspicions. *egh>ir,ben,*heikh has finished his cigarette. I hear him returning with slow steps to his mat, in barrack 4, to the left of the guard post.

"ur departure being scheduled for the tenth of (o8ember, the manuscript attached to this letter was begun on #unday, the first, and finished on !hursday, the fifth of (o8ember, ;EFG. "LI-I&' F&''IH'&#, Lt. Grd #pahis.

I
A SO5T/ERN ASSI6NMENT

#unday, the si9th of 5une, ;EFG, broke the monotony of the life that we were leading at the Post of %assi,Inifel by two e8ents of une?ual importance, the arri8al of a letter from )lle. de *, and the latest numbers of the "fficial 5ournal of the French 'epublic. "I ha8e the Lieutenant6s permissionD" said #ergeant *hatelain, beginning to glance through the maga@ines he had =ust remo8ed from their wrappings. I ac?uiesced with a nod, already completely absorbed in reading )lle. de *6s letter. ".hen this reaches you," was the gist of this charming being6s letter, "mama and I will doubtless ha8e left Paris for the country. If, in your distant parts, it might be a consolation to imagine me as bored here as you possibly can be, make the most of it. !he Grand Pri9 is o8er. I played the horse you pointed out to me, and naturally, I lost. Last night we dined with the )artials de la !ouche. &lias *hatrian was there, always ama@ingly young. I am sending you his last book, which has made ?uite a sensation. It seems that the )artials de la !ouche are depicted there without disguise. I will add to it 4ourget6s last, and Loti6s, and France6s, and two or three of the latest music hall hits. In the political word, they say the law about congregations will meet with strenuous opposition. (othing much in the theatres. I ha8e taken out a summer subscription for l'Illustration. .ould you care for itD In the country no one knows what to do. lways the same lot of idiots ready for tennis. I shall deser8e no credit for writing to you often. #pare me your reflections concerning young *ombemale. I am less than nothing of a feminist, ha8ing too much faith in those who tell me that I am pretty, in yourself in particular. 4ut indeed, I grow wild at the idea that if I permitted myself half the familiarities with one of our lads that you ha8e surely with your "uled,(ails.... &nough of that, it is too unpleasant an idea." I had reached this point in the prose of this ad8anced young woman when a scandali@ed e9clamation of the #ergeant made me look up. "LieutenantB"

"1esD" "!hey are up to something at the )inistry. #ee for yourself." %e handed me the "fficial. I readI "4y a decision of the first of )ay, ;EFG, *aptain de #aint, 8it J ndr>K, unattached, is assigned to the !hird #pahis, and appointed *ommandant of the Post of %assi,Inifel." *hatelain6s displeasure became fairly e9uberant. "*aptain de #aint, 8it, *ommandant of the Post. upon it. !hey must take us for a dumping ground." post which has ne8er had a slur

)y surprise was as great as the #ergeant6s. 4ut =ust then I saw the e8il, weasel,like face of Gourrut, the con8ict we used as clerk. %e had stopped his scrawling and was listening with a sly interest. "#ergeant, *aptain de #aint, 8it is my ranking classmate," I answered dryly. *hatelain saluted, and left the room. I followed. "!here, there," I said, clapping him on the back, "no hard feelings. 'emember that in an hour we are starting for the oasis. %a8e the cartridges ready. It is of the utmost importance to restock the larder." I went back to the office and motioned Gourrut to go. Left alone, I finished )lle. de *6s letter 8ery ?uickly, and then reread the decision of the )inistry gi8ing the post a new chief. It was now fi8e months that I had en=oyed that distinction, and on my word, I had accepted the responsibility well enough, and been 8ery well pleased with the independence. I can e8en affirm, without taking too much credit for myself, that under my command discipline had been better maintained than under *aptain +ieuli8ol, #aint, 8it6s predecessor. bra8e man, this *aptain +ieuli8ol, a non,commissioned officer under +odds and +uchesne, but sub=ect to a terrible propensity for strong li?uors, and too much inclined, when he had drunk, to confuse his dialects, and to talk to a %ouassa in #akala8e. (o one was e8er more sparing of the post water supply. "ne morning when he was preparing his absinthe in the presence of the #ergeant, *hatelain, noticing the *aptain6s glass, saw with ama@ement that the green li?uor was blanched by a far stronger admi9ture of water than usual. %e looked up, aware that something abnormal had =ust occurred. 'igid, the carafe in8erted in his hand, *aptain +ieuli8ol was spilling the water which was running o8er on the sugar. %e was dead. For si9 months, since the disappearance of this sympathetic old tippler, the Powers had not seemed to interest themsel8es in finding his successor. I had e8en hoped at times that a decision might be reached in8esting me with the rights that I was in fact e9ercising.... nd today this surprising appointment. *aptain de #aint, 8it. %e was of my class at #t. *yr. I had lost track of him. !hen my attention had been attracted to him by his rapid ad8ancement, his decoration, the well,deser8ed recognition of three particularly daring e9peditions of e9ploration to !ebesti and the irA and suddenly, the mysterious drama of his fourth e9pedition, that famous mission undertaken with *aptain )orhange, from which only one of the e9plorers came back. &8erything is forgotten ?uickly in France. !hat was at least si9

years ago. I had not heard #aint, 8it mentioned since. I had e8en supposed that he had left the army. nd now, I was to ha8e him as my chief. " fter all, what6s the difference," I mused, "he or anotherB t school he was charming, and we ha8e had only the most pleasant relationships. 4esides, I ha8en6t enough yearly income to afford the rank of *aptain." nd I left the office, whistling as I went.

.e were now, *hatelain and I, our guns resting on the already cooling earth, beside the pool that forms the center of the meager oasis, hidden behind a kind of hedge of alfa. !he setting sun was reddening the stagnant ditches which irrigate the poor garden plots of the sedentary blacks. (ot a word during the approach. (ot a word during the shoot. *hatelain was ob8iously sulking. In silence we knocked down, one after the other, se8eral of the miserable do8es which came on dragging wings, hea8y with the heat of the day, to ?uench their thirst at the thick green water. .hen a half,do@en slaughtered little bodies were lined up at our feet I put my hand on the #ergeant6s shoulder. "*hatelainB" %e trembled. "*hatelain, I was rude to you a little while ago. +on6t be angry. It was the bad time before the siesta. !he bad time of midday." "!he Lieutenant is master here," he answered in a tone that was meant to be gruff, but which was only strained. "*hatelain, don6t be angry. 1ou ha8e something to say to me. 1ou know what I mean." "I don6t know really. (o, I don6t know." "*hatelain, *hatelain, why not be sensibleD !ell me something about *aptain de #aint, 8it." "I know nothing." %e spoke sharply. "(othingD !hen what were you saying a little while agoD" "*aptain de #aint, 8it is a bra8e man." %e muttered the words with his head still obstinately bent. "%e went alone to 4ilma, to the ir, ?uite alone to those places where no one had e8er been. %e is a bra8e man." "%e is a bra8e man, undoubtedly," I answered with great restraint. "4ut he murdered his companion, *aptain )orhange, did he notD" !he old #ergeant trembled.

"%e is a bra8e man," he persisted. "*hatelain, you are a child. re you afraid that I am going to repeat what you say to your new *aptainD" I had touched him to the ?uick. %e drew himself up. "#ergeant *hatelain is afraid of no one, Lieutenant. %e has been at bomey, against the ma@ons, in a country where a black arm started out from e8ery bush to sei@e your leg, while another cut it off for you with one blow of a cutlass." "!hen what they say, what you yourself" "!hat is talk." "!alk which is repeated in France, *hatelain, e8erywhere." %e bent his head still lower without replying. " ss," I burst out, "will you speakD" "Lieutenant, Lieutenant," he fairly pled, "I swear that what I know, or nothing" ".hat you know you are going to tell me, and right away. If not, I gi8e you my word of honor that, for a month, I shall not speak to you e9cept on official business." %assi,InifelI thirty nati8e rabs and four &uropeansmyself, the #ergeant, a *orporal, and Gourrut. !he threat was terrible. It had its effect. " ll right, then, Lieutenant," he said with a great sigh. "4ut afterwards you must not blame me for ha8ing told you things about a superior which should not be told and come only from the talk I o8erheard at mess." "!ell away." "It was in ;LEE. I was then )ess #ergeant at #fa9, with the Mth #pahis. I had a good record, and besides, as I did not drink, the d=utant had assigned me to the officers6 mess. It was a soft berth. !he marketing, the accounts, recording the library books which were borrowed Jthere weren6t manyK, and the key of the wine cupboard,for with that you can6t trust orderlies. !he *olonel was young and dined at mess. "ne e8ening he came in late, looking perturbed, and, as soon as he was seated, called for silenceI "6Gentlemen,6 he said, 6I ha8e a communication to make to you, and I shall ask for your ad8ice. %ere is the ?uestion. !omorrow morning the City of Naples lands at #fa9. board her is *aptain de #aint, 8it, recently assigned to Feriana, en route to his post.6 "!he *olonel paused. 6Good,6 thought I, 6tomorrow6s menu is about to be considered.6 For you know the custom, Lieutenant, which has e9isted e8er since there ha8e been any officers6 clubs in frica. .hen an officer is passing by, his comrades go to meet him at the boat and in8ite him to remain with them for the length of his stay in port. %e pays his score in news from home. "n such occasions e8erything is of the best, e8en for a simple lieutenant. t #fa9 an officer on a 8isit meantone e9tra course, 8intage wine and old li?ueurs.

"4ut this time I imagined from the looks the officers e9changed that perhaps the old stock would stay undisturbed in its cupboard. "61ou ha8e all, I think, heard of *aptain de #aint, 8it, gentlemen, and the rumors about him. It is not for us to in?uire into them, and the promotion he has had, his decoration if you will, permits us to hope that they are without foundation. 4ut between not suspecting an officer of being a criminal, and recei8ing him at our table as a comrade, there is a gulf that we are not obliged to bridge. !hat is the matter on which I ask your ad8ice.6 "!here was silence. !he officers looked at each other, all of them suddenly ?uite gra8e, e8en to the merriest of the second lieutenants. In the corner, where I reali@ed that they had forgotten me, I tried not to make the least sound that might recall my presence. "6.e thank you, *olonel,6 one of the ma=ors finally replied, 6for your courtesy in consulting us. ll my comrades, I imagine, know to what terrible rumors you refer. If I may 8enture to say so, in Paris at the rmy Geographical #er8ice, where I was before coming here, most of the officers of the highest standing had an opinion on this unfortunate matter which they a8oided stating, but which cast no glory upon *aptain de #aint, 8it.6 "6I was at 4ammako, at the time of the )orhange,#aint, 8it mission,6 said a *aptain. 6!he opinion of the officers there, I am sorry to say, differed 8ery little from what the )a=or describes. 4ut I must add that they all admitted that they had nothing but suspicions to go on. nd suspicions are certainly not enough considering the atrocity of the affair.6 "6!hey are ?uite enough, gentlemen,6 replied the *olonel, 6to account for our hesitation. It is not a ?uestion of passing =udgmentA but no man can sit at our table as a matter of right. It is a pri8ilege based on fraternal esteem. !he only ?uestion is whether it is your decision to accord it to #aint, 8it.6 "#o saying, he looked at the officers, as if he were taking a roll call. "ne after another they shook their heads. "6I see that we agree,6 he said. 64ut our task is unfortunately not yet o8er. !he City of Naples will be in port tomorrow morning. !he launch which meets the passengers lea8es at eight o6clock. It will be necessary, gentlemen, for one of you to go aboard. *aptain de #aint, 8it might be e9pecting to come to us. .e certainly ha8e no intention of inflicting upon him the humiliation of refusing him, if he presented himself in e9pectation of the customary reception. %e must be pre8ented from coming. It will be wisest to make him understand that it is best for him to stay aboard.6 "!he *olonel looked at the officers again. !hey could not but agree. 4ut how uncomfortable each one lookedB "6I cannot hope to find a 8olunteer among you for this kind of mission, so I am compelled to appoint some one. *aptain Grand=ean, *aptain de #aint, 8it is also a *aptain. It is fitting that it be an officer of his own rank who carries him our message. 4esides, you are the latest comer here. !herefore it is to you that I entrust this painful inter8iew. I do not need to suggest that you conduct it as diplomatically as possible.6 "*aptain Grand=ean bowed, while a sigh of relief escaped from all the others. s long as the *olonel stayed in the room Grand=ean remained apart, without speaking. It

was only after the chief had departed that he let fall the wordsI "6!here are some things that ought to count a good deal for promotion.6 "!he ne9t day at luncheon e8eryone was impatient for his return. "6.ellD6 demanded the *olonel, briefly. "*aptain Grand=ean did not reply immediately. %e sat down at the table where his comrades were mi9ing their drinks, and he, a man notorious for sobriety, drank almost at a gulp, without waiting for the sugar to melt, a full glass of absinthe. "6.ell, *aptainD6 repeated the *olonel. "6.ell, *olonel, it6s done. 1ou can be at ease. %e will not set foot on shore. 4ut, ye gods, what an ordealB6 "!he officers did not dare speak. "nly their looks e9pressed their an9ious curiosity. "*aptain Grand=ean poured himself a swallow of water. "61ou see, I had gotten my speech all ready, in the launch. 4ut as I went up the ladder I knew that I had forgotten it. #aint, 8it was in the smoking,room, with the *aptain of the boat. It seemed to me that I could ne8er find the strength to tell him, when I saw him all ready to go ashore. %e was in full dress uniform, his sabre lay on the bench and he was wearing spurs. (o one wears spurs on shipboard. I presented myself and we e9changed se8eral remarks, but I must ha8e seemed somewhat strained for from the first moment I knew that he sensed something. $nder some prete9t he left the *aptain, and led me aft near the great rudder wheel. !here, I dared speak. *olonel, what did I sayD %ow I must ha8e stammeredB %e did not look at me. Leaning his elbows on the railing he let his eyes wander far off, smiling slightly. !hen, of a sudden, when I was well tangled up in e9planations, he looked at me coolly and saidI "6I must thank you, my dear fellow, for ha8ing gi8en yourself so much trouble. 4ut it is ?uite unnecessary. I am out of sorts and ha8e no intention of going ashore. t least, I ha8e the pleasure of ha8ing made your ac?uaintance. #ince I cannot profit by your hospitality, you must do me the fa8or of accepting mine as long as the launch stays by the 8essel.6 "!hen we went back to the smoking,room. %e himself mi9ed the cocktails. %e talked to me. .e disco8ered that we had mutual ac?uaintances. (e8er shall I forget that face, that ironic and distant look, that sad and melodious 8oice. hB *olonel, gentlemen, I don6t know what they may say at the Geographic "ffice, or in the posts of the #oudan.... !here can be nothing in it but a horrible suspicion. #uch a man, capable of such a crime,belie8e me, it is not possible. "!hat is all, Lieutenant," finished *hatelain, after a silence. "I ha8e ne8er seen a sadder meal than that one. !he officers hurried through lunch without a word being spoken, in an atmosphere of depression against which no one tried to struggle. nd in this complete silence, you could see them always furti8ely watching the City of Naples, where she was dancing merrily in the bree@e, a league from shore. "#he was still there in the e8ening when they assembled for dinner, and it was not until a blast of the whistle, followed by curls of smoke escaping from the red and black

smokestack had announced the departure of the 8essel for Gabes, that con8ersation was resumedA and e8en then, less gaily than usual. " fter that, Lieutenant, at the "fficers6 *lub at #fa9, they a8oided like the plague any sub=ect which risked leading the con8ersation back to *aptain de #aint, 8it." *hatelain had spoken almost in a whisper, and the little people of the desert had not heard this singular history. It was an hour since we had fired our last cartridge. round the pool the turtle do8es, once more reassured, were bathing their feathers. )ysterious great birds were flying under the darkening palm trees. less warm wind rocked the trembling black palm branches. .e had laid aside our helmets so that our temples could welcome the touch of the feeble bree@e. "*hatelain," I said, "it is time to go back to the bord=." #lowly we picked up the dead do8es. I felt the #ergeant looking at me reproachfully, as if regretting that he had spoken. 1et during all the time that our return trip lasted, I could not find the strength to break our desolate silence with a single word. !he night had almost fallen when we arri8ed. !he flag which surmounted the post was still 8isible, drooping on its standard, but already its colors were indistinguishable. !o the west the sun had disappeared behind the dunes gashed against the black 8iolet of the sky. .hen we had crossed the gate of the fortifications, *hatelain left me. "I am going to the stables," he said. I returned alone to that part of the fort where the billets for the &uropeans and the stores of ammunition were located. n ine9pressible sadness weighed upon me. I thought of my comrades in French garrisons. t this hour they must be returning home to find awaiting them, spread out upon the bed, their dress uniform, their braided tunic, their sparkling epaulettes. "!omorrow," I said to myself, "I shall re?uest a change of station." !he stairway of hard,packed earth was already black. 4ut a few gleams of light still seemed palely prowling in the office when I entered. man was sitting at my desk, bending o8er the files of orders. %is back was toward me. %e did not hear me enter. "'eally, Gourrut, my lad, I beg you not to disturb yourself. )ake yourself completely at home." !he man had risen, and I saw him to be ?uite tall, slender and 8ery pale. "Lieutenant FerriCres, is it notD" %e ad8anced, holding out his hand. "*aptain de #aint, 8it. +elighted, my dear fellow." t the same time *hatelain appeared on the threshold.

"#ergeant," said the newcomer, "I cannot congratulate you on the little I ha8e seen. !here is not a camel saddle which is not in want of buckles, and they are rusty enough to suggest that it rains at %assi,Inifel three hundred days in the year. Furthermore, where were you this afternoonD mong the four Frenchmen who compose the post, I found only on my arri8al one con8ict, opposite a ?uart of eau,de,8ie. .e will change all that, I hope. t ease." "*aptain," I said, and my 8oice was colorless, while *hatelain remained fro@en at attention, "I must tell you that the #ergeant was with me, that it is I who am responsible for his absence from the post, that he is an irreproachable non,commissioned officer from e8ery point of 8iew, and that if we had been warned of your arri8al" "&8idently," he said, with a coldly ironical smile. " lso, Lieutenant, I ha8e no intention of holding him responsible for the negligences which attach to your office. %e is not obliged to know that the officer who abandons a post like %assi,Inifel, if it is only for two hours, risks not finding much left on his return. !he *haamba brigands, my dear sir, lo8e firearms, and for the sake of the si9ty muskets in your racks, I am sure they would not scruple to make an officer, whose otherwise e9cellent record is well known to me, account for his absence to a court,martial. *ome with me, if you please. .e will finish the little inspection I began too rapidly a little while ago." %e was already on the stairs. I followed in his footsteps. *hatelain closed the order of march. I heard him murmuring, in a tone which you can imagineI ".ell, we are in for it nowB"

II
CA7TAIN DE SAINT0A2IT

few days sufficed to con8ince us that *hatelain6s fears as to our official relations with the new chief were 8ain. "ften I ha8e thought that by the se8erity he showed at our first encounter #aint, 8it wished to create a formal barrier, to show us that he knew how to keep his head high in spite of the weight of his hea8y past. *ertain it is that the day after his arri8al, he showed himself in a 8ery different light, e8en complimenting the #ergeant on the upkeep of the post and the instruction of the men. !o me he was charming. ".e are of the same class, aren6t weD" he said to me. "I don6t ha8e to ask you to dispense with formalities, it is your right." -ain marks of confidence, alasB False witnesses to a freedom of spirit, one in face of the other. .hat more accessible in appearance than the immense #ahara, open to all those who are willing to be engulfed by itD 1et what is more secretD fter si9 months of

companionship, of communion of life such as only a Post in the #outh offers, I ask myself if the most e9traordinary of my ad8entures is not to be lea8ing to,morrow, toward unsounded solitudes, with a man whose real thoughts are as unknown to me as these same solitudes, for which he has succeeded in making me long. !he first surprise which was gi8en me by this singular companion was occasioned by the baggage that followed him. "n his inopportune arri8al, alone, from .argla, he had trusted to the )ehari he rode only what can be carried without harm by such a delicate beast,his arms, sabre and re8ol8er, a hea8y carbine, and a 8ery reduced pack. !he rest did not arri8e till fifteen days later, with the con8oy which supplied the post. !hree cases of respectable dimensions were carried one after another to the *aptain6s room, and the grimaces of the porters said enough as to their weight. I discreetly left #aint, 8it to his unpacking and began opening the mail which the con8oy had sent me. %e returned to the office a little later and glanced at the se8eral re8iews which I had =ust recie8ed. "#o," he said. "1ou take these." %e skimmed through, as he spoke, the last number of the Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde in Berlin. "1es," I answered. "!hese gentlemen are kind enough to interest themsel8es in my works on the geology of the .adi )ia and the high Igharghar." "!hat may be useful to me," he murmured, continuing to turn o8er the lea8es. "It6s at your ser8ice." "!hanks. I am afraid I ha8e nothing to offer you in e9change, e9cept Pliny, perhaps. nd stillyou know what he said of Igharghar, according to 2ing 5uba. %owe8er, come help me put my traps in place and you will see if anything appeals to you." I accepted without further urging. .e commenced by unearthing 8arious meteorological and astronomical instruments the thermometers of 4audin, #alleron, Fastre, an aneroid, a Fortin barometer, chronometers, a se9tant, an astronomical spyglass, a compass glass.... In short, what +u8eyrier calls the material that is simplest and easiest to transport on a camel. s #aint, 8it handed them to me I arranged them on the only table in the room. "(ow," he announced to me, "there is nothing more but books. I will pass them to you. Pile them up in a corner until I can ha8e a book,shelf made." For two hours altogether I helped him to heap up a real library. nd what a libraryB #uch as ne8er before a post in the #outh had seen. ll the te9ts consecrated, under whate8er titles, by anti?uity to the regions of the #ahara were reunited between the four rough,cast walls of that little room of the bord=. %erodotus and Pliny, naturally, and likewise #trabo and Ptolemy, Pomponius )ela, and mmien )arcellin. 4ut besides these names which reassured my ignorance a little, I percei8ed those of *orippus, of

Paul "rose, of &ratosthenes, of Photius, of +iodorus of #icily, of #olon, of +ion *assius, of Isidor of #e8ille, of )artin de !yre, of &thicus, of then>e, the Scriptores Historiae Augustae, the Itinerarium Antonini Augusti, the Geographi atini !inores of 'iese, the Geographi Graeci !inores of 2arl )uller.... #ince I ha8e had the occasion to familiari@e myself with gatarchides of *os and rtemidorus of &phesus, but I admit that in this instance the presence of their dissertations in the saddle bags of a captain of ca8alry caused me some ama@ement. I mention further the "escrittione dell' Africa by Leon l6 frican, the Ara#ian Histories of Ibn,2haldoun, of l,Ia?uob, of &l,4ekri, of Ibn,4atoutah, of )ahommed &l,!ounsi.... In the midst of this 4abel, I remember the names of only two 8olumes of contemporary French scholars. !here were also the laborious theses of 4erliou9:G< and of #chirmer.:M< .hile I proceeded to make piles of as similar dimensions as possible I kept saying to myselfI "!o think that I ha8e been belie8ing all this time that in his mission with )orhange, #aint, 8it was particularly concerned in scientific obser8ations. &ither my memory decei8es me strangely or he is riding a horse of another color. .hat is sure is that there is nothing for me in the midst of all this chaos." %e must ha8e read on my face the signs of too apparently e9pressed surprise, for he said in a tone in which I di8ined a tinge of defianceI "!he choice of these books surprises you a bitD" "I can6t say it surprises me," I replied, "since I don6t know the nature of the work for which you ha8e collected them. In any case I dare say, without fear of being contradicted, that ne8er before has officer of the rabian "ffice possessed a library in which the humanities were so, well represented." %e smiled e8asi8ely, and that day we pursued the sub=ect no further. mong #aint, 8it6s books I had noticed a 8oluminous notebook secured by a strong lock. #e8eral times I surprised him in the act of making notations in it. .hen for any reason he was called out of the room he placed his album carefully in a small cabinet of white wood, pro8ided by the munificence of the dministration. .hen he was not writing and the office did not re?uire his presence, he had the mehari which he had brought with him saddled, and a few minutes later, from the terrace of the fortifications, I could see the double silhouette disappearing with great strides behind a hummock of red earth on the hori@on. &ach time these trips lasted longer. From each he returned in a kind of e9altation which made me watch him with daily increasing dis?uietude during meal hours, the only time we passed ?uite alone together. ".ell," I said to myself one day when his remarks had been more lacking in se?uence than usual, "it6s no fun being aboard a submarine when the captain takes opium. .hat drug can this fellow be taking, anywayD" (e9t day I looked hurriedly through my comrade6s drawers. !his inspection, which I belie8ed to be my duty, reassured me momentarily. " ll 8ery good," I thought, "pro8ided he does not carry with him his capsules and his Pra8a@ syringe."

I was still in that stage where I could suppose that artificial stimulants.

ndr>6s imagination needed

)eticulous obser8ation undecei8ed me. !here was nothing suspicious in this respect. )oreo8er, he rarely drank and almost ne8er smoked. nd ne8ertheless, there was no means of denying the increase of his dis?uieting fe8erishness. %e returned from his e9peditions each time with his eyes more brilliant. %e was paler, more animated, more irritable. "ne e8ening he left the post about si9 o6clock, at the end of the greatest heat of the day. .e waited for him all night. )y an9iety was all the stronger because ?uite recently cara8ans had brought tidings of bands of robbers in the neighborhood of the post. t dawn he had not returned. %e did not come before midday. %is camel collapsed under him, rather than knelt. %e reali@ed that he must e9cuse himself, but he waited till we were alone at lunch. "I am so sorry to ha8e caused you any an9iety. 4ut the dunes were so beautiful under the moonB I let myself be carried farther and farther...." "I ha8e no reproaches to make, dear fellow, you are free, and the chief here. "nly allow me to recall to you certain warnings concerning the *haamba brigands, and the misfortunes that might arise from a *ommandant of a post absenting himself too long." %e smiled. "I don6t dislike such e8idence of a good memory," he said simply. %e was in e9cellent, too e9cellent spirits. "+on6t blame me. I set out for a short ride as usual. !hen, the moon rose. nd then, I recogni@ed the country. It is =ust where, twenty years ago ne9t (o8ember, Flatters followed the way to his destiny in an e9altation which the certainty of not returning made keener and more intense." "#trange state of mind for a chief of an e9pedition," I murmured. "#ay nothing against Flatters. (o man e8er lo8ed the desert as he did ... e8en to dying of it." "Palat and +ouls, among many others, ha8e lo8ed it as much," I answered. "4ut they were alone when they e9posed themsel8es to it. 'esponsible only for their own li8es, they were free. Flatters, on the other hand, was responsible for si9ty li8es. nd you cannot deny that he allowed his whole party to be massacred." !he words were hardly out of my lips before I regretted them, I thought of *hatelain6s story, of the officers6 club at #fa9, where they a8oided like the plague any kind of con8ersation which might lead their thoughts toward a certain )orhange,#aint, 8it mission. %appily I obser8ed that my companion was not listening. %is brilliant eyes were far away. ".hat was your first garrisonD" he asked suddenly.

" u9onne." %e ga8e an unnatural laugh. " u9onne. Pro8ince of the *ote d6"r. +istrict of +i=on. #i9 thousand inhabitants. P.L.). 'ailway. +rill school and re8iew. !he *olonel6s wife recei8es !hursdays, and the )a=or6s on #aturdays. Lea8es e8ery #unday,the first of the month to Paris, the three others to +i=on. !hat e9plains your 5udgment of Flatters. "For my part, my dear fellow, my first garrison was at 4oghar. I arri8ed there one morning in "ctober, a second lieutenant, aged twenty, of the First frican 4atallion, the white che8ron on my black slee8e.... #un stripe, as the #agnards say in speaking of their grades. 4ogharB !wo days before, from the bridge of the steamer, I had begun to see the shores of frica. I pity all those who, when they see those pale cliffs for the first time, do not feel a great leap at their hearts, at the thought that this land prolongs itself thousands and thousands of leagues.... I was little more than a child, I had plenty of money. I was ahead of schedule. I could ha8e stopped three or four days at lgiers to amuse myself. Instead I took the train that same e8ening for 4erroughia. "!here, scarcely a hundred kilometers from lgiers, the railway stopped. Going in a straight line you won6t find another until you get to the *ape. !he diligence tra8els at night on account of the heat. .hen we came to the hills I got out and walked beside the carriage, straining for the sensation, in this new atmosphere, of the kiss of the outlying desert. " bout midnight, at the *amp of the 7oua8es, a humble post on the road embankment, o8erlooking a dry 8alley whence rose the fe8erish perfume of oleander, we changed horses. !hey had there a troop of con8icts and impressed laborers, under escort of riflemen and con8oys to the ?uarries in the #outh. In part, rogues in uniform, from the =ails of lgiers and +ouara,without arms, of courseA the others ci8ilians such ci8iliansB this year6s recruits, the young bullies of the *hapelle and the Goutte, d6"r. "!hey left before we did. !hen the diligence caught up with them. From a distance I saw in a pool of moonlight on the yellow road the black irregular mass of the con8oy. !hen I heard a weary dirgeA the wretches were singing. "ne, in a sad and gutteral 8oice, ga8e the couplet, which trailed dismally through the depths of the blue ra8inesI "6!aintenant $u'elle est grande,Elle fait le trottoir,A%ec ceu& de la #andeA 'ichard( enoir.6 " nd the others took up in chorus the horrible refrainI "6A la Bastille) a la Bastille,*n aime #ien) on aime #ienNini +eau d'ChienAElle est si #elle et si gentilleA la Bastille6 "I saw them all in contrast to myself when the diligence passed them. !hey were terrible. $nder the hideous searchlight their eyes shone with a sombre fire in their pale and sha8en faces. !he burning dust strangled their raucous 8oices in their throats. frightful sadness took possession of me. ".hen the diligence had left this fearful nightmare behind, I regained my self, control.

"6Further, much further #outh,6 I e9claimed to myself, 6to the places untouched by this miserable bilgewater of ci8ili@ation.6 ".hen I am weary, when I ha8e a moment of anguish and longing to turn back on the road that I ha8e chosen, I think of the prisoners of 4erroughia, and then I am glad to continue on my way. "4ut what a reward, when I am in one of those places where the poor animals ne8er think of fleeing because they ha8e ne8er seen man, where the desert stretches out around me so widely that the old world could crumble, and ne8er a single ripple on the dune, a single cloud in the white sky come to warn me. "6It is true,6 I murmured. 6I, too, once, in the middle of the desert, at !idi,2elt, I felt that way.6" $p to that time I had let him en=oy his e9altations without interruption. I understood too late the error that I had made in pronouncing that unfortunate sentence. %is mocking ner8ous laughter began anew. " hB Indeed, at !idi,2eltD I beg you, old man, in your own interest, if you don6t want to make an ass of yourself, a8oid that species of reminiscence. %onestly, you make me think of Fromentin, or that poor )aupassant, who talked of the desert because he had been to +=elfa, two days6 =ourney from the street of 4ab, @ound and the Go8ernment buildings, four days from the 8enue de l6"peraAand who, because he saw a poor de8il of a camel dying near 4ou,#aada, belie8ed himself in the heart of the desert, on the old route of the cara8ans.... !idi,2elt, the desertB" "It seems to me, howe8er, that In,#alah" I said, a little 8e9ed. "In,#alahD !idi,2eltB 4ut, my poor friend, the last time that I passed that way there were as many old newspapers and empty sardine bo9es as if it had been #unday in the .ood of -incennes." #uch a determined, such an e8ident desire to annoy me made me forget my reser8e. "&8idently," I replied resentfully, "I ha8e ne8er been to" I stopped myself, but it was already too late. %e looked at me, s?uarely in the face. "!o whereD" he said with good humor. I did not answer. "!o whereD" he repeated. nd, as I remained strangled in my mutenessI "!o .adi !arhit, do you meanD" It was on the east bank of .adi !arhit, a hundred and twenty kilometers from !imissao, at /0.0 degrees north latitude, according to the official report, that *aptain )orhange was buried. " ndr>," I cried stupidly, "I swear to you"

".hat do you swear to meD" "!hat I ne8er meant" "!o speak of .adi !arhitD .hyD .hy should you not speak to me of .adi !arhitD" In answer to my supplicating silence, he merely shrugged his shoulders. "Idiot," was all he said. nd he left me before I could think of e8en one word to say. #o much humility on my part had, howe8er, not disarmed him. I had the proof of it the ne9t day, and the way he showed his humor was e8en marked by an e9hibition of wretchedly poor taste. I was =ust out of bed when he came into my room. "*an you tell me what is the meaning of thisD" he demanded. %e had in his hand one of the official registers. In his ner8ous crises he always began sorting them o8er, in the hope of finding some prete9t for making himself militarily insupportable. !his time chance had fa8ored him. %e opened the register. I blushed 8iolently at seeing the poor proof of a photograph that I knew well. ".hat is thatD" he repeated disdainfully. !oo often I had surprised him in the act of regarding, none too kindly, the portrait of )lle. de *. which hung in my room not to be con8inced at that moment that he was trying to pick a ?uarrel with me. I controlled myself, howe8er, and placed the poor little print in the drawer. 4ut my calmness did not pacify him. "%enceforth," he said, "take care, I beg you, not to mi9 mementoes of your gallantry with the official papers." %e added, with a smile that spoke insultI "It isn6t necessary to furnish ob=ects of e9citation to Gourrut." " ndr>," I said, and I was white, "I demand" %e stood up to the full height of his stature. ".ell what is itD gallantry, nothing more. I ha8e authori@ed you to speak of .adi %alfa, ha8en6t ID !hen I ha8e the right, I should think" " ndr>B" (ow he was looking maliciously at the wall, at the little portrait the replica of which I had =ust sub=ected to this painful scene.

"!here, there, I say, you aren6t angry, are youD 4ut between oursel8es you will admit, will you not, that she is a little thinD" nd before I could find time to answer him, he had remo8ed himself, humming the shameful refrain of the pre8ious nightI "A la Bastille) a la Bastille,*n aime #ien) on aime #ien,Nini) +eau de Chien." For three days neither of us spoke to the other. )y e9asperation was too deep for words. .as I, then, to be held responsible for his a8atarsB .as it my fault if, between two phrases, one seemed always some allusion "!he situation is intolerable," I said to myself. "It cannot last longer." It was to cease 8ery soon. "ne week after the scene of the photograph the courier arri8ed. I had scarcely glanced at the inde9 of the Zeitschrift, the German re8iew of which I ha8e already spoken, when I started with uncontrollable ama@ement. I had =ust readI ,'eise und Entdeckungen -.ei fron-osischer offi-iere) 'ittmeisters !orhange und *#erleutnants de Saint(A%it) in .estlichen Sahara/, t the same time I heard my comrade6s 8oice. " nything interesting in this numberD" "(o," I answered carelessly. "Let6s see." I obeyedA what else was there to doD It seemed to me that he grew paler as he ran o8er the inde9. %owe8er, his tone was altogether natural when he saidI "1ou will let me borrow it, of courseD" nd he went out, casting me one defiant glance.

!he day passed slowly. I did not see him again until e8ening. %e was gay, 8ery gay, and his gaiety hurt me. .hen we had finished dinner, we went out and leaned on the balustrade of the terrace. From there out swept the desert, which the darkness was already encroaching upon from the east. ndr> broke the silence. "4y the way, I ha8e returned your re8iew to you. 1ou were right, it is not interesting." %is e9pression was one of supreme amusement. ".hat is it, what is the matter with you, anywayD"

"(othing," I answered, my throat aching. "(othingD #hall I tell you what is the matter with youD" I looked at him with an e9pression of supplication. "Idiot," he found it necessary to repeat once more. (ight fell ?uickly. "nly the southern slope of .adi )ia was still yellow. mong the boulders a little =ackal was running about, yapping sharply. "!he di# is making a fuss about nothing, bad business," said #aint, 8it. %e continued pitilesslyI "!hen you aren6t willing to say anythingD" I made a great effort, to produce the following pitiful phraseI ".hat an e9hausting day. .hat a night, hea8y, hea8y1ou don6t feel like yourself, you don6t know any more" "1es," said the 8oice of #aint, 8it, as from a distance, " hea8y, do you know, as when I killed *aptain )orhange." hea8y, hea8y nightI as

III
T/E MOR/AN6E0SAINT0A2IT MISSION

"#o I killed *aptain )orhange," ndr> de #aint, 8it said to me the ne9t day, at the same time, in the same place, with a calm that took no account of the night, the frightful night I had =ust been through. ".hy do I tell you thisD I don6t know in the least. 4ecause of the desert, perhaps. re you a man capable of enduring the weight of that confidence, and further, if necessary, of assuming the conse?uences it may bringD I don6t know that, either. !he future will decide. For the present there is only one thing certain, the fact, I tell you again, that I killed *aptain )orhange. "I killed him. nd, since you want me to specify the reason, you understand that I am not going to torture my brain to turn it into a romance for you, or commence by recounting in the naturalistic manner of what stuff my first trousers were made, or, as the neo,*atholics would ha8e it, how often I went as a child to confession, and how much I liked doing it. I ha8e no taste for useless e9hibitions. 1ou will find that this recital begins strictly at the time when I met )orhange. " nd first of all, I tell you, howe8er much it has cost my peace of mind and my reputation, I do not regret ha8ing known him. In a word, apart from all ?uestion of false

friendship, I am con8icted of a black ingratitude in ha8ing killed him. It is to him, it is to his knowledge of rock inscriptions, that I owe the only thing that has raised my life in interest abo8e the miserable little li8es dragged out by my companions at u9onne, and elsewhere. "!his being understood, here are the factsI It was in the rabian "ffice at .argla, when I was a lieutenant, that I first heard the name, )orhange. nd I must add that it was for me the occasion of an attack of bad humor. .e were ha8ing difficult times. !he hostility of the #ultan of )orocco was latent. t !ouat, where the assassination of Flatters and of Frescaly had already been concocted, conni8ance was being gi8en to the plots of our enemies. !ouat was the center of conspiracies, of ra@@ias, of defections, and at the same time, the depot of supply for the insatiable nomads. !he Go8ernors of lgeria, !irman, *ambon, Laferriere, demanded its occupation. !he )inisters of .ar tacitly agreed.... 4ut there was Parliament, which did nothing at all, because of &ngland, because of Germany, and abo8e all because of a certain "eclaration of the 'ights of !an and of the Citi-en, which prescribed that insurrection is the most sacred of duties, e8en when the insurgents are sa8ages who cut your head off. In short, the military authority could only, at its own discretion, increase the southern garrisons, and establish new postsA this one, 4erresof, %assi,el,)ia, Fort )ac)ahon, Fort Lallemand, Fort )iribel.... 4ut as *astries puts it, you don6t hold the nomads with bord=s, you hold them by the belt. !he middle was the oasis of !ouat. !heir honors, the lawyers of Paris, had to be con8inced of the necessity of taking possession of the oasis of !ouat. !he best way would be to present them with a faithful picture of the plots that were being wo8en there against us. !he principal authors were, and still are, the #enoussis, whose able chief has been forced by our arms to transfer the seat of his confederation se8eral thousand leagues from there, to #chimmedrou, in the !ibesti. !hey had, I say they through modesty, the idea of ascertaining the traces left by these agitators on their fa8orite places of concourseA 'hNt, !emassinin, the plain of de=amor, and In,#alah. It was, you see, at least after lea8ing !emassinin, practically the same itinerary as that followed in ;LOM by General 'ohlfs. I had already attracted some attention by two e9cursions, one to gadCs, and the other to 4ilma, and was considered by the staff officers to be one of the best informed on the #enoussis ?uestion. I was therefore selected to assume this new task. I then suggested that it would be of interest to kill two birds with one stone, and to get, in passing, an idea of the northern haggar, so as to make sure whether the !uaregs of hitarhen had continued to ha8e as cordial relations with the #enoussis as they had had when they combined to massacre the Flatters6 mission. I was immediately accorded the permission. !he change in my first plan was as followsI fter reaching Ighelaschem, si9 hundred kilometers south of !emassinin, instead of taking the direct road to !ouat 8ia 'hNt, I would, penetrating between the high land of )ouydir and haggar, strike off to the southwest as far as #hikh,#alah. %ere I would turn again northwards, towards In,#alah, by the road to the #oudan and gadCs. In all hardly eight kilometers additional in a trip of about se8en hundred leagues, with the certainty of making as complete an e9amination as possible of the roads which our enemies, the #enoussis of !ibesti and the !uareg of the haggar, must follow to arri8e at !ouat. "n the way, for e8ery e9plorer has his pet fancy, I was not at all displeased to think that I

would ha8e a chance to e9amine the geological formation of the plateau of &gere, about which +u8eyrier and the others are so disappointingly indefinite. &8erything was ready for my departure from .argla. &8erything, which is to say, 8ery little. !hree meharaI mine, my companion 4ou,+=ema6s Ja faithful *haamba, whom I had had with me in my wanderings through the ir, less of a guide in the country I was familiar with than a machine for saddling and unsaddling camelsK, then a third to carry pro8isions and skins of drinking water, 8ery little, since I had taken pains to locate the stops with reference to the wells. #ome people go e?uipped for this kind of e9pedition with a hundred regulars, and e8en cannon. I am for the tradition of +ouls and 'en> *allie, I go alone. I was at that perfect moment when only one thin thread still held me to the ci8ili@ed world when an official cable arri8ed at .argla. "Lieutenant de #aint, 8it," it said briefly, "will delay his departure until the arri8al of *aptain )orhange, who will accompany him on his e9pedition of e9ploration." I was more than disappointed. I alone had had the idea of this e9pedition. I had had all the difficulty that you can imagine to make the authorities agree to it. nd now when I was re=oicing at the idea of the long hours I would spend alone with myself in the heart of the desert, they sent me a stranger, and, to make matters worse, a superior. !he condolences of my comrades aggra8ated my bad humor. !he 1early 'eport, consulted on the spot, had gi8en them the following informationI ")orhange J5ean,)arie,FranPoisK, class of ;LL;. 4re8eted. *aptain, unassigned. J!opographical #er8ice of the rmy.K" "!here is the e9planation for you," said one. "!hey are sending one of their creatures to pull the chestnuts out of the fire, after you ha8e had all the trouble of making it. 4re8etedB !hat6s a great way. !he theories of rdant du Pic? or else nothing about here." "I don6t altogether agree with you," said the )a=or. "!hey knew in Parliament, for some one is always indiscreet, the real aim of #aint, 8it6s missionI to force their hand for the occupation of !ouat. nd this )orhange must be a man ser8ing the interests of the rmy *ommission. ll these people, secretaries, members of Parliament, go8ernors, keep a close watch on each other. #ome one will write an amusing parado9ical history some day, of the French *olonial &9pansion, which is made without the knowledge of the powers in office, when it is not actually in spite of them." ".hate8er the reason, the result will be the same," I said bitterlyA "we will be two Frenchmen to spy on each other night and day, along the roads to the south. n amiable prospect when one has none too much time to foil all the tricks of the nati8es. .hen does he arri8eD" "+ay after tomorrow, probably. I ha8e news of a con8oy coming from Ghardaia. It is likely that he will a8ail himself of it. !he indications are that he doesn6t know 8ery much about tra8eling alone." *aptain )orhange did arri8e in fact two days later by means of the con8oy from Ghardaia. I was the first person for whom he asked.

.hen he came to my room, whither I had withdrawn in dignity as soon as the con8oy was sighted, I was disagreeably surprised to foresee that I would ha8e great difficulty in preser8ing my pre=udice against him. %e was tall, his face full and ruddy, with laughing blue eyes, a small black moustache, and hair that was already white. "I ha8e a thousand apologies to make to you, my dear fellow," he said immediately, with a frankness that I ha8e ne8er seen in any other man. "1ou must be furious with my importunity in upsetting your plans and delaying your departure." "4y no means, *aptain," I replied coolly. "1ou really ha8e only yourself to blame. It is on account of your knowledge of the southern, routes, so highly esteemed at Paris, that I wished to ha8e you to initiate me when the )inistries of Instruction and of *ommerce, and the Geographical #ociety combined to charge me with the mission which brings me here. !hese three honorable institutions ha8e in fact entrusted me with the attempt to re,establish the ancient track of the cara8ans, which, from the ninth century, trafficked between !unis and the #oudan, by !oweur, .argla, &s,#ouk and the bend of the 4ourroumA and to study the possibility of restoring this route to its ancient splendor. t the same time, at the Geographic 4ureau, I heard of the =ourney that you are undertaking. From .argla to #hikh,#alah our two itineraries are the same. "nly I must admit to you that it is the first 8oyage of this kind that I ha8e e8er undertaken. I would not be afraid to hold forth for an hour on rabian literature in the amphitheatre of the #chool of "riental Languages, but I know well enough that in the desert I should ha8e to ask for directions whether to turn right or left. !his is the only chance which could gi8e me such an opportunity, and at the same time put me under obligation for this introduction to so charming a companion. 1ou must not blame me if I sei@ed it, if I used all my influence to retard your departure from .argla until the instant when I could =oin you. I ha8e only one more word to add to what I ha8e said. I am entrusted with a mission which by its origin is rendered essentially ci8ilian. 1ou are sent out by the )inistry of .ar. $p to the moment when, arri8ed at #hikh,#alah we turn our backs on each other to attain, you !ouat, and I the (iger, all your recommendations, all your orders, will be followed by a subaltern, and, I hope, by a friend as well." ll the time he was talking so openly I felt delightedly my worst recent fears melting away. (e8ertheless, I still e9perienced a mean desire to show him some marks of reser8e, for ha8ing thus disposed of my company at a distance, without consulting me. "I am 8ery grateful to you, *aptain, for your e9tremely flattering words. .hen do you wish to lea8e .arglaD" %e made a gesture of complete detachment. ".hene8er you like. !omorrow, this e8ening. I ha8e already delayed you. 1our preparations must ha8e already been made for some time." )y little maneu8er had turned against myself. I had not been counting on lea8ing before the ne9t week. "!omorrow, *aptain, but your luggageD" %e smiled delightfully.

"I thought it best to bring as little as possible. light pack, some papers. )y bra8e camel had no difficulty in bringing it along. For the rest I depend on your ad8ice, and the resources of "wargla." I was well caught. I had nothing further to say. spirit and manner had already capti8ated me. nd moreo8er, such freedom of

"It seems," said my comrades, when the time for aperiti8es had brought us all together again, "that this *aptain of yours is a remarkably charming fellow." "'emarkably." "1ou surely can6t ha8e any trouble with him. It is only up to you to see that later on he doesn6t get all the glory." ".e aren6t working with the same end in 8iew," I answered e8asi8ely. I was thoughtful, only thoughtful I gi8e you my word. From that moment I harbored no further grudge against )orhange. 1et my silence persuaded him that I was unforgi8ing. nd e8eryone, do you hear me, e8eryone said later on, when suspicions became rifeI "%e is surely guilty. .e saw them go off together. .e can affirm it." I am guilty.... 4ut for a low moti8e of =ealousy.... %ow sickening.... fter that, there was nothing to do but to flee, flee, as far as the places where there are no more men who think and reason. )orhange, appeared, his arm resting on the )a=or6s, who was beaming o8er this new ac?uaintanceship. %e presented him enthusiasticallyI "*aptain )orhange, gentlemen. n officer of the old school, and a man after our own hearts, I gi8e you my word. %e wants to lea8e tomorrow, but we must gi8e him such a reception that he will forget that idea before two days are up. *ome, *aptain, you ha8e at least eight days to gi8e us." "I am at the disposition of Lieutenant de #aint, 8it," replied )orhange, with a ?uiet smile. !he con8ersation became general. !he sound of glasses and laughter rang out. I heard my comrades in ecstasies o8er the stories that the newcomer poured out with ne8er,failing humor. nd I, ne8er, ne8er ha8e I felt so sad. !he time came to pass into the dining,room. " t my right, *aptain," cried the )a=or, more and more beaming. " nd I hope you will keep on gi8ing us these new lines on Paris. .e are not up with the times here, you know." "1ours to command, )a=or," said )orhange. "4e seated, gentlemen."

!he officers obeyed, with a =oyous clatter of mo8ing chairs. I had not taken my eyes off )orhange, who was still standing. ")a=or, gentlemen, you will allow me," he said. nd before sitting down at that table, where e8ery moment he was the life of the party, in a low 8oice, with his eyes closed, *aptain )orhange recited the 4enedicite.

I2
TO8ARDS LATIT5DE 9

"1ou see," said *aptain )orhange to me fifteen days later, "you are much better informed about the ancient routes through the #ahara than you ha8e been willing to let me suppose, since you know of the e9istence of the two !adekkas. 4ut the one of which you ha8e =ust spoken is the !adekka of Ibn,4atoutah, located by this historian se8enty days from !ouat, and placed by #chirmer, 8ery plausibly, in the une9plored territory of the ouelimmiden. !his is the !adekka by which the #onrhaQ cara8ans passed e8ery year, tra8elling by &gypt. ")y !adekka is different, the capital of the 8eiled people, placed by Ibn,2haldoun twenty days south of .argla, which he calls !admekka. It is towards this !admekka that I am headed. I must establish !admekka in the ruins of &s,#ouk. !he commercial trade route, which in the ninth century bound the !unisian +=erid to the bend the (iger makes at 4ourroum, passed by &s,#ouk. It is to study the possibility of reestablishing this ancient thoroughfare that the )inistries ga8e me this mission, which has gi8en me the pleasure of your companionship." "1ou are probably in for a disappointment," I said. "&8erything indicates that the commerce there is 8ery slight." ".ell, I shall see," he answered composedly. !his was while we were following the unicolored banks of a salt lake. !he great saline stretch shone pale,blue, under the rising sun. !he legs of our fi8e mehara cast on it their mo8ing shadows of a darker blue. For a moment the only inhabitant of these solitudes, a bird, a kind of indeterminate heron, rose and hung in the air, as if suspended from a thread, only to sink back to rest as soon as we had passed. I led the way, selecting the route, )orhange followed. &n8eloped in a bernous, his head co8ered with the straight chechia of the #pahis, a great chaplet of alternate red and white beads, ending in a cross, around his neck, he reali@ed perfectly the ideal of Father La8igerie6s .hite Fathers.

fter a two,days6 halt at !emassinin we had =ust left the road followed by Flatters, and taken an obli?ue course to the south. I ha8e the honor of ha8ing antedated Fourcau in demonstrating the importance of !emassinin as a geometrical point for the passage of cara8ans, and of selecting the place where *aptain Pein has =ust now constructed a fort. !he =unction for the roads that lead to !ouat from Fe@@an and !ibesti, !emassinin is the future seat of a mar8ellous Intelligence +epartment. .hat I had collected there in two days about the disposition of our #enoussis enemies was of importance. I noticed that )orhange let me proceed with my in?uiries with complete indifference. !hese two days he had passed in con8ersation with the old (egro guardian of the turbet, which preser8es, under its plaster dome, the remains of the 8enerated #idi, )oussa. !he confidences they e9changed, I am sorry to say that I ha8e forgotten. 4ut from the (egro6s ama@ed admiration, I reali@ed the ignorance in which I stood to the mysteries of the desert, and how familiar they were to my companion. nd if you want to get any idea of the e9traordinary originality which )orhange introduced into such surroundings, you who, after all, ha8e a certain familiarity with the tropics, listen to this. It was e9actly two hundred kilometers from here, in the 8icinity of the Great +une, in that horrible stretch of si9 days without water. .e had =ust enough for two days before reaching the ne9t well, and you know these wellsA as Flatters wrote to his wife, "you ha8e to work for hours before you can clean them out and succeed in watering beasts and men." 4y chance we met a cara8an there, which was going east towards 'hadamCs, and had come too far north. !he camels6 humps, shrunken and shaking, bespoke the sufferings of the troop. 4ehind came a little gray ass, a pitiful burrow, interfering at e8ery step, and lightened of its pack because the merchants knew that it was going to die. Instincti8ely, with its last strength, it followed, knowing that when it could stagger no longer, the end would come and the flutter of the bald 8ultures6 wings. I lo8e animals, which I ha8e solid reasons for preferring to men. 4ut ne8er should I ha8e thought of doing what )orhange did then. I tell you that our water skins were almost dry, and that our own camels, without which one is lost in the empty desert, had not been watered for many hours. )orhange made his kneel, uncocked a skin, and made the little ass drink. I certainly felt gratification at seeing the poor bare flanks of the miserable beast pant with satisfaction. 4ut the responsibility was mine. lso I had seen 4ou,+=ema6s aghast e9pression, and the disappro8al of the thirsty members of the cara8an. I remarked on it. %ow it was recei8edB ".hat ha8e I gi8en," replied )orhange, "was my own. .e will reach &l,4iodh to,morrow e8ening, about si9 o6clock. 4etween here and there I know that I shall not be thirsty." nd that in a tone, in which for the first time he allowed the authority of a *aptain to speak. "!hat is easy to say," I thought, ill,humoredly. "%e knows that when he wants them, my water,skin, and 4ou,+=ema6s, are at his ser8ice." 4ut I did not yet know )orhange 8ery well, and it is true that until the e8ening of the ne9t day when we reached &l,4iodh, refusing our offers with smiling determination, he drank nothing. #hades of #t. Francis of ssisiB $mbrian hills, so pure under the rising sunB It was in the light of a like sunrise, by the border of a pale stream leaping in full cascades from a crescent,shaped niche of the gray rocks of &gere, that )orhange stopped. !he unlooked for waters rolled upon the sand, and we saw, in the light which mirrored them, little black fish. Fish in the middle of the #aharaB ll three of us were mute before this parado9 of (ature. "ne of them had strayed into a little channel of sand. %e had to stay there, struggling in 8ain, his little white belly e9posed to the air.... )orhange picked him up, looked at him for a moment, and put him back into the little stream. #hades of

#t. Francis. $mbrian hills.... 4ut I ha8e sworn not to break the thread of the story by these untimely digressions.

"1ou see," *aptain )orhange said to me a week later, "that I was right in ad8ising you to go farther south before making for #hikh,#alah. #omething told me that this highland of &gere was not interesting from your point of 8iew. .hile here you ha8e only to stoop to pick up pebbles which will allow you to establish the 8olcanic origin of this region much more certainly than 4ou,+erba, des *loi@eau9, and +octor )arr>s ha8e done." !his was while we were following the western pass of the !idifest )ountains, about the /0th degree of northern latitude. "I should indeed be ungrateful not to thank you," I said. I shall always remember that instant. .e had left our camels and were collecting fragments of the most characteristic rocks. )orhange employed himself with a discernment which spoke worlds for his knowledge of geology, a science he had often professed complete ignorance of. !hen I asked him the following ?uestionI ")ay I pro8e my gratitude by making you a confessionD" %e raised his head and looked at me. ".ell then, I don6t see the practical 8alue of this trip you ha8e undertaken." %e smiled. ".hy notD !o e9plore the old cara8an route, to demonstrate that a connection has e9isted from the most ancient times between the )editerranean world, and the country of the 4lacks, that seems nothing in your eyesD !he hope of settling once for all the secular disputes which ha8e di8ided so many keen mindsA d6 n8ille, %eeren, 4erliou9, Ruatremere on the one hand,on the other Gosselin, .alckenaer, !issit, -i8ien, de saint,)artinA you think that that is de8oid of interestD plague upon you for being hard to please." "I spoke of practical 8alue," I said. "1ou won6t deny that this contro8ersy is only the affair of cabinet geographers and office e9plorers." )orhange kept on smiling. "+ear friend, don6t wither me. +eign to recall that your mission was confided to you by the )inistry of .ar, while I hold mine on behalf of the )inistry of Public Instruction. different origin =ustifies our different aims. It certainly e9plains, I readily concede that to you, why what I am in search of has no practical 8alue." "1ou are also authori@ed by the )inistry of *ommerce," I replied, playing my ne9t card. "4y this chief you are instructed to study the possibility of restoring the old trade route of the ninth century. 4ut on this point don6t attempt to mislead meA with your knowledge of the history and geography of the #ahara, your mind must ha8e been made

up before you left Paris. !he road from +=erid to the (iger is dead, stone dead. 1ou knew that no important traffic would pass by this route before you undertook to study the possibility of restoring it." )orhange looked me full in the face. " nd if that should be so," he said with the most charming attitude, "if I had before lea8ing the con8iction you say, what do you conclude from thatD" "I should prefer to ha8e you tell me." "#imply, my dear boy, that I had less skill than you in finding the prete9t for my 8oyage, that I furnished less good reasons for the true moti8es that brought me here." " prete9tD I don6t see...." "4e sincere in your turn, if you please. I am sure that you ha8e the greatest desire to inform the rabian "ffice about the practices of the #enoussis. 4ut admit that the information that you will obtain is not the sole and innermost aim of your e9cursion. 1ou are a geologist, my friend. 1ou ha8e found a chance to gratify your taste in this trip. (o one would think of blaming you because you ha8e known how to reconcile what is useful to your country and agreeable to yourself. 4ut, for the lo8e of God, don6t deny itA I need no other proof than your presence here on this side of the !idifest, a 8ery curious place from a mineralogical point of 8iew, but some hundred and fifty kilometers south of your official route." It was not possible to ha8e countered me with a better grace. I parried by attacking. " m I to conclude from all this that I do not know the real aims of your trip, and that they ha8e nothing to do with the official moti8esD" I had gone a bit too far. I felt it from the seriousness with which )orhange6s reply was deli8ered. "(o, my dear friend, you must not conclude =ust that. I should ha8e no taste for a lie which was based on fraud towards the estimable constitutional bodies which ha8e =udged me worthy of their confidence and their support. !he ends that they ha8e assigned to me I shall do my best to attain. 4ut I ha8e no reason for hiding from you that there is another, ?uite personal, which is far nearer to my heart. Let us say, if you will, to use a terminology that is otherwise deplorable, that this is the end while the others are the means." ".ould there be any indiscretionD...." "(one," replied my companion. "#hikh,#alah is only a few days distant. %e whose first steps you ha8e guided with such solicitude in the desert should ha8e nothing hidden from you." .e had halted in the 8alley of a little dry well where a few sickly plants were growing. spring near by was circled by a crown of gray 8erdure. !he camels had been unsaddled for the night, and were seeking 8ainly, at e8ery stride, to nibble the spiny tufts of had. !he black and polished sides of the !idifest )ountains rose, almost 8ertically, abo8e our heads. lready the blue smoke of the fire on which 4ou,+=ema was cooking dinner rose through the motionless air.

(ot a sound, not a breath. !he smoke mounted straight, straight and slowly up the pale steps of the firmament. "%a8e you e8er heard of the Atlas of ChristianityD" asked )orhange. "I think so. Isn6t it a geographical work published by the 4enedictines under the direction of a certain +om GrangerD" "1our memory is correct," said )orhange. "&8en so let me e9plain a little more fully some of the things you ha8e not had as much reason as I to interest yourself in. !he Atlas of Christianity proposes to establish the boundaries of that great tide of *hristianity through all the ages, and for all parts of the globe. n undertaking worthy of the 4enedictine learning, worthy of such a prodigy of erudition as +om Granger himself." " nd it is these boundaries that you ha8e come to determine here, no doubt," I murmured. "5ust so," replied my companion. %e was silent, and I respected his silence, prepared by now to be astonished at nothing. "It is not possible to gi8e confidences by hal8es, without being ridiculous," he continued after se8eral minutes of meditation, speaking gra8ely, in a 8oice which held no suggestion of that flashing humor which had a month before enchanted the young officers at .argla. "I ha8e begun on mine. I will tell you e8erything. !rust my discretion, howe8er, and do not insist upon certain e8ents of my pri8ate life. If, four years ago, at the close of these e8ents, I resol8e to enter a monastery, it does not concern you to know my reasons. I can mar8el at it myself, that the passage in my life of a being absolutely de8oid of interest should ha8e sufficed to change the current of that life. I can mar8el that a creature whose sole merit was her beauty should ha8e been permitted by the *reator to swing my destiny to such an unforeseen direction. !he monastery at whose doors I knocked had the most 8alid reasons for doubting the stability of my 8ocation. .hat the world loses in such fashion it often calls back as readily. In short, I cannot blame the Father bbot for ha8ing forbidden me to apply for my army discharge. 4y his instructions, I asked for, and obtained, permission to be placed on the inacti8e list for three years. t the end of those three years of consecration it would be seen whether the world was definitely dead to your ser8ant. "!he first day of my arri8al at the cloister I was assigned to +om Granger, and placed by him at work on the Atlas of Christianity. brief e9amination decided him as to what kind of ser8ice I was best fitted to render. !his is how I came to enter the studio de8oted to the cartography of (orthern frica. I did not know one word of rabic, but it happened that in garrison at Lyon I had taken at the 0acult1 des ettres) a course with 4erliou9,a 8ery erudite geographer no doubt, but obsessed by one idea, the influence the Greek and 'oman ci8ili@ations had e9ercised on frica. !his detail of my life was enough for +om Granger. %e pro8ided me straightway with 4erber 8ocabularies by -enture, by +elaporte, by 4rosselardA with the Grammatical Sketch of the 2emaha$ by #tanley Fleeman, and the Essai de Grammaire de la langue 2emachek by )a=or %anoteau. t the end of three months I was able to decipher any inscriptions in !ifinar. 1ou know that !ifinar is the national writing of the !uareg, the e9pression of this

!emachek language which seems to us the most curious protest of the !argui race against its )ohammedan enemies. "+om Granger, in fact, belie8ed that the !uareg are *hristians, dating from a period which it was necessary to ascertain, but which coincided no doubt with the splendor of the church of %ippon. &8en better than I, you know that the cross is with them the symbol of fate in decoration. +u8eyrier has claimed that it figures in their alphabet, on their arms, among the designs of their clothes. !he only tattooing that they wear on the forehead, on the back of the hand, is a cross with four e?ual branchesA the pummels of their saddles, the handles of their sabres, of their poignards, are cross,shaped. nd is it necessary to remind you that, although Islam forbids bells as a sign of *hristianity, the harness of !uareg camels are trimmed with bellsD "(either +om Granger nor I attach an e9aggerated importance to such proofs, which resemble too much those which make such a display in the Genius of Christianity/ 4ut it is indeed impossible to refuse all credence to certain theological arguments. manai, the God of the !uareg, un?uestionably the donai of the 4ible, is uni?ue. !hey ha8e a hell, 6!imsi,tan,elekhaft,6 the last fire, where reigns Iblis, our Lucifer. !heir Paradise, where they are rewarded for good deeds, is inhabited by 6and=elousen,6 our angels. nd do not urge the resemblance of this theology to the 2oran, for I will meet you with historic arguments and remind you that the !uareg ha8e struggled all through the ages at the cost of partial e9termination, to maintain their faith against the encroachments of )ohammedan fanaticism. ")any times I ha8e studied with +om Granger that formidable epoch when the aborigines opposed the con?uering rabs. .ith him I ha8e seen how the army of #idi, "kba, one of the companions of the Prophet, in8aded this desert to reduce the !uareg tribes and impose on them )ussulman rules. !hese tribes were then rich and prosperous. !hey were the Ihbggaren, the Imededren, the "uadelen, the 2el,Gueress, the 2el, ir. 4ut internal ?uarrels sapped their strength. #till, it was not until after a long and cruel war that the rabians succeeded in getting possession of the capital of the 4erbers, which had pro8ed such a redoubtable stronghold. !hey destroyed it after they had massacred the inhabitants. "n the ruins "kba constructed a new city. !his city is &s,#ouk. !he one that #idi,"kba destroyed was the 4erber !admekka. .hat +om Granger asked of me was precisely that I should try to e9hume from the ruins of the )ussulman &s,#ouk the ruins of !admekka, which was 4erber, and perhaps *hristian." "I understand," I murmured. "#o far, so good," said )orhange. "4ut what you must grasp now is the practical sense of these religious men, my masters. 1ou remember that, e8en after three years of monastic life, they preser8ed their doubts as to the stability of my 8ocation. !hey found at the same time means of testing it once for all, and of adapting official facilities to their particular purposes. "ne morning I was called before the Father bbot, and this is what he said to me, in the presence of +om Granger, who e9pressed silent appro8al. "61our term of inacti8e ser8ice e9pires in fifteen days. 1ou will return to Paris, and apply at the )inistry to be reinstated. .ith what you ha8e learned here, and the relationships we ha8e been able to maintain at %ead?uarters, you will ha8e no difficulty in being attached to the Geographical #taff of the army. .hen you reach the rue de Grenelle you will recei8e our instructions.6

"I was astonished at their confidence in my knowledge. .hen I was reestablished as *aptain again in the Geographical #er8ice I understood. t the monastery, the daily association with +om Granger and his pupils had kept me constantly con8inced of the inferiority of my knowledge. .hen I came in contact with my military brethren I reali@ed the superiority of the instruction I had recei8ed. I did not ha8e to concern myself with the details of my mission. !he )inistries in8ited me to undertake it. )y initiati8e asserted itself on only one occasion. .hen I learned that you were going to lea8e .argla on the present e9pedition, ha8ing reason to distrust my practical ?ualifications as an e9plorer, I did my best to retard your departure, so that I might =oin you. I hope that you ha8e forgi8en me by now."

!he light in the west was fading, where the sun had already sunk into a matchless lu9ury of 8iolet draperies. .e were alone in this immensity, at the feet of the rigid black rocks. (othing but oursel8es. (othing, nothing but oursel8es. I held out my hand to )orhange, and he pressed it. !hen he saidI "If they still seem infinitely long to me, the se8eral thousand kilometers which separate me from the instant when, my task accomplished, I shall at last find obli8ion in the cloister for the things for which I was not made, let me tell you thisAthe se8eral hundred kilometers which still separate us from #hikh,#alah seem to me infinitely short to tra8erse in your company." "n the pale water of the little pool, motionless and fi9ed like a sil8er nail, a star had =ust been born. "#hikh,#alah," I murmured, my heart full of an indefinable sadness. "Patience, we are not there yet." In truth, we ne8er were to be there.

2
T/E INSCRI7TION

.ith a blow of the tip of his cane )orhange knocked a fragment of rock from the black flank of the mountain. ".hat is itD" he asked, holding it out to me. " basaltic peridot," I said.

"It can6t be 8ery interesting, you barely glanced at it." "It is 8ery interesting, on the contrary. 4ut, for the moment, I admit that I am otherwise preoccupied." "%owD" "Look this way a bit," I said, showing towards the west, on the hori@on, a black spot across the white plain. It was si9 o6clock in the morning. !he sun had risen. 4ut it could not be found in the surprisingly polished air. nd not a breath of air, not a breath. #uddenly one of the camels called. n enormous antelope had =ust come in sight, and had stopped in its flight, terrified, racing the wall of rock. It stayed there at a little distance from us, da@ed, trembling on its slender legs. 4ou,+=ema had re=oined us. ".hen the legs of the mohor tremble it is because the firmament is shaken," he muttered. " stormD" "1es, a storm." " nd you find that alarmingD" I did not answer immediately. I was e9changing se8eral brief words with 4ou, +=ema, who was occupied in soothing the camels which were gi8ing signs of being resti8e. )orhange repeated his ?uestion. I shrugged my shoulders. " larmingD I don6t know. I ha8e ne8er seen a storm on the %oggar. 4ut I distrust it. nd the signs are that this is going to be a big one. #ee there already." slight dust had risen before the cliff. In the still air a few grains of sand had begun to whirl round and round, with a speed which increased to di@@iness, gi8ing us in ad8ance the spectacle in miniature of what would soon be breaking upon us. .ith harsh cries a flock of wild geese appeared, flying low. !hey came out of the west. "!hey are fleeing towards the #ebkha d6 manghor," said 4ou,+=ema. !here could be no greater mistake, I thought. )orhange looked at me curiously. ".hat must we doD" he asked. ")ount our camels immediately, before they are completely demorali@ed, and hurry to find shelter in some high places. !ake account of our situation. It is easy to follow the bed of a stream. 4ut within a ?uarter of an hour perhaps the storm will ha8e burst. .ithin a half hour a perfect torrent will be rushing here. "n this soil, which is almost impermeable, rain will roll like a pail of water thrown on a bituminous pa8ement. (o depth, all height. Look at this."

nd I showed him, a do@en meters high, long hollow gouges, marks of former erosions on the rocky wall. "In an hour the waters will reach that height. !hose are the marks of the last inundation. Let us get started. !here is not an instant to lose." " ll right," )orhange replied tran?uilly. .e had the greatest difficulty to make the camels kneel. .hen we had thrown oursel8es into the saddle they started off at a pace which their terror rendered more and more disorderly. "f a sudden the wind began, a formidable wind, and, almost at the same time the light was eclipsed in the ra8ine. bo8e our heads the sky had become, in the flash of an eye, darker than the walls of the canyon which we were descending at a breathless pace. " path, a stairway in the wall," I screamed against the wind to my companions. "If we don6t find one in a minute we are lost." !hey did not hear me, but, turning in my saddle, I saw that they had lost no distance, )orhange following me, and 4ou,+=ema in the rear dri8ing the two baggage camels masterfully before him. blinding streak of lightning rent the obscurity. peal of thunder, re,echoed to infinity by the rocky wall, rang out, and immediately great tepid drops began to fall. In an instant, our burnouses, which had been blown out behind by the speed with which we were tra8eling, were stuck tight to our streaming bodies. "#a8edB" I e9claimed suddenly. bruptly on our right a cre8ice opened in the midst of the wall. It was the almost perpendicular bed of a stream, an affluent of the one we had had the unfortunate idea of following that morning. lready a 8eritable torrent was gushing o8er it with a fine uproar. I ha8e ne8er better appreciated the incomparable sure,footedness of camels in the most precipitate places. 4racing themsel8es, stretching out their great legs, balancing themsel8es among the rocks that were beginning to be swept loose, our camels accomplished at that moment what the mules of the Pyrannees might ha8e failed in. fter se8eral moments of superhuman effort we found oursel8es at last out of danger, on a kind of basaltic terrace, ele8ated some fifty meters abo8e the channel of the stream we had =ust left. Luck was with usA a little grotto opened out behind. 4ou, +=ema succeeded in sheltering the camels there. From its threshold we had leisure to contemplate in silence the prodigious spectacle spread out before us. 1ou ha8e, I belie8e, been at the *amp of *halons for artillery drills. 1ou ha8e seen when the shell bursts how the chalky soil of the )arne effer8esces like the inkwells at school, when we used to throw a piece of calcium carbonate into them. .ell, it was almost like that, but in the midst of the desert, in the midst of obscurity. !he white waters rushed into the depths of the black hole, and rose and rose towards the pedestal on which we stood. nd there was the uninterrupted noise of thunder, and still louder, the sound of whole walls of rock, undermined by the flood, collapsing in a heap and dissol8ing in a few seconds of time in the midst of the rising water.

ll the time that this deluge lasted, one hour, perhaps two, )orhange and I stayed bending o8er this fantastic foaming 8atA an9ious to see, to see e8erything, to see in spite of e8erythingA re=oicing with a kind of ineffable horror when we felt the shelf of basalt on which we had taken refuge swaying beneath us from the battering impact of the water. I belie8e that ne8er for an instant did we think, so beautiful it was, of wishing for the end of that gigantic nightmare. Finally a ray of the sun shone through. "nly then did we look at each other. )orhange held out his hand. "!hank you," he said simply. nd he added with a smileI "!o be drowned in the 8ery middle of the #ahara would ha8e been pretentious and ridiculous. 1ou ha8e sa8ed us, thanks to your power of decision, from this 8ery parado9ical end." h, that he had been thrown by a misstep of his camel and rolled to his death in the midst of the floodB !hen what followed would ne8er ha8e happened. !hat is the thought that comes to me in hours of weakness. 4ut I ha8e told you that I pull myself out of it ?uickly. (o, no, I do not regret it, I cannot regret it, that what happened did happen.

)orhange left me to go into the little grotto, where 4ou,+=ema6s camels were now resting comfortably. I stayed alone, watching the torrent which was continuously rising with the impetuous inrush of its unbridled tributaries. It had stopped raining. !he sun shone from a sky that had renewed its blueness. I could feel the clothes that had a moment before been drenching, drying upon me incredibly fast. hand was placed on my shoulder. )orhange was again beside me. "*ome here," he said. #omewhat surprised, I followed him. .e went into the grotto. !he opening, which was big enough to admit the camels, made it fairly light. )orhange led me up to the smooth face of rock opposite. "Look," he said, with unconcealed =oy. ".hat of itD" "+on6t you seeD" "I see that there are se8eral !uareg inscriptions," I answered, with some disappointment. "4ut I thought I had told you that I read !ifinar writing 8ery badly. re these writings more interesting than the others we ha8e come upon beforeD" "Look at this one," said )orhange. !here was such an accent of triumph in his tone that this time I concentrated my attention. I looked again.

!he characters of the inscription were arranged in the form of a cross. It plays such an important part in this ad8enture that I cannot forego retracing it for you.

It was designed with great regularity, and the characters were cut deep into the rock. lthough I knew so little of rock inscriptions at that time I had no difficulty in recogni@ing the anti?uity of this one. )orhange became more and more radiant as he regarded it. I looked at him ?uestioningly. ".ell, what ha8e you to say nowD" he asked. ".hat do you want me to sayD I tell you that I can barely read !ifinar." "#hall I help youD" he suggested. !his course in 4erber writing, after the emotions through which we had =ust passed, seemed to me a little inopportune. 4ut )orhange was so 8isibly delighted that I could not dash his =oy. "-ery well then," began my companion, as much at his, ease as if he had been before a blackboard, "what will strike you first about this inscription is its repetition in the form of a cross. !hat is to say that it contains the same word twice, top to bottom, and right to left. !he word which it composes has se8en letters so the fourth letter, . :!ranscriber6s (oteI 'otated EF degrees counter,clockwise<, comes naturally in the middle. !his arrangement which is uni?ue in !ifinar writing, is already remarkable enough. 4ut there is better still. (ow we will read it." Getting it wrong three times out of se8en I finally succeeded, with )orhange6s help, in spelling the word. "%a8e you got itD" asked )orhange when I had finished my task. "Less than e8er," I answered, a little put outA "a,n,t,i,n,h,a, ntinha, I don6t know that word, or anything like it, in all the #aharan dialects I am familiar with."

)orhange rubbed his hands together. %is satisfaction was without bounds. "1ou ha8e said it. !hat is why the disco8ery is uni?ue." ".hyD" "!here is really nothing, either in 4erber or in rabian, analogous to this word." "!henD" "!hen, my dear friend, we are in the presence of a foreign word, translated into !ifinar." " nd this word belongs, according to your theory, to what languageD" "1ou must reali@e that the letter e does not e9ist in the !ifinar alphabet. It has here been replaced by the phonetic sign which is nearest to it,h. 'estore e to the place which belongs to it in the word, and you ha8e" " ntinea." "6 ntinea,6 precisely. .e find oursel8es before a Greek 8ocable reproduced in !ifinar. nd I think that now you will agree with me that my find has a certain interest." !hat day we had no more conferences upon te9ts. rang out. loud cry, anguished, terrifying,

.e rushed out to find a strange spectacle awaiting us. lthough the sky had cleared again, the torrent of yellow water was still foaming and no one could predict when it would fall. In mid,stream, struggling desperately in the current, was an e9traordinary mass, gray and soft and swaying. 4ut what at the first glance o8erwhelmed us with astonishment was to see 4ou, +=ema, usually so calm, at this moment apparently beside himself with fren@y, bounding through the gullies and o8er the rocks of the ledge, in full pursuit of the shipwreck. "f a sudden I sei@ed )orhange by the arm. !he grayish thing was ali8e. long neck emerged from it with the heartrending cry of a beast in despair. pitiful

"!he fool," I cried, "he has let one of our beasts get loose, and the stream is carrying it awayB" "1ou are mistaken," said )orhange. ""ur camels are all in the ca8e. !he one 4ou, +=ema is running after is not ours. nd the cry of anguish we =ust heard, that was not 4ou,+=ema either. 4ou,+=ema is a bra8e *haamb who has at this moment only one idea, to appropriate the intestate capital represented by this camel in the stream." ".ho ga8e that cry, thenD" "Let us try, if you like, to e9plore up this stream that our guide is descending at such a rate." nd without waiting for my answer he had already set out through the recently washed gullies of the rocky bank.

t that moment it can be truly said that )orhange went to meet his destiny. I followed him. .e had the greatest difficulty in proceeding two or three hundred meters. Finally we saw at our feet a little rushing brook where the water was falling a trifle. "#ee thereD" said )orhange. blackish bundle was balancing on the wa8es of the creek. .hen we had come up e8en with it we saw that it was a man in the long dark blue robes of the !uareg. "Gi8e me your hand," said )orhange, "and brace yourself against a rock, hard." %e was 8ery, 8ery strong. In an instant, as if it were child6s play, he had brought the body ashore. "%e is still ali8e," he pronounced with satisfaction. "(ow it is a ?uestion of getting him to the grotto. !his is no place to resuscitate a drowned man." %e raised the body in his powerful arms. "It is astonishing how little he weighs for a man of his height." 4y the time we had retraced the way to the grotto the man6s cotton clothes were almost dry. 4ut the dye had run plentifully, and it was an indigo man that )orhange was trying to recall to life. .hen I had made him swallow a ?uart of rum he opened his eyes, looked at the two of us with surprise, then, closing them again, murmured almost unintelligibly a phrase, the sense of which we did not get until some days laterI "*an it be that I ha8e reached the end of my missionD" ".hat mission is he talking aboutD" I said. "Let him reco8er himself completely," responded )orhange. "1ou had better open some preser8ed food. .ith fellows of this build you don6t ha8e to obser8e the precautions prescribed for drowned &uropeans." It was indeed a species of giant, whose life we had =ust sa8ed. %is face, although 8ery thin, was regular, almost beautiful. %e had a clear skin and little beard. %is hair, already white, showed him to be a man of si9ty years. .hen I placed a tin of corned,beef before him a light of 8oracious =oy came into his eyes. !he tin contained an allowance for four persons. It was empty in a flash. "4ehold," said )orhange, "a robust appetite. (ow we can put our ?uestions without scruple." lready the !arga had placed o8er his forehead and face the blue 8eil prescribed by the ritual. %e must ha8e been completely famished not to ha8e performed this indispensable formality sooner. !here was nothing 8isible now but the eyes, watching us with a light that grew steadily more sombre. "French officers," he murmured at last.

nd he took )orhange6s hand, and ha8ing placed it against his breast, carried it to his lips. #uddenly an e9pression of an9iety passed o8er his face. " nd my mehariD" he asked. I e9plained that our guide was then employed in trying to sa8e his beast. %e in turn told us how it had stumbled, and fallen into the current, and he himself, in trying to sa8e it, had been knocked o8er. %is forehead had struck a rock. %e had cried out. fter that he remembered nothing more. ".hat is your nameD" I asked. "&g, nteouen." ".hat tribe do you belong toD" "!he tribe of 2el,!ahat." "!he 2el,!ahats are the serfs of the tribe of 2el,'helN, the great nobles of %oggarD" "1es," he answered, casting a side glance in my direction. It seemed that such precise ?uestions on the affairs of hygar were not to his liking. "!he 2el,!ahats, if I am not mistaken, are established on the southwest flank of takor.:0< .hat were you doing, so far from your home territory when we sa8ed your lifeD" "I was going, by way of !it, to In,#alah," he said. ".hat were you going to do at In,#alahD" %e was about to reply. 4ut suddenly we saw him tremble. %is eyes were fi9ed on a point of the ca8ern. .e looked to see what it was. %e had =ust seen the rock inscription which had so delighted )orhange an hour before. "+o you know thatD" )orhange asked him with keen curiosity. !he !arga did not speak a word but his eyes had a strange light. "+o you know thatD" insisted )orhange. nd he addedI " ntineaD" " ntinea," repeated the man. nd he was silent. ".hy don6t you answer the *aptainD" I called out, with a strange feeling of rage sweeping o8er me. !he !argui looked at me. I thought that he was going to speak. 4ut his eyes became suddenly hard. $nder the lustrous 8eil I saw his features stiffening. )orhange and I turned around.

"n the threshold of the ca8ern, breathless, discomfited, harassed by an hour of 8ain pursuit, 4ou,+=ema had returned to us.

2I
T/E DISASTER O1 T/E LETT5CE

s &g, nteouen and 4ou,+=ema came face to face, I fancied that both the !arga and the *haamba ga8e a sudden start which each immediately repressed. It was nothing more than a fleeting impression. (e8ertheless, it was enough to make me resol8e that as soon as I was alone with our guide, I would ?uestion him closely concerning our new companion. !he beginning of the day had been wearisome enough. .e decided, therefore, to spend the rest of it there, and e8en to pass the night in the ca8e, waiting till the flood had completely subsided. In the morning, when I was marking our day6s march upon the map, )orhange came toward me. I noticed that his manner was somewhat restrained. "In three days, we shall be at #hikh,#alah," I said to him. "Perhaps by the e8ening of the second day, badly as the camels go." "Perhaps we shall separate before then," he muttered. "%ow soD" "1ou see, I ha8e changed my itinerary a little. I ha8e gi8en up the idea of going straight to !imissao. First I should like to make a little e9cursion into the interior of the haggar range." I frownedI ".hat is this new ideaD" s I spoke I looked about for &g, nteouen, whom I had seen in con8ersation with )orhange the pre8ious e8ening and se8eral minutes before. %e was ?uietly mending one of his sandals with a wa9ed thread supplied by 4ou,+=ema. %e did not raise his head. "It is simply," e9plained )orhange, less and less at his ease, "that this man tells me there are similar inscriptions in se8eral ca8erns in western haggar. !hese ca8es are near the road that he has to take returning home. %e must pass by !it. (ow, from !it, by way of #ilet, is hardly two hundred kilometers. It is a ?uasi,classic route:O< as short

again as the one that I shall ha8e to take alone, after I lea8e you, from #hikh,#alah to !imissao. !hat is in part, you see, the reason which has made me decide to...." "In partD In 8ery small part," I replied. "4ut is your mind absolutely made upD" "It is," he answered me. ".hen do you e9pect to lea8e meD" "!o,day. !he road which &g, nteouen proposes to take into haggar crosses this one about four leagues from here. I ha8e a fa8or to ask of you in this connection." "Please tell me." "It is to let me take one of the two baggage camels, since my !arga has lost his." "!he camel which carries your baggage belongs to you as much as does your own mehari," I answered coldly. .e stood there se8eral minutes without speaking. )orhange maintained an uneasy silenceA I was e9amining my map. ll o8er it in greater or less degree, but particularly towards the south, the une9plored portions of haggar stood out as far too numerous white patches in the tan area of supposed mountains. I finally saidI "1ou gi8e me your word that when you ha8e seen these famous grottos, you will make straight for !imissao by !it and #iletD" %e looked at me uncomprehendingly. ".hy do you ask thatD" "4ecause, if you promise me that,pro8ided, of course, that my company is not unwelcome to youI will go with you. &ither way, I shall ha8e two hundred kilometers to go. I shall strike for #hikh,#alah from the south, instead of from the westthat is the only difference." )orhange looked at me with emotion. ".hy do you do thisD" he murmured. ")y dear fellow," I said Jit was the first time that I had addressed )orhange in this familiar wayK, "my dear fellow, I ha8e a sense which becomes mar8ellously acute in the desert, the sense of danger. I ga8e you a slight proof of it yesterday morning, at the coming of the storm. .ith all your knowledge of rock inscriptions, you seem to me to ha8e no 8ery e9act idea of what kind of place haggar is, nor what may be in store for you there. "n that account, I should be =ust as well pleased not to let you run sure risks alone." "I ha8e a guide," he said with his adorable nai8et>. &g, nteouen, in the same s?uatting position, kept on patching his old slipper. I took a step toward him. "1ou heard what I said to the *aptainD"

"1es," the !arga answered calmly. "I am going with him. .e lea8e you at !it, to which place you must bring us. .here is the place you proposed to show the *aptainD" "I did not propose to show it to himA it was his own idea," said the !arga coldly. "!he grottos with the inscriptions are three,days6 march southward in the mountains. t first, the road is rather rough. 4ut farther on, it turns, and you gain !imissao 8ery easily. !here are good wells where the !uareg !aito?s, who are friendly to the French, come to water their camels." " nd you know the road wellD" %e shrugged his shoulders. %is eyes had a scornful smile. "I ha8e taken it twenty times," he said. "In that case, let6s get started." .e rode for two hours. I did not e9change a word with )orhange. I had a clear intuition of the folly we were committing in risking oursel8es so unconcernedly in that least known and most dangerous part of the #ahara. &8ery blow which had been struck in the last twenty years to undermine the French ad8ance had come from this redoubtable haggar. 4ut what of itD It was of my own will that I had =oined in this mad scheme. (o need of going o8er it again. .hat was the use of spoiling my action by a continual e9hibition of disappro8alD nd, furthermore, I may as well admit that I rather liked the turn that our trip was beginning to take. I had, at that instant, the sensation of =ourneying toward something incredible, toward some tremendous ad8enture. 1ou do not li8e with impunity for months and years as the guest of the desert. #ooner or later, it has its way with you, annihilates the good officer, the timid e9ecuti8e, o8erthrows his solicitude for his responsibilities. .hat is there behind those mysterious rocks, those dim solitudes, which ha8e held at bay the most illustrious pursuers of mysteryD 1ou follow, I tell you, you follow.

" re you sure at least that this inscription is interesting enough to =ustify us in our undertakingD" I asked )orhange. )y companion started with pleasure. &8er since we began our =ourney I had reali@ed his fear that I was coming along half,heartedly. s soon as I offered him a chance to con8ince me, his scruples 8anished, and his triumph seemed assured to him. "(e8er," he answered, in a 8oice that he tried to control, but through which the enthusiasm rang out, "ne8er has a Greek inscription been found so far south. !he farthest points where they ha8e been reported are in the south of lgeria and *yrene. 4ut in haggarB !hink of itB It is true that this one is translated into !ifinar. 4ut this peculiarity does not diminish the interest of the coincidenceI it increases it." ".hat do you take to be the meaning of this wordD" "Antinea can only be a proper name," said )orhange. "!o whom does it referD I admit I don6t know, and if at this 8ery moment I am marching toward the south,

dragging you along with me, it is because I count on learning more about it. Its etymologyD It hasn6t one definitely, but there are thirty possibilities. 4ear in mind that the !ifinar alphabet is far from tallying with the Greek alphabet, which increases the number of hypotheses. #hall I suggest se8eralD" "I was =ust about to ask you to."

"!o begin with, there is and the .oman .ho is placed opposite a %essel, an e9planation which would ha8e been pleasing to Gaffarel and to my 8enerated master 4erliou9. !hat would apply well enough to the figure,heads of ships. !here is a technical term that I cannot recall at this moment, not if you beat me a hundred times o8er.:S<

"!hen there is

, that you must relate to

and

, she .ho holds herself #efore the , the of the temple, she .ho is opposite the sanctuary) therefore priestess. n interpretation which would enchant Girard and 'enan.

"(e9t we ha8e , from and , new, which can mean two thingsI either she .ho is the contrary of young, which is to say oldA or she .ho is the enemy of no%elty or the enemy of youth. "!here is still another sense of , in e&change for) which is capable of complicating all the others I ha8e mentionedA likewise there are four meanings for the 8erb , which means in turn to go) to flo.) to thread or .ea%e) to heap. !here is more still.... nd notice, please, that I ha8e not at my disposition on the otherwise commodious hump of this mehari, either the great dictionary of &stienne or the le9icons of Passow, of Pape, or of Liddel,#cott. !his is only to show you, my dear friend, that epigraphy is but a relati8e science, always dependent on the disco8ery of a new te9t which contradicts the pre8ious findings, when it is not merely at the mercy of the humors of the epigraphists and their pet conceptions of the uni8erse. "!hat was rather my 8iew of it," I said, "4ut I must admit my astonishment to find that, with such a sceptical opinion of the goal, you still do not hesitate to take risks which may be ?uite considerable." )orhange smiled wanly. "I do not interpret, my friendA I collect. From what I will take back to him, +om Granger has the ability to draw conclusions which are beyond my slight knowledge. I was amusing myself a little. Pardon me." 5ust then the girth of one of the baggage camels, e8idently not well fastened, came loose. Part of the load slipped and fell to the ground.

&g, nteouen descended instantly from his beast and helped 4ou,+=ema repair the damage. .hen they had finished, I made my mehari walk beside 4ou,+=ema6s. "It will be better to resaddle the camels at the ne9t stop. !hey will ha8e to climb the mountain." !he guide looked at me with ama@ement. $p to that time I had thought it unnecessary to ac?uaint him with our new pro=ects. 4ut I supposed &g, nteouen would ha8e told him. "Lieutenant, the road across the white plain to #hikh,#alah is not mountainous," said the *haamba. ".e are not keeping to the road across the white plain. .e are going south, by haggar." "4y haggar," he murmured. "4ut...." "4ut whatD" "I do not know the road." "&g, nteouen is going to guide us." "&g, nteouenB" I watched 4ou,+=ema as he made this suppressed e=aculation. %is eyes were fi9ed on the !arga with a mi9ture of stupor and fright. &g, nteouen6s camel was a do@en yards ahead of us, side by side with )orhange6s. !he two men were talking. I reali@ed that )orhange must be con8ersing with &g, nteouen about the famous inscriptions. 4ut we were not so far behind that they could not ha8e o8erheard our words. gain I looked at my guide. I saw that he was pale. ".hat is it, 4ou,+=emaD" I asked in a low 8oice. "(ot here, Lieutenant, not here," he muttered. %is teeth chattered. %e added in a whisperI "(ot here. !his e8ening, when we stop, when he turns to the &ast to pray, when the sun goes down. !hen, call me to you. I will tell you.... 4ut not here. %e is talking, but he is listening. Go ahead. 5oin the *aptain." ".hat ne9tD" I murmured, pressing my camel6s neck with my foot so as to make him o8ertake )orhange.

It was about fi8e o6clock when &g, nteouen who was leading the way, came to a stop.

"%ere it is," he said, getting down from his camel. It was a beautiful and sinister place. !o our left a fantastic wall of granite outlined its gray ribs against the sky. !his wall was pierced, from top to bottom, by a winding corridor about a thousand feet high and scarcely wide enough in places to allow three camels to walk abreast. "%ere it is," repeated the !arga. !o the west, straight behind us, the track that we were lea8ing unrolled like a pale ribbon. !he white plain, the road to #hikh,#alah, the established halts, the well,known wells.... nd, on the other side, this black wall against the mau8e sky, this dark passage. I looked at )orhange. ".e had better stop here," he said simply. "&g, nteouen ad8ises us to take as much water here as we can carry." .ith one accord we decided to spend the night there, before undertaking the mountain. !here was a spring, in a dark basin, from which fell a little cascadeA there were a few shrubs, a few plants. lready the camels were browsing at the length of their tethers. 4ou,+=ema arranged our camp dinner ser8ice of tin cups and plates on a great flat stone. n opened tin of meat lay beside a plate of lettuce which he had =ust gathered from the moist earth around the spring. I could tell from the distracted manner in which he placed these ob=ects upon the rock how deep was his an9iety. s he was bending toward me to hand me a plate, he pointed to the gloomy black corridor which we were about to enter. "Blad(el(3houf4, he murmured. ".hat did he sayD" asked )orhange, who had seen the gesture. "Blad(el(3houf/ 2his is the country of fear/ !hat is what the rabs call haggar." 4ou,+=ema went a little distance off and sat down, lea8ing us to our dinner. #?uatting on his heels, he began to eat a few lettuce lea8es that he had kept for his own meal. &g, nteouen was still motionless. #uddenly the !arga rose. !he sun in the west was no larger than a red brand. .e saw &g, nteouen approach the fountain, spread his blue burnous on the ground and kneel upon it. "I did not suppose that the !uareg were so obser8ant of )ussulman tradition," said )orhange. "(or I," I replied thoughtfully. 4ut I had something to do at that moment besides making such speculations.

"4ou,+=ema," I called. t the same time, I looked at &g, nteouen. bsorbed in his prayer, bowed toward the west, apparently he was paying no attention to me. s he prostrated himself, I called again. "4ou,+=ema, come with me to my mehariA I want to get something out of the saddle bags." #till kneeling, &g, nteouen was mumbling his prayer slowly, composedly. 4ut 4ou,+=ema had not budged. %is only response was a deep moan. )orhange and I leaped to our feet and ran to the guide. &g, nteouen reached him as soon as we did. .ith his eyes closed and his limbs already cold, the *haamba breathed a death rattle in )orhange6s arms. I had sei@ed one of his hands. &g, nteouen took the other. &ach, in his own way, was trying to di8ine, to understand.... #uddenly &g, nteouen leapt to his feet. %e had =ust seen the poor embossed bowl which the rab had held an instant before between his knees, and which now lay o8erturned upon the ground. %e picked it up, looked ?uickly at one after another of the lea8es of lettuce remaining in it, and then ga8e a hoarse e9clamation. "#o," said )orhange, "it6s his turn nowA he is going to go mad." .atching &g, nteouen closely, I saw him hasten without a word to the rock where our dinner was set, a second later, he was again beside us, holding out the bowl of lettuce which he had not yet touched. !hen he took a thick, long, pale green leaf from 4ou,+=ema6s bowl and held it beside another leaf he had =ust taken from our bowl. "Afahlehle), was all he said. I shuddered, and so did )orhange. It was the afahlehla) the faleste-, of the rabs of the #ahara, the terrible plant which had killed a part of the Flatters mission more ?uickly and surely than !uareg arms. &g, nteouen stood up. %is tall silhouette was outlined blackly against the sky which suddenly had turned pale lilac. %e was watching us. .e bent again o8er the unfortunate guide. "Afahlehle), the !arga repeated, and shook his head.

4ou,+=ema died in the middle of the night without ha8ing regained consciousness.

2II
T/E CO5NTR) O1 1EAR

"It is curious," said )orhange, "to see how our e9pedition, une8entful since we left "uargla, is now becoming e9citing." %e said this after kneeling for a moment in prayer before the painfully dug gra8e in which we had lain the guide. I do not belie8e in God. 4ut if anything can influence whate8er powers there may be, whether of good or of e8il, of light or of darkness, it is the prayer of such a man. For two days we picked our way through a gigantic chaos of black rock in what might ha8e been the country of the moon, so barren was it. (o sound but that of stones rolling under the feet of the camels and striking like gunshots at the foot of the precipices. strange march indeed. For the first few hours, I tried to pick out, by compass, the route we were following. 4ut my calculations were soon upsetA doubtless a mistake due to the swaying motion of the camel. I put the compass back in one of my saddle,bags. From that time on, &g, nteouen was our master. .e could only trust oursel8es to him. %e went firstA )orhange followed him, and I brought up the rear. .e passed at e8ery step most curious specimens of 8olcanic rock. 4ut I did not e9amine them. I was no longer interested in such things. nother kind of curiosity had taken possession of me. I had come to share )orhange6s madness. If my companion had said to meI ".e are doing a 8ery rash thing. Let us go back to the known trails," I should ha8e replied, "1ou are free to do as you please. 4ut I am going on." !oward e8ening of the second day, we found oursel8es at the foot of a black mountain whose =agged ramparts towered in profile se8en thousand feet abo8e our heads. It was an enormous shadowy fortress, like the outline of a feudal stronghold silhouetted with incredible sharpness against the orange sky. !here was a well, with se8eral trees, the first we had seen since cutting into haggar. group of men were standing about it. !heir camels, tethered close by, were cropping a mouthful here and there. t seeing us, the men drew together, alert, on the defensi8e. &g, nteouen turned to us and saidI "&ggali !uareg." .e went toward them.

!hey were handsome men, those &ggali, the largest !uareg whom I e8er ha8e seen. .ith une9pected swiftness they drew aside from the well, lea8ing it to us. &g, nteouen spoke a few words to them. !hey looked at )orhange and me with a curiosity bordering on fear, but at any rate, with respect. I drew se8eral little presents from my saddlebags and was astonished at the reser8e of the chief, who refused them. %e seemed afraid e8en of my glance. .hen they had gone, I e9pressed my astonishment at this shyness for which my pre8ious e9periences with the tribes of the #ahara had not prepared me. "!hey spoke with respect, e8en with fear," I said to &g, nteouen. " nd yet the tribe of the &ggali is noble. nd that of the 2el,!ahats, to which you tell me you belong, is a sla8e tribe." smile lighted the dark eyes of &g, nteouen. "It is true," he said. ".ell thenD" "I told them that we three, the *aptain, you and I, were bound for the )ountain of the &8il #pirits." .ith a gesture, he indicated the black mountain. "!hey are afraid. ll the !uareg of haggar are afraid of the )ountain of the &8il #pirits. 1ou saw how they were up and off at the 8ery mention of its name." "It is to the )ountain of the &8il #pirits that you are taking usD" ?ueried )orhange. "1es," replied the !arga, "that is where the inscriptions are that I told you about." "1ou did not mention that detail to us." ".hy should ID !he !uareg are afraid of the ilhinen) spirits with horns and tails, co8ered with hair, who make the cattle sicken and die and cast spells o8er men. 4ut I know well that the *hristians are not afraid and e8en laugh at the fears of the !uareg." " nd youD" I asked. "1ou are a !arga and you are not afraid of the ilhinenD" &g, nteouen showed a little red leather bag hung about his neck on a chain of white seeds. "I ha8e my amulet," he replied gra8ely, "blessed by the 8enerable #idi,)oussa himself. nd then I am with you. 1ou sa8ed my life. 1ou ha8e desired to see the inscriptions. !he will of llah be doneB" s he finished speaking, he s?uatted on his heels, drew out his long reed pipe and began to smoke gra8ely. " ll this is beginning to seem 8ery strange," said )orhange, coming o8er to me. "1ou can say that without e9aggeration," I replied. "1ou remember as well as I the passage in which 4arth tells of his e9pedition to the Idinen, the )ountain of the &8il #pirits of the @d=er !uareg. !he region had so e8il a reputation that no !arga would go with him. 4ut he got back."

"1es, he got back," replied my comrade, "but only after he had been lost. .ithout water or food, he came so near dying of hunger and thirst that he had to open a 8ein and drink his own blood. !he prospect is not particularly attracti8e." I shrugged my shoulders. fter all, it was not my fault that we were there. )orhange understood my gesture and thought it necessary to make e9cuses. "I should be curious," he went on with rather forced gaiety, "to meet these spirits and substantiate the facts of Pomponius )ela who knew them and locates them, in fact, in the mountain of the !uareg. %e calls them Egipans) Blemyens) Gamphasantes) Satyrs//// '2he Gamphasantes, he says, 6are naked. !he Blemyens ha8e no headI their faces are placed on their chestsA the Satyrs ha8e nothing like men e9cept faces. !he Egipans are made as is commonly described.6 ... Satyrs) Egipans ... isn6t it 8ery strange to find Greek names gi8en to the barbarian spirits of this regionD 4elie8e me, we are on a curious trailA I am sure that ntinea will be our key to remarkable disco8eries." "Listen," I said, laying a finger on my lips. #trange sounds rose from about us as the e8ening ad8anced with great strides. kind of crackling, followed by long rending shrieks, echoed and reechoed to infinity in the neighboring ra8ines. It seemed to me that the whole black mountain suddenly had begun to moan. .e looked at &g, nteouen. %e was smoking on, without twitching a muscle. "!he ilhinen are waking up," he said simply. )orhange listened without saying a word. +oubtless he understood as I didI the o8erheated rocks, the crackling of the stone, a whole series of physical phenomena, the e9ample of the singing statue of )emnon.... 4ut, for all that, this une9pected concert reacted no less painfully on our o8erstrained ner8es. !he last words of poor 4ou,+=ema came to my mind. "!he country of fear," I murmured in a low 8oice. nd )orhange repeatedI "!he country of fear." !he strange concert ceased as the first stars appeared in the sky. .ith deep emotion we watched the tiny bluish flames appear, one after another. t that portentous moment they seemed to span the distance between us, isolated, condemned, lost, and our brothers of higher latitudes, who at that hour were rushing about their poor pleasures with delirious fren@y in cities where the whiteness of electric lamps came on in a burst. Ch5t(Ahadh essa het6senet!7tered8r5 d'Erred8aot)!7tesekek d(Essek7ot)!7telahrlahr d'Ellerh7ot)Ett7s d8enen) #ar7d t6t(ennit a#7tet/ &g, nteouen6s 8oice raised itself in slow guttural tones. It resounded with sad, gra8e ma=esty in the silence now complete. I touched the !arga6s arm. .ith a mo8ement of his head, he pointed to a constellation glittering in the firmament.

"!he Pleiades," I murmured to )orhange, showing him the se8en pale stars, while &g, nteouen took up his mournful song in the same monotoneI "!he +aughters of the (ight are se8enI)Ntered=rT and &rred=eNot,)Ntesekek and &ssekNot,)Ntelahrlahr and &llerhNot,!he se8enth is a boy, one of whose eyes has flown away." sudden sickness came o8er me. I sei@ed the !arga6s arm as he was starting to intone his refrain for the third time. ".hen will we reach this ca8e with the inscriptionsD" I asked brus?uely. %e looked at me and replied with his usual calmI ".e are there." ".e are thereD !hen why don6t you show it to usD" "1ou did not ask me," he replied, not without a touch of insolence. )orhange had =umped to his feet. "!he ca8e is hereD" "It is here," &g, nteouen replied slowly, rising to his feet. "!ake us to it." ")orhange," I said, suddenly an9ious, "night is falling. .e will see nothing. perhaps it is still some way off." nd

"It is hardly fi8e hundred paces," &g, nteouen replied. "!he ca8e is full of dead underbrush. .e will set it on fire and the *aptain will see as in full daylight." "*ome," my comrade repeated. " nd the camelsD" I ha@arded. "!hey are tethered," said &g, nteouen, "and we shall not be gone long." %e had started toward the black mountain. )orhange, trembling with e9citement, followed. I followed, too, the 8ictim of profound uneasiness. )y pulses throbbed. "I am not afraid," I kept repeating to myself. "I swear that this is not fear." nd really it was not fear. 1et, what a strange di@@inessB !here was a mist o8er my eyes. )y ears bu@@ed. gain I heard &g, nteouen6s 8oice, but multiplied, immense, and at the same time, 8ery low. "!he +aughters of the (ight are se8en...." It seemed to me that the 8oice of the mountain, re,echoing, repeated that sinister last line to infinityI " nd the se8enth is a boy, one of whose eyes has flown away." "%ere it is," said the !arga.

black hole in the wall opened up. 4ending o8er, &g, nteouen entered. .e followed him. !he darkness closed around us. yellow flame. &g, nteouen had struck his flint. %e set fire to a pile of brush near the surface. t first we could see nothing. !he smoke blinded us. &g, nteouen stayed at one side of the opening of the ca8e. %e was seated and, more inscrutible than e8er, had begun again to blow great puffs of gray smoke from his pipe. !he burning brush cast a flickering light. I caught a glimpse of )orhange. %e seemed 8ery pale. .ith both hands braced against the wall, he was working to decipher a mass of signs which I could scarcely distinguish. (e8ertheless, I thought I could see his hands trembling. "!he de8il," I thought, finding it more and more difficult to co,ordinate my thoughts, "he seems to be as unstrung as I." I heard him call out to &g, nteouen in what seemed to me a loud 8oiceI "#tand to one side. Let the air in. .hat a smokeB" %e kept on working at the signs. #uddenly I heard him again, but with difficulty. It seemed as if e8en sounds were confused in the smoke. " ntinea ... t last ... ntinea. 4ut not cut in the rock ... the marks traced in ochre ... not ten years old, perhaps not fi8e.... "hB...." %e pressed his hands to his head. gain he cried outI "It is a mystery. tragic mystery."

I laughed teasingly. "*ome on, come on. +on6t get e9cited o8er it." %e took me by the arm and shook me. I saw his eyes big with terror and astonishment. " re you madD" he yelled in my face. "(ot so loud," I replied with the same little laugh. %e looked at me again, and sank down, o8ercome, on a rock opposite me. &g, nteouen was still smoking placidly at the mouth of the ca8e. .e could see the red circle of his pipe glowing in the darkness. ")admanB )admanB" repeated )orhange. %is 8oice seemed to stick in his throat. #uddenly he bent o8er the brush which was gi8ing its last darts of flame, high and clear. %e picked out a branch which had not yet caught. I saw him e9amine it carefully, then throw it back in the fire with a loud laugh. "%aB %aB !hat6s good, all rightB" %e staggered toward &g, nteouen, pointing to the fire.

"It6s hemp. %asheesh, hasheesh. "h, that6s a good one, all right." "1es, it6s a good one," I repeated, bursting into laughter. &g, nteouen ?uietly smiled appro8al. !he dying fire lit his inscrutable face and flickered in his terrible dark eyes. moment passed. #uddenly )orhange sei@ed the !arga6s arm. "I want to smoke, too," he said. "Gi8e me a pipe." !he specter ga8e him one. ".hatB &uropean pipeD"

" &uropean pipe," I repeated, feeling gayer and gayer. ".ith an initial, 6).6 s if made on purpose. ).... *aptain )orhange." ")asson," corrected &g, nteouen ?uietly. "*aptain )asson," I repeated in concert with )orhange. .e laughed again. "%aB %aB %aB *aptain )asson.... *olonel Flatters.... !he well of Garama. !hey killed him to take his pipe ... that pipe. It was *egh>ir,ben,*heikh who killed *aptain )asson." "It was *egh>ir,ben,*heikh," repeated the !arga with imperturbable calm. "*aptain )asson and *olonel Flatters had left the con8oy to look for the well," said )orhange, laughing. "It was then that the !uareg attacked them," I finished, laughing as hard as I could. " !arga of hagga sei@ed the bridle of *aptain )asson6s horse," said )orhange. "*egh>ir,ben,*heikh had hold of *olonel Flatters6 bridle," put in &g, nteouen. "!he *olonel puts his foot in the stirrup and recei8es a cut from *egh>ir,ben, *heikh6s saber," I said. "*aptain )asson draws his re8ol8er and fires on *egh>ir,ben,*heikh, shooting off three fingers of his left hand," said )orhange. "4ut," finished &g, nteouen imperturbably, "but *egh>ir,ben,*heikh, with one blow of his saber, splits *aptain )asson6s skull.".. %e ga8e a silent, satisfied laugh as he spoke. !he dying flame lit up his face. .e saw the gleaming black stem of his pipe. %e held it in his left hand. "ne finger, no, two fingers only on that hand. %elloB I had not noticed that before. )orhange also noticed it, for he finished with a loud laugh. "!hen, after splitting his skull, you robbed him. 1ou took his pipe from him. 4ra8o, *egh>ir,ben,*heikhB" *egh>ir,ben,*heikh does not reply, but I can see how satisfied with himself he is. %e keeps on smoking. I can hardly see his features now. !he firelight pales, dies. I ha8e

ne8er laughed so much as this e8ening. I am sure )orhange ne8er has, either. Perhaps he will forget the cloister. nd all because *egh>ir,ben,*heikh stole *aptain )asson6s pipe.... gain that accursed song. "!he se8enth is a boy, one of whose eyes has flown away." "ne cannot imagine more senseless words. It is 8ery strange, reallyI there seem to be four of us in this ca8e now. Four, I say, fi8e, si9, se8en, eight.... )ake yoursel8es at home, my friends. .hatB there are no more of youD... I am going to find out at last how the spirits of this region are made, the Gamphasantes, the Blemyens.... )orhange says that the Blemyens ha8e their faces on the middle of their chests. #urely this one who is sei@ing me in his arms is not a BlemyenB (ow he is carrying me outside. nd )orhange ... I do not want them to forget )orhange.... !hey did not forget himA I see him perched on a camel in front of that one to which I am fastened. !hey did well to fasten me, for otherwise I surely would tumble off. !hese spirits certainly are not bad fellows. 4ut what a long way it isB I want to stretch out. !o sleep. while ago we surely were following a long passage, then we were in the open air. (ow we are again in an endless stifling corridor. %ere are the stars again.... Is this ridiculous course going to keep onD... %ello, lightsB #tars, perhaps. (o, lights, I say. stairway, on my wordA of rocks, to be sure, but still, a stairway. %ow can the camels...D 4ut it is no longer a camelA this is a man carrying me. man dressed in white, not a Gamphasante nor a Blemyen. )orhange must be gi8ing himself airs with his historical reasoning, all false, I repeat, all false. Good )orhange. Pro8ided that his Gamphasante does not let him fall on this unending stairway. #omething glitters on the ceiling. 1es, it is a lamp, a copper lamp, as at !unis, at 4arbouchy6s. Good, here again you cannot see anything. 4ut I am making a fool of myselfA I am lying downA now I can go to sleep. .hat a silly dayB... Gentlemen, I assure you that it is unnecessary to bind meI I do not want to go down on the boule8ards. +arkness again. #teps of someone going away. #ilence. 4ut only for a moment. #omeone is talking beside me. .hat are they sayingD... (o, it is impossible. !hat metallic ring, that 8oice. +o you know what it is calling, that 8oice, do you know what it is calling in the tones of someone used to the phraseD .ell, it is callingI "Play your cards, gentlemen, play your cards. !here are ten thousand louis in the bank. Play your cards, gentlemen." In the name of God, am I or am I not at haggarD

2III
A8AKENIN6 AT A/A66AR

It was broad daylight when I opened my eyes. I thought at once of )orhange. I could not see him, but I heard him, close by, gi8ing little grunts of surprise. I called to him. %e ran to me. "!hen they didn6t tie you upD" I asked. "I beg your pardon. !hey did. 4ut they did it badlyA I managed to get free." "1ou might ha8e untied me, too," I remarked crossly. ".hat good would it ha8e doneD I should only ha8e waked you up. that your first word would be to call me. !here, that6s done." I reeled as I tried to stand on my feet. )orhange smiled. ".e might ha8e spent the whole night smoking and drinking and not been in a worse state," he said. " nyhow, that &g, nteouen with his hasheesh is a fine rascal." "*egh>ir,ben,*heikh," I corrected. I rubbed my hand o8er my forehead. ".here are weD" ")y dear boy," )orhange replied, "since I awakened from the e9traordinary nightmare which is mi9ed up with the smoky ca8e and the lamp,lit stairway of the rabian (ights, I ha8e been going from surprise to surprise, from confusion to confusion. 5ust look around you." I rubbed my eyes and stared. !hen I sei@ed my friend6s hand. ")orhange," I begged, "tell me if we are still dreaming." .e were in a round room, perhaps fifty feet in diameter, and of about the same height, lighted by a great window opening on a sky of intense blue. #wallows flew back and forth, outside, gi8ing ?uick, =oyous cries. !he floor, the incur8ing walls and the ceiling were of a kind of 8eined marble like porphyry, panelled with a strange metal, paler than gold, darker than sil8er, clouded =ust then by the early morning mist that came in through the window in great puffs. I staggered toward this window, drawn by the freshness of the bree@e and the sunlight which was chasing away my dreams, and I leaned my elbows on the balustrade. I could not restrain a cry of delight. I was standing on a kind of balcony, cut into the flank of a mountain, o8erhanging an abyss. bo8e me, blue skyA below appeared a 8eritable earthly paradise hemmed in on all sides by mountains that formed a continuous and impassable wall about it. garden lay spread out down there. !he palm trees gently swayed their great fronds. t nd I thought

their feet was a tangle of the smaller trees which grow in an oasis under their protectionI almonds, lemons, oranges, and many others which I could not distinguish from that height. broad blue stream, fed by a waterfall, emptied into a charming lake, the waters of which had the mar8ellous transparency which comes in high altitudes. Great birds flew in circles o8er this green hollowA I could see in the lake the red flash of a flamingo. !he peaks of the mountains which towered on all sides were completely co8ered with snow. !he blue stream, the green palms, the golden fruit, and abo8e it all, the miraculous snow, all this bathed in that limpid air, ga8e such an impression of beauty, of purity, that my poor human strength could no longer stand the sight of it. I laid my forehead on the balustrade, which, too, was co8ered with that hea8enly snow, and began to cry like a baby. )orhange was beha8ing like another child. 4ut he had awakened before I had, and doubtless had had time to grasp, one by one, all these details whose fantastic ensem#le staggered me. %e laid his hand on my shoulder and gently pulled me back into the room. "1ou ha8en6t seen anything yet," he said. "LookB LookB" ")orhangeB" ".ell, old man, what do you want me to do about itD LookB" I had =ust reali@ed that the strange room was furnishedGod forgi8e mein the &uropean fashion. !here were indeed, here and there, round leather !uareg cushions, brightly colored blankets from Gafsa, rugs from 2airouan, and *aramani hangings which, at that moment, I should ha8e dreaded to draw aside. 4ut a half,open panel in the wall showed a bookcase crowded with books. whole row of photographs of masterpieces of ancient art were hung on the walls. Finally there was a table almost hidden under its heap of papers, pamphlets, books. I thought I should collapse at seeing a recent number of the Archaeological 'e%ie.. I looked at )orhange. %e was looking at me, and suddenly a mad laugh sei@ed us and doubled us up for a good minute. "I do not know," )orhange finally managed to say, "whether or not we shall regret some day our little e9cursion into haggar. 4ut admit, in the meantime, that it promises to be rich in une9pected ad8entures. !hat unforgettable guide who puts us to sleep =ust to distract us from the unpleasantness of cara8an life and who lets me e9perience, in the best of good faith, the far,famed delights of hasheeshI that fantastic night ride, and, to cap the clima9, this ca8e of a (ureddin who must ha8e recei8ed the education of the thenian 4ersot at the French Ecole Normaleall this is enough, on my word, to upset the wits of the best balanced." ".hat do I think, my poor friendD .hy, =ust what you yourself think. I don6t understand it at all, not at all. .hat you politely call my learning is not worth a cent. nd why shouldn6t I be all mi9ed upD !his li8ing in ca8es ama@es me. Pliny speaks of the nati8es li8ing in ca8es, se8en days6 march southwest of the country of the mantes, and twel8e days to the westward of the great #yrte. %erodotus says also that the

Garamentes used to go out in their chariots to hunt the ca8e,dwelling &thopians. 4ut here we are in haggar, in the midst of the !arga country, and the best authorities tell us that the !uareg ne8er ha8e been willing to li8e in ca8es. +u8eyrier is precise on that point. nd what is this, I ask you, but a ca8e turned into a workroom, with pictures of the -enus de )edici and the pollo #auroctone on the wallsD I tell you that it is enough to dri8e you mad." nd )orhange threw himself on a couch and began to roar with laughter again. "#ee," I said, "this is Latin." I had picked up se8eral scattered papers from the work,table in the middle of the room. )orhange took them from my hands and de8oured them greedily. %is face e9pressed unbounded stupefaction. "#tranger and stranger, my boy. #omeone here is composing, with much citation of te9ts, a dissertation on the Gorgon IslandsI de Gorgonum insulis. )edusa, according to him, was a Libyan sa8age who li8ed near Lake !riton, our present *hott )elhrir, and it is there that Perseus ... hB" )orhange6s words choked in his throat. room. sharp, shrill 8oice pierced the immense

"Gentlemen, I beg you, let my papers alone." I turned toward the newcomer. "ne of the *aramani curtains was drawn aside, and the most une9pected of persons came in. 'esigned as we were to une9pected e8ents, the improbability of this sight e9ceeded anything our imaginations could ha8e de8ised. "n the threshold stood a little bald,headed man with a pointed sallow face half hidden by an enormous pair of green spectacles and a pepper and salt beard. (o shirt was 8isible, but an impressi8e broad red cra8at. %e wore white trousers. 'ed leather slippers furnished the only "riental suggestion of his costume. %e wore, not without pride, the rosette of an officer of the +epartment of &ducation. %e collected the papers which )orhange had dropped in his ama@ement, counted them, arranged themA then, casting a pee8ish glance at us, he struck a copper gong. !he porti>re was raised again. huge white !arga entered. I seemed to recogni@e him as one of the genii of the ca8e.:L< "Ferrad=i," angrily demanded the little officer of the +epartment of &ducation, "why were these gentlemen brought into the libraryD" !he !arga bowed respectfully. "*egh>ir,ben,*heikh came back sooner than we e9pected," he replied, "and last night the embalmers had not yet finished. !hey brought them here in the meantime," and he pointed to us. "-ery well, you may go," snapped the little man. Ferrad=i backed toward the door. "n the threshold, he stopped and spoke againI

"I was to remind you, sir, that dinner is ser8ed." " ll right. Go along." nd the little man seated himself at the desk and began to finger the papers fe8erishly. I do not know why, but a mad feeling of e9asperation sei@ed me. I walked toward him. "#ir," I said, "my friend and I do not know where we are nor who you are. .e can see only that you are French, since you are wearing one of the highest honorary decorations of our country. 1ou may ha8e made the same obser8ation on your part," I added, indicating the slender red ribbon which I wore on my 8est. %e looked at me in contemptuous surprise. ".ell, sirD" ".ell, sir, the (egro who =ust went out pronounced the name of *egh>ir,ben, *heikh, the name of a brigand, a bandit, one of the assassins of *olonel Flatters. re you ac?uainted with that detail, sirD" !he little man sur8eyed me coldly and shrugged his shoulders. "*ertainly. 4ut what difference do you suppose that makes to meD" ".hatB" I cried, beside myself with rage. ".ho are you, anywayD" "#ir," said the little old man with comical dignity, turning to )orhange, "I call you to witness the strange manners of your companion. I am here in my own house and I do not allow...." "1ou must e9cuse my comrade, sir," said )orhange, stepping forward. "%e is not a man of letters, as you are. !hese young lieutenants are hot,headed, you know. nd besides, you can understand why both of us are not as calm as might be desired." I was furious and on the point of disa8owing these strangely humble words of )orhange. 4ut a glance showed me that there was as much irony as surprise in his e9pression. "I know indeed that most officers are brutes," grumbled the little old man. "4ut that is no reason...." "I am only an officer myself," )orhange went on, in an e8en humbler tone, "and if e8er I ha8e been sensible to the intellectual inferiority of that class, I assure you that it was now in glancingI beg your pardon for ha8ing taken the liberty to do soin glancing o8er the learned pages which you de8ote to the passionate story of )edusa, according to Procles of *arthage, cited by Pausanias." laughable surprise spread o8er the features of the little old man. %e hastily wiped his spectacles. ".hatB" he finally cried.

"It is indeed unfortunate, in this matter," )orhange continued imperturbably, "that we are not in possession of the curious dissertation de8oted to this burning ?uestion by #tatius #ebosus, a work which we know only through Pliny and which...." "1ou know #tatius #ebosusD" " nd which, my master, the geographer 4erliou9...." "1ou knew 4erliou9you were his pupilD" stammered the little man with the decoration. "I ha8e had that honor," replied )orhange, 8ery coldly. "4ut, but, sir, then you ha8e heard mentioned, you are familiar with the ?uestion, the problem of tlantisD" "Indeed I am not unac?uainted with the works of Lagneau, Ploi9, 5ubain8ille," said )orhange frigidly. rbois de

")y GodB" !he little man was going through e9traordinary contortions. "#ir *aptain, how happy I am, how many e9cuses...." 5ust then, the porti>re was raised. Ferrad=i appeared again. "#ir, they want me to tell you that unless you come, they will begin without you." "I am coming, I am coming. #ay, Ferrad=i, that we will be there in a moment. .hy, sir, if I had foreseen ... It is e9traordinary ... to find an officer who knows Procles of *arthage and rbois de 5ubain8ille. gain ... 4ut I must introduce myself. I am &tienne Le )esge, Fellow of the $ni8ersity." "*aptain )orhange," said my companion. I stepped forward in my turn. "Lieutenant de #aint, 8it. It is a fact, sir, that I am 8ery likely to confuse rbois of *arthage with Procles de 5ubain8ille. Later, I shall ha8e to see about filling up those gaps. 4ut =ust now, I should like to know where we are, if we are free, and if not, what occult power holds us. 1ou ha8e the appearance, sir, of being sufficiently at home in this house to be able to enlighten us upon this point, which I must confess, I weakly consider of the first importance." ). Le )esge looked at me. mouth. %e opened his lips.... gong sounded impatiently. "In good time, gentlemen, I will tell you. I will e9plain e8erything.... 4ut now you see that we must hurry. It is time for lunch and our fellow diners will get tired of waiting." ""ur fellow dinersD" "!here are two of them," ). Le )esge e9plained. ".e three constitute the &uropean personnel of the house, that is, the fi9ed personnel," he seemed to feel obliged to add, with his dis?uieting smile. "!wo strange fellows, gentlemen, with whom, doubtless, rather male8olent smile twitched the corners of his

you will care to ha8e as little to do as possible. "ne is a churchman, narrow,minded, though a Protestant. !he other is a man of the world gone astray, an old fool." "Pardon," I said, "but it must ha8e been he whom I heard last night. %e was gamblingI with you and the minister, doubtlessD" ). Le )esge made a gesture of offended dignity. "!he ideaB .ith me, sirD It is with the !uareg that he plays. %e teaches them e8ery game imaginable. !here, that is he who is striking the gong to hurry us up. It is half past nine, and the Salle de 2rente et 9uarante opens at ten o6clock. Let us hurry. I suppose that anyway you will not be a8erse to a little refreshment." "Indeed we shall not refuse," )orhange replied. .e followed ). Le )esge along a long winding corridor with fre?uent steps. !he passage was dark. 4ut at inter8als rose,colored night lights and incense burners were placed in niches cut into the solid rock. !he passionate "riental scents perfumed the darkness and contrasted strangely with the cold air of the snowy peaks. From time to time, a white !arga, mute and e9pressionless as a phantom, would pass us and we would hear the clatter of his slippers die away behind us. ). Le )esge stopped before a hea8y door co8ered with the same pale metal which I had noticed on the walls of the library. %e opened it and stood aside to let us pass. lthough the dining room which we entered had little in common with &uropean dining rooms, I ha8e known many which might ha8e en8ied its comfort. Like the library, it was lighted by a great window. 4ut I noticed that it had an outside e9posure, while that of the library o8erlooked the garden in the center of the crown of mountains. (o center table and none of those barbaric pieces of furniture that we call chairs. 4ut a great number of buffet tables of gilded wood, like those of -enice, hea8y hangings of dull and subdued colors, and cushions, !uareg or !unisian. In the center was a huge mat on which a feast was placed in finely wo8en baskets among sil8er pitchers and copper basins filled with perfumed water. !he sight of it filled me with childish satisfaction. ). Le )esge stepped forward and introduced us to the two persons who already had taken their places on the mat. ")r. #pardek," he saidA and by that simple phrase I understood how far our host placed himself abo8e 8ain human titles. !he 'e8erend )r. #pardek, of )anchester, bowed reser8edly and asked our permission to keep on his tall, wide,brimmed hat. %e was a dry, cold man, tall and thin. %e ate in pious sadness, enormously. ")onsieur 4ielowsky," said ). Le )esge, introducing us to the second guest. "*ount *asimir 4ielowsky, %etman of 5itomir," the latter corrected with perfect good humor as he stood up to shake hands. I felt at once a certain liking for the %etman of 5itomir who was a perfect e9ample of an old beau. %is chocolate,colored hair was parted in the center Jlater I found out that

the %etman dyed it with a concoction of kholK. %e had magnificent whiskers, also chocolate,colored, in the style of the &mperor Francis 5oseph. %is nose was undeniably a little red, but so fine, so aristocratic. %is hands were mar8elous. It took some thought to place the date of the style of the count6s costume, bottle green with yellow facings, ornamented with a huge seal of sil8er and enamel. !he recollection of a portrait of the +uke de )orny made me decide on ;LOF or ;LO/A and the further chapters of this story will show that I was not far wrong. !he count made me sit down beside him. "ne of his first ?uestions was to demand if I e8er cut fi8es.:E< "!hat depends on how I feel," I replied. ".ell said. I ha8e not done so since ;LOO. I swore off. row. !he de8il of a party. "ne day at .alewski6s. I cut fi8es. (aturally I wasn6t worrying any. !he other had a four. 6IdiotB6 cried the little 4aron de *hau9 Gisseu9 who was laying staggering sums on my table. I hurled a bottle of champagne at his head. %e ducked. It was )arshal 4aillant who got the bottle. sceneB !he matter was fi9ed up because we were both Free )asons. !he &mperor made me promise not to cut fi8es again. I ha8e kept my promise not to cut fi8es again. I ha8e kept my promise. 4ut there are moments when it is hard...." %e added in a 8oice steeped in melancholyI "!ry a little of this haggar ;LLF. &9cellent 8intage. It is I, Lieutenant, who instructed these people in the uses of the =uice of the 8ine. !he 8ine of the palm trees is 8ery good when it is properly fermented, but it gets insipid in the long run." It was powerful, that haggar ;LLF. .e sipped it from large sil8er goblets. It was fresh as 'hine wine, dry as the wine of the %ermitage. nd then, suddenly, it brought back recollections of the burning wines of PortugalA it seemed sweet, fruity, an admirable wine, I tell you. !hat wine crowned the most perfect of luncheons. !here were few meats, to be sureA but those few were remarkably seasoned. Profusion of cakes, pancakes ser8ed with honey, fragrant fritters, cheese,cakes of sour milk and dates. nd e8erywhere, in great enamel platters or wicker =ars, fruit, masses of fruit, figs, dates, pistachios, =u=ubes, pomegranates, apricots, huge bunches of grapes, larger than those which bent the shoulders of the %ebrews in the land of *anaan, hea8y watermelons cut in two, showing their moist, red pulp and their rows of black seeds. I had scarcely finished one of these beautiful iced fruits, when ). Le )esge rose. "Gentlemen, if you are ready," he said to )orhange and me. "Get away from that old dotard as soon as you can," whispered the %etman of 5itomir to me. "!he party of 2rente et 9uarante will begin soon. 1ou shall see. 1ou shall see. .e go it e8en harder than at *ora Pearl6s." "Gentlemen," repeated ). Le )esge in his dry tone. .e followed him. .hen the three of us were back again in the library, he said, addressing meI

"1ou, sir, asked a little while ago what occult power holds you here. 1our manner was threatening, and I should ha8e refused to comply had it not been for your friend, whose knowledge enables him to appreciate better than you the 8alue of the re8elations I am about to make to you." %e touched a spring in the side of the wall. books. %e took one. cupboard appeared, stuffed with

"1ou are both of you," continued ). Le )esge, "in the power of a woman. !his woman, the sultaness, the ?ueen, the absolute so8ereign of haggar, is called ntinea. +on6t start, ). )orhange, you will soon understand." %e opened the book and read this sentenceI "6I must warn you before I take up the sub=ect matterI do not be surprised to hear me call the barbarians by Greek names.6" ".hat is that bookD" stammered )orhange, whose pallor terrified me. "!his book," ). Le )esge replied 8ery slowly, weighing his words, with an e9traordinary e9pression of triumph, "is the greatest, the most beautiful, the most secret, of the dialogues of PlatoA it is the *ritias of tlantis." "!he *ritiasD 4ut it is unfinished," murmured )orhange. "It is unfinished in France, in &urope, e8erywhere else," said ). Le )esge, "but it is finished here. Look for yourself at this copy." "4ut what connection," repeated )orhange, while his eyes tra8eled a8idly o8er the pages, "what connection can there be between this dialogue, complete,yes, it seems to me completewhat connection with this woman, ntineaD .hy should it be in her possessionD" "4ecause," replied the little man imperturbably, "this book is her patent of nobility, her Almanach de Gotha, in a sense, do you understandD 4ecause it established her prodigious genealogyI because she is...." "4ecause she isD" repeated )orhange. "4ecause she is the grand daughter of (eptune, the last descendant of the tlantides."

I:
ATLANTIS

). Le )esge looked at )orhange triumphantly. It was e8ident that he addressed himself e9clusi8ely to )orhange, considering him alone worthy of his confidences. "!here ha8e been many, sir," he said, "both French and foreign officers who ha8e been brought here at the caprice of our so8ereign, ntinea. 1ou are the first to be honored by my disclosures. 4ut you were the pupil of 4erliou9, and I owe so much to the memory of that great man that it seems to me I may do him homage by imparting to one of his disciples the uni?ue results of my pri8ate research." %e struck the bell. Ferrad=i appeared. "*offee for these gentlemen," ordered ). Le )esge. %e handed us a bo9, gorgeously decorated in the most flaming colors, full of &gyptian cigarettes. "I ne8er smoke," he e9plained. "4ut cigarettes. %elp yoursel8es, gentlemen." ntinea sometimes comes here. !hese are her

I ha8e always had a horror of that pale tobacco which gi8es a barber of the 'ue de la )ichodiCre the illusion of oriental 8oluptuousness. 4ut, in their way, these musk, scented cigarettes were not bad, and it was a long time since I had used up my stock of *aporal. "%ere are the back numbers of e :ie +arisienne" said ). Le )esge to me. " muse yourself with them, if you like, while I talk to your friend." "#ir," I replied brus?uely, "it is true that I ne8er studied with 4erliou9. (e8ertheless, you must allow me to listen to your con8ersationI I shall hope to find something in it to amuse me." " s you wish," said the little old man. .e settled oursel8es comfortably. ). Le )esge sat down before the desk, shot his cuffs, and commenced as followsI "%owe8er much, gentlemen, I pri@e complete ob=ecti8ity in matters of erudition, I cannot utterly detach my own history from that of the last descendant of *lito and (eptune. "I am the creation of my own efforts. From my childhood, the prodigious impulse gi8en to the science of history by the nineteenth century has affected me. I saw where my way led. I ha8e followed it, in spite of e8erything. "In spite of e8erything, e8erythingI mean it literally. .ith no other resources than my own work and merit, I was recei8ed as Fellow of %istory and Geography at the e9amination of ;LLF. great e9aminationB mong the thirteen who were accepted there were names which ha8e since become illustriousI 5ulian, 4ourgeois, uerbach.... I do not en8y my colleagues on the summits of their official honorsA I read their works with commiserationA and the pitiful errors to which they are condemned by the insufficiency of their documents would amply counterbalance my chagrin and fill me with ironic =oy, had I not been raised long since abo8e the satisfaction of self,lo8e. ".hen I was Professor at the Lyc>e du Parc at Lyons. I knew 4erliou9 and followed eagerly his works on frican %istory. I had, at that time, a 8ery original idea for my

doctor6s thesis. I was going to establish a parallel between the 4erber heroine of the se8enth century, who struggled against the rab in8ader, 2ahena, and the French heroine, 5oan of rc, who struggled against the &nglish in8ader. I proposed to the 0acult1 des ettres at Paris this title for my thesisI ;oan of Arc and the 2uareg. !his simple announcement ga8e rise to a perfect outcry in learned circles, a furor of ridicule. )y friends warned me discreetly. I refused to belie8e them. Finally I was forced to belie8e when my rector summoned me before him and, after manifesting an astonishing interest in my health, asked whether I should ob=ect to taking two years6 lea8e on half pay. I refused indignantly. !he rector did not insistA but fifteen days later, a ministerial decree, with no other legal procedure, assigned me to one of the most insignificant and remote Lyc>es of France, at )ont,de,)arsan. "'eali@e my e9asperation and you will e9cuse the e9cesses to which I deli8ered myself in that strange country. .hat is there to do in Landes, if you neither eat nor drinkD I did both 8iolently. )y pay melted away in fois gras, in woodcocks, in fine wines. !he result came ?uickly enoughI in less than a year my =oints began to crack like the o8er,oiled a9le of a bicycle that has gone a long way upon a dusty track. sharp attack of gout nailed me to my bed. Fortunately, in that blessed country, the cure is in reach of the suffering. #o I departed to +a9, at 8acation time, to try the waters. "I rented a room on the bank of the dour, o8erlooking the +romenade des Baignots. charwoman took care of it for me. #he worked also for an old gentleman, a retired &9amining )agistrate, President of the 'oger,+ucos #ociety, which was a 8ague scientific backwater, in which the scholars of the neighborhood applied themsel8es with prodigious incompetence to the most whimsical sub=ects. "ne afternoon I stayed in my room on account of a 8ery hea8y rain. !he good woman was energetically polishing the copper latch of my door. #he used a paste called !ripoli, which she spread upon a paper and rubbed and rubbed.... !he peculiar appearance of the paper made me curious. I glanced at it. 6Great hea8ensB .here did you get this paperD6 #he was perturbed. 6 t my master6sA he has lots of it. I tore this out of a notebook.6 6%ere are ten francs. Go and get me the notebook.6 " ?uarter of an hour later, she was back with it. 4y good luck it lacked only one page, the one with which she had been polishing my door. !his manuscript, this notebook, ha8e you any idea what it wasD )erely the :oyage to Atlantis of the mythologist +enis de )ilet, which is mentioned by +iodorus and the loss of which I had so often heard 4erliou9 deplore.:;F< "!his inestimable document contained numerous ?uotations from the *ritias. It ga8e an abstract of the illustrious dialogue, the sole e9isting copy of which you held in your hands a little while ago. It established past contro8ersy the location of the stronghold of the tlantides, and demonstrated that this site, which is denied by science, was not submerged by the wa8es, as is supposed by the rare and timorous defenders of the tlantide hypothesis. %e called it the 6central )a@ycian range,6 1ou know there is no longer any doubt as to the identification of the )a@yces of %erodotus with the people of Imoschaoch, the !uareg. 4ut the manuscript of +enys un?uestionably identifies the historical )a@yces with the tlantides of the supposed legend. "I learned, therefore, from +enys, not only that the central part of tlantis, the cradle and home of the dynasty of (eptune, had not sunk in the disaster described by Plato as engulfing the rest of the tlantide isle, but also that it corresponded to the !uareg

haggar, and that, in this haggar, at least in his time, the noble dynasty of (eptune was supposed to be still e9istent. "!he historians of tlantis put the date of the cataclysm which destroyed all or part of that famous country at nine thousand years before *hrist. If +enis de )ilet, who wrote scarcely three thousand years ago, belie8ed that in his time, the dynastic issue of (eptune was still ruling its dominion, you will understand that I thought immediately what has lasted nine thousand years may last ele8en thousand. From that instant I had only one aimI to find the possible descendants of the tlantides, and, since I had many reasons for supposing them to be debased and ignorant of their original splendor, to inform them of their illustrious descent. "1ou will easily understand that I imparted none of my intentions to my superiors at the $ni8ersity. !o solicit their appro8al or e8en their permission, considering the attitude they had taken toward me, would ha8e been almost certainly to in8ite confinement in a cell. #o I raised what I could on my own account, and departed without trumpet or drum for "ran. "n the first of "ctober I reached In,#alah. #tretched at my ease beneath a palm tree, at the oasis, I took infinite pleasure in considering how, that 8ery day, the principal of )ont,de,)arsan, beside himself, struggling to control twenty horrible urchins howling before the door of an empty class room, would be telegraphing wildly in all directions in search of his lost history professor." ). Le )esge stopped and looked at us to mark his satisfaction. I admit that I forgot my dignity and I forgot the affectation he had steadily assumed of talking only to )orhange. "1ou will pardon me, sir, if your discourse interests me more than I had anticipated. 4ut you know 8ery well that I lack the fundamental instruction necessary to understand you. 1ou speak of the dynasty of (eptune. .hat is this dynasty, from which, I belie8e, you trace the descent of ntineaD .hat is her rUle in the story of tlantisD" ). Le )esge smiled with condescension, meantime winking at )orhange with the eye nearest to him. )orhange was listening without e9pression, without a word, chin in hand, elbow on knee. "Plato will answer for me, sir," said the Professor. nd he added, with an accent of ine9pressible pityI "Is it really possible that you ha8e ne8er made the ac?uaintance of the introduction to the *ritiasD" %e placed on the table the book by which )orhange had been so strangely mo8ed. %e ad=usted his spectacles and began to read. It seemed as if the magic of Plato 8ibrated through and transfigured this ridiculous little old man. "6%a8ing drawn by lot the different parts of the earth, the gods obtained, some a larger, and some, a smaller share. It was thus that (eptune, ha8ing recei8ed in the di8ision the isle of tlantis, came to place the children he had had by a mortal in one part of that isle. It was not far from the sea, a plain situated in the midst of the isle, the most beautiful, and, they say, the most fertile of plains. bout fifty stades from that plain, in the middle of the isle, was a mountain. !here dwelt one of those men who, in the 8ery beginning, was born of the &arth, &8enor, with his wife, Leucippe. !hey had

only one daughter, *lito. #he was marriageable when her mother and father died, and (eptune, being enamored of her, married her. (eptune fortified the mountain where she dwelt by isolating it. %e made alternate girdles of sea and land, the one smaller, the others greater, two of earth and three of water, and centered them round the isle in such a manner that they were at all parts e?ually distantB..." ). Le )esge broke off his reading. "+oes this arrangement recall nothing to youD" he ?ueried. ")orhange, )orhangeB" I stammered. "1ou rememberour route yesterday, our abduction, the two corridors that we had to cross before arri8ing at this mountainD... !he girdles of earth and of waterD... !wo tunnels, two enclosures of earthD" "%aB %aB" chuckled ). Le )esge. %e smiled as he looked at me. I understood that this smile meantI "*an he be less obtuse than I had supposedD" s if with a mighty effort, )orhange broke the silence. "I understand well enough, I understand.... !he three girdles of water.... 4ut then, you are supposing, sir,an e9planation the ingeniousness of which I do not contest you are supposing the e9act hypothesis of the #aharan seaB" "I suppose it, and I can pro8e it," replied the irascible little old chap, banging his fist on the table. "I know well enough what #chirmer and the rest ha8e ad8anced against it. I know it better than you do. I know all about it, sir. I can present all the proofs for your consideration. nd in the meantime, this e8ening at dinner, you will no doubt en=oy some e9cellent fish. nd you will tell me if these fish, caught in the lake that you can see from this window, seem to you fresh water fish. "1ou must reali@e," he continued, "the mistake of those who, belie8ing in tlantis, ha8e sought to e9plain the cataclysm in which they suppose the island to ha8e sunk. .ithout e9ception, they ha8e thought that it was swallowed up. ctually, there has not been an immersion. !here has been an emersion. (ew lands ha8e emerged from the tlantic wa8e. !he desert has replaced the sea, the se#khas, the salt lakes, the !riton lakes, the sandy #yrtes are the desolate 8estiges of the free sea water o8er which, in former days, the fleets swept with a fair wind towards the con?uest of ttica. #and swallows up ci8ili@ation better than water. !o,day there remains nothing of the beautiful isle that the sea and winds kept gay and 8erdant but this chalky mass. (othing has endured in this rocky basin, cut off fore8er from the li8ing world, but the mar8elous oasis that you ha8e at your feet, these red fruits, this cascade, this blue lake, sacred witnesses to the golden age that is gone. Last e8ening, in coming here, you had to cross the fi8e enclosuresI the three belts of water, dry fore8erA the two girdles of earth through which are hollowed the passages you tra8ersed on camel back, where, formerly, the triremes floated. !he only thing that, in this immense catastrophe, has preser8ed its likeness to its former state, is this mountain, the mountain where (eptune shut up his well,belo8ed *lito, the daughter of &8enor and Leucippe, the mother of tlas, and the ancestress of ntinea, the so8ereign under whose dominion you are about to enter fore8er." "#ir," )orhange with the most e9?uisite courtesy, "it would be only a natural an9iety which would urge us to in?uire the reasons and the end of this dominion. 4ut

behold to what e9tent your re8elation interests meA I defer this ?uestion of pri8ate interest. "f late, in two ca8erns, it has been my fortune to disco8er !ifinar inscriptions of this name, ntinea. )y comrade is witness that I took it for a Greek name. I understand now, thanks to you and the di8ine Plato, that I need no longer feel surprised to hear a barbarian called by a Greek name. 4ut I am no less perple9ed as to the etymology of the word. *an you enlighten meD" "I shall certainly not fail you there, sir," said ). Le )esge. "I may tell you, too, that you are not the first to put to me that ?uestion. )ost of the e9plorers that I ha8e seen enter here in the past ten years ha8e been attracted in the same way, intrigued by this Greek work reproduced in !ifinar. I ha8e e8en arranged a fairly e9act catalogue of these inscriptions and the ca8erns where they are to be met with. ll, or almost all, are accompanied by this legendI Antinea/ Here commences her domain. I myself ha8e had repainted with ochre such as were beginning to be effaced. 4ut, to return to what I was telling you before, none of the &uropeans who ha8e followed this epigraphic mystery here, ha8e kept their an9iety to sol8e this etymology once they found themsel8es in ntinea6s palace. !hey all become otherwise preoccupied. I might make many disclosures as to the little real importance which purely scientific interests possess e8en for scholars, and the ?uickness with which they sacrifice them to the most mundane considerationstheir own li8es, for instance." "Let us take that up another time, sir, if it is satisfactory to you," said )orhange, always admirably polite. "!his digression had only one point, sirI to show you that I do not count you among these unworthy scholars. 1ou are really eager to know the origin of this name, Antinea, and that before knowing what kind of woman it belongs to and her moti8es for holding you and this gentleman as her prisoners." I stared hard at the little old man. 4ut he spoke with profound seriousness. "#o much the better for you, my boy," I thought. ""therwise it wouldn6t ha8e taken me long to send you through the window to air your ironies at your ease. !he law of gra8ity ought not to be topsy,tur8y here at haggar." "1ou, no doubt, formulated se8eral hypotheses when you first encountered the name, ntinea," continued ). Le )esge, imperturbable under my fi9ed ga@e, addressing himself to )orhange. ".ould you ob=ect to repeating them to meD" "(ot at all, sir," said )orhange. nd, 8ery composedly, he enumerated the etymological suggestions I ha8e gi8en pre8iously. !he little man with the cherry,colored shirt front rubbed his hands. "-ery good," he admitted with an accent of intense =ubilation. " ma@ingly good, at least for one with only the modicum of Greek that you possess. 4ut it is all none the less false, super,false." "It is because I suspected as much that I put my ?uestion to you," said )orhange blandly.

"I will not keep you longer in suspense," said ). Le )esge. "!he word, ntinea, is composed as followsI ti is nothing but a !ifinar addition to an essentially Greek name. 2i is the 4erber feminine article. .e ha8e se8eral e9amples of this combination. !ake 2ipasa, the (orth frican town. !he name means the whole, from ti and from . #o, tinea signifies the new, from ti and from " nd the prefi9, anD" ?ueried )orhang. "Is it possible, sir, that I ha8e put myself to the trouble of talking to you for a solid hour about the *ritias with such trifling effectD It is certain that the prefi9 an, alone, has no meaning. 1ou will understand that it has one, when I tell you that we ha8e here a 8ery curious case of apocope. 1ou must not read anA you must read atlan. Atl has been lost, by apocopeA an has sur8i8ed. !o sum up, ntinea is composed in the following mannerI . Atlantis, is da@@lingly apparent from this demonstration." nd its meaning, the ne. ."

I looked at )orhange. %is astonishment was without bounds. !he 4erber prefi9 ti had literally stunned him. "%a8e you had occasion, sir, to 8erify this 8ery ingenious etymologyD" he was finally able to gasp out. "1ou ha8e only to glance o8er these few books," said ). Le )esge disdainfully. %e opened successi8ely fi8e, ten, twenty cupboards. spread out to our 8iew. n enormous library was

"&8erything, e8erythingit is all here," murmured )orhange, with an astonishing inflection of terror and admiration. "&8erything that is worth consulting, at any rate," said ). Le )esge. " ll the great books, whose loss the so,called learned world deplores to,day." " nd how has it happenedD" "#ir, you distress me. I thought you familiar with certain e8ents. 1ou are forgetting, then, the passage where Pliny the &lder speaks of the library of *arthage and the treasures which were accumulated thereD In ;MO, when that city fell under the blows of the kna8e, #cipio, the incredible collection of illiterates who bore the name of the 'oman #enate had only the profoundest contempt for these riches. !hey presented them to the nati8e kings. !his is how )antabal recei8ed this priceless heritageA it was transmitted to his son and grandson, %iempsal, 5uba I, 5uba II, the husband of the admirable *leopatra #elene, the daughter of the great *leopatra and )ark ntony. *leopatra #elene had a daughter who married an tlantide king. !his is how ntinea, the daughter of (eptune, counts among her ancestors the immortal ?ueen of &gypt. !hat is how, by following the laws of inheritance, the remains of the library of *arthage, enriched by the remnants of the library of le9andria, are actually before your eyes. "#cience fled from man. .hile he was building those monstrous 4abels of pseudo, science in 4erlin, London, Paris, #cience was taking refuge in this desert corner of haggar. !hey may well forge their hypotheses back there, based on the loss of the

mysterious works of anti?uityI these works are not lost. !hey are here. !hey are hereI the %ebrew, the *haldean, the ssyrian books. %ere, the great &gyptian traditions which inspired #olon, %erodotus and Plato. %ere, the Greek mythologists, the magicians of 'oman frica, the Indian mystics, all the treasures, in a word, for the lack of which contemporary dissertations are poor laughable things. 4elie8e me, he is well a8enged, the little uni8ersitarian whom they took for a madman, whom they defied. I ha8e li8ed, I li8e, I shall li8e in a perpetual burst of laughter at their false and garbled erudition. nd when I shall be dead, &rror,thanks to the =ealous precaution of (eptune taken to isolate his well,belo8ed *lito from the rest of the world,&rror, I say, will continue to reign as so8ereign mistress o8er their pitiful compositions." "#ir," said )orhange in gra8e 8oice, "you ha8e =ust affirmed the influence of &gypt on the ci8ili@ations of the people here. For reasons which some day, perhaps, I shall ha8e occasion to e9plain to you, I would like to ha8e proof of that relationship." ".e need not wait for that, sir," said ). Le )esge. !hen, in my turn, I ad8anced. "!wo words, if you please, sir," I said brutally. "I will not hide from you that these historical discussions seem to me absolutely out of place. It is not my fault if you ha8e had trouble with the $ni8ersity, and if you are not to,day at the *ollege of France or elsewhere. For the moment, =ust one thing concerns meI to know =ust what this lady, ntinea, wants with us. )y comrade would like to know her relation with ancient &gyptI 8ery well. For my part, I desire abo8e e8erything to know her relations with the go8ernment of lgeria and the rabian 4ureau." ). Le )esge ga8e a strident laugh. "I am going to gi8e you an answer that will satisfy you both," he replied. nd he addedI "Follow me. It is time that you should learn."

:
T/E RED MARBLE /ALL

.e passed through an interminable series of stairs and corridors following ). Le )esge. "1ou lose all sense of direction in this labyrinth," I muttered to )orhange. ".orse still, you will lose your head," answered my companion sotto %oce. "!his old fool is certainly 8ery learnedA but God knows what he is dri8ing at. %owe8er, he has promised that we are soon to know."

). Le )esge had stopped before a hea8y dark door, all incrusted with strange symbols. !urning the lock with difficulty, he opened it. "&nter, gentlemen, I beg you," he said. gust of cold air struck us full in the face. !he room we were entering was chill as a 8ault. t first, the darkness allowed me to form no idea of its proportions. !he lighting, purposely subdued, consisted of twel8e enormous copper lamps, placed column,like upon the ground and burning with brilliant red flames. s we entered, the wind from the corridor made the flames flicker, momentarily casting about us our own enlarged and misshapen shadows. !hen the gust died down, and the flames, no longer flurried, again licked up the darkness with their motionless red tongues. !hese twel8e giant lamps Jeach one about ten feet highK were arranged in a kind of crown, the diameter of which must ha8e been about fifty feet. In the center of this circle was a dark mass, all streaked with trembling red reflections. .hen I drew nearer, I saw it was a bubbling fountain. It was the freshness of this water which had maintained the temperature of which I ha8e spoken. %uge seats were cut in the central rock from which gushed the murmuring, shadowy fountain. !hey were heaped with silky cushions. !wel8e incense burners, within the circle of red lamps, formed a second crown, half as large in diameter. !heir smoke mounted toward the 8ault, in8isible in the darkness, but their perfume, combined with the coolness and sound of the water, banished from the soul all other desire than to remain there fore8er. ). Le )esge made us sit down in the center of the hall, on the *yclopean seats. %e seated himself between us. "In a few minutes," he said, "your eyes will grow accustomed to the obscurity." I noticed that he spoke in a hushed 8oice, as if he were in church. Little by little, our eyes did indeed grow used to the red light. "nly the lower part of the great hall was illuminated. !he whole 8ault was drowned in shadow and its height was impossible to estimate. -aguely, I could percei8e o8erhead a great smooth gold chandelier, flecked, like e8erything else, with sombre red reflections. 4ut there was no means of =udging the length of the chain by which it hung from the dark ceiling. !he marble of the pa8ement was of so high a polish, that the great torches were reflected e8en there. !his room, I repeat, was round a perfect circle of which the fountain at our backs was the center. .e sat facing the cur8ing walls. 4efore long, we began to be able to see them. !hey were of peculiar construction, di8ided into a series of niches, broken, ahead of us, by the door which had =ust opened to gi8e us passage, behind us, by a second door, a still darker hole which I di8ined in the darkness when I turned around. From one door to the other, I counted si9ty niches, making, in all, one hundred and twenty. &ach was about ten feet high. &ach contained a kind of case, larger abo8e than below, closed only at the lower end. In all these cases, e9cept two =ust opposite me, I thought I could discern a

brilliant shape, a human shape certainly, something like a statue of 8ery pale bron@e. In the arc of the circle before me, I counted clearly thirty of these strange statues. .hat were these statuesD I wanted to see. I rose. ). Le )esge put his hand on my arm. "In good time," he murmured in the same low 8oice, "all in good time." !he Professor was watching the door by which we had entered the hall, and from behind which we could hear the sound of footsteps becoming more and more distinct. It opened ?uietly to admit three !uareg sla8es. !wo of them were carrying a long package on their shouldersA the third seemed to be their chief. t a sign from him, they placed the package on the ground and drew out from one of the niches the case which it contained. "1ou may approach, gentlemen," said ). Le )esge. %e motioned the three !uareg to withdraw se8eral paces. "1ou asked me, not long since, for some proof of the &gyptian influence on this country," said ). Le )esge. ".hat do you say to that case, to begin withD" s he spoke, he pointed to the case that the ser8ants had deposited upon the ground after they took it from its niche. )orhange uttered a thick cry. .e had before us one of those cases designed for the preser8ation of mummies. !he same shiny wood, the same bright decorations, the only difference being that here !ifinar writing replaced the hieroglyphics. !he form, narrow at the base, broader abo8e, ought to ha8e been enough to enlighten us. I ha8e already said that the lower half of this large case was closed, gi8ing the whole structure the appearance of a rectangular wooden shoe. ). Le )esge knelt and fastened on the lower part of the case, a s?uare of white cardboard, a large label, that he had picked up from his desk, a few minutes before, on lea8ing the library. "1ou may read," he said simply, but still in the same low tone. I knelt also, for the light of the great candelabra was scarcely sufficient to read the label where, none the less, I recogni@ed the Professor6s handwriting. It bore these few words, in a large round handI "(umber 0G. )a=or #ir rchibald 'ussell. 4orn at 'ichmond, 5uly 0, ;LOF. +ied at haggar, +ecember G, ;LEO." I leapt to my feet. ")a=or 'ussellB" I e9claimed. "(ot so loud, not so loud," said ). Le )esge. "(o one speaks out loud here."

"!he )a=or 'ussell," I repeated, obeying his in=unction as if in spite of myself, "who left 2hartoum last year, to e9plore #okotoD" "!he same," replied the Professor. " nd ... where is )a=or 'ussellD" "%e is there," replied ). Le )esge. !he Professor made a gesture. !he !uareg approached. poignant silence reigned in the mysterious hall, broken only by the fresh splashing of the fountain. !he three (egroes were occupied in undoing the package that they had put down near the painted case. .eighed down with wordless horror, )orhange and I stood watching. #oon, a rigid form, a human form, appeared. red gleam played o8er it. .e had before us, stretched out upon the ground, a statue of pale bron@e, wrapped in a kind of white 8eil, a statue like those all around us, upright in their niches. It seemed to fi9 us with an impenetrable ga@e. "#ir rchibald 'ussell," murmured ). Le )esge slowly. )orhange approached, speechless, but strong enough to lift up the white 8eil. For a long, long time he ga@ed at the sad bron@e statue. " mummy, a mummyD" he said finally. "1ou decei8e yourself, sir, this is no mummy." " ccurately speaking, no," replied ). Le )esge. "!his is not a mummy. (one the less, you ha8e before you the mortal remains of #ir rchibald 'ussell. I must point out to you, here, my dear sir, that the processes of embalming used by ntinea differ from the processes employed in ancient &gypt. %ere, there is no natron, nor bands, nor spices. !he industry of haggar, in a single effort, has achie8ed a result obtained by &uropean science only after long e9periments. Imagine my surprise, when I arri8ed here and found that they were employing a method I supposed known only to the ci8ili@ed world." ). Le )esge struck a light tap with his finger on the forehead of #ir 'ussell. It rang like metal. "It is bron@e," I said. "!hat is not a human foreheadI it is bron@e." ). Le )esge shrugged his shoulders. "It is a human forehead," he affirmed curtly, "and not bron@e. 4ron@e is darker, sir. !his is the great unknown metal of which Plato speaks in the *ritias, and which is something between gold and sil8erI it is the special metal of the mountains of the tlantides. It is orichalch." 4ending again, I satisfied myself that this metal was the same as that with which the walls of the library were o8ercast. rchibald

"It is orichalch," continued ). Le )esge. "1ou look as if you had no idea how a human body can look like a statue of orichalch. *ome, *aptain )orhange, you whom I ga8e credit for a certain amount of knowledge, ha8e you ne8er heard of the method of +r. -ariot, by which a human body can be preser8ed without embalmingD %a8e you ne8er read the book of that practitionerD:;;< %e e9plains a method called electro,plating. !he skin is coated with a 8ery thin layer of sil8er salts, to make it a conductor. !he body then is placed in a solution, of copper sulphate, and the polar currents do their work. !he body of this estimable &nglish ma=or has been metali@ed in the same manner, e9cept that a solution of orichalch sulphate, a 8ery rare substance, has been substituted for that of copper sulphate. !hus, instead of the statue of a poor sla8e, a copper statue, you ha8e before you a statue of metal more precious than sil8er or gold, in a word, a statue worthy of the granddaughter of (eptune." ). Le )esge wa8ed his arm. !he black sla8es sei@ed the body. In a few seconds, they slid the orichalch ghost into its painted wooden sheath. !hat was set on end and slid into its niche, beside the niche where an e9actly similar sheath was labelled "(umber 0/." $pon finishing their task, they retired without a word. draught of cold air from the door again made the flames of the copper torches flicker and threw great shadows about us. )orhange and I remained as motionless as the pale metal specters which surrounded us. #uddenly I pulled myself together and staggered forward to the niche beside that in which they =ust had laid the remains of the &nglish ma=or. I looked for the label. #upporting myself against the red marble wall, I readI "(umber 0/. *aptain Laurent +eligne. 4orn at Paris, 5uly //, ;LO;. +ied at haggar, "ctober GF, ;LEO." "*aptain +eligneB" murmured )orhange. "%e left *olomb,4>char in ;LE0 for !immimoun and no more has been heard of him since then." "&9actly," said ). Le )esge, with a little nod of appro8al. "(umber 0;," read )orhange with chattering teeth. "*olonel 8on .ittman, born at 5ena in ;L00. +ied at haggar, )ay ;, ;LEO.... *olonel .ittman, the e9plorer of 2anem, who disappeared off gadCs." "&9actly," said ). Le )esge again. "(umber 0F," I read in my turn, steadying myself against the wall, so as not to fall. ")ar?uis lon@o d6"li8eira, born at *adi@, February /;, ;LOL. +ied at haggar, February ;, ;LEO. "li8eira, who was going to raouan." "&9actly," said ). Le )esge again. "!hat #paniard was one of the best educated. I used to ha8e interesting discussions with him on the e9act geographical position of the kingdom of nt>e." "(umber ME," said )orhange in a tone scarcely more than a whisper. "Lieutenant .oodhouse, born at Li8erpool, #eptember ;O, ;LSF. +ied at haggar, "ctober M, ;LE0." "%ardly more than a child," said ). Le )esge.

"(umber ML," I said. "Lieutenant Louis de )aillefeu, born at Pro8ins, the...." I did not finish. )y 8oice choked. Louis de )aillefeu, my best friend, the friend of my childhood and of #aint,*yr.... I looked at him and recogni@ed him under the metallic coating. Louis de )aillefeuB I laid my forehead against the cold wall and, with shaking shoulders, began to sob. I heard the muffled 8oice of )orhange speaking to the ProfessorI "#ir, this has lasted long enough. Let us make an end of it." "%e wanted to know," said ). Le )esge. ".hat am I to doD" I went up to him and sei@ed his shoulders. ".hat happened to himD .hat did he die ofD" "5ust like the others," the Professor replied, "=ust like Lieutenant .oodhouse, like *aptain +eligne, like )a=or 'ussell, like *olonel 8on .ittman, like the forty,se8en of yesterday and all those of to,morrow." ""f what did they dieD" )orhange demanded imperati8ely in his turn. !he Professor looked at )orhange. I saw my comrade grow pale. ""f what did they die, sirD 2hey died of lo%e." nd he added in a 8ery low, 8ery gra8e 8oiceI "(ow you know." Gently and with a tact which we should hardly ha8e suspected in him, ). Le )esge drew us away from the statues. moment later, )orhange and I found oursel8es again seated, or rather sunk among the cushions in the center of the room. !he in8isible fountain murmured its plaint at our feet. Le )esge sat between us. "(ow you know," he repeated. "1ou know, but you do not yet understand." !hen, 8ery slowly, he saidI "1ou are, as they ha8e been, the prisoners of ntinea." ntinea. nd 8engeance is due

"-engeanceD" said )orhange, who had regained his self,possession. "For what, I beg to askD .hat ha8e the lieutenant and I done to tlantisD %ow ha8e we incurred her hatredD" "It is an old ?uarrel, a 8ery old ?uarrel," the Professor replied gra8ely. " which long antedates you, ). )orhange." "&9plain yourself, I beg of you, Professor." "1ou are )an. #he is a .oman," said the dreamy 8oice of ). Le )esge. "!he whole matter lies there." ?uarrel

"'eally, sir, I do not see ... we do not see." "1ou are going to understand. %a8e you really forgotten to what an e9tent the beautiful ?ueens of anti?uity had =ust cause to complain of the strangers whom fortune brought to their bordersD !he poet, -ictor %ugo, pictured their detestable acts well enough in his colonial poem called la 0ille d'*(2aiti. .here8er we look, we see similar e9amples of fraud and ingratitude. !hese gentlemen made free use of the beauty and the riches of the lady. !hen, one fine morning, they disappeared. #he was indeed lucky if her lo8er, ha8ing obser8ed the position carefully, did not return with ships and troops of occupation." "1our learning charms me," said )orhange. "*ontinue." "+o you need e9amplesD lasB they abound. !hink of the ca8alier fashion in which $lysses treated *alypso, +iomedes *allirhoV. .hat should I say of !heseus and riadneD 5ason treated )edea with inconcei8able lightness. !he 'omans continued the tradition with still greater brutality. enaeus, who has many characteristics in common with the 'e8erend #pardek, treated +ido in a most undeser8ed fashion. *aesar was a laurel,crowned blackguard in his relations with the di8ine *leopatra. !itus, that hypocrite !itus, after ha8ing li8ed a whole year in Idummea at the e9pense of the plainti8e 4erenice, took her back to 'ome only to make game of her. It is time that the sons of 5aphet paid this formidable reckoning of in=uries to the daughters of #hem. " woman has taken it upon herself to re,establish the great %egelian law of e?uilibrium for the benefit of her se9. #eparated from the ryan world by the formidable precautions of (eptune, she draws the youngest and bra8est to her. %er body is condescending, while her spirit is ine9orable. #he takes what these bold young men can gi8e her. #he lends them her body, while her soul dominates them. #he is the first so8ereign who has ne8er been made the sla8e of passion, e8en for a moment. #he has ne8er been obliged to regain her self,mastery, for she ne8er has lost it. #he is the only woman who has been able to disassociate those two ine9tricable things, lo8e and 8oluptuousness." ). Le )esge paused a moment and then went on. ""nce e8ery day, she comes to this 8ault. #he stops before the nichesA she meditates before the rigid statuesA she touches the cold bosoms, so burning when she knew them. !hen, after dreaming before the empty niche where the ne9t 8ictim soon will sleep his eternal sleep in a cold case of orichalch, she returns nonchalantly where he is waiting for her." !he Professor stopped speaking. !he fountain again made itself heard in the midst of the shadow. )y pulses beat, my head seemed on fire. fe8er was consuming me. " nd all of them," I cried, regardless of the place, "all of them compliedB !hey submittedB .ell, she has only to come and she will see what will happen." )orhange was silent. ")y dear sir," said ). Le )esge in a 8ery gentle 8oice, "you are speaking like a child. 1ou do not know. 1ou ha8e not seen ntinea. Let me tell you one thingI that among those"and with a sweeping gesture he indicated the silent circle of statues "there were men as courageous as you and perhaps less e9citable. I remember one of them especially well, a phlegmatic &nglishman who now is resting under (umber G/.

.hen he first appeared before ntinea, he was smoking a cigar. he bent before the ga@e of his so8ereign.

nd, like all the rest,

"+o not speak until you ha8e seen her. uni8ersity training hardly fits one to discourse upon matters of passion, and I feel scarcely ?ualified, myself, to tell you what ntinea is. I only affirm this, that when you ha8e seen her, you will remember nothing else. Family, country, honor, you will renounce e8erything for her." "&8erythingD" asked )orhange in a calm 8oice. "&8erything," Le )esge insisted emphatically. "1ou will forget all, you will renounce all." From outside, a faint sound came to us. Le )esge consulted his watch. "In any case, you will see." !he door opened. tall white !arga, the tallest we had yet seen in this remarkable abode, entered and came toward us. %e bowed and touched me lightly on the shoulder. "Follow him," said ). Le )esge. .ithout a word, I obeyed.

:I
ANTINEA

)y guide and I passed along another long corridor. )y e9citement increased. I was impatient for one thing only, to come face to face with that woman, to tell her.... #o far as anything else was concerned, I already was done for. I was mistaken in hoping that the ad8enture would take an heroic turn at once. In real life, these contrasts ne8er are definitely marked out. I should ha8e remembered from many past incidents that the burles?ue was regularly mi9ed with the tragic in my life. .e reached a little transparent door. )y guide stood aside to let me pass. I found myself in the most lu9urious of dressing,rooms. ground glass ceiling diffused a gay rosy light o8er the marble floor. !he first thing I noticed was a clock,

fastened to the wall. In place of the figures for the hours, were the signs of the 7odiac. !he small hand had not yet reached the sign of *apricorn. "nly three o6clockB !he day seemed to ha8e lasted a century already.... of it was gone. nd only a little more than half

nother idea came to me, and a con8ulsi8e laugh bent me double. " ntinea wants me to be at my best when I meet her." mirror of orichalch formed one whole side of the room. Glancing into it, I reali@ed that in all decency there was nothing e9aggerated in the demand. )y untrimmed beard, the frightful layer of dirt which lay about my eyes and furrowed my cheeks, my clothing, spotted by all the clay of the #ahara and torn by all the thorns of haggarall this made me appear a pitiable enough suitor. I lost no time in undressing and plunging into the porphry bath in the center of the room. delicious drowsiness came o8er me in that perfumed water. thousand little =ars, spread on a costly car8ed wood dressing,table, danced before my eyes. !hey were of all si@es and colors, car8ed in a 8ery transparent kind of =ade. !he warm humidity of the atmosphere hastened my rela9ation. I still had strength to think, "!he de8il take tlantis and the 8ault and Le )esge." !hen I fell asleep in the bath. .hen I opened my eyes again, the little hand of the clock had almost reached the sign of !aurus. 4efore me, his black hands braced on the edge of the bath, stood a huge (egro, bare,faced and bare,armed, his forehead bound with an immense orange turban. %e looked at me and showed his white teeth in a silent laugh. ".ho is this fellowD" !he (egro laughed harder. .ithout saying a word, he lifted me like a feather out of the perfumed water, now of a color on which I shall not dwell. In no time at all, I was stretched out on an inclined marble table. !he (egro began to massage me 8igorously. ")ore gently there, fellowB" )y masseur did not reply, but laughed and rubbed still harder. ".here do you come fromD 2anemD !orkouD 1ou laugh too much for a !arga." $nbroken silence. !he (egro was as speechless as he was hilarious. " fter all, I am making a fool of myself," I said, gi8ing up the case. "#uch as he is, he is more agreeable than Le )esge with his nightmarish erudition. 4ut, on my word, what a recruit he would be for %amman on the rue des )athurinsB" "*igarette, sidiD"

.ithout awaiting my reply, he placed a cigarette between my lips and lighted it, and resumed his task of polishing e8ery inch of me. "%e doesn6t talk much, but he is obliging," I thought. nd I sent a puff of smoke into his face. !his pleasantry seemed to delight him immensely. %e showed his pleasure by gi8ing me great slaps. .hen he had dressed me down sufficiently, he took a little =ar from the dressing, table and began to rub me with a rose,colored ointment. .eariness seemed to fly away from my re=u8enated muscles. stroke on a copper gong. )y masseur disappeared. stunted old (egress entered, dressed in the most tawdry tinsel. #he was talkati8e as a magpie, but at first I did not understand a word in the interminable string she unwound, while she took first my hands, then my feet, and polished the nails with determined grimaces. nother stroke on the gong. !he old woman ga8e place to another (egro, gra8e, this time, and dressed all in white with a knitted skull cap on his oblong head. It was the barber, and a remarkably de9terous one. %e ?uickly trimmed my hair, and, on my word, it was well done. !hen, without asking me what style I preferred, he sha8ed me clean. I looked with pleasure at my face, once more 8isible. " ntinea must like the merican type," I thought. ".hat an affront to the memory of her worthy grandfather, (eptuneB" !he gay (egro entered and placed a package on the di8an. !he barber disappeared. I was somewhat astonished to obser8e that the package, which my new 8alet opened carefully, contained a suit of white flannels e9actly like those French officers wear in lgeria in summer. !he wide trousers seemed made to my measure. !he tunic fitted without a wrinkle, and my astonishment was unbounded at obser8ing that it e8en had two gilt galons, the insignia of my rank, braided on the cuffs. For shoes, there were slippers of red )orocco leather, with gold ornaments. !he underwear, all of silk, seemed to ha8e come straight from the rue de la Pai9. "+inner was e9cellent," I murmured, looking at myself in the mirror with satisfaction. "!he apartment is perfectly arranged. 1es, but...." I could not repress a shudder when I suddenly recalled that room of red marble. !he clock struck half past four. #omeone rapped gently on the door. !he tall white !arga, who had brought me, appeared in the doorway. %e stepped forward, touched me on the arm and signed for me to follow. gain I followed him. .e passed through interminable corridors. I was disturbed, but the warm water had gi8en me a certain feeling of detachment. nd abo8e all, more than I wished to admit, I

had a growing sense of li8ely curiosity. If, at that moment, someone had offered to lead me back to the route across the white plain near #hikh,#alah, would I ha8e acceptedD %ardly. I tried to feel ashamed of my curiosity. I thought of )aillefeu. "%e, too, followed this corridor. nd now he is down there, in the red marble hall." I had no time to linger o8er this reminiscence. I was suddenly bowled o8er, thrown to the ground, as if by a sort of meteor. !he corridor was darkA I could see nothing. I heard only a mocking growl. !he white !arga had flattened himself back against the wall. "Good," I mumbled, picking myself up, "the de8iltries are beginning." .e continued on our way. began to light up the corridor. glow different from that of the rose night lights soon

.e reached a high bron@e door, in which a strange lacy design had been cut in filigree. clear gong sounded, and the double doors opened part way. !he !arga remained in the corridor, closing the doors after me. I took a few steps forward mechanically, then paused, rooted to the spot, and rubbed my eyes. I was da@@led by the sight of the sky. #e8eral hours of shaded light had unaccustomed me to daylight. It poured in through one whole side of the huge room. !he room was in the lower part of this mountain, which was more honeycombed with corridors and passages than an &gyptian pyramid. It was on a le8el with the garden which I had seen in the morning from the balcony, and seemed to be a continuation of itA the carpet e9tended out under the great palm trees and the birds flew about the forest of pillars in the room. 4y contrast, the half of the room untouched by direct light from the oasis seemed dark. !he sun, setting behind the mountain, painted the garden paths with rose and flamed with red upon the traditional flamingo which stood with one foot raised at the edge of the sapphire lake. #uddenly I was bowled o8er a second time. I felt a warm, silky touch, a burning breath on my neck. which had so disturbed me in the corridor. gain the mocking growl

.ith a wrench, I pulled myself free and sent a chance blow at my assailant. !he cry, this time of pain and rage, broke out again. It was echoed by a long peal of laughter. Furious, I turned to look for the insolent onlooker, thinking to speak my mind. nd then my glance stood still. ntinea was before me.

In the dimmest part of the room, under a kind of arch lit by the mau8e rays from a do@en incense,lamps, four women lay on a heap of many,colored cushions and rare white Persian rugs. I recogni@ed the first three as !uareg women, of a splendid regular beauty, dressed in magnificent robes of white silk embroidered in gold. !he fourth, 8ery dark skinned, almost negroid, seemed younger. tunic of red silk enhanced the dusk of her face, her arms and her bare feet. !he four were grouped about a sort of throne of white rugs, co8ered with a gigantic lion6s skin, on which, half raised on one elbow, lay ntinea. ntineaB .hene8er I saw her after that, I wondered if I had really looked at her before, so much more beautiful did I find her. )ore beautifulD Inade?uate word. Inade?uate languageB 4ut is it really the fault of the language or of those who abuse the wordD "ne could not stand before her without recalling the woman for whom &phractoeus o8ercame tlas, of her for whom #apor usurped the scepter of "@ymandias, for whom )amylos sub=ugated #usa and !entyris, for whom ntony fled.... * trem#lant coeur humain) si 8amais tu %i#rasC'est dans l'1treinte alti<re et chaude de ses #ras. n &gyptian klaft fell o8er her abundant blue,black curls. Its two points of hea8y, gold,embroidered cloth e9tended to her slim hips. !he golden serpent, emerald,eyed, was clasped about her little round, determined forehead, darting its double tongue of rubies o8er her head. #he wore a tunic of black chiffon shot with gold, 8ery light, 8ery full, slightly gathered in by a white muslin scarf embroidered with iris in black pearls. !hat was ntinea6s costume. 4ut what was she beneath all thisD slim young girl, with long green eyes and the slender profile of a hawk. more intense donis. child ?ueen of #heba, but with a look, a smile, such as no "riental e8er had. miracle of irony and freedom. I did not see her body. Indeed I should not ha8e thought of looking at it, had I had the strength. nd that, perhaps, was the most e9traordinary thing about that first impression. In that unforgettable moment nothing would ha8e seemed to me more horribly sacrilegious than to think of the fifty 8ictims in the red marble hall, of the fifty young men who had held that slender body in their arms. #he was still laughing at me. "2ing %iram," she called. I turned and saw my enemy. "n the capital of one of the columns, twenty feet abo8e the floor, a splendid leopard was crouched. %e still looked surly from the blow I had dealt him. "2ing %iram," ntinea repeated. "*ome here." !he beast rela9ed like a spring released. %e fawned at his mistress6s feet. I saw his red tongue licking her bare little ankles.

" sk the gentleman6s pardon," she said. !he leopard looked at me spitefully. !he yellow skin of his mu@@le puckered about his black moustache. "Fftt," he grumbled like a great cat. "Go," ntinea ordered imperiously. !he beast crawled reluctantly toward me. %e laid his head humbly between his paws and waited. I stroked his beautiful spotted forehead. "1ou must not be 8e9ed," said ntinea. "%e is always that way with strangers." "!hen he must often be in bad humor," I said simply. !hose were my first words. !hey brought a smile to ntinea6s lips. #he ga8e me a long, ?uiet look. " guida," she said to one of the !arga women, "you will gi8e twenty,fi8e pounds in gold to *egh>ir,ben,*heikh." "1ou are a lieutenantD" she asked, after a pause. "1es." ".here do you come fromD" "From France." "I might ha8e guessed that," she said ironically, "but from what part of FranceD" "From what we call the Lot,et,Garonne." "From what townD" "From +uras." #he reflected a moment. "+urasB !here is a little ri8er there, the +ropt, and a fine old chNteau." "1ou know +urasD" I murmured, ama@ed. "1ou go there from 4ordeau9 by a little branch railway," she went on. "It is a shut, in road, with 8ine,co8ered hills crowned by the feudal ruins. !he 8illages ha8e beautiful namesI )ons>gur, #au8e,terre,de,Guyenne, la !resne, *r>on, ... *r>on, as in ntigone." "1ou ha8e been thereD" #he looked at me. "+on6t speak so coldly," she said. "#ooner or later we will be intimate, and you may as well lay aside formality now."

!his threatening promise suddenly filled me with great happiness. I thought of Le )esge6s wordsI "+on6t talk until you ha8e seen her. .hen you ha8e seen her, you will renounce e8erything for her." "%a8e I been in +urasD" she went on with a burst of laughter. "1ou are =oking. Imagine (eptune6s granddaughter in the first,class compartment of a local trainB" #he pointed to an enormous white rock which towered abo8e the palm trees of the garden. "!hat is my hori@on," she said gra8ely. #he picked up one of se8eral books which lay scattered about her on the lion6s skin. "!he time table of the Chemin de 0er de l'*uest," she said. " dmirable reading for one who ne8er budgesB %ere it is half,past fi8e in the afternoon. train, a local, arri8ed three minutes ago at #urgCres in the *harente,Inf>rieure. It will start on in si9 minutes. In two hours it will reach La 'ochelle. %ow strange it seems to think of such things here. #o far awayB #o much commotion thereB %ere, nothing changes." "1ou speak French well," I said. #he ga8e a little ner8ous laugh. "I ha8e to. nd German, too, and Italian, and &nglish and #panish. )y way of li8ing has made me a great polygot. 4ut I prefer French, e8en to !uareg and rabian. It seems as if I had always known it. nd I am not saying that to please you." !here was a pause. I thought of her grandmother, of whom Plutarch saidI "!here were few races with which she needed an interpreter. *leopatra spoke their own language to the &thiopians, to the !roglodytes, the %ebrews, the rabs, the )edes and the Persians." "+o not stand rooted in the middle of the room. 1ou worry me. *ome sit here, beside me. )o8e o8er, 2ing %iram." !he leopard obeyed with good temper. 4eside her was an ony9 bowl. #he took from it a perfectly plain ring of orichalch and slipped it on my left ring,finger. I saw that she wore one like it. "!anit,7erga, gi8e )onsieur de #aint, 8it a rose sherbet." !he dark girl in red silk obeyed. ")y pri8ate secretary," said ntinea, introducing her. ")ademoiselle !anit,7erga, of GNo, on the (iger. %er family is almost as ancient as mine." s she spoke, she looked at me. %er green eyes seemed to be appraising me. " nd your comrade, the *aptainD" she asked in a dreamy tone. "I ha8e not yet seen him. .hat is he likeD +oes he resemble youD" For the first time since I had entered, I thought of )orhange. I did not answer. ntinea smiled.

#he stretched herself out full length on the lion skin. %er bare right knee slipped out from under her tunic. "It is time to go find him," she said languidly. "1ou will soon recei8e my orders. !anit,7erga, show him the way. First take him to his room. %e cannot ha8e seen it." I rose and lifted her hand to my lips. #he struck me with it so sharply as to make my lips bleed, as if to brand me as her possession.

I was in the dark corridor again. !he young girl in the red silk tunic walked ahead of me. "%ere is your room," she said. "If you wish, I will take you to the dining,room. !he others are about to meet there for dinner." #he spoke an adorable lisping French. "(o, !anit,7erga, I would rather stay here this e8ening. I am not hungry. I am tired." "1ou remember my nameD" she said. #he seemed proud of it. I felt that in her I had an ally in case of need. "I remember your name, !anit,7erga, because it is beautiful.":;/< !hen I addedI "(ow, lea8e me, little one. I want to be alone." It seemed as if she would ne8er go. I was touched, but at the same time 8e9ed. I felt a great need of withdrawing into myself. ")y room is abo8e yours," she said. "!here is a copper gong on the table here. 1ou ha8e only to strike if you want anything. white !arga will answer." For a second, these instructions amused me. I was in a hotel in the midst of the #ahara. I had only to ring for ser8ice. I looked about my room. )y roomB For how longD It was fairly large. *ushions, a couch, an alco8e cut into the rock, all lighted by a great window co8ered by a matting shade. I went to the window and raised the shade. !he light of the setting sun entered. I leaned my elbows on the rocky sill. Ine9pressible emotion filled my heart. !he window faced south. It was about two hundred feet abo8e the ground. !he black, polished 8olcanic wall yawned di@@ily below me. In front of me, perhaps a mile and a half away, was another wall, the first enclosure mentioned in the *ritias. nd beyond it in the distance, I saw the limitless red desert.

:II
MOR/AN6E DISA77EARS

)y fatigue was so great that I lay as if unconscious until the ne9t day. I awoke about three o6clock in the afternoon. I thought at once of the e8ents of the pre8ious dayA they seemed ama@ing. "Let me see," I said to myself. "Let us work this out. I must begin by consulting )orhange." I was ra8enously hungry. !he gong which !anit,7erga had pointed out lay within arm6s reach. I struck it. white !arga appeared. "#how me the way to the library," I ordered. %e obeyed. s we wound our way through the labyrinth of stairs and corridors I reali@ed that I could ne8er ha8e found my way without his help. )orhange was in the library, intently reading a manuscript. " lost treatise of #aint "ptat," he said. ""h, if only +om Granger were here. #ee, it is written in semi,uncial characters." I did not reply. )y eyes were fi9ed on an ob=ect which lay on the table beside the manuscript. It was an orichalch ring, e9actly like that which ntinea had gi8en me the pre8ious day and the one which she herself wore. )orhange smiled. ".ellD" I said. ".ellD" "1ou ha8e seen herD" "I ha8e indeed," )orhange replied. "#he is beautiful, is she notD" "It would be difficult to dispute that," my comrade answered. "I e8en belie8e that I can say that she is as intelligent as she is beautiful." !here was a pause. )orhange was calmly fingering the orichalch ring. "1ou know what our fate is to beD"

"I know. Le )esge e9plained it to us yesterday in polite mythological terms. !his e8idently is an e9traordinary ad8enture." %e was silent, then said, looking at meI "I am 8ery sorry to ha8e dragged you here. !he only mitigating feature is that since last e8ening you seem to ha8e been bearing your lot 8ery easily." .here had )orhange learned this insight into the human heartD I did not reply, thus gi8ing him the best of proofs that he had =udged correctly. ".hat do you think of doingD" I finally murmured. %e rolled up the manuscript, leaned back comfortably in his armchair and lit a cigar. "I ha8e thought it o8er carefully. .ith the aid of my conscience I ha8e marked out a line of conduct. !he matter is clear and admits no discussion. "!he ?uestion is not ?uite the same for me as for you, because of my semi,religious character, which, I admit, has set out on a rather doubtful ad8enture. !o be sure, I ha8e not taken holy orders, but, e8en aside from the fact that the ninth commandment itself forbids my ha8ing relations with a woman not my wife, I admit that I ha8e no taste for the kind of forced ser8itude for which the e9cellent *egh>ir,ben,*heikh has so kindly recruited us. "!hat granted, the fact remains that my life is not my own with the right to dispose of it as might a pri8ate e9plorer tra8elling at his own e9penses and for his own ends. I ha8e a mission to accomplish, results to obtain. If I could regain my liberty by paying the singular ransom which this country e9acts, I should consent to gi8e satisfaction to ntinea according to my ability. I know the tolerance of the *hurch, and especially that of the order to which I aspireI such a procedure would be ratified immediately and, who knows, perhaps e8en appro8edD #aint )ary the &gyptian, ga8e her body to boatmen under similar circumstances. #he recei8ed only glorification for it. In so doing she had the certainty of attaining her goal, which was holy. !he end =ustified the means. "4ut my case is ?uite different. If I gi8e in to the absurd caprices of this woman, that will not keep me from being catalogued down in the red marble hall, as (umber 0M, or as (umber 00, if she prefers to take you first. $nder those conditions...." "$nder those conditionsD" "$nder those conditions, it would be unpardonable for me to ac?uiesce." "!hen what do you intend to doD" ".hat do I intend to doD" )orhange leaned back in the armchair and smilingly launched a puff of smoke toward the ceiling. "(othing," he said. " nd that is all that is necessary. )an has this superiority o8er woman. %e is so constructed that he can refuse ad8ances." !hen he added with an ironical smileI " man cannot be forced to accept unless he wishes to." I nodded.

"I tried the most subtle reasoning on ntinea," he continued. "It was breath wasted. 64ut,6 I said at the end of my arguments, 6why not Le )esgeD6 #he began to laugh. 6.hy not the 'e8erend #pardekD6 she replied. 6Le )esge and #pardek are sa8ants whom I respect. 4ut !audit soit = 8amais r5%eur inutile,9ui %oulut) le premier) dans sa stupidit1,S'1prenant d'un pro#l<me insolu#le et st1rile,Au& choses de l'amour m5ler l'honn5tet1. "64esides,6 she added with that really 8ery charming smile of hers, 6probably you ha8e not looked carefully at either of them.6 !here followed se8eral compliments on my figure, to which I found nothing to reply, so completely had she disarmed me by those four lines from 4audelaire. "#he condescended to e9plain furtherI 6Le )esge is a learned gentleman whom I find useful. %e knows #panish and Italian, keeps my papers in order, and is busy working out my genealogy. !he 'e8erend #pardek knows &nglish and German. *ount 4ielowsky is thoroughly con8ersant with the #la8ic languages. 4esides, I lo8e him like a father. %e knew me as a child when I had not dreamed such stupid things as you know of me. !hey are indispensable to me in my relations with 8isitors of different races, although I am beginning to get along well enough in the languages which I need.... 4ut I am talking a great deal, and this is the first time that I ha8e e8er e9plained my conduct. 1our friend is not so curious.6 .ith that, she dismissed me. strange woman indeed. I think there is a bit of 'enan in her but she is cle8erer than that master of sensualism." "Gentlemen," said Le )esge, suddenly entering the room, "why are you so lateD !hey are waiting dinner for you." !he little Professor was in a particularly good humor that e8ening. %e wore a new 8iolet rosette. ".ellD" he said, in a mocking tone, "you ha8e seen herD" (either )orhange nor I replied. !he 'e8erend #pardek and the %etmari of 5itomir already had begun eating when we arri8ed. !he setting sun threw raspberry lights on the cream,colored mat. "4e seated, gentlemen," said Le )esge noisily. "Lieutenant de #aint, 8it, you were not with us last e8ening. 1ou are about to taste the cooking of 2oukou, our 4ambara chef, for the first time. 1ou must gi8e me your opinion of it." (egro waiter set before me a superb fish co8ered with a pimento sauce as red as tomatoes. I ha8e e9plained that I was ra8enously hungry. !he dish was e9?uisite. !he sauce immediately made me thirsty. ".hite haggar, ;LSE," the %erman of 5itomir breathed in my ear as he filled my goblet with a clear topa@ li?uid. "I de8eloped it myselfI rien pour la t5te) tout pour les 8am#es." I emptied the goblet at a gulp. !he company began to seem charming.

".ell, *aptain )orhange," Le )esge called out to my comrade who had taken a mouthful of fish, "what do you say to this acanthopterygianD It was caught to,day in the lake in the oasis. +o you begin to admit the hypothesis of the #aharan seaD" "!he fish is an argument," my companion replied. #uddenly he became silent. !he door had opened. stopped talking. white !arga entered. !he diners

!he 8eiled man walked slowly toward )orhange and touched his right arm. "-ery well," said )orhange. %e got up and followed the messenger. !he pitcher of haggar, ;LSE, stood between me and *ount 4ielowsky. I filled my gobleta goblet which held a pint, and gulped it down. !he %etman looked at me sympathetically. "%a, haB" laughed Le )esge, nudging me with his elbow. " ntinea has respect for the hierarchic order." !he 'e8erend #pardek smiled modestly. "%a, haB" laughed Le )esge again. )y glass was empty. For a moment I was tempted to hurl it at the head of the Fellow in %istory. 4ut what of itD I filled it and emptied it again. ")orhange will miss this delicious roast of mutton," said the Professor, more and more hilarious, as he awarded himself a thick slice of meat. "%e won6t regret it," said the %etman crossly. "!his is not roastA it is ram6s horn. 'eally 2oukou is beginning to make fun of us." "4lame it on the 'e8erend," the shrill 8oice of Le )esge cut in. "I ha8e told him often enough to hunt other proselytes and lea8e our cook alone." "Professor," #pardek began with dignity. "I maintain my contention," cried Le )esge, who seemed to me to be getting a bit o8erloaded. "I call the gentleman to witness," he went on, turning to me. "%e has =ust come. %e is unbiased. !herefore I ask himI has one the right to spoil a 4ambara cook by addling his head with theological discussions for which he has no predispositionD" " lasB" the pastor replied sadly. "1ou are mistaken. %e has only too strong a propensity to contro8ersy." "2oukou is a good,for,nothing who uses *olas6 cow as an e9cuse for doing nothing and letting our scallops burn," declared the %etman. "Long li8e the PopeB" he cried, filling the glasses all around. "I assure you that this 4ambara worries me," #pardek went on with great dignity. "+o you know what he has come toD %e denies transubstantiation. %e is within an inch of the heresy of 7wingli and "ecolampades. 2oukou denies transubstantiation."

"#ir," said Le )esge, 8ery much e9cited, "cooks should be left in peace. 5esus, whom I consider as good a theologian as you, understood that, and it ne8er occurred to him to call )artha away from her o8en to talk nonsense to her." "&9actly so," said the %etman appro8ingly. %e was holding a =ar between his knees and trying to draw its cork. ""h, *Utes 'Uties, wines from the *Ute,'UtieB" he murmured to me as he finally succeeded. "!ouch glasses." "2oukou denies transubstantiation," the pastor continued, sadly emptying his glass. "&hB" said the %etman of 5itomir in my ear, "let them talk on. +on6t you see that they are ?uite drunkD" %is own 8oice was thick. %e had the greatest difficulty in the world in filling my goblet to the brim. I wanted to push the pitcher away. !hen an idea came to meI " t this 8ery moment, )orhange.... .hate8er he may say.... #he is so beautiful." I reached out for the glass and emptied it once more. Le )esge and the pastor were now engaged in the most e9traordinary religious contro8ersy, throwing at each other6s heads the 4ook of *ommon Prayer, !he +eclaration of the 'ights of )an, and the $nigenitus. Little by little, the %etman began to show that ascendancy o8er them, which is the characteristic of a man of the world e8en when he is thoroughly drunkA the superiority of education o8er instruction. *ount 4ielowsky had drunk fi8e times as much as the Professor or the pastor. 4ut he carried his wine ten times better. "Let us lea8e these drunken fellows," he said with disgust. "*ome on, old man. "ur partners are waiting in the gaming room." "Ladies and gentlemen," said the %etman as we entered. "Permit me to present a new player to you, my friend, Lieutenant de #aint, 8it." "Let it go at that," he murmured in my ear. "!hey are the ser8ants. 4ut I like to fool myself, you see." I saw that he was 8ery drunk indeed. !he gaming room was 8ery long and narrow. huge table, almost le8el with the floor and surrounded with cushions on which a do@en nati8es were lying, was the chief article of furniture. !wo engra8ings on the wall ga8e e8idence of the happiest broadmindedness in tasteA one of da -inci6s #t. 5ohn the 4aptist, and the !aison des "erni<res Cartouches of lphonse de (eu8ille. "n the table were earthenware goblets. hea8y =ar held palm li?ueur.

I recogni@ed ac?uaintances among those presentA my masseur, the manicure, the barber, and two or three !uareg who had lowered their 8eils and were gra8ely smoking long pipes. .hile waiting for something better, all were plunged in the delights of a

card game that looked like "rams." !wo of ntinea6s beautiful ladies in waiting, guida and #ydya, were among the number. !heir smooth bistre skins gleamed beneath 8eils shot with sil8er. I was sorry not to see the red silk tunic of !anit,7erga. gain, I thought of )orhange, but only for an instant. "!he chips, 2oukou," demanded the %etman, ".e are not here to amuse oursel8es." !he 7winglian cook placed a bo9 of many,colored chips in front of him. *ount 4ielowsky set about counting them and arranging them in little piles with infinite care. "!he white are worth a louis," he e9plained to me. "!he red, a hundred francs. !he yellow, fi8e hundred. !he green, a thousand. "h, it6s the de8il of a game that we play here. 1ou will see." "I open with ten thousand," said the 7winglian cook. "!wel8e thousand," said the %etman. "!hirteen," said #ydya with a slow smile, as she seated herself on the count6s knee and began to arrange her chips lo8ingly in little piles. "Fourteen," I said. "Fifteen," said the sharp 8oice of 'osita, the old manicure. "#e8enteen," proclaimed the %etman. "!wenty thousand," the cook broke in. %e hammered on the table and, casting a defiant look at us, repeatedI "I take it at twenty thousand." !he %etman made an impatient gesture. "!hat de8il, 2oukouB 1ou can6t do anything against the beast. 1ou will ha8e to play carefully, Lieutenant." 2oukou had taken his place at the end of the table. %e threw down the cards with an air which abashed me. "I told you soA the way it was at nna +eslions6," the %etman murmured proudly. ")ake your bets, gentlemen," yelped the (egro. ")ake your bets." ".ait, you beast," called 4ielowsky. "+on6t you see that the glasses are emptyD %ere, *acambo." !he goblets were filled immediately by the =olly masseur. "*ut," said 2oukou, addressing #ydya, the beautiful !arga who sat at his right. !he girl cut, like one who knows superstitions, with her left hand. 4ut it must be said that her right was busy lifting a cup to her lips. I watched the cur8e of her beautiful throat. ")y deal," said 2oukou.

.e were thus arrangedI at the left, the %etman, guida, whose waist he had encircled with the most aristocratic freedom, *acambo, a !uareg woman, then two 8eiled (egroes who were watching the game intently. t the right, #ydya, myself, the old manicure, 'osita, 4arouf, the barber, another woman and two white !uareg, gra8e and attenti8e, e9actly opposite those on the left. "Gi8e me one," said the %etman. #ydya made a negati8e gesture. 2oukou drew, passed a four,spot to the %etman, ga8e himself a fi8e. "&ight," announced 4ielowsky. "#i9," said pretty #ydya. "#e8en," broke in 2oukou. ""ne card makes up for another," he added coldly. "I double," said the %etman. *acambo and guida followed his e9ample. "n our side, we were more careful. !he manicure especially would not risk more than twenty francs at a time. "I demand that the cards be e8ened up," said 2oukou imperturbably. "!his fellow is unbearable," grumbled the count. "!here, are you satisfiedD" 2oukou dealt and laid down a nine. ")y country and my honorB" raged 4ielowsky. "I had an eight." I had two kings, and so showed no ill temper. 'osita took the cards out of my hands. I watched #ydya at my right. %er hea8y black hair co8ered her shoulders. #he was really 8ery beautiful, though a bit tipsy, as were all that fantastic company. #he looked at me, too, but with lowered eyelids, like a timid little wild animal. ""h," I thought. "#he may well be afraid. I am labelled 6(o trespassing.6" I touched her foot. #he drew it back in fright. ".ho wants cardsD" 2oukou demanded. "(ot I," said the %etman. "#er8ed," said #ydya. !he cook drew a four. "(ine," he said. "!hat card was meant for me," cursed the count. " nd fi8e, I had a fi8e. If only I had ne8er promised his )a=esty the &mperor (apoleon II ne8er to cut fi8esB !here are times when it is hard, 8ery hard. nd look at that beast of a (egro who plays *harlemagne." It was true. 2oukou swept in three,?uarters of the chips, rose with dignity, and bowed to the company.

"!ill to,morrow, gentlemen." "Get along, the whole pack of you," howled the %etman of 5itomir. "#tay with me, Lieutenant de #aint, 8it." .hen we were alone, he poured out another huge cupfull of li?ueur. !he ceiling of the room was lost in the gray smoke. ".hat time is itD" I asked. " fter midnight. 4ut you are not going to lea8e me like this, my dear boyD I am hea8y,hearted." %e wept bitterly. !he tail of his coat spread out on the di8an behind him like the apple,green wings of a beetle. "Isn6t guida a beautyD" he went on, still weeping. "#he makes me think of the *ountess de !eruel, though she is a little darker. 1ou know the *ountess de !eruel, )ercedes, who went in bathing nude at 4iarrit@, in front of the rock of the -irgin, one day when Prince 4ismarck was standing on the foot,bridge. 1ou do not remember herD )ercedes de !eruel." I shrugged my shoulders. "I forgetA you must ha8e been too young. !wo, perhaps three years old. child. 1es, a child. "h, my child, to ha8e been of that generation and to be reduced to playing cards with sa8ages ... I must tell you...." I stood up and pushed him off. "#tay, stay," he implored. "I will tell you e8erything you want to know, how I came here, things I ha8e ne8er told anyone. #tay, I must unbosom myself to a true friend. I will tell you e8erything, I repeat. I trust you. 1ou are a Frenchman, a gentleman. I know that you will repeat nothing to her." "!hat I will repeat nothing to herD... !o whomD" %is 8oice stuck in his throat. I thought I saw a shudder of fear pass o8er him. "!o her ... to ntinea," he murmured. I sat down again.

:III
T/E /ETMAN O1 ;ITOMIR<S STOR)

*ount *asimir had reached that stage where drunkenness takes on a kind of gra8ity, of regretfulness. %e thought a little, then began his story. I regret that I cannot reproduce more perfectly its archaic fla8or. ".hen the grapes begin to color in ntinea6s garden, I shall be si9ty,eight. It is 8ery sad, my dear boy, to ha8e sowed all your wild oats. It isn6t true that life is always beginning o8er again. %ow bitter, to ha8e known the !uileries in ;LOF, and to ha8e reached the point where I am nowB ""ne e8ening, =ust before the war JI remember that -ictor 4lack was still li8ingK, some charming women whose names I need not disclose JI read the names of their sons from time to time in the society news of the GauloisK e9pressed to me their desire to rub elbows with some real demi(mondaines of the artist ?uarter. I took them to a ball at the Grande Chaumi<re. !here was a crowd of young painters, models, students. In the midst of the uproar, se8eral couples danced the cancan till the chandeliers shook with it. .e noticed especially a little, dark man, dressed in a miserable top,coat and checked trousers which assuredly knew the support of no suspenders. %e was cross,eyed, with a wretched beard and hair as greasy as could be. %e bounded and kicked e9tra8agantly. !he ladies called him L>on Gambetta. ".hat an annoyance, when I reali@e that I need only ha8e felled this wretched lawyer with one pistol shot to ha8e guaranteed perfect happiness to myself and to my adopted country, for, my dear fellow, I am French at heart, if not by birth. "I was born in ;L/E, at .arsaw, of a Polish father and a 'ussian mother. It is from her that I hold my title of %etman of 5itomir. It was restored to me by *@ar le9ander II on a re?uest made to him on his 8isit to Paris, by my august master, the &mperor (apoleon III. "For political reasons, which I cannot describe without retelling the history of unfortunate Poland, my father, *ount 4ielowsky, left .arsaw in ;LGF, and went to li8e in London. fter the death of my mother, he began to s?uander his immense fortune from sorrow, he said. .hen, in his time, he died at the period of the Prichard affair, he left me barely a thousand pounds sterling of income, plus two or three systems of gaming, the impracticability of which I learned later. "I will ne8er be able to think of my nineteenth and twentieth years without emotion, for I then completely li?uidated this small inheritance. London was indeed an adorable spot in those days. I had a =olly bachelor6s apartment in Piccadilly. "6PicadillyB #hops, palaces, bustle and bree@e,!he whirling of wheels and the murmur of trees.6 "Fo9 hunting in a #riska, dri8ing a buggy in %yde Park, the rout, not to mention the delightful little parties with the light -enuses of +rury Lane, this took all my time. llD I am un=ust. !here was also gaming, and a sentiment of filial piety forced me to 8erify the systems of the late *ount, my father. It was gaming which was the cause of the e8ent I must describe to you, by which my life was to be so strangely changed. ")y friend, Lord )almesbury, had said to me a hundred times, 6I must take you to see an e9?uisite creature who li8es in "9ford #treet, number /SS, )iss %oward.6 "ne e8ening I went with him. It was the twenty,second of February, ;LML. !he mistress of

the house was really mar8elously beautiful, and the guests were charming. 4esides )almesbury, I obser8ed se8eral ac?uaintancesI Lord *lebden, Lord *hesterfield, #ir Francis )ount=oye, )a=or in the #econd Life Guards, and *ount d6"rsay. !hey played cards and then began to talk politics. &8ents in France played the main part in the con8ersation and they discussed endlessly the conse?uences of the re8olt that had broken out in Paris that same morning, in conse?uence of the interdiction of the ban?uet in the ;/th arrondissement, of which word had =ust been recei8ed by telegram. $p to that time, I had ne8er bothered myself with public affairs. #o I don6t know what mo8ed me to affirm with the impetuosity of my nineteen years that the news from France meant the 'epublic ne9t day and the &mpire the day after.... "!he company recei8ed my sally with a discreet laugh, and their looks were centered on a guest who made the fifth at a #ouillotte table where they had =ust stopped playing. "!he guest smiled, too. %e rose and came towards me. I obser8ed that he was of middle height, perhaps e8en shorter, buttoned tightly into a blue frock coat, and that his eye had a far,off, dreamy look. " ll the players watched this scene with delighted amusement. "6.hom ha8e I the honor of addressingD6 he asked in a 8ery gentle 8oice. "6*ount 4ielowsky,6 I answered coolly to show him that the difference in our ages was not sufficient to =ustify the interrogation. ".ell, my dear *ount, may your prediction indeed be reali@edA and I hope that you will not neglect the !uileries,6 said the guest in the blue coat, with a smile. " nd he added, finally consenting to present himselfI "6Prince Louis,(apoleon 4onaparte.6 "I played no acti8e rUle in the coup d'1tat, and I do not regret it. It is a principle with me that a stranger should not meddle with the internal affairs of a country. !he prince understood this discretion, and did not forget the young man who had been of such good omen to him. "I was one of the first whom he called to the &lys>e. )y fortune was definitely established by a defamatory note on 6(apoleon the little.6 !he ne9t year, when )gr. #ibour was out of the way, I was made Gentleman of the *hamber, and the &mperor was e8en so kind as to ha8e me marry the daughter of the )arshal 'epeto, +uke of )ondo8i. "I ha8e no scruple in announcing that this union was not what it should ha8e been. !he *ountess, who was ten years older than I, was crabbed and not particularly pretty. )oreo8er, her family had insisted resolutely on a marriage portion. (ow I had nothing at this time e9cept the twenty,fi8e thousand pounds for my appointment as Gentleman of the *hamber. sad lot for anyone on intimate terms with the *ount d6"rsay and the +uke of Gramont,*aderousseB .ithout the kindness of the &mperor, where would I ha8e beenD ""ne morning in the spring of ;L0/, I was in my study opening my mail. !here was a letter from %is )a=esty, calling me to the !uileries at four o6clockA a letter from *l>mentine, informing me that she e9pected me at fi8e o6clock at her house. *l>mentine

was the beautiful one for whom, =ust then, I was ready to commit any folly. I was so proud of her that, one e8ening at the !aison "or1e, I flaunted her before Prince )etternich, who was tremendously taken with her. ll the court en8ied me that con?uestA and I was morally obliged to continue to assume its e9penses. nd then *l>mentine was so prettyB !he &mperor himself.... !he other letters, good lord, the other letters were the bills of the dressmakers of that young person, who, in spite of my discreet remonstrances, insisted on ha8ing them sent to my con=ugal dwelling. "!here were bills for something o8er forty thousand francsI gowns and ball dresses from Gagelin,"pige@, /G 'ue de 'ichelieuA hats and bonnets from )adame le9andrine, ;M 'ue d6 ntinA lingerie and many petticoats from )adame Pauline, ;FF 'ue de *leryA dress trimmings and glo8es from the :ille de yon, O 'ue de la *hauss>e d6 ntinA foulards from the !alle des IndesA handkerchiefs from the Compagnie IrlandaiseA laces from FergusonA cosmetics from Cand<s.... !his whitening cream of Cand<s, in particular, o8erwhelmed me with stupefaction. !he bill showed fifty,one flasks. #i9 hundred and twenty,se8en francs and fifty centimes6 worth of whitening cream from Cand<s.... &nough to soften the skin of a s?uadron of a hundred guardsB "6!his can6t keep on,6 I said, putting the bills in my pocket. " t ten minutes to four, I crossed the wicket by the *arrousel. "In the #alon of the aides de camp I happened on 4acciochi. "6!he &mperor has the grippe,6 he said to me. 6%e is keeping to his room. %e has gi8en orders to ha8e you admitted as soon as you arri8e. *ome.6 "%is )a=esty, dressed in a braided 8est and *ossack trousers, was meditating before a window. !he pale green of the !uileries showed luminously under a gentle warm shower. "6 hB %ere he is,6 said (apoleon. 6%ere, ha8e a cigarette. It seems that you had great doings, you and Gramont,*aderousse, last e8ening, at the Ch7teau de 0leurs.6 "I smiled with satisfaction. "6#o 1our )a=esty knows already....6 "6I know, I know 8aguely.6 "6+o you know Gramont,*aderousse6s last "mot"D6 "6(o, but you are going to tell it to me.6 "6%ere goes, then. .e were fi8e or si9I myself, -iel,*astel, Gramont, Persigny....6 "6PersignyB6 said the &mperor. 6%e has no right to associate with Gramont, after all that Paris says about his wife.6 "65ust so #ire. .ell, Persigny was e9cited, no doubt about it. %e began telling us how troubled he was because of the +uchess6s conduct.6 "6!his Fialin isn6t o8er tactful,6 muttered the &mperor. "65ust so, #ire. !hen, does 1our )a=esty know what Gramont hurled at himD6

"6.hatD6 "6%e said to him, "!onsieur le "uc, I forbid you to speak ill of my mistress before me." "6Gramont goes too far,6 said (apoleon with a dreamy smile. "6!hat is what we all thought, including -iel,*astel, who was ne8ertheless delighted.6 "6 propos of this,6 said (apoleon after a silence, 6I ha8e forgotten to ask you for news of the *ountess 4ielowsky.6 "6#he is 8ery well, #ire, I thank 1our )a=esty,6 "6 nd *l>mentineD #till the same dear childD6 "6 lways, #ire. 4ut....6 "6It seems that ). 4aroche is madly in lo8e with her.6 "6I am 8ery much honored, #ire. 4ut this honor becomes too burdensome.6 "I had drawn from my pocket that morning6s bills and I spread them out under the eyes of the &mperor. "%e looked at them with his distant smile. "6*ome, come. If that is all, I can fi9 that, since I ha8e a fa8or to ask of you.6 "6I am entirely at 1our )a=esty6s ser8ice.6 "%e struck a gong. "6#end for ). )oc?uard.6 "6I ha8e the grippe,6 he said. 6)oc?uard will e9plain the affair to you.6 "!he &mperor6s pri8ate secretary entered. "6%ere is 4ielowsky, )oc?uard,6 said (apoleon. 61ou know what I want him to do. &9plain it to him.6 " nd he began to tap on the window,panes against which the rain was beating furiously. "6)y dear *ount,6 said )oc?uard, taking a chair, 6it is 8ery simple. 1ou ha8e doubtless heard of a young e9plorer of promise, ). %enry +u8eyrier.6 "I shook my head as a sign of negation, 8ery much surprised at this beginning. "6). +u8eyrier,6 continued )oc?uard, 6has returned to Paris after a particularly daring trip to #outh frica and the #ahara. ). -i8ien de #aint )artin, whom I ha8e seen recently has assured me that the Geographical #ociety intends to confer its great gold medal upon him, in recognition of these e9ploits. In the course of his trip, ). +u8eyrier has entered into negotiations with the chief of the people who always ha8e been so rebellious to %is )a=esty6s armies, the !uareg.6

"I looked at the &mperor. )y bewilderment was such that he began to laugh. "6Listen,6 he said. "6). +u8eyrier,6 continued )oc?uard, 6was able to arrange to ha8e a delegation of these chiefs come to Paris to present their respects to %is )a=esty. -ery important results may arise from this 8isit, and %is &9cellency the *olonial )inister, does not despair of obtaining the signature of a treaty of commerce, reser8ing special ad8antages to our fellow countrymen. !hese chiefs, fi8e of them, among them #heik "tham, Amenokol or #ultan of the *onfederation of d@=er, arri8e to,morrow morning at the Gare de yon. ). +u8eyrier will meet them. 4ut the &mperor has thought that besides....6 "6I thought,6 said (apoleon III, delighted by my bewilderment, 6I thought that it was correct to ha8e some one of the Gentlemen of my *hamber wait upon the arri8al of these )ussulman dignitaries. !hat is why you are here, my poor 4ielowsky. +on6t be frightened,6 he added, laughing harder. 61ou will ha8e ). +u8eyrier with you. 1ou are charged only with the special part of the receptionI to accompany these princes to the lunch that I am gi8ing them to,morrow at the !uileriesA then, in the e8ening, discreetly on account of their religious scruples, to succeed in gi8ing them a 8ery high idea of Parisian ci8ili@ation, with nothing e9aggeratedI do not forget that in the #ahara they are 8ery high religious dignitaries. In that respect, I ha8e confidence in your tact and gi8e you carte #lanche.... )oc?uardB6 "6#ireD6 "61ou will apportion on the budget, half to Foreign ffairs, half to the *olonies, the funds *ount 4ielowsky will need for the reception of the !uareg delegation. It seems to me that a hundred thousand francs, to begin.... !he *ount has only to tell you if he is forced to e9ceed that figure.6 "*l>mentine li8ed on the 'ue 4occador, in a little )oorish pa8ilion that I had bought for her from ). de Lesseps. I found her in bed. .hen she saw me, she burst into tears. "6Great fools that we areB6 she murmured amidst her sobs, 6what ha8e we doneB6 "6*l>mentine, tell meB6 "6.hat ha8e we done, what ha8e we doneB6 she repeated, and I felt against me, her floods of black hair, her warm cheek which was fragrant with eau de Nanon. "6.hat is itD .hat can it beD6 "6It is....6 and she murmured something in my ear. "6(oB6 I said, stupefied. 6 re you ?uite sureD6 "6 m I ?uite sureB6 "I was thunderstruck. "61ou don6t seem much pleased,6 she said sharply. "6I did not say that.... !hough, really, I am 8ery much pleased, I assure you.6

"6Pro8e it to meI let us spend the day together tomorrow.6 "6!o,morrowB6 I stammered. 6ImpossibleB6 "6.hyD6 she demanded suspiciously. "64ecause to,morrow, I ha8e to pilot the !uareg mission about Paris. !he &mperor6s orders.6 "6.hat bluff is thisD6 asked *l>mentine. "6I admit that nothing so much resembles a lie as the truth.6 "I retold )oc?uard6s story to *l>mentine, as well as I could. #he listened to me with an e9pression that saidI 6you can6t fool me that way.6 "Finally, furious, I burst outI "61ou can see for yourself. I am dining with them, tomorrowA and I in8ite you.6 "6I shall be 8ery pleased to come,6 said *l>mentine with great dignity. "I admit that I lacked self,control at that minute. 4ut think what a day it had beenB Forty thousand francs of bills as soon as I woke up. !he ordeal of escorting the sa8ages around Paris all the ne9t day. nd, ?uite une9pectedly, the announcement of an approaching irregular paternity.... "6 fter all,6 I thought, as I returned to my house, 6these are the &mperor6s orders. %e has commanded me to gi8e the !uareg an idea of Parisian ci8ili@ation. *l>mentine comports herself 8ery well in society and =ust now it would not do to aggra8ate her. I will engage a room for to,morrow at the Caf1 de +aris, and tell Gramont,*aderousse and -iel,*astel to bring their silly mistresses. It will be 8ery French to en=oy the attitude of these children of the desert in the midst of this little party.6 "!he train from )arseilles arri8ed at ;FI/F. "n the platform I found ). +u8eyrier, a young man of twenty,three with blue eyes and a little blond beard. !he !uareg fell into his arms as they descended from the train. %e had li8ed with them for two years, in their tents, the de8il knows where. %e presented me to their chief, #heik "tham, and to four others, splendid fellows in their blue cotton draperies and their amulets of red leather. Fortunately, they all spoke a kind of sa#ir:;G< which helped things along. "I only mention in passing the lunch at the !uileries, the 8isits in the e8ening to the )useum, to the Hotel de :ille, to the Imperial Printing Press. &ach time, the !uareg inscribed their names in the registry of the place they were 8isiting. It was interminable. !o gi8e you an idea, here is the complete name of #heik "tham aloneI "tham,ben,el, %ad=,el,4ekri,ben,el,%ad=,el,Fa??i,ben,)ohammad,4ouya, ben,si, hmed,es,#ouki, ben,)ahmoud. :;M< " nd there were fi8e of them like thatB "I maintained my good humor, howe8er, because on the boule8ards, e8erywhere, our success was colossal. t the Caf1 de +aris, at si9,thirty, it amounted to fren@y. !he delegation, a little drunk, embraced meI 6Bono) Napol1on) #ono) Eug1nie> #ono) Casimir> #ono) Christians.6 Gramont,*aderousse and -iel,*astel were already in booth number eight, with nna Grimaldi, of the 0olies "ramati$ues, and %ortense #chneider,

both beautiful enough to strike terror to the heart. 4ut the palm was for my dear *l>mentine, when she entered. I must tell you how she was dressedI a gown of white tulle, o8er *hina blue tarletan, with pleatings, and ruffles of tulle o8er the pleatings. !he tulle skirt was caught up on each side by garlands of green lea8es mingled with rose clusters. !hus it formed a 8alence which allowed the tarletan skirt to show in front and on the sides. !he garlands were caught up to the belt and, in the space between their branches, were knots of rose satin with long ends. !he pointed bodice was draped with tulle, the billowy bertha of tulle was edged with lace. 4y way of head,dress, she had placed upon her black locks a diadem crown of the same flowers. !wo long leafy tendrils were twined in her hair and fell on her neck. s cloak, she had a kind of scarf of blue cashmere embroidered in gold and lined with blue satin. "#o much beauty and splendor immediately mo8ed the !uareg and, especially, *l>mentine6s right,hand neighbor, &l,%ad=,ben,GuemNma, brother of #heik "tham and #ultan of haggar. 4y the time the soup arri8ed, a bouillon of wild game, seasoned with !okay, he was already much smitten. .hen they ser8ed the compote of fruits )artini?ue = la li$ueur de !me/ Amphou&, he showed e8ery indication of illimitable passion. !he *yprian wine de la Commanderie made him ?uite sure of his sentiments. %ortense kicked my foot under the table. Gramont, intending to do the same to nna, made a mistake and aroused the indignant protests of one of the !uareg. I can safely say that when the time came to go to )abille, we were enlightened as to the manner in which our 8isitors respected the prohibition decreed by the Prophet in respect to wine. " t )abille, while *l>mentine, %ortense, nna, Ludo8ic and the three !uareg ga8e themsel8es o8er to the wildest gallops, #heik "tham took me aside and confided to me, with 8isible emotion, a certain commission with which he had =ust been charged by his brother, #heik hmed. "!he ne9t day, 8ery early, I reached *l>mentine6s house. "6)y dear,6 I began, after ha8ing waked her, not without difficulty, 6listen to me. I want to talk to you seriously.6 "#he rubbed her eyes a bit crossly. "6%ow did you like that young nightD6 rabian gentleman who was so taken with you last

"6.hy, well enough,6 she said, blushing. "6+o you know that in his country, he is the so8ereign prince and reigns o8er territories fi8e or si9 times greater than those of our august master, the &mperor (apoleon IIID6 "6%e murmured something of that kind to me,6 she said, becoming interested. "6.ell, would it please you to mount on a throne, like our august so8ereign, the &mpress &ug>nieD6 "*l>mentine, looked startled. "6%is own brother, #heik "tham, has charged me in his name to make this offer.6 "*l>mentine, dumb with ama@ement, did not reply.

"6I, &mpressB6 she finally stammered. "6!he decision rests with you. !hey must ha8e your answer before midday. If it is 6yes,6 we lunch together at -oisin6s, and the bargain is made.6 "I saw that she had already made up her mind, but she thought it well to display a little sentiment. "6 nd you, youB6 she groaned. 6!o lea8e you thus.... (e8erB6 "6(o foolishness, dear child,6 I said gently. 61ou don6t know perhaps that I am ruined. 1es, completelyI I don6t e8en know how I am going to pay for your comple9ion creamB6 "6 hB6 she sighed. "#he added, howe8er, 6 nd ... the childD6 "6.hat childD6 "6"ur child ... our child.6 "6 hB !hat is so. .hy, you will ha8e to put it down to profit and loss. I am e8en con8inced that #heik hmed will find that it resembles him.6 "61ou can turn e8erything into a =oke,6 she said between laughing and crying. "!he ne9t morning, at the same hour, the )arseilles e9press carried away the fi8e !uareg and *l>mentine. !he young woman, radiant, was leaning on the arm of #heik hmed, who was beside himself with =oy. "6%a8e you many shops in your capitalD6 she asked him languidly. " nd he, smiling broadly under his 8eil, repliedI "6Besef) #esef) #ono) roumis) #ono.6 " t the last moment, *l>mentine had a pang of emotion. "6Listen, *asimir, you ha8e always been kind to me. I am going to be a ?ueen. If you weary of it here, promise me, swear to me....6 "!he #heik had understood. %e took a ring from his finger and slipped it onto mine. "6#idi *asimir, comrade,6 he affirmed. 61ou comefind us. !ake #idi hmed6s ring and show it. &8erybody at haggar comrades. Bono haggar, #ono.6 ".hen I came out of the Gare de yon, I had the feeling of ha8ing perpetrated an e9cellent =oke." !he %etman of 5itomir was completely drunk. I had had the utmost difficulty in understanding the end of his story, because he inter=ected, e8ery other moment, couplets from 5ac?ues "ffenbach6s best score. "ans un #ois passait un 8eune homme,?n 8eune homme frais et #eau,Sa main tenait une pomme,:ous %oye- d'ici le ta#leau. ".ho was disagreeably surprised by the fall of #edanD It was *asimir, poor old *asimirB Fi8e thousand louis to pay by the fifth of #eptember, and not the first sou, no,

not the first sou. I take my hat and my courage and go to the !uileries. (o more &mperor there, noB 4ut the &mpress was so kind. I found her aloneah, people scatter ?uickly under such circumstancesBalone, with a senator, ). )>rim>e, the only literary man I ha8e e8er known who was at the same time a man of the world. 6)adame,6 he was saying to her, 6you must gi8e up all hope. ). !hiers, whom I =ust met on the +ont 'oyal, would listen to nothing.6 "6)adame,6 I said in my turn, 61our )a=esty always will know where her true friends are.6 " nd I kissed her hand. "E%oh1) $ue les d1esses*ut de dr@les de faAons+our en8@ler) pour en8@ler) pour en8@ler les ga7arAonsB "I returned to my home in the 'ue de Lille. "n the way I encountered the rabble going from the Corps 1gislatif to the %otel de -ille. )y mind was made up. "6)adame,6 I said to my wife, 6my pistols.6 "6.hat is the matterD6 she asked, frightened. "6 ll is lost. 4ut there is still a chance to preser8e my honor. I am going to be killed on the barricades.6 "6 hB *asimir,6 she sobbed, falling into my arms. 6I ha8e mis=udged you. .ill you forgi8e meD6 "6I forgi8e you, urelie,6 I said with dignified emotion. 6I ha8e not always been right myself.6 "I tore myself away from this mad scene. It was si9 o6clock. "n the 'ue de 4ac, I hailed a cab on its mad career. "6!wenty francs tip,6 I said to the coachman, 6if you get to the Gare de yon in time for the )arseilles train, si9 thirty,se8en.6" !he %etman of 5itomir could say no more. %e had rolled o8er on the cushions and slept with clenched fists. I walked unsteadily to the great window. !he sun was rising, pale yellow, behind the sharp blue mountains.

:I2
/O5RS O1 8AITIN6

It was at night that #aint, 8it liked to tell me a little of his enthralling history. %e ga8e it to me in short installments, e9act and chronological, ne8er anticipating the episodes of a drama whose tragic outcome I knew already. (ot that he wished to obtain more effect that wayI felt that he was far remo8ed from any calculation of that sortB #imply from the e9traordinary ner8ousness into which he was thrown by recalling such memories. "ne e8ening, the mail from France had =ust arri8ed. !he letters that *hatelain had handed us lay upon the little table, not yet opened. 4y the light of the lamp, a pale halo in the midst of the great black desert, we were able to recogni@e the writing of the addresses. "hB the 8ictorious smile of #aint, 8it when, pushing aside all those letters, I said to him in a trembling 8oiceI "Go on." %e ac?uiesced without further words. "(othing can gi8e you any idea of the fe8er I was in from the day when the %etman of 5itomir told me of his ad8entures to the day when I found myself in the presence of ntinea. !he strangest part was that the thought that I was, in a way, condemned to death, did not enter into this fe8er. "n the contrary, it was stimulated by my desire for the e8ent which would be the signal of my downfall, the summons from ntinea. 4ut this summons was not speedy in coming. nd from this delay, arose my unhealthy e9asperation. "+id I ha8e any lucid moments in the course of these hoursD I do not think so. I do not recall ha8ing e8en said to myself, 6.hat, aren6t you ashamedD *apti8e in an unheard of situation, you not only are not trying to escape, but you e8en bless your ser8itude and look forward to your ruin.6 I did not e8en color my desire to remain there, to en=oy the ne9t step in the ad8enture, by the prete9t I might ha8e gi8enunwillingness to escape without )orhange. If I felt a 8ague uneasiness at not seeing him again, it was not because of a desire to know that he was well and safe. ".ell and safe, I knew him to be, moreo8er. !he !uareg sla8es of ntinea6s household were certainly not 8ery communicati8e. !he women were hardly more lo?uacious. I heard, it is true, from #ydya and guida, that my companion liked pomegranates or that he could not endure kouskous of bananas. 4ut if I asked for a different kind of information, they fled, in fright, down the long corridors. .ith !anit, 7erga, it was different. !his child seemed to ha8e a distaste for mentioning before me anything bearing in any way upon ntinea. (e8ertheless, I knew that she was de8oted to her mistress with a doglike fidelity. 4ut she maintained an obstinate silence if I pronounced her name or, persisting, the name of )orhange. " s for the &uropeans, I did not care to ?uestion these sinister puppets. 4esides, all three were difficult of approach. !he %etman of 5itomir was sinking deeper and deeper into alcohol. .hat intelligence remained to him, he seemed to ha8e dissol8ed the e8ening when he had in8oked his youth for me. I met him from time to time in the corridors that had become all at once too narrow for him, humming in a thick 8oice a couplet from the music of a 'eine Hortense.

"e ma fille Isa#elleSois l'1pou& = l'instant,Car elle est la plus #elleEt toi) le plus %aillant. " s for Pastor #pardek, I would cheerfully ha8e killed the old skinflint. nd the hideous little man with the decorations, the placid printer of labels for the red marble hall,how could I meet him without wanting to cry out in his faceI 6&hB ehB #ir Professor, a 8ery curious case of apocopeI . #uppression of alpha, of tau and of lam#daB I would like to direct your attention to another case as curiousI , *l>mentine. pocope of kappa, of lam#a, of epsilon and of mu. If )orhange were with us, he would tell you many charming erudite things about it. 4ut, alasB )orhange does not deign to come among us any more. .e ne8er see )orhange.6 ")y fe8er for information found a little more fa8orable reception from 'osita, the old (egress manicure. (e8er ha8e I had my nails polished so often as during those days of waitingB (owafter si9 yearsshe must be dead. I shall not wrong her memory by recording that she was 8ery partial to the bottle. !he poor old soul was defenseless against those that I brought her and that I emptied with her, through politeness. "$nlike the other sla8es, who are brought from the #outh toward !urkey by the merchants of 'hNt, she was born in *onstantinople and had been brought into frica by her master when he became kaBmakam of 'hadamCs.... 4ut don6t let me complicate this already wandering history by the incantations of this manicure. "6 ntinea,6 she said to me, 6is the daughter of &l,%ad=, hmed,ben,GuemNma, #ultan of haggar, and #heik of the great and noble tribe of 2el,'helN. #he was born in the year twel8e hundred and eighty,one of the %egira. #he has ne8er wished to marry any one. %er wish has been respected for the will of women is so8ereign in this haggar where she rules to,day. #he is a cousin of #idi,el,#enoussi, and, if she speaks the word, *hristian blood will flow from +=erid to !ouat, and from !chad to #enegal. If she had wished it, she might ha8e li8ed beautiful and respected in the land of the *hristians. 4ut she prefers to ha8e them come to her.6 "6*egh>ir,ben,*heikh,6 I said, 6do you know himD %e is entirely de8oted to herD6 "6(obody here knows *egh>ir,ben,*heikh 8ery well, because he is continually tra8eling. It is true that he is entirely de8oted to ntinea. *egh>ir,ben,*heikh is a #enoussi, and ntinea is the cousin of the chief of the #enoussi. 4esides, he owes his life to her. %e is one of the men who assassinated the great 2>bir Flatters. "n account of that, Ikenoukhen, amenokol of the d@=er !uareg, fearing French reprisals, wanted to deli8er *egh>ir,ben,*heikh to them. .hen the whole #ahara turned against him, he found asylum with ntinea. *egh>ir,ben,*heikh will ne8er forget it, for he is bra8e and obser8es the law of the Prophet. !o thank her, he led to ntinea, who was then twenty years old, three French officers of the first troops of occupation in !unis. !hey are the ones who are numbered, in the red marble hall, ;, /, and G.6 "6 nd *egh>ir,ben,*heikh has always fulfilled his duties successfullyD6

"6*egh>ir,ben,*heikh is well trained, and he knows the 8ast #ahara as I know my little room at the top of the mountain. t first, he made mistakes. !hat is how, on his first trips, he brought back old Le )esge and marabout #pardek.6 "6.hat did ntinea say when she saw themD6 "6 ntineaD #he laughed so hard that she spared them. *egh>ir,ben,*heikh was 8e9ed to see her laugh so. #ince then, he has ne8er made a mistake.6 "6%e has ne8er made a mistakeD6 "6(o. I ha8e cared for the hands and feet of all that he has brought here. ll were young and handsome. 4ut I think that your comrade, whom they brought to me the other day, after you were here, is the handsomest of all.6 "6.hy,6 I asked, turning the con8ersation, 6why, since she spared them their li8es, did she not free the pastor and ). Le )esgeD6 "6#he has found them useful, it seems,6 said the old woman. 6 nd then, whoe8er once enters here, can ne8er lea8e. "therwise, the French would soon be here and, when they saw the hall of red marble, they would massacre e8erybody. 4esides, of all those whom *egh>ir,ben,*heikh has brought here, no one, sa8e one, has wished to escape after seeing ntinea.6 "6#he keeps them a long timeD6 "6!hat depends upon them and the pleasure that she takes in them. !wo months, three months, on the a8erage. It depends. big 4elgian officer, formed like a colossus, didn6t last a week. "n the other hand, e8eryone here remembers little +ouglas 2aine, an &nglish officerI she kept him almost a year.6 "6 nd thenD6 "6 nd then, he died,6 said the old woman as if astonished at my ?uestion. "6"f what did he dieD6 "#he used the same phrase as ). Le )esgeI "6Like all the othersI of lo8e. "6"f lo8e,6 she continued. "!hey all die of lo8e when they see that their time is ended, and that *egh>ir,ben,*heikh has gone to find others. #e8eral ha8e died ?uietly with tears in their great eyes. !hey neither ate nor slept any more. French na8al officer went mad. ll night, he sang a sad song of his nati8e country, a song which echoed through the whole mountain. nother, a #paniard, was as if maddenedI he tried to bite. It was necessary to kill him. )any ha8e died of kif, a kif that is more 8iolent than opium. .hen they no longer ha8e ntinea, they smoke, smoke. )ost ha8e died that way ... the happiest. Little 2aine died differently.6 "6%ow did little 2aine dieD6 "6In a way that pained us all 8ery much. I told you that he stayed longer among us than anyone else. .e had become used to him. In ntinea6s room, on a little 2airouan table, painted in blue and gold, there is a gong with a long sil8er hammer with an ebony handle, 8ery hea8y. guida told me about it. .hen ntinea ga8e little 2aine his

dismissal, smiling as she always does, he stopped in front of her, mute, 8ery pale. #he struck the gong for someone to take him away. !arga sla8e came. 4ut little 2aine had leapt for the hammer, and the !arga lay on the ground with his skull smashed. ntinea smiled all the time. !hey led little 2aine to his room. !he same night, eluding guards, he =umped out of his window at a height of two hundred feet. !he workmen in the embalming room told me that they had the greatest difficulty with his body. 4ut they succeeded 8ery well. 1ou ha8e only to go see for yourself. %e occupies niche number /O in the red marble hall.6 "!he old woman drowned her emotion in her glass. "6!wo days before,6 she continued, 6I had done his nails, here, for this was his room. "n the wall, near the window, he had written something in the stone with his knife. #ee, it is still here.6 "6.as it not Fate, that on this 5uly midnight....6 " t any other moment, that 8erse, traced in the stone of the window through which the &nglish officer had hurled himself, would ha8e killed me with o8erpowering emotion. 4ut =ust then, another thought was in my heart. "6!ell me,6 I said, controlling my 8oice as well as I could, 6when ntinea holds one of us in her power, she shuts him up near her, does she notD (obody sees him any moreD6 !he old woman shook her head. "6#he is not afraid that he will escape. !he mountain is well guarded. only to strike her sil8er gongA he will be brought back to her immediately.6 "64ut my companion. I ha8e not see him since she sent for him....6 "!he (egress smiled comprehendingly. "6If you ha8e not seen him, it is because he prefers to remain near her. ntinea does not force him to. (either does she pre8ent him.6 "I struck my fist 8iolently upon the table. "6Get along with you, old fool. nd be ?uick about itB6 "'osita fled frightened, hardly taking time to collect her little instruments. "6.as it not Fate, that on this 5uly midnight....6 "I obeyed the (egress6s suggestion. Following the corridors, losing my way, set on the right road again by the 'e8erend #pardek, I pushed open the door of the red marble hall. I entered. "!he freshness of the perfumed crypt did me good. (o place can be so sinister that it is not, as it were, purified by the murmur of running water. !he cascade, gurgling in the middle hall, comforted me. "ne day before an attack I was lying with my section in deep grass, waiting for the moment, the blast of the bugle, which would demand that we leap forward into the hail of bullets. stream was at my feet. I listened to its fresh rippling. I admired the play of light and shade in the transparent water, the little beasts, the little black fish, the green grass, the yellow wrinkled sand.... !he mystery of water always has carried me out of myself. ntinea has

"%ere, in this magic hall, my thoughts were held by the dark cascade. It felt friendly. It kept me from faltering in the midst of these rigid e8idences of so many monstrous sacrifices.... (umber /O. It was he all right. Lieutenant +ouglas 2aine, born at &dinburgh, #eptember /;, ;LO/. +ied at haggar, 5uly ;O, ;LEF. !wenty,eight. %e wasn6t e8en twenty,eightB %is face was thin under the coat of orichalch. %is mouth sad and passionate. It was certainly he. Poor youngster.&dinburgh,I knew &dinburgh, without e8er ha8ing been there. From the wall of the castle you can see the Pentland hills. "Look a little lower down," said #te8enson6s sweet )iss Flora to nne of #aint, 18es, "look a little lower down and you will see, in the fold of the hill, a clump of trees and a curl of smoke that rises from among them. !hat is #wanston *ottage, where my brother and I li8e with my aunt. If it really pleases you to see it, I shall be glad." .hen he left for +arfour, +ouglas 2aine must surely ha8e left in &dinburgh a )iss Flora, as blonde as #aint,18es6 Flora. 4ut what are these slips of girls beside ntineaB 2aine, howe8er sensible a mortal, howe8er made for this kind of lo8e, had lo8ed otherwise. %e was dead. nd here was number /S, on account of whom 2aine dashed himself on the rocks of the #ahara, and who, in his turn, is dead also. "!o die, to lo8e. %ow naturally the word resounded in the red marble hall. %ow ntinea seemed to tower abo8e that circle of pale statuesB +oes lo8e, then, need so much death in order that it may be multipliedD "ther women, in other parts of the world, are doubtless as beautiful as ntinea, more beautiful perhaps. I hold you to witness that I ha8e not said much about her beauty. .hy then, this obsession, this fe8er, this consumption of all my beingD .hy am I ready, for the sake of pressing this ?ui8ering form within my arms for one instant, to face things that I dare not think of for fear I should tremble before themD "%ere is number 0G, the last. )orhange will be 0M. I shall be 00. In si9 months, eight, perhaps,what difference anywayDI shall be hoisted into this niche, an image without eyes, a dead soul, a finished body. "I touched the heights of bliss, of e9altation that can be felt. .hat a child I was, =ust nowB I lost my temper with a (egro manicure. I was =ealous of )orhange, on my wordB .hy not, since I was at it, be =ealous of those here presentA then of the others, the absent, who will come, one by one, to fill the black circle of the still empty niches.... )orhange, I know, is at this moment with ntinea, and it is to me a bitter and splendid =oy to think of his =oy. 4ut some e8ening, in three months, four perhaps, the embalmers will come here. (iche 0M will recei8e its prey. !hen a !arga sla8e will ad8ance toward me. I shall shi8er with superb ecstasy. %e will touch my arm. nd it will be my turn to penetrate into eternity by the bleeding door of lo8e. ".hen I emerged from my meditation, I found myself back in the library, where the falling night obscured the shadows of the people who were assembled there. "I recogni@ed ). Le )esge, the Pastor, the %etman, guida, two !uareg sla8es, still more, all =oining in the most animated conference. "I drew nearer, astonished, e8en alarmed to see together so many people who ordinarily felt no kind of sympathy for each other. " n unheard of occurrence had thrown all the people of the mountain into uproar. "!wo #panish e9plorers, come from 'io de "ro, had been seen to the .est, in dhar hnet.

" s soon as *egh>ir,ben,*heikh was informed, he had prepared to go to meet them. " t that instant he had recei8ed the order to do nothing. "%enceforth it was impossible to doubt. "For the first time, ntinea was in lo8e."

:2
T/E LAMENT O1 TANIT0=ER6A

"Arra@u) arra@u." I roused myself 8aguely from the half sleep to which I had finally succumbed. I half opened my eyes. Immediately I flattened back. "Arra@u." !wo feet from my face was the mu@@le of 2ing %iram, yellow with a tracery of black. !he leopard was helping me to wake upA otherwise he took little interest, for he yawnedA his dark red =aws, beautiful gleaming white fangs, opened and closed la@ily. t the same moment I heard a burst of laughter. It was little !anit,7erga. #he was crouching on a cushion near the di8an where I was stretched out, curiously watching my close inter8iew with the leopard. "2ing %iram was bored," she felt obliged to e9plain to me. "I brought him." "%ow nice," I growled. ""nly tell me, could he not ha8e gone somewhere else to be amusedD" "%e is all alone now," said the girl. "2hey ha8e sent him away. %e made too much noise when he played." !hese words recalled me to the e8ents of the pre8ious e8ening. "If you like, I will make him go away," said !anit,7erga. "(o, let him alone." I looked at the leopard with sympathy. "ur common misfortune brought us together. I e8en caressed his rounded forehead. 2ing %iram showed his contentment by stretching out at full length and uncurling his great amber claws. !he mat on the floor had much to suffer.

"Gal> is here, too," said the little girl. "Gal>B .ho may he beD" t the same time, I saw on !anit,7erga6s knees a strange animal, about the si@e of a big cat, with flat ears, and a long mu@@le. Its pale gray fur was rough. It was watching me with ?ueer little pink eyes. "It is my mongoose," e9plained !anit,7erga. "*ome now," I said sharply, "is that allD" I must ha8e looked so crabbed and ridiculous that !anit,7erga began to laugh. I laughed, too. "Gal> is my friend," she said when she was serious again. "I sa8ed her life. It was when she was ?uite little. I will tell you about it some day. #ee how good,natured she is." #o saying, she dropped the mongoose on my knees. "It is 8ery nice of you, !anit,7erga," I said, "to come and pay me a 8isit." I passed my hand slowly o8er the animal6s back. ".hat time is it nowD" " little after nine. #ee, the sun is already high. Let me draw the shade." !he room was in darkness. Gal>6s eyes grew redder. 2ing %iram6s became green. "It is 8ery nice of you," I repeated, pursuing my idea. "I see that you are free to,day. 1ou ne8er came so early before." shade passed o8er the girl6s forehead. "1es, I am free," she said, almost bitterly. I looked at !anit,7erga more closely. For the first time I reali@ed that she was beautiful. %er hair, which she wore falling o8er her shoulders, was not so much curly as it was gently wa8ing. %er features were of remarkable finenessI the nose 8ery straight, a small mouth with delicate lips, a strong chin. #he was not black, but copper colored. %er slender graceful body had nothing in common with the disgusting thick sausages which the carefully cared for bodies of the blacks become. large circle of copper made a hea8y decoration around her forehead and hair. #he had four bracelets, still hea8ier, on her wrists and anklets, and, for clothing, a green silk tunic, slashed in points, braided with gold. Green, bron@e, gold. "1ou are a #onrhaQ, !anit,7ergaD" I asked gently. #he replied with almost ferocious prideI "I am a #onrhaQ." "#trange little thing," I thought.

&8idently this was a sub=ect on which !anit,7erga did not intend the con8ersation to turn. I recalled how, almost painfully, she had pronounced that "they," when she had told me how they had dri8en away 2ing %iram. "I am a #onrhaQ," she repeated. "I was born at GNo, on the (iger, the ancient #onrhaQ capital. )y fathers reigned o8er the great )andingue &mpire. 1ou need not scorn me because I am here as a sla8e." In a ray of sunlight, Gal>, seated on his little haunches, washed his shining mustaches with his forepawsA and 2ing %iram, stretched out on the mat, groaned plainti8ely in his sleep. "%e is dreaming," said !anit,7erga, a finger on her lips. !here was a moment of silence. !hen she saidI "1ou must be hungry. nd I do not think that you will want to eat with the others." I did not answer. "1ou must eat," she continued. "If you like, I will go get something to eat for you and me. I will bring 2ing %iram6s and Gal>6s dinner here, too. .hen you are sad, you should not stay alone." nd the little green and gold fairy 8anished, without waiting for my answer. !hat was how my friendship with !anit,7erga began. &ach morning she came to my room with the two beasts. #he rarely spoke to me of ntinea, and when she did, it was always indirectly. !he ?uestion that she saw ceaselessly ho8ering on my lips seemed to be unbearable to her, and I felt her a8oiding all the sub=ects towards which I, myself, dared not direct the con8ersation. !o make sure of a8oiding them, she prattled, prattled, prattled, like a ner8ous little parokeet. I was sick and this #ister of *harity in green and bron@e silk tended me with such care as ne8er was before. !he two wild beasts, the big and the little, were there, each side of my couch, and, during my delirium, I saw their mysterious, sad eyes fi9ed on me. In her melodious 8oice, !anit,7erga told me wonderful stories, and among them, the one she thought most wonderful, the story of her life. It was not till much later, 8ery suddenly, that I reali@ed how far this little barbarian had penetrated into my own life. .here8er thou art at this hour, dear little girl, from whate8er peaceful shores thou watchest my tragedy, cast a look at thy friend, pardon him for not ha8ing accorded thee, from the 8ery first, the gratitude that thou deser8edest so richly. "I remember from my childhood," she said, "the 8ision of a yellow and rose,colored sun rising through the morning mists o8er the smooth wa8es of a great ri8er, 6the ri8er where there is water,6 the (iger, it was.... 4ut you are not listening to me." "I am listening to you, I swear it, little !anit,7erga." "1ou are sure I am not wearying youD 1ou want me to go onD"

"Go on, little !anit,7erga, go on." ".ell, with my little companions, of whom I was 8ery fond, I played at the edge of the ri8er where there is water, under the =u=ube trees, brothers of the -eg(-eg, the spines of which pierced the head of your prophet and which we call 6the tree of Paradise6 because our prophet told us that under it would li8e those chosen of ParadiseA:;0< and which is sometimes so big, so big, that a horseman cannot tra8erse its shade in a century. "!here we wo8e beautiful garlands with mimosa, the pink flowers of the caper bush and white cockles. !hen we threw them in the green water to ward off e8il spiritsA and we laughed like mad things when a great snorting hippopotamus raised his swollen head and we bombarded him in glee until he had to plunge back again with a tremendous splash. "!hat was in the mornings. !hen there fell on GNo the deathlike lull of the red siesta. .hen that was finished, we came back to the edge of the ri8er to see the enormous crocodiles with bron@e goggle,eyes creep along little by little, among the clouds of mos?uitoes and day,flies on the banks, and work their way traitorously into the yellow oo@e of the mud flats. "!hen we bombarded them, as we had done the hippopotamus in the morningA and to fTte the sun setting behind the black branches of the douldouls, we made a circle, stamping our feet, then clapping our hands, as we sang the #onrhaQ hymn. "#uch were the ordinary occupations of free little girls. 4ut you must not think that we were only fri8olousA and I will tell you, if you like, how I, who am talking to you, I sa8ed a French chieftain who must be 8astly greater than yourself, to =udge by the number of gold ribbons he had on his white slee8es." "!ell me, little !anit,7erga," I said, my eyes elsewhere. "1ou ha8e no right to smile," she said a little aggrie8ed, "and to pay no attention to me. 4ut ne8er mindB It is for myself that I tell these things, for the sake of recollection. bo8e GNo, the (iger makes a bend. !here is a little promontory in the ri8er, thickly co8ered with large gum trees. It was an e8ening in ugust and the sun was sinking. (ot a bird in the forest but had gone to rest, motionless until the morning. #uddenly we heard an unfamiliar noise in the west, boum,boum, boum,boum, boum,baraboum, boum,boum, growing louderboum,boum, boum,baraboumand, suddenly, there was a great flight of water birds, aigrettes, pelicans, wild ducks and teal, which scattered o8er the gum trees, followed by a column of black smoke, which was scarcely flurried by the bree@e that was springing up. "It was a gunboat, turning the point, sending out a wake that shook the o8erhanging bushes on each side of the ri8er. "ne could see that the red, white and blue flag on the stern had drooped till it was dragging in the water, so hea8y was the e8ening. "#he stopped at the little point of land. small boat was let down, manned by two nati8e soldiers who rowed, and three chiefs who soon leapt ashore. "!he oldest, a French mara#out, with a great white burnous, who knew our language mar8elously, asked to speak to #heik #onni, @kia. .hen my father ad8anced and told him that it was he, the mara#out told him that the commandant of the *lub at !imbuctoo was 8ery angry, that a mile from there the gunboat had run on an in8isible

pile of logs, that she had sprung a leak and that she could not so continue her 8oyage towards nsango. ")y father replied that the French who protected the poor nati8es against the !uareg were welcomeI that it was not from e8il design, but for fish that they had built the barrage, and that he put all the resources of GNo, including the forge, at the disposition of the French chief, for repairing the gunboat. ".hile they were talking, the French chief looked at me and I looked at him. %e was already middle,aged, tall, with shoulders a little bent, and blue eyes as clear as the stream whose name I bear. "6*ome here, little one,6 he said in his gentle 8oice. "6I am the daughter of #heik #onni, @kia, and I do only what I wish,6 I replied, 8e9ed at his informality. "61ou are right,6 he answered smiling, 6for you are pretty. .ill you gi8e me the flowers that you ha8e around your neckD6 "It was a great necklace of purple hibiscus. I held it out to him. %e kissed me. !he peace was made. ")eantime, under the direction of my father, the nati8e soldiers and strong men of the tribe had hauled the gunboat into a pocket of the ri8er. "6!here is work there for all day to,morrow, *olonel,6 said the chief mechanic, after inspecting the leaks. 6.e won6t be able to get away before the day after to,morrow. nd, if we6re to do that, these la@y soldiers mustn6t loaf on the =ob.6 "6.hat an awful bore,6 groaned my new friend. "4ut his ill,humor did not last long, so ardently did my little companions and I seek to distract him. %e listened to our most beautiful songsA and, to thank us, made us taste the good things that had been brought from the boat for his dinner. %e slept in our great cabin, which my father ga8e up to himA and for a long time, before I went to sleep, I looked through the cracks of the cabin where I lay with my mother, at the lights of the gunboat trembling in red ripples on the surface of the dark wa8es. "!hat night, I had a frightful dream. I saw my friend, the French officer, sleeping in peace, while a great crow hung croaking abo8e his headI 6*aw,cawthe shade of the gum trees of GNocaw, cawwill a8ail nothing tomorrow nightcaw, cawto the white chief nor to his escort.6 "+awn had scarcely begun, when I went to find the nati8e soldiers. !hey were stretched out on the bridge of the gunboat, taking ad8antage of the fact that the whites were still sleeping, to do nothing. "I approached the oldest one and spoke to him with authorityI 6Listen, I saw the black crow in a dream last night. %e told me that the shade of the gum trees of GNo would be fatal to your chief in the coming nightB...6 " nd, as they all remained motionless, stretched out, ga@ing at the sky, without e8en seeming to ha8e heard, I addedI

"6 nd to his escortB6 "It was the hour when the sun was highest, and the *olonel was eating in the cabin with the other Frenchmen, when the chief mechanic entered. "6I don6t know what has come o8er the nati8es. !hey are working like angels. If they keep on this way, *olonel, we shall be able to lea8e this e8ening.6 "6-ery good,6 said the *olonel, 6but don6t let them spoil the =ob by too much haste. .e don6t ha8e to be at nsango before the end of the week. It will be better to start in the morning.6 "I trembled. #uppliantly I approached and told him the story of my dream. %e listened with a smile of astonishmentA then, at the last, he said gra8elyI "6It is agreed, little !anit,7erga. .e will lea8e this e8ening if you wish it.6 " nd he kissed me. "!he darkness had already fallen when the gunboat, now repaired, left the harbor. )y friend stood in the midst of the group of Frenchmen who wa8ed their caps as long as we could see them. #tanding alone on the rickety =etty, I waited, watching the water flow by, until the last sound of the steam,dri8en 8essel, boum,baraboum, had died away into the night.":;O< !anit,7erga paused. "!hat was the last night of GNo. .hile I was sleeping and the moon was still high abo8e the forest, a dog yelped, but only for an instant. !hen came the cry of men, then of women, the kind of cry that you can ne8er forget if you ha8e once heard it. .hen the sun rose, it found me, ?uite naked, running and stumbling towards the north with my little companions, beside the swiftly mo8ing camels of the !uareg who escorted us. 4ehind, followed the women of the tribe, my mother among them, two by two, the yoke upon their necks. !here were not many men. lmost all lay with their throats cut under the ruins of the thatch of GNo beside my father, bra8e #onni, @kia. "nce again GNo had been ra@ed by a band of wellimiden, who had come to massacre the French on their gunboat. "!he !uareg hurried us, hurried us, for they were afraid of being pursued. .e tra8eled thus for ten daysA and, as the millet and hemp disappeared, the march became more frightful. Finally, near Isakeryen, in the country of 2idal, the !uareg sold us to a cara8an of !rar@an )oors who were going from 4amrouk to 'hNt. t first, because they went more slowly, it seemed good fortune. 4ut, before long, the desert was an e9panse of rough pebbles, and the women began to fall. s for the men, the last of them had died far back under the blows of the stick for ha8ing refused to go farther. "I still had the strength to keep going, and e8en as far in the lead as possible, so as not to hear the cries of my little playmates. &ach time one of them fell by the way, unable to rise again, they saw one of the dri8ers descend from his camel and drag her into the bushes a little way to cut her throat. 4ut one day, I heard a cry that made me turn around. It was my mother. #he was kneeling, holding out her poor arms to me. In an instant I was beside her. 4ut a great )oor, dressed in white, separated us. red moroccan case hung around his neck from a black chaplet. %e drew a cutlass from it. I can still see the blue steel on the brown skin. nother horrible cry. n instant later,

dri8en by a club, I was trotting ahead, swallowing my little tears, trying to regain my place in the cara8an. "(ear the wells of siou, the )oors were attacked by a party of !uareg of 2el, !a@eholet, serfs of the great tribe of 2el,'helN, which rules o8er haggar. !hey, in their turn, were massacred to the last man. !hat is how I was brought here, and offered as homage to ntinea, who was pleased with me and e8er since has been kind to me. !hat is why it is no sla8e who soothes your fe8er to,day with stories that you do not e8en listen to, but the last descendant of the great #onrhaQ &mperors, of #onni, li, the destroyer of men and of countries, of )ohammed @kia, who made the pilgrimage to )ecca, taking with him fifteen hundred ca8aliers and three hundred thousand mithkal of gold in the days when our power stretched without ri8al from *had to !ouat and to the western sea, and when GNo raised her cupola, sister of the sky, abo8e the other cities, higher abo8e her ri8al cupolas than is the tamarisk abo8e the humble plants of sorghum."

:2I
T/E SIL2ER /AMMER

;e ne m'en d1fends plus et 8e ne %eu& $u' aller'econna6tre la place oC 8e dois l'immoler. J ndroma?ue.K

It was this sort of a night when what I am going to tell you now happened. !oward fi8e o6clock the sky clouded o8er and a sense of the coming storm trembled in the stifling air. I shall always remember it. It was the fifth of 5anuary, ;LES. 2ing %iram and Gal> lay hea8ily on the matting of my room. Leaning on my elbows beside !anit,7erga in the rock,hewn window, I spied the ad8ance tremors of lightning. "ne by one they rose, streaking the now total darkness with their bluish stripes. 4ut no burst of thunder followed. !he storm did not attain the peaks of haggar. It passed without breaking, lea8ing us in our gloomy bath of sweat. "I am going to bed," said !anit,7erga. I ha8e said that her room was abo8e mine. Its bay window was some thirty feet abo8e that before which I lay. #he took Gal> in her arms. 4ut 2ing %iram would ha8e none of it. +igging his four paws into the matting, he whined in anger and uneasiness.

"Lea8e him," I finally said to !anit,7erga. "For once he may sleep here." #o it was that this little beast incurred his large share of responsibility in the e8ents which followed. Left alone, I became lost in my reflections. !he night was black. !he whole mountain was shrouded in silence. It took the louder and louder growls of the leopard to rouse me from my meditation. 2ing %iram was braced against the door, digging at it with his drawn claws. %e, who had refused to follow !anit,7erga a while ago, now wanted to go out. %e was determined to go out. "4e still," I said to him. "&nough of that. Lie downB" I tried to pull him away from the door. I succeeded only in getting a staggering blow from his paw. !hen I sat down on the di8an. )y ?uiet was short. "4e honest with yourself," I said. "#ince )orhange abandoned you, since the day when you saw ntinea, you ha8e had only one idea. .hat good is it to beguile yourself with the stories of !anit,7erga, charming as they areD !his leopard is a prete9t, perhaps a guide. "h, you know that mysterious things are going to happen tonight. %ow ha8e you been able to keep from doing anything as long as thisD" Immediately I made a resol8e. "If I open the door," I thought, "2ing %iram will leap down the corridor and I shall ha8e great difficulty in following him. I must find some other way." !he shade of the window was worked by means of a small cord. I pulled it down. !hen I tied it into a firm leash which I fastened to the metal collar of the leopard. I half opened the door. "!here, now you can go. 4ut ?uietly, ?uietly." I had all the trouble in the world to curb the ardor of 2ing %iram who dragged me along the shadowy labyrinth of corridors. It was shortly before nine o6clock, and the rose,colored night lights were almost burned out in the niches. (ow and then, we passed one which was casting its last flickers. .hat a labyrinthB I reali@ed that from here on I would not recogni@e the way to her room. I could only follow the leopard. t first furious, he gradually became used to towing me. %e strained ahead, belly to the ground, with snuffs of =oy. (othing is more like one black corridor than another black corridor. +oubt sei@ed me. #uppose I should suddenly find myself in the baccarat roomB 4ut that was un=ust to 2ing %iram. 4arred too long from the dear presence, the good beast was taking me e9actly where I wanted him to take me. #uddenly, at a turn, the darkness ahead lifted. red and green, appeared before us. rose window, faintly glimmering

!he leopard stopped with a low growl before the door in which the rose window was cut. I recogni@ed it as the door through which the white !arga had led me the day after my arri8al, when I had been set upon by 2ing %iram, when I had found myself in the presence of ntinea. ".e are much better friends to,day," I said, flattering him so that he would not gi8e a dangerously loud growl. I tried to open the door. !he light, coming through the window, fell upon the floor, green and red. simple latch, which I turned. I shortened the leash to ha8e better control of 2ing %iram who was getting ner8ous. !he great room where I had seen ntinea for the first time was completely dark. 4ut the garden on which it ga8e shone under a clouded moon, in a sky weighted down with the storm which did not break. (ot a breath of air. !he lake gleamed like a sheet of pewter. I seated myself on a cushion, holding the leopard firmly between my knees. %e was purring with impatience. I was thinking. (ot about my goal. For a long time that had been fi9ed. 4ut about the means. !hen, I seemed to hear a distant murmur, a faint sound of 8oices. 2ing %iram growled louder, struggled. I ga8e him a little more leash. %e began to rub along the dark walls on the sides whence the 8oices seemed to come. I followed him, stumbling as ?uietly as I could among the scattered cushions. )y eyes, become accustomed to the darkness, could see the pyramid of cushions on which ntinea had first appeared to me. #uddenly I stumbled. !he leopard had stopped. I reali@ed that I had stepped on his tail. 4ra8e beast, he did not make a sound. Groping along the wall, I felt a second door. Ruietly, 8ery ?uietly, I opened it as I had opened the preceding one. !he leopard whimpered feebly. "2ing %iram," I murmured, "be ?uiet." nd I put my arms about his powerful neck. I felt his warm wet tongue on my hands. %is flanks ?ui8ered. %e shook with happiness. In front of us, lighted in the center, another room opened up. In the middle si9 men were s?uatting on the matting, playing dice and drinking coffee from tiny copper coffee cups with long stems. !hey were the white !uareg. lamp, hung from the ceiling, threw a circle of light o8er them. &8erything outside that circle was in deep shadow.

!he black faces, the copper cups, the white robes, the mo8ing light and shadow, made a strange etching. !hey played with a reser8ed dignity, announcing the throws in raucous 8oices. !hen, slowly, 8ery slowly, I slipped the leash from the collar of the impatient little beast. "Go, boy." %e leapt with a sharp yelp. nd what I had foreseen happened. !he first bound of 2ing %iram carried him into the midst of the white !uareg, sowing confusion in the bodyguard. nother leap carried him into the shadow again. I made out 8aguely the shaded opening of another corridor on the side of the room opposite where I was standing. "!hereB" I thought. !he confusion in the room was indescribable, but noiseless. "ne reali@ed the restraint which nearness to a great presence imposed upon the e9asperated guards. !he stakes and the dice,bo9es had rolled in one direction, the copper cups, in the other. !wo of the !uareg, doubled up with pain, were rubbing their ribs with low oaths. I need not say that I profited by this silent confusion to glide into the room. I was now flattened against the wall of the second corridor, down which 2ing %iram had =ust disappeared. t that moment a clear gong echoed in the silence. !he trembling which sei@ed the !uareg assured me that I had chosen the right way. "ne of the si9 men got up. %e passed me and I fell in behind him. I was perfectly calm. )y least mo8ement was perfectly calculated. " ll that I risk here now," I said to myself, "is being led back politely to my room." !he !arga lifted a curtain. I followed on his heels into the chamber of ntinea. !he room was huge and at once well lighted and 8ery dark. .hile the right half, where ntinea was, gleamed under shaded lamps, the left was dim. !hose who ha8e penetrated into a )ussulman home know what a guignol is, a kind of s?uare niche in the wall, four feet from the floor, its opening co8ered by a curtain. "ne mounts to it by wooden steps. I noticed such a guignol at my left. I crept into it. )y pulses beat in the shadow. 4ut I was calm, ?uite calm. !here I could see and hear e8erything. I was in ntinea6s chamber. !here was nothing singular about the room, e9cept the great lu9ury of the hangings. !he ceiling was in shadow, but multicolored lanterns cast a 8ague and gentle light o8er gleaming stuffs and furs. ntinea was stretched out on a lion6s skin, smoking. little sil8er tray and pitcher lay beside her. 2ing %iram was flattened out at her feet, licking them madly.

!he !arga sla8e stood rigid before her, one hand on his heart, the other on his forehead, saluting. ntinea spoke in a hard 8oice, without looking at the man. ".hy did you let the leopard passD I told you that I wanted to be alone." "%e knocked us o8er, mistress," said the !arga humbly. "!he doors were not closed, thenD" !he sla8e did not answer. "#hall I take him awayD" he asked. nd his eyes, fastened upon 2ing %iram who stared at him maliciously, e9pressed well enough his desire for a negati8e reply. "Let him stay since he is here," said ntinea. #he tapped ner8ously on the little sil8er tray. ".hat is the captain doingD" she asked. "%e dined a while ago and seemed to en=oy his food," the !arga answered. "%as he said nothingD" "1es, he asked to see his companion, the other officer." ntinea tapped the little tray still more rapidly. "+id he say nothing elseD" "(o, mistress," said the man. pallor o8erspread the tlantide6s little forehead. "Go get him," she said brus?uely. 4owing, the !arga left the room. I listened to this dialogue with great an9iety. .as this )orhangeD %ad he been faithful to me, after allD %ad I suspected him un=ustlyD %e had wanted to see me and been unable toB )y eyes ne8er left ntinea6s. #he was no longer the haughty, mocking princess of our first inter8iew. #he no longer wore the golden circlet on her forehead. (ot a bracelet, not a ring. #he was dressed only in a full flowing tunic. %er black hair, unbound, lay in masses of ebony o8er her slight shoulders and her bare arms. %er beautiful eyes were deep circled. %er di8ine mouth drooped. I did not know whether I was glad or sorry to see this new ?ui8ering *leopatra. Flattened at her feet, 2ing %iram ga@ed submissi8ely at her.

n immense orichalch mirror with golden reflections was set into the wall at the right. #uddenly she raised herself erect before it. I saw her nude. splendid and bitter sightB woman who thinks herself alone, standing before her mirror in e9pectation of the man she wishes to subdueB !he si9 incense,burners scattered about the room sent up in8isible columns of perfume. !he balsam spices of rabia wore floating webs in which my shameless senses were entangled.... nd, back toward me, standing straight as a lily, ntinea smiled into her mirror. Low steps sounded in the corridor. ntinea immediately fell back into the nonchalant pose in which I had first seen her. "ne had to see such a transformation to belie8e it possible. )orhange entered the room, preceded by a white !arga. %e, too, seemed rather pale. 4ut I was most struck by the e9pression of serene peace on that face which I thought I knew so well. I felt that I ne8er had understood what manner of man )orhange was, ne8er. %e stood erect before ntinea without seeming to notice her gesture in8iting him to be seated. #he smiled at him. "1ou are surprised, perhaps," she said finally, "that I should send for you at so late an hour." )orhange did not mo8e an eyelash. "%a8e you considered it wellD" she demanded. )orhange smiled gra8ely, but did not reply. I could read in ntinea6s face the effort it cost her to continue smilingA I admired the self,control of these two beings. "I sent for you," she continued. "1ou do not guess whyD... .ell, it is to tell you something that you do not e9pect. It will be no surprise to you if I say that I ne8er met a man like you. +uring your capti8ity, you ha8e e9pressed only one wish. +o you recall itD" "I asked your permission to see my friend before I died," said )orhange simply. I do not know what stirred me more on hearing these wordsI delight at )orhange6s formal tone in speaking to ntinea, or emotion at hearing the one wish he had e9pressed. 4ut ntinea continued calmlyI "!hat is why I sent for youto tell you that you are going to see him again. nd I am going to do something else. 1ou will perhaps scorn me e8en more when you reali@e that you had only to oppose me to bend me to your willI, who ha8e bent all other wills to mine. 4ut, howe8er that may be, it is decidedI I gi8e you both your liberty.

!omorrow *egh>ir,ben,*heikh will lead you past the fifth enclosure. satisfiedD" "I am," said )orhange with a mocking smile.

re you

"!hat will gi8e me a chance," he continued, "to make better plans for the ne9t trip I intend to make this way. For you need not doubt that I shall feel bound to return to e9press my gratitude. "nly, ne9t time, to render so great a ?ueen the honors due her, I shall ask my go8ernment to furnish me with two or three hundred &uropean soldiers and se8eral cannon." ntinea was standing up, 8ery pale. ".hat are you sayingD" "I am saying," said )orhange coldly, "that I foresaw this. First threats, then promises." ntinea stepped toward him. %e had folded his arms. %e looked at her with a sort of gra8e pity. "I will make you die in the most atrocious agonies," she said finally. "I am your prisoner," )orhange replied. "1ou shall suffer things that you cannot e8en imagine." "I am your prisoner," repeated )orhange in the same sad calm. ntinea paced the room like a beast in a cage. #he ad8anced toward my companion and, no longer mistress of herself, struck him in the face. %e smiled and caught hold of her, drawing her little wrists together with a strange mi9ture of force and gentleness. 2ing %iram growled. I thought he was about to leap. 4ut the cold eyes of )orhange held him fascinated. "I will ha8e your comrade killed before your eyes," gasped ntinea. It seemed to me that )orhange paled, but only for a second. I was o8ercome by the nobility and insight of his reply. ")y companion is bra8e. %e does not fear death. nd, in any case, he would prefer death to life purchased at the price you name." #o saying, he let go ntinea6s wrists. %er pallor was terrible. From the e9pression of her mouth I felt that this would be her last word to him. "Listen," she said. %ow beautiful she was, in her scorned ma=esty, her beauty powerless for the first timeB "Listen," she continued. "Listen. For the last time. 'emember that I hold the gates of this palace, that I ha8e supreme power o8er your life. 'emember that you breathe only at my pleasure. 'emember...."

"I ha8e remembered all that," said )orhange. " last time," she repeated. !he serenity of )orhange6s face was so powerful that I scarcely noticed his opponent. In that transfigured countenance, no trace of worldliness remained. " last time," came ntinea6s 8oice, almost breaking. )orhange was not e8en looking at her. " s you will," she said. %er gong resounded. #he had struck the sil8er disc. !he white !arga appeared. "Lea8e the roomB" )orhange, his head held high, went out. (ow ntinea is in my arms. !his is no haughty, 8oluptuous woman whom I am pressing to my heart. It is only an unhappy, scorned little girl. #o great was her trouble that she showed no surprise when I stepped out beside her. %er head is on my shoulder. Like the crescent moon in the black clouds, I see her clear little bird,like profile amid her mass of hair. %er warm arms hold me con8ulsi8ely.... * trem#lant coeur humain.... .ho could resist such an embrace, amid the soft perfumes, in the langorous nightD I feel myself a being without will. Is this my 8oice, the 8oice which is murmuringI " sk me what you will, and I will do it, I will do it." )y senses are sharpened, tenfold keen. )y head rests against a soft, ner8ous little knee. *louds of odors whirl about me. #uddenly it seems as if the golden lanterns are wa8ing from the ceiling like giant censers. Is this my 8oice, the 8oice repeating in a dreamI " sk me what you will, and I will do it. I will do it." ntinea6s face is almost touching mine. strange light flickers in her great eyes.

4eyond, I see the gleaming eyes of 2ing %iram. 4eside him, there is a little table of 2airouan, blue and gold. "n that table I see the gong with which ntinea summons the sla8es. I see the hammer with which she struck it =ust now, a hammer with a long ebony handle, a hea8y sil8er head ... the hammer with which little Lieutenant 2aine dealt death.... I see nothing more....

:2II
T/E MAIDENS O1 T/E ROCKS

I awakened in my room. !he sun, already at its @enith, filled the place with unbearable light and heat. !he first thing I saw, on opening my eyes, was the shade, ripped down, lying in the middle of the floor. !hen, confusedly, the night6s e8ents began to come back to me. )y head felt stupid and hea8y. )y mind wandered. )y memory seemed blocked. "I went out with the leopard, that is certain. !hat red mark on my forefinger shows how he strained at the leash. )y knees are still dusty. I remember creeping along the wall in the room where the white !uareg were playing at dice. !hat was the minute after 2ing %iram had leapt past them. fter that ... oh, )orhange and ntinea.... nd thenD" I recalled nothing more. I recalled nothing more. 4ut something must ha8e happened, something which I could not remember. I was uneasy. I wanted to go back, yet it seemed as if I were afraid to go. I ha8e ne8er felt anything more painful than those conflicting emotions. "It is a long way from here to ntinea6s apartments. I must ha8e been 8ery sound asleep not to ha8e noticed when they brought me backfor they ha8e brought me back." I stopped trying to think it out. )y head ached too much. "I must ha8e air," I murmured. "I am roasting hereA it will dri8e me mad." I had to see someone, no matter whom. )echanically, I walked toward the library. I found ). Le )esge in a transport of delirious =oy. !he Professor was engaged in opening an enormous bale, carefully sewed in a brown blanket. "1ou come at a good time, sir," he cried, on seeing me enter. "!he maga@ines ha8e =ust arri8ed." %e dashed about in fe8erish haste. Presently a stream of pamphlets and maga@ines, blue, green, yellow and salmon, was bursting from an opening in the bale. "#plendid, splendidB" he cried, dancing with =oy. "(ot too late, eitherA here are the numbers for "ctober fifteenth. .e must gi8e a 8ote of thanks to good meur." %is good spirits were contagious. "!here is a good !urkish merchant who subscribes to all the interesting maga@ines of the two continents. %e sends them on by 'hadamCs to a destination which he little suspects. h, here are the French ones." ). Le )esge ran fe8erishly o8er, the tables of contents.

"Internal politicsI articles by Francis *harmes, natole Leroy,4eaulieu, d6%ausson8ille on the *@ar6s trip to Paris. Look, a study by 8enel of wages in the )iddle ges. nd 8erse, 8erses of the young poets, Fernand Gregh, &dmond %araucourt. h, the resum> of a book by %enry de *astries on Islam. !hat may be interesting.... !ake what you please." 5oy makes people amiable and ). Le )esge was really delirious with it. puff of bree@e came from the window. I went to the balustrade and, resting my elbows on it, began to run through a number of the 'e%ue des "eu& !ondes. I did not read, but flipped o8er the pages, my eyes now on the lines of swarming little black characters, now on the rocky basin which lay shi8ering, pale pink, under the declining sun. #uddenly my attention became fi9ed. !here was a strange coincidence between the te9t and the landscape. "In the sky o8erhead were only light shreds of cloud, like bits of white ash floating up from burnt,out logs. !he sun fell o8er a circle of rocky peaks, silhouetting their se8ere lines against the a@ure sky. From on high, a great sadness and gentleness poured down into the lonely enclosure, like a magic drink into a deep cup....":;S< I turned the pages fe8erishly. )y mind seemed to be clearing. 4ehind me, ). Le )esge, deep in an article, 8oiced his opinions in indignant growls. I continued readingI ""n all sides a magnificent 8iew spread out before us in the raw light. !he chain of rocks, clearly 8isible in their barren desolation which stretched to the 8ery summit, lay stretched out like some great heap of gigantic, unformed things left by some primordial race of !itans to stupefy human beings. "8erturned towers...." "It is shameful, downright shameful," the Professor was repeating. ""8erturned towers, crumbling citadels, cupolas fallen in, broken pillars, mutilated colossi, prows of 8essels, thighs of monsters, bones of titans,this mass, impassable with its ridges and gullies, seemed the embodiment of e8erything huge and tragic. #o clear were the distances...." "+ownright shameful," ). Le )esge kept on saying in e9asperation, thumping his fist on the table. "#o clear were the distances that I could see, as if I had it under my eyes, infinitely enlarged, e8ery contour of the rock which -iolante had shown me through the window with the gesture of a creator...." !rembling, I closed the maga@ine. t my feet, now red, I saw the rock which ntinea had pointed out to me the day of our first inter8iew, huge, steep, o8erhanging the reddish brown garden. "!hat is my hori@on," she had said. ). Le )esge6s e9citement had passed all bounds.

"It is worse than shamefulA it is infamous." I almost wanted to strangle him into silence. %e sei@ed my arm. "'ead that, sirA and, although you don6t know a great deal about the sub=ect, you will see that this article on 'oman frica is a miracle of misinformation, a monument of ignorance. nd it is signed ... do you know by whom it is signedD" "Lea8e me alone," I said brutally. ".ell, it is signed Gaston 4oissier. 1es, sirB Gaston 4oissier, grand officer of the Legion of %onor, lecturer at the Ecole Normale Sup1rieure, permanent secretary of the French cademy, member of the cademy of Inscriptions and Literature, one of those who once ruled out the sub=ect of my thesis ... one of those ... ah, poor uni8ersity, ah, poor FranceB" I was no longer listening. I had begun to read again. )y forehead was co8ered with sweat. 4ut it seemed as if my head had been cleared like a room when a window is openedA memories were beginning to come back like do8es winging their way home to the do8ecote. " t that moment, an irrepressible tremor shook her whole bodyA her eyes dilated as if some terrible sight had filled them with horror. "6 ntonello,6 she murmured. " nd for seconds, she was unable to say another word. "I looked at her in mute anguish and the suffering which drew her dear lips together seemed also to clutch at my heart. !he 8ision which was in her eyes passed into mine, and I saw again the thin white face of ntonello, and the ?uick ?ui8ering of his eyelids, the wa8es of agony which sei@ed his long worn body and shook it like a reed." I threw the maga@ine upon the table. "!hat is it," I said. !o cut the pages, I had used the knife with which ). Le )esge had cut the cords of the bale, a short ebony,handled dagger, one of those daggers that the !uareg wear in a bracelet sheath against the upper left arm. I slipped it into the big pocket of my flannel dolman and walked toward the door. I was about to cross the threshold when I heard ). Le )esge call me. ")onsieur de #aint 8itB )onsieur de #aint 8itB "I want to ask you something, please." ".hat is itD" "(othing important. 1ou know that I ha8e to mark the labels for the red marble hall...." I walked toward the table.

".ell, I forgot to ask ). )orhange, at the beginning, the date and place of his birth. fter that, I had no chance. I did not see him again. #o I am forced to turn to you. Perhaps you can tell meD" "I can," I said 8ery calmly. %e took a large white card from a bo9 which contained se8eral and dipped his pen. "(umber 0M ... *aptainD" "*aptain 5ean,)arie,FranPois )orhange." .hile I dictated, one hand resting on the table, I noticed on my cuff a stain, a little stain, reddish brown. ")orhange," repeated ). Le )esge, finishing the lettering of my friend6s name. "4orn at...D" "-illefranche." "-illefranche, 'hUne. .hat dateD" "!he fourteenth of "ctober, ;L0E." "!he fourteenth of "ctober, ;L0E. Good. +ied at haggar, the fifth of 5anuary, ;LES.... !here, that is done. thousand thanks, sir, for your kindness." "1ou are welcome." I left ). Le )esge. )y mind, thenceforth, was well made upA and, as I said, I was perfectly calm. (e8ertheless, when I had taken lea8e of ). Le )esge, I felt the need of waiting a few minutes before e9ecuting my decision. First I wandered through the corridorsA then, finding myself near my room, I went to it. It was still intolerably hot. I sat down on my di8an and began to think. !he dagger in my pocket bothered me. I took it out and laid it on the floor. It was a good dagger, with a diamond,shaped blade, and with a collar of orange leather between the blade and the handle. !he sight of it recalled the sil8er hammer. I remembered how easily it fitted into my hand when I struck.... &8ery detail of the scene came back to me with incomparable 8i8idness. 4ut I did not e8en shi8er. It seemed as if my determination to kill the instigator of the murder permitted me peacefully to e8oke its brutal details. If I reflected o8er my deed, it was to be surprised at it, not to condemn myself. ".ell," I said to myself, "I ha8e killed this )orhange, who was once a baby, who, like all the others, cost his mother so much trouble with his baby sicknesses. I ha8e put an end to his life, I ha8e reduced to nothingness the monument of lo8e, of tears, of trials o8ercome and pitfalls escaped, which constitutes a human e9istence. .hat an e9traordinary ad8entureB"

!hat was all. (o fear, no remorse, none of that #hakespearean horror after the murder, which, today, sceptic though I am and blas> and utterly, utterly disillusioned, sets me shuddering whene8er I am alone in a dark room. "*ome," I thought. "It6s time. !ime to finish it up." I picked up the dagger. 4efore putting it in my pocket, I went through the motion of striking. ll was well. !he dagger fitted into my hand. I had been through ntinea6s apartment only when guided, the first time by the white !arga, the second time, by the leopard. 1et I found the way again without trouble. 5ust before coming to the door with the rose window, I met a !arga. "Let me pass," I ordered. "1our mistress has sent for me." !he man obeyed, stepping back. #oon a dim melody came to my ears. I recogni@ed the sound of a re#a-a, the 8iolin with a single string, played by the !uareg women. It was guida playing, s?uatting as usual at the feet of her mistress. !he three other women were also s?uatted about her. !anit,7erga was not there. "hB #ince that was the last time I saw her, let, oh, let me tell you of she looked in that supreme moment. ntinea, how

+id she feel the danger ho8ering o8er her and did she wish to bra8e it by her surest artificesD I had in mind the slenderA unadorned body, without rings, without =ewels, which I had pressed to my heart the night before. nd now I started in surprise at seeing before me, adorned like an idol, not a woman, but a ?ueenB !he hea8y splendor of the Pharaohs weighted down her slender body. "n her head was the great gold pschent of &gyptian gods and kingsA emeralds, the national stone of the !uareg, were set in it, tracing and retracing her name in !ifinar characters. red satin schenti, embroidered in golden lotus, en8eloped her like the casket of a =ewel. t her feet, lay an ebony scepter, headed with a trident. %er bare arms were encircled by two serpents whose fangs touched her armpits as if to bury themsel8es there. From the ear pieces of the pschent streamed a necklace of emeraldsA its first strand passed under her determined chinA the others lay in circles against her bare throat. #he smiled as I entered. "I was e9pecting you," she said simply. I ad8anced till I was four steps from the throne, then stopped before her. #he looked at me ironically. ".hat is thatD" she asked with perfect calm. I followed her gesture. !he handle of the dagger protruded from my pocket. I drew it out and held it firmly in my hand, ready to strike. "!he first of you who mo8es will be sent naked si9 leagues into the red desert and left there to die," said ntinea coldly to her women, whom my gesture had thrown into a frightened murmuring.

#he turned to me. "!hat dagger is 8ery ugly and you hold it badly. #hall I send #ydya to my room to get the sil8er hammerD 1ou are more adroit with it than with the dagger." " ntinea," I said in a low 8oice, "I am going to kill you." "+o not speak so formally. 1ou were more affectionate last night. re you embarrassed by themD" she said, pointing to the women, whose eyes were wide with terror. "2ill meD" she went on. "1ou are hardly reasonable. 2ill me at the moment when you can reap the fruits of the murder of...." "+iddid he sufferD" I asked suddenly, trembling. "-ery little. I told you that you used the hammer as if you had done nothing else all your life." "Like little 2aine," I murmured. #he smiled in surprise. ""h, you know that story.... 1es, like little 2aine. 4ut at least 2aine was sensible. 1ou ... I do not understand." "I do not understand myself, 8ery well." #he looked at me with amused curiosity. " ntinea," I said. ".hat is itD" "I did what you told me to. )ay I in turn ask one fa8or, ask you one ?uestionD" ".hat is itD" "It was dark, was it not, in the room where he wasD" "-ery dark. I had to lead you to the bed where he lay asleep." "%e .as asleep, you are sureD" "I said so." "%edid not die instantly, did heD" "(o. I know e9actly when he diedA two minutes after you struck him and fled with a shriek." "!hen surely he could not ha8e knownD" "2nown whatD" "!hat it was I whowho held the hammer." "%e might not ha8e known it, indeed," ntinea said. "4ut he did know."

"%owD" "%e did know ... because I told him," she said, staring at me with magnificent audacity. " nd," I murmured, "hehe belie8ed itD" ".ith the help of my e9planation, he recogni@ed your shriek. If he had not reali@ed that you were his murderer, the affair would not ha8e interested me," she finished with a scornful little smile. Four steps, I said, separated me from reached her, I was struck to the floor. 2ing %iram had leapt at my throat. t the same moment I heard the calm, haughty 8oice of ntineaI "*all the men," she commanded. second later I was released from the leopard6s clutch. !he si9 white !uareg had surrounded me and were trying to bind me. I am fairly strong and ?uick. I was on my feet in a second. "ne of my enemies lay on the floor, ten feet away, felled by a well,placed blow on the =aw. nother was gasping under my knee. !hat was the last time I saw ntinea. #he stood erect, both hands resting on her ebony scepter, watching the struggle with a smile of contemptuous interest. #uddenly I ga8e a loud cry and loosed the hold I had on my 8ictim. cracking in my left armI one of the !uareg had sei@ed it and twisted until my shoulder was dislocated. .hen I completely lost consciousness, I was being carried down the corridor by two white phantoms, so bound that I could not mo8e a muscle. ntinea. I sprang forward. 4ut, before I

:2III
T/E 1IRE01LIES

!hrough the great open window, wa8es of pale moonlight surged into my room. slender white figure was standing beside the bed where I lay. "1ou, !anit,7ergaB" I murmured. #he laid a finger on her lips.

"#hB 1es, it is I." I tried to raise myself up on the bed. terrible pain sei@ed my shoulder. !he e8ents of the afternoon came back to my poor harassed mind. ""h, little one, if you knewB" "I know," she said. I was weaker than a baby. fter the o8erstrain of the day had come a fit of utter ner8ous depression. lump rose in my throat, choking me. "If you knew, if you only knewB... !ake me away, little one. Get me away from here." "(ot so loud," she whispered. "!here is a white !arga on guard at the door." "!ake me awayA sa8e me," I repeated. "!hat is what I came for," she said simply. I looked at her. #he no longer was wearing her beautiful red silk tunic. plain white haik was wrapped about herA and she had drawn one corner of it o8er her head. "I want to go away, too," she said in a smothered 8oice. "For a long time, I ha8e wanted to go away. I want to see GNo, the 8illage on the bank of the ri8er, and the blue gum trees, and the green water. "&8er since I came here, I ha8e wanted to get away," she repeated, "but I am too little to go alone into the great #ahara. I ne8er dared speak to the others who came here before you. !hey all thought only of her.... 4ut you, you wanted to kill her." I ga8e a low moan. "1ou are suffering," she said. "!hey broke your arm." "+islocated it anyhow." "Let me see." .ith infinite gentleness, she passed her smooth little hands o8er my shoulder. "1ou tell me that there is a white !arga on guard before my door, !anit,7erga," I said. "!hen how did you get inD" "!hat way," she said, pointing to the window. blue opening. dark perpendicular line hal8ed its

!anit,7erga went to the window. I saw her standing erect on the sill. knife shone in her hands. #he cut the rope at the top of the opening. It slipped down to the stone with a dry sound. #he came back to me. "%ow can we escapeD" I asked. "!hat way," she repeated, and she pointed again at the window.

I leaned out. )y fe8erish ga@e fell upon the shadowy depths, searching for those in8isible rocks, the rocks upon which little 2aine had dashed himself. "!hat wayB" I e9claimed, shuddering. ".hy, it is two hundred feet from here to the ground." "!he rope is two hundred and fifty," she replied. "It is a good strong rope which I stole in the oasisA they used it in felling trees. It is ?uite new." "*limb down that way, !anit,7ergaB .ith my shoulderB" "I will let you down," she said firmly. "Feel how strong my arms are. (ot that I shall rest your weight on them. 4ut see, on each side of the window is a marble column. 4y twisting the rope around one of them, I can let you slip down and scarcely feel your weight. " nd look," she continued, "I ha8e made a big knot e8ery ten feet. I can stop the rope with them, e8ery now and then, if I want to rest." " nd youD" I asked. ".hen you are down, I shall tie the rope to one of the columns and follow. !here are the knots on which to rest if the rope cuts my hands too much. 4ut don6t be afraidI I am 8ery agile. t GNo, when I was =ust a child, I used to climb almost as high as this in the gum trees to take the little toucans out of their nests. It is e8en easier to climb down." " nd when we are down, how will we get outD +o you know the way through the barriersD" "(o one knows the way through the barriers," she said, "e9cept *egh>ir,ben,*heikh, and perhaps ntinea." "!henD" "!here are the camels of *egh>ir,ben,*heikh, those which he uses on his forays. I untethered the strongest one and led him out, =ust below us, and ga8e him lots of hay so that he will not make a sound and will be well fed when we start." "4ut...." I still protested. #he stamped her foot. "4ut whatD #tay if you wish, if you are afraid. I am going. I want to see GNo once again, GNo with its blue gum,trees and its green water." I felt myself blushing. "I will go, !anit,7erga. I would rather die of thirst in the midst of the desert than stay here. Let us start." "!utB" she said. "(ot yet." #he showed me that the di@@y descent was in brilliant moonlight. "(ot yet. .e must wait. !hey would see us. In an hour, the moon will ha8e circled behind the mountain. !hat will be the time."

#he sat silent, her haik wrapped completely about her dark little figure. .as she prayingD Perhaps. #uddenly I no longer saw her. +arkness had crept in the window. !he moon had turned. !anit,7erga6s hand was on my arm. #he drew me toward the abyss. I tried not to tremble. &8erything below us was in shadow. In a low, firm 8oice, !anit,7erga began to speakI "&8erything is ready. I ha8e twisted the rope about the pillar. %ere is the slip,knot. Put it under your arms. !ake this cushion. 2eep it pressed against your hurt shoulder.... leather cushion.... It is tightly stuffed. 2eep face to the wall. It will protect you against the bumping and scraping." I was now master of myself, 8ery calm. I sat down on the sill of the window, my feet in the 8oid. breath of cool air from the peaks refreshed me. I felt little !anit,7erga6s hand in my 8est pocket. "%ere is a bo9. I must know when you are down, so I can follow. 1ou will open the bo9. !here are fire,flies in itA I shall see them and follow you." #he held my hand a moment. "(ow go," she murmured. I went. I remember only one thing about that descentI I was o8ercome with 8e9ation when the rope stopped and I found myself, feet dangling, against the perfectly smooth wall. ".hat is the little fool waiting forD" I said to myself. "I ha8e been hung here for a ?uarter of an hour. h ... at lastB "h, here I am stopped again." "nce or twice I thought I was reaching the ground, but it was only a pro=ection from the rock. I had to gi8e a ?uick sho8e with my foot.... !hen, suddenly, I found myself seated on the ground. I stretched out my hands. 4ushes.... thorn pricked my finger. I was down. Immediately I began to get ner8ous again. I pulled out the cushion and slipped off the noose. .ith my good hand, I pulled the rope, holding it out fi8e or si9 feet from the face of the mountain, and put my foot on it. !hen I took the little cardboard bo9 from my pocket and opened it. "ne after the other, three little luminous circles rose in the inky night. I saw them rise higher and higher against the rocky wall. !heir pale rose aureols gleamed faintly. !hen, one by one, they turned, disappeared. "1ou are tired, #idi Lieutenant. Let me hold the rope." *egh>ir,ben,*heikh rose up at my side. I looked at his tall black silhouette. I shuddered, but I did not let go of the rope on which I began to feel distant =erks.

"Gi8e it to me," he repeated with authority. nd he took it from my hands. I don6t know what possessed me then. I was standing beside that great dark phantom. nd I ask you, what could I, with a dislocated shoulder, do against that man whose agile strength I already knewD .hat was there to doD I saw him buttressed against the wall, holding the rope with both hands, with both feet, with all his body, much better than I had been able to do. rustling abo8e our heads. little shadowy form.

"!here," said *egh>ir,ben,*heikh, sei@ing the little shadow in his powerful arms and placing her on the ground, while the rope, let slack, slapped back against the rock. !anit,7erga recogni@ed the !arga and groaned. %e put his hand roughly o8er her mouth. "#hut up, camel thief, wretched little fly." %e sei@ed her arm. !hen he turned to me. "*ome," he said in an imperious tone. I obeyed. +uring our short walk, I heard !anit,7erga6s teeth chattering with terror. .e reached a little ca8e. "Go in," said the !arga. %e lighted a torch. !he red light showed a superb mehari peacefully chewing his cud. "!he little one is not stupid," said *egh>ir,ben,*heikh, pointing to the animal. "#he knows enough to pick out the best and the strongest. 4ut she is rattle,brained." %e held the torch nearer the camel. "#he is rattle,brained," he continued. "#he only saddled him. (o water, no food. t this hour, three days from now, all three of you would ha8e been dead on the road, and on what a roadB" !anit,7erga6s teeth no longer chattered. #he was looking at the !arga with a mi9ture of terror and hope. "*ome here, #idi Lieutenant," said *egh>ir,ben,*heikh, "so that I can e9plain to you." .hen I was beside him, he saidI ""n each side there is a skin of water. )ake that water last as long as possible, for you are going to cross a terrible country. It may be that you will not find a well for three hundred miles.

"!here," he went on, "in the saddle bags, are cans of preser8ed meat. (ot many, for water is much more precious. %ere also is a carbine, your carbine, sidi. !ry not to use it e9cept to shoot antelopes. nd there is this." %e spread out a roll of paper. I saw his inscrutible face bent o8er itA his eyes were smilingA he looked at me. ""nce out of the enclosures, what way did you plan to goD" he asked. "!oward IdelCs, to retake the route where you met the *aptain and me," I said. *egh>ir,ben,*heikh shook his head. "I thought as much," he murmured. !hen he added coldlyI "4efore sunset to,morrow, you and the little one would ha8e been caught and massacred." "!oward the north is haggar," he continued, "and all of ntinea. 1ou must go south." "!hen we shall go south." "4y what routeD" ".hy, by #ilet and !imissao." !he !arga again shook his head. "!hey will look for you on that road also," he said. "It is a good road, the road with the wells. !hey know that you are familiar with it. !he !uareg would not fail to wait at the wells." ".ell, thenD" ".ell," said *egh>ir,ben,*heikh, "you must not re=oin the road from !imissao to !imbuctoo until you are four hundred miles from here toward Iferouane, or better still, at the spring of !elemsi. !hat is the boundary between the !uareg of haggar and the wellimiden !uareg." !he little 8oice of !anit,7erga broke inI "It was the wellimiden !uareg who massacred my people and carried me into sla8ery. I do not want to pass through the country of the wellimiden." "4e still, miserable little fly," said *egh>ir,ben,*heikh. !hen addressing me, he continuedI "I ha8e said what I ha8e said. !he little one is not wrong. !he wellimiden are a sa8age people. 4ut they are afraid of the French. )any of them trade with the stations north of the (iger. "n the other hand, they are at war with the people of haggar, who will not follow you into their country. .hat I ha8e said, is said. 1ou must re=oin the !imbuctoo road near where it enters the borders of the wellimiden. !heir country is wooded and rich in springs. If you reach the springs at !elemsi, you will finish your haggar is under the control

=ourney beneath a canopy of blossoming mimosa. "n the other hand, the road from here to !elemsi is shorter than by way of !imissao. It is ?uite straight." "1es, it is direct," I said, "but, in following it, you ha8e to cross the !ane@ruft." *egh>ir,ben,*heikh wa8ed his hand impatiently. "*egh>ir,ben,*heikh knows that," he said. "%e knows what the !ane@ruft is. %e who has tra8eled o8er all the #ahara knows that he would shudder at crossing the !ane@ruft and the !assili from the south. %e knows that the camels that wander into that country either die or become wild, for no one will risk his life to go look for them. It is the terror that hangs o8er that region that may sa8e you. For you ha8e to chooseI you must run the risk of dying of thirst on the tracks of the !ane@ruft or ha8e your throat cut along some other route. "1ou can stay here," he added. ")y choice is made, *egh>ir,ben,*heikh," I announced. "GoodB" he replied, again opening out the roll of paper. "!his trail begins at the second barrier of earth, to which I will lead you. It ends at Iferouane. I ha8e marked the wells, but do not trust to them too much, for many of them are dry. 4e careful not to stray from the route. If you lose it, it is death.... (ow mount the camel with the little one. !wo make less noise than four." .e went a long way in silence. *egh>ir,ben,*heikh walked ahead and his camel followed meekly. .e crossed, first, a dark passage, then, a deep gorge, then another passage.... !he entrance to each was hidden by a thick tangle of rocks and briars. #uddenly a burning breath touched our faces. the end of the passage. !he desert lay before us. *egh>ir,ben,*heikh had stopped. "Get down," he said. spring gurgled out of the rock. !he !arga went to it and filled a copper cup with the water. "+rink," he said, holding it out to each of us in turn. .e obeyed. "+rink again," he ordered. "1ou will sa8e =ust so much of the contents of your water skins. (ow try not to be thirsty before sunset." %e looked o8er the saddle girths. "!hat6s all right," he murmured. "(ow go. In two hours the dawn will be here. 1ou must be out of sight." I was filled with emotion at this last momentA I went to the !arga and took his hand. "*egh>ir,ben,*heikh," I asked in a low 8oice, "why are you doing thisD" %e stepped back and I saw his dark eyes gleam. ".hyD" he said. dull reddish light filtered in through

"1es, whyD" %e replied with dignityI "!he Prophet permits e8ery =ust man, once in his lifetime, to let pity take the place of duty. *egh>ir,ben,*heikh is turning this permission to the ad8antage of one who sa8ed his life." " nd you are not afraid," I asked, "that I will disclose the secret of return among FrenchmenD" %e shook his head. ntinea if I

"I am not afraid of that," he said, and his 8oice was full of irony. "It is not to your interest that Frenchmen should know how the *aptain met his death." I was horrified at this logical reply. "Perhaps I am doing wrong," the !arga went on, "in not killing the little one.... 4ut she lo8es you. #he will not talk. (ow go. +ay is coming." I tried to press the hand of this strange rescuer, but he again drew back. "+o not thank me. .hat I am doing, I do to ac?uire merit in the eyes of God. 1ou may be sure that I shall ne8er do it again neither for you nor for anyone else." nd, as I made a gesture to reassure him on that point, "+o not protest," he said in a tone the mockery of which still sounds in my ears. "+o not protest. .hat I am doing is of 8alue to me, but not to you." I looked at him uncomprehendingly. "(ot to you, #idi Lieutenant, not to you," his gra8e 8oice continued. "For you will come backA and when that day comes, do not count on the help of *egh>ir,ben,*heikh." "I will come backD" I asked, shuddering. "1ou will come back," the !arga replied. %e was standing erect, a black statue against the wall of gray rock. "1ou will come back," he repeated with emphasis. "1ou are fleeing now, but you are mistaken if you think that you will look at the world with the same eyes as before. %enceforth, one idea, will follow you e8erywhere you goA and in one year, fi8e, perhaps ten years, you will pass again through the corridor through which you ha8e =ust come." "4e still, *egh>ir,ben,*heikh," said the trembling 8oice of !anit,7erga. "4e still yourself, miserable little fly," said *egh>ir,ben,*heikh. %e sneered. "!he little one is afraid because she knows that I tell the truth. #he knows the story of Lieutenant Ghiberti." "Lieutenant GhibertiD" I said, the sweat standing out on my forehead. "%e was an Italian officer whom I met between 'hNt and 'hadamCs eight years ago. %e did not belie8e that lo8e of ntinea could make him forget all else that life

contained. %e tried to escape, and he succeeded. I do not know how, for I did not help him. %e went back to his country. 4ut hear what happenedI two years later, to the 8ery day, when I was lea8ing the look,out, I disco8ered a miserable tattered creature, half dead from hunger and fatigue, searching in 8ain for the entrance to the northern barrier. It was Lieutenant Ghiberti, come back. %e fills niche (umber GE in the red marble hall." !he !arga smiled slightly. "!hat is the story of Lieutenant Ghiberti which you wished to hear. 4ut enough of this. )ount your camel." I obeyed without saying a word. !anit,7erga, seated behind me, put her little arms around me. *egh>ir,ben,*heikh was still holding the bridle. ""ne word more," he said, pointing to a black spot against the 8iolet sky of the southern hori@on. "1ou see the gour thereA that is your way. It is eighteen miles from here. 1ou should reach it by sunrise. !hen consult your map. !he ne9t point is marked. If you do not stray from the line, you should be at the springs of !elemsi in eight days." !he camel6s neck was stretched toward the dark wind coming from the south. !he !arga released the bridle with a sweep of his hand. "(ow go." "!hank you," I called to him, turning back in the saddle. "!hank you, *egh>ir,ben, *heikh, and farewell." I heard his 8oice replying in the distanceI "Au re%oir, Lieutenant de #aint 8it."

:I:
T/E TANE=R51T

+uring the first hour of our flight, the great mehari of *egh>ir,ben,*heikh carried us at a mad pace. .e co8ered at least fi8e leagues. .ith fi9ed eyes, I guided the beast toward the gour which the !arga had pointed out, its ridge becoming higher and higher against the paling sky. !he speed caused a little bree@e to whistle in our ears. Great tufts of retem, like fleshless skeletons, were tossed to right and left. I heard the 8oice of !anit,7erga whisperingI

"#top the camel." t first I did not understand. "#top him," she repeated. %er hand pulled sharply at my right arm. I obeyed. !he camel slackened his pace with 8ery bad grace. "Listen," she said. t first I heard nothing. !hen a 8ery slight noise, a dry rustling behind us. "#top the camel," !anit,7erga commanded. "It is not worth while to make him kneel." little gray creature bounded on the camel. !he mehari set out again at his best speed. "Let him go," said !anit,7erga. "Gal> has =umped on." I felt a tuft of bristly hair under my arm. !he mongoose had followed our footsteps and re=oined us. I heard the ?uick panting of the bra8e little creature becoming gradually slower and slower. "I am happy," murmured !anit,7erga. *egh>ir,ben,*heikh had not been mistaken. .e reached the gour as the sun rose. I looked back. !he takor was nothing more than a monstrous chaos amid the night mists which trailed the dawn. It was no longer possible to pick out from among the nameless peaks, the one on which ntinea was still wea8ing her passionate plots. 1ou know what the !ane@ruft is, the "plain of plains," abandoned, uninhabitable, the country of hunger and thirst. .e were then starting on the part of the desert which +u8eyrier calls the !assili of the south, and which figures on the maps of the )inister of Public .orks under this attracti8e titleI "'ocky plateau, without water, without 8egetation, inhospitable for man and beast." (othing, unless parts of the 2alahari, is more frightful than this rocky desert. "h, *egh>ir,ben,*heikh did not e9aggerate in saying that no one would dream of following us into that country. Great patches of obli8ion still refused to clear away. )emories chased each other incoherently about my head. sentence came back to me te9tuallyI "It seemed to +ick that he had ne8er, since the beginning of original darkness, done anything at all sa8e =olt through the air." I ga8e a little laugh. "In the last few hours," I thought, "I ha8e been heaping up literary situations. while ago, a hundred feet abo8e the ground, I was Fabrice of a Chartreuse de +arme beside his Italian dungeon. (ow, here on my camel, I am +ick of 2he ight 2hat 0ailed, crossing the desert to meet his companions in arms." I chuckled againA then shuddered. I thought of the preceding night, of the "restes of Androma$ue who agreed to sacrifice Pyrrhus. literary situation indeed.... *egh>ir,ben,*heikh had reckoned eight days to get to the wooded country of the wellimiden, forerunners of the grassy steppes of the #oudan. %e knew well the worth of his beast. !anit,7erga had suddenly gi8en him a name, El !ellen, the white one, for

the magnificent mehari had an almost spotless coat. "nce he went two days without eating, merely picking up here and there a branch of an acacia tree whose hideous white spines, four inches long, filled me with fear for our friend6s oesophagus. !he wells marked out by *egh>ir,ben,*heikh were indeed at the indicated spots, but we found nothing in them but a burning yellow mud. It was enough for the camel, enough so that at the end of the fifth day, thanks to prodigious self,control, we had used up only one of our two water skins. !hen we belie8ed oursel8es safe. (ear one of these muddy puddles, I succeeded that day in shooting down a little straight,horned desert ga@elle. !anit,7erga skinned the beast and we regaled oursel8es with a delicious haunch. )eantime, little Gal>, who ne8er ceased prying about the cracks in the rocks during our mid,day halts in the heat, disco8ered an ourane, a sand crocodile, fi8e feet long, and made short work of breaking his neck. #he ate so much she could not budge. It cost us a pint of water to help her digestion. .e ga8e it with good grace, for we were happy. !anit,7erga did not say so, but her =oy at knowing that I was thinking no more of the woman in the gold diadem and the emeralds was apparent. nd really, during those days, I hardly thought of her. I thought only of the torrid heat to be a8oided, of the water skins which, if you wished to drink fresh water, had to be left for an hour in a cleft in the rocksA of the intense =oy which sei@ed you when you raised to your lips a leather goblet brimming with that life,sa8ing water.... I can say this with authority, with good authority, indeedA passion, spiritual or physical, is a thing for those who ha8e eaten and drunk and rested. It was fi8e o6clock in the afternoon. !he frightful heat was slackening. .e had left a kind of rocky cre8ice where we had had a little nap. #eated on a huge rock, we were watching the reddening west. I spread out the roll of paper on which *egh>ir,ben,*heikh had marked the stages of our =ourney as far as the road from the #oudan. I reali@ed again with =oy that his itinerary was e9act and that I had followed it scrupulously. "!he e8ening of the day after to,morrow," I said, "we shall be setting out on the stage which will take us, by the ne9t dawn, to the waters at !elemsi. "nce there, we shall not ha8e to worry any more about water." !anit,7erga6s eyes danced in her thin face. " nd GNoD" she asked. ".e will be only a week from the (iger. nd *egh>ir,ben,*heikh said that at !elemsi, one reached a road o8erhung with mimosa." "I know the mimosa," she said. "!hey are the little yellow balls that melt in your hand. 4ut I like the caper flowers better. 1ou will come with me to GNo. )y father, #onni, @kia, was killed, as I told you, by the wellimiden. 4ut my people must ha8e rebuilt the 8illages. !hey are used to that. 1ou will see how you will be recei8ed." "I will go, !anit,7erga, I promise you. 4ut you also, you must promise me...." ".hatD "h, I guess. 1ou must take me for a little fool if you belie8e me capable of speaking of things which might make trouble for my friend." #he looked at me as she spoke. Pri8ation and great fatigue had chiselled the brown face where her great eyes shone.... #ince then, I ha8e had time to assemble the maps

and compasses, and to fi9 fore8er the spot where, for the first time, I understood the beauty of !anit,7erga6s eyes. !here was a deep silence between us. It was she who broke it. "(ight is coming. .e must eat so as to lea8e as soon as possible." #he stood up and went toward the rocks. lmost immediately, I heard her calling in an anguished 8oice that sent a chill through me. "*omeB "h, come seeB" .ith a bound, I was at her side. "!he camel," she murmured. "!he camelB" I looked, and a deadly shudder sei@ed me. #tretched out at full length, on the other side of the rocks, his pale flanks knotted up by con8ulsi8e spasms, El !ellen lay in anguish. I need not say that we rushed to him in fe8erish haste. "f what El !ellen was dying, I did not know, I ne8er ha8e known. ll the mehara are that way. !hey are at once the most enduring and the most delicate of beasts. !hey will tra8el for si9 months across the most frightful deserts, with little food, without water, and seem only the better for it. !hen, one day when nothing is the matter, they stretch out and gi8e you the slip with disconcerting ease. .hen !anit,7erga and I saw that there was nothing more to do, we stood there without a word, watching his slackening spasms. .hen he breathed his last, we felt that our life, as well as his, had gone. It was !anit,7erga who spoke first. "%ow far are we from the #oudan roadD" she asked. ".e are a hundred and twenty miles from the springs of !elemsi," I replied. ".e could make thirty miles by going toward IferouaneA but the wells are not marked on that route." "!hen we must walk toward the springs of !elemsi," she said. " twenty miles, that makes se8en daysD" "#e8en days at the least, !anit,7erga." "%ow far is it to the first wellD" "!hirty,fi8e miles." !he little girl6s face contracted somewhat. 4ut she braced up ?uickly. ".e must set out at once." "#et out on foot, !anit,7ergaB" #he stamped her foot. I mar8eled to see her so strong. hundred and

".e must go," she repeated. ".e are going to eat and drink and make Gal> eat and drink, for we cannot carry all the tins, and the water skin is so hea8y that we should not get three miles if we tried to carry it. .e will put a little water in one of the tins after emptying it through a little hole. !hat will be enough for to,night6s stage, which will be eighteen miles without water. !o,morrow we will set out for another eighteen miles and we will reach the wells marked on the paper by *egh>ir,ben,*heikh." ""h," I murmured sadly, "if my shoulder were only not this way, I could carry the water skin." "It is as it is," said !anit,7erga. "1ou will take your carbine and two tins of meat. I shall take two more and the one filled with water. *ome. .e must lea8e in an hour if we wish to co8er the eighteen miles. 1ou know that when the sun is up, the rocks are so hot we cannot walk." I lea8e you to imagine in what sad silence we passed that hour which we had begun so happily and confidently. .ithout the little girl, I belie8e I should ha8e seated myself upon a rock and waited. Gal> only was happy. ".e must not let her eat too much," said !anit,7erga. "#he would not be able to follow us. nd to,morrow she must work. If she catches another ourane, it will be for us." 1ou ha8e walked in the desert. 1ou know how terrible the first hours of the night are. .hen the moon comes up, huge and yellow, a sharp dust seems to rise in suffocating clouds. 1ou mo8e your =aws mechanically as if to crush the dust that finds its way into your throat like fire. !hen usually a kind of lassitude, of drowsiness, follows. 1ou walk without thinking. 1ou forget where you are walking. 1ou remember only when you stumble. "f course you stumble often. 4ut anyway it is bearable. "!he night is ending," you say, "and with it the march. ll in all, I am less tired than at the beginning." !he night ends, but then comes the most terrible hour of all. 1ou are perishing of thirst and shaking with cold. ll the fatigue comes back at once. !he horrible bree@e which precedes the dawn is no comfort. Ruite the contrary. &8ery time you stumble, you say, "!he ne9t misstep will be the last." !hat is what people feel and say e8en when they know that in a few hours they will ha8e a good rest with food and water. I was suffering terribly. &8ery step =olted my poor shoulder. t one time, I wanted to stop, to sit down. !hen I looked at !anit,7erga. #he was walking ahead with her eyes almost closed. %er e9pression was an indefinable one of mingled suffering and determination. I closed my own eyes and went on. #uch was the first stage. t dawn we stopped in a hollow in the rocks. #oon the heat forced us to rise to seek a deeper one. !anit,7erga did not eat. Instead, she swallowed a little of her half can of water. #he lay drowsy all day. Gal> ran about our rock gi8ing plainti8e little cries. I am not going to tell you about the second march. It was more horrible than anything you can imagine. I suffered all that it is humanly possible to suffer in the desert. 4ut already I began to obser8e with infinite pity that my man6s strength was outlasting the ner8ous force of my little companion. !he poor child walked on without

saying a word, chewing feebly one corner of her haik which she had drawn o8er her face. Gal> followed. !he well toward which we were dragging oursel8es was indicated on *egh>ir,ben, *heikh6s paper by the one word 2issaririn/ 2issaririn is the plural of 2issarirt and means "two isolated trees." +ay was dawning when finally I saw the two trees, two gum trees. %ardly a league separated us from them. I ga8e a cry of =oy. "*ourage, !anit,7erga, there is the well." #he drew her 8eil aside and I saw the poor anguished little face. "#o much the better," she murmured, "because otherwise...." #he could not e8en finish the sentence. .e finished the last half mile almost at a run. .e already saw the hole, the opening of the well. Finally we reached it. It was empty. It is a strange sensation to be dying of thirst. t first the suffering is terrible. !hen, gradually, it becomes less. 1ou become partly unconscious. 'idiculous little things about your life occur to you, fly about you like mos?uitoes. I began to remember my history composition for the entrance e9amination of #aint,*yr, "!he *ampaign of )arengo." "bstinately I repeated to myself, "I ha8e already said that the battery unmasked by )armont at the moment of 2ellerman6s charge included eighteen pieces.... (o, I remember now, it was only twel8e pieces. I am sure it was twel8e pieces." I kept on repeatingI "!wel8e pieces." !hen I fell into a sort of coma. I was recalled from it by feeling a red,hot iron on my forehead. I opened my eyes. !anit,7erga was bending o8er me. It was her hand which burnt so. "Get up," she said. ".e must go on." "Go on, !anit,7ergaB !he desert is on fire. !he sun is at the @enith. It is noon." ".e must go on," she repeated. !hen I saw that she was delirious. #he was standing erect. %er haik had fallen to the ground and little Gal>, rolled up in a ball, was asleep on it. 4areheaded, indifferent to the frightful sunlight, she kept repeatingI ".e must go on."

little sense came back to me. "*o8er your head, !anit,7erga, co8er your head." "*ome," she repeated. "Let6s go. GNo is o8er there, not far away. I can feel it. I want to see GNo again." I made her sit down beside me in the shadow of a rock. I reali@ed that all strength had left her. !he wa8e of pity that swept o8er me, brought back my senses. "GNo is =ust o8er there, isn6t itD" she asked. %er gleaming eyes became imploring. "1es, dear little girl. GNo is there. 4ut for God6s sake lie down. !he sun is fearful." ""h, GNo, GNoB" she repeated. "I know 8ery well that I shall see GNo again." #he sat up. %er fiery little hands gripped mine. "Listen. I must tell you so you can understand how I know I shall see GNo again." "!anit,7erga, be ?uiet, my little girl, be ?uiet." "(o, I must tell you. long time ago, on the bank of the ri8er where there is water, at GNo, where my father was a prince, there was.... .ell, one day, one feast day, there came from the interior of the country an old magician, dressed in skins and feathers, with a mask and a pointed head,dress, with castanets, and two serpents in a bag. "n the 8illage s?uare, where all our people formed in a circle, he danced the #oussadilla. I was in the first row, and because I had a necklace of pink tourmaline, he ?uickly saw that I was the daughter of a chief. #o he spoke to me of the past, of the great )andingue &mpire o8er which my grandfathers had ruled, of our enemies, the fierce 2ountas, of e8erything, and finally he saidI "6%a8e no fear, little girl.6 "!hen he said again, 6+o not be afraid. &8il days may be in store for you, but what does that matterD For one day you will see GNo gleaming on the hori@on, no longer a ser8ile GNo reduced to the rank of a little (egro town, but the splendid GNo of other days, the great capital of the country of the blacks, GNo reborn, with its mos?ue of se8en towers and fourteen cupolas of tur?uoise, with its houses with cool courts, its fountains, its watered gardens, all blooming with great red and white flowers.... !hat will be for you the hour of deli8erance and of royalty.6" !anit,7erga was standing up. hamada, burning it white. ll about us, on our heads, the sun bla@ed on the

#uddenly the child stretched out her arms. #he ga8e a terrible cry. "GNoB !here is GNoB" I looked at her. "GNo," she repeated. ""h, I know it wellB !here are the trees and the fountains, the cupolas and the towers, the palm trees, the great red and white flowers. GNo...."

Indeed, along the shimmering hori@on rose a fantastic city with mighty buildings that towered, tier on tier, until they formed a rainbow. .ide,eyed, we stood and watched the terrible mirage ?ui8er fe8erishly before us. "GNoB" I cried. "GNoB" nd almost immediately I uttered another cry, of sorrow and of horror. !anit,7erga6s little hand rela9ed in mine. I had =ust time to catch the child in my arms and hear her murmur as in a whisperI " nd then that will be the day of deli8erance. !he day of deli8erance and of royalty." #e8eral hours later I took the knife with which we had skinned the desert ga@elle and, in the sand at the foot of the rock where !anit,7erga had gi8en up her spirit, I made a little hollow where she was to rest. .hen e8erything was ready, I wanted to look once more at that dear little face. *ourage failed me for a moment.... !hen I ?uickly drew the haik o8er the brown face and laid the body of the child in the hollow. I had reckoned without Gal>. !he eyes of the mongoose had not left me during the whole time that I was about my sad duty. .hen she heard the first handfuls of sand fall on the haik, she ga8e a sharp cry. I looked at her and saw her ready to spring, her eyes daring fire. "Gal>B" I imploredA and I tried to stroke her. #he bit my hand and then leapt into the gra8e and began to dig, throwing the sand furiously aside. I tried three times to chase her away. I felt that I should ne8er finish my task and that, e8en if I did, Gal> would stay there and disinter the body. )y carbine lay at my feet. shot drew echoes from the immense empty desert. moment later, Gal> also slept her last sleep, curled up, as I so often had seen her, against the neck of her mistress. .hen the surface showed nothing more than a little mound of trampled sand, I rose staggering and started off aimlessly into the desert, toward the south.

::
T/E CIRCLE IS COM7LETE

t the foot of the 8alley of the )ia, at the place where the =ackal had cried the night #aint, 8it told me he had killed )orhange, another =ackal, or perhaps the same one, howled again. Immediately I had a feeling that this night would see the irremediable fulfilled. .e were seated that e8ening, as before, on the poor 8eranda impro8ised outside our dining,room. !he floor was of plaster, the balustrade of twisted branchesA four posts supported a thatched roof. I ha8e already said that from the 8eranda one could look far out o8er the desert. s he finished speaking, #aint, 8it rose and stood leaning his elbows on the railing. I followed him. " nd then...." I said. %e looked at me. " nd then whatD #urely you know what all the newspapers toldhow, in the country of the wellimiden, I was found dying of hunger and thirst by an e9pedition under the command of *aptain ymard, and taken to !imbuctoo. I was delirious for a month afterward. I ha8e ne8er known what I may ha8e said during those spells of burning fe8er. 1ou may be sure the officers of the !imbuctoo *lub did not feel it incumbent upon them to tell me. .hen I told them of my ad8entures, as they are related in the report of the )orhange#aint, 8it &9pedition, I could see well enough from the cold politeness with which they recei8ed my e9planations, that the official 8ersion which I ga8e them differed at certain points from the fragments which had escaped me in my delirium. "!hey did not press the matter. It remains understood that *aptain )orhange died from a sunstroke and that I buried him on the border of the !arhit watercourse, three marches from !imissao. &8erybody can detect that there are things missing in my story. +oubtless they guess at some mysterious drama. 4ut proofs are another matter. 4ecause of the impossibility of collecting them, they prefer to smother what could only become a silly scandal. 4ut now you know all the details as well as I." " ndsheD" I asked timidly. %e smiled triumphantly. It was triumph at ha8ing led me to think no longer of )orhange, or of his crime, the triumph of feeling that he had succeeded in imbuing me with his own madness. "1es," he said. "#heB For si9 years I ha8e learned nothing more about her. 4ut I see her, I talk with her. I am thinking now how I shall reenter her presence. I shall throw myself at her feet and say simply, 6Forgi8e me. I rebelled against your law. I did not know. 4ut now I knowA and you see that, like Lieutenant Ghiberti, I ha8e come back.6 "6Family, honor, country,6 said old Le )esge, 6you will forget all for her.6 "ld Le )esge is a stupid man, but he speaks from e9perience. %e knows, he who has seen broken before ntinea the wills of the fifty ghosts in the red marble hall. " nd now, will you, in your turn, ask me 6.hat is this womanD6 +o I know myselfD nd besides, what difference does it makeD .hat does her past and the mystery of her origin matter to meA what does it matter whether she is the true descendant of the god of

the sea and the sublime Lagides or the bastard of a Polish drunkard and a harlot of the )arbeuf ?uarterD " t the time when I was foolish enough to be =ealous of )orhange, these ?uestions might ha8e made some difference to the ridiculous self,esteem that ci8ili@ed people mi9 up with passion. 4ut I ha8e held ntinea6s body in my arms. I no longer wish to know any other, nor if the fields are in blossom, nor what will become of the human spirit.... "I do not wish to know. "r, rather, it is because I ha8e too e9act a 8ision of that future, that I pretend to destroy myself in the only destiny that is worth whileI a nature unfathomed and 8irgin, a mysterious lo8e. "A nature unfathomed and %irgin. I must e9plain myself. "ne winter day, in a large city all streaked with the soot that falls from black chimneys of factories and of those horrible houses in the suburbs, I attended a funeral. ".e followed the hearse in the mud. !he church was new, damp and poor. side from two or three people, relati8es struck down by a dull sorrow, e8eryone had =ust one ideaI to find some prete9t to get away. !hose who went as far as the cemetery were those who did not find an e9cuse. I see the gray walls and the cypresses, those trees of sun and shade, so beautiful in the country of southern France against the low purple hills. I see the horrible undertaker6s men in greasy =ackets and shiny top hats. I see.... (o, I6ll stopA it6s too horrible. "(ear the wall, in a remote plot, a gra8e had been dug in frightful yellow pebbly clay. It was there that they left the dead man whose name I no longer remember. ".hile they were lowering the casket, I looked at my hands, those hands which in that strangely lighted country had pressed the hands of ntinea. great pity for my body sei@ed me, a great fear of what threatened it in these cities of mud. 6#o,6 I said to myself, 6it may be that this body, this dear body, will come to such an endB (o, no, my body, precious abo8e all other treasures, I swear to you that I will spare you that ignominyA you shall not rot under a registered number in the filth of a suburban cemetery. 1our brothers in lo8e, the fifty knights of orichalch, await you, mute and gra8e, in the red marble hall. I shall take you back to them.6 " mysterious lo%e. #hame to him who retails the secrets of his lo8es. !he #ahara lays its impassable barrier about ntineaA that is why the most unreasonable re?uirements of this woman are, in reality, more modest and chaste than your marriage will be, with its 8ulgar public show, the bans, the in8itations, the announcements telling an e8il,minded and =oking people that after such and such an hour, on such and such a day, you will ha8e the right to 8iolate your little tupenny 8irgin. "I think that is all I ha8e to tell you. (o, there is still one thing more. I told you a while ago about the red marble hall. #outh of *herchell, to the west of the )a@afran ri8er, on a hill which in the early morning, emerges from the mists of the )itid=a, there is a mysterious stone pyramid. !he nati8es call it, 6!he !omb of the *hristian.6 !hat is where the body of ntinea6s ancestress, that *leopatra #elene, daughter of )ark ntony and *leopatra, was laid to rest. !hough it is placed in the path of in8asions, this tomb has kept its treasure. (o one has e8er been able to disco8er the painted room where the beautiful body reposes in a glass casket. ll that the ancestress has been able to do, the descendant will be able to surpass in grim magnificence. In the center of the red marble hall, on the rock whence comes the plaint of the gloomy fountain, a platform

is reser8ed. It is there, on an orichalch throne, with the &gyptian head,dress and the golden serpent on her brow and the trident of (eptune in her hand, that the mar8elous woman I ha8e told you about will be ensconced on that day when the hundred and twenty niches, hollowed out in a circle around her throne, shall each ha8e recei8ed its willing prey. ".hen I left haggar, you remember that it was niche number 00 that was to be mine. #ince then, I ha8e ne8er stopped calculating and I conclude that it is in number LF or L0 that I shall repose. 4ut any calculations based upon so fragile a foundation as a woman6s whim may be erroneous. !hat is why I am getting more and more ner8ous. 6I must hurry,6 I tell myself. 6I must hurry.6 "I must hurry," I repeated, as if I were in a dream. %e raised his head with an indefinable e9pression of =oy. %is hand trembled with happiness when he shook mine. "1ou will see," he repeated e9citedly, "you will see." &cstatically, he took me in his arms and held me there a long moment. n e9traordinary happiness swept o8er both of us, while, alternately laughing and crying like children, we kept repeatingI ".e must hurry. .e must hurry." #uddenly there sprang up a slight bree@e that made the tufts of thatch in the roof rustle. !he sky, pale lilac, grew paler still, and, suddenly, a great yellow rent tore it in the east. +awn broke o8er the empty desert. From within the stockade came dull noises, a bugle call, the rattle of chains. !he post was waking up. For se8eral seconds we stood there silent, our eyes fi9ed on the southern route by which one reaches !emassinin, &gu>r> and haggar. rap on the dining,room door behind us made us start. "*ome in," said ndr> de #aint, 8it in a 8oice which had become suddenly hard. !he Ruartermaster, *hatelain, stood before us. ".hat do you want of me at this hourD" #aint, 8it asked brus?uely. !he non,com stood at attention. "&9cuse me, *aptain. 4ut a nati8e was disco8ered near the post, last night, by the patrol. %e was not trying to hide. s soon as he had been brought here, he asked to be led before the commanding officer. It was midnight and I didn6t want to disturb you." ".ho is this nati8eD" " !arga, *aptain." " !argaD Go get him." *hatelain stepped aside. &scorted by one of our nati8e soldiers, the man stood behind him.

!hey came out on the terrace. !he new arri8al, si9 feet tall, was indeed a !arga. !he light of dawn fell upon his blue,black cotton robes. "ne could see his great dark eyes flashing. .hen he was opposite my companion, I saw a tremor, immediately suppressed, run through both men. !hey looked at each other for an instant in silence. !hen, bowing, and in a 8ery calm 8oice, the !arga spokeI "Peace be with you, Lieutenant de #aint, 8it." In the same calm 8oice, ndr> answered himI "Peace be with you, *egh>ir,ben,*heikh."

1ootnotes
:;< !his letter, together with the manuscript which accompanies it, the latter in a separate sealed en8elope, was entrusted by Lieutenant FerriCres, of the Grd #pahis, the day of the departure of that officer for the !assili of the !uareg J*entral #aharaK, to #ergeant *hatelain. !he sergeant was instructed to deli8er it, on his ne9t lea8e, to ). Lerou9, %onorary *ounsel at the *ourt of ppeals at 'iom, and Lieutenant FerriCres6 nearest relati8e. s this magistrate died suddenly before the e9piration of the term of ten years set for the publication of the manuscript here presented, difficulties arose which ha8e delayed its publication up to the present date. :/< %. +u8eyrier, "!he +isaster of the Flatters )ission." 4ull. Geol. #oc., ;LL;. :G< +octrina Ptolemaei ab in=uria recentiorum 8indicata, si8e (ilus #uperior et (iger 8erus, hodiernus &ghiren, ab aniti?uis e9plorati. Paris, L8o, ;LSM, with two maps. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :M< +e nomine et genere popularum ?ui berberi 8ulgo dicuntur. Paris, L8o, ;LE/. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :0< nother name, in the !emaha? language, for haggar. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :O< !he route and the stages from !it to !imissao were actually plotted out, as early as ;LLL, by *aptain 4issuel. es 2uarge de l'*uest) itineraries ; and ;F. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :S< It is perhaps worth noting here that 0igures de +roues is the e9act title of a 8ery remarkable collection of poems by )me. +elarus,)ardrus. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :L< !he (egro serfs among the !uareg are generally called "white !uareg." .hile the nobles are clad in blue cotton robes, the serfs wear white robes, hence their name of "white !uareg." #ee, in this connection, +u8eyrierI les 2uareg du Nord, page /E/. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :E<

2irer = cin$, a card game played only for 8ery high stakes. :;F< %ow did the :oyage to Atlantis arri8e at +a9D I ha8e found, so far, only one credible hypothesisI it might ha8e been disco8ered in frica by the tra8eller, de 4ehagle, a member of the 'oger,+ucos #ociety, who studied at the college of +a9, and later, on se8eral occasions, 8isited the town. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :;;< -ariotI 'anthropologie gal%ani$ue. Paris, ;LEF. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :;/< In 4erber, !anit means a springA @erga is the feminine of the ad=ecti8e a@reg, blue. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :;G< +ialect spoken in lgeria and the Le8anta mi9ture of rabian, French, Italian and #panish. :;M< I ha8e succeeded in finding on the registry of the Imperial Printing Press the names of the !uareg chiefs and those who accompanied them on their 8isit, ). %enry +u8eyrier and the *ount 4ielowsky. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :;0< !he 2oran, *hapter OO, 8erse ;S. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :;O< *f. the records and the Bulletin de la Soci1t1 de G1ographie de +aris J;LESK for the cruises on the (iger, made by the Commandant of the !imbuctoo region, *olonel 5offre, Lieutenants 4audry and 4luset, and by Father %ac?uart of the .hite Fathers. J(ote by ). Lerou9.K :;S< Gabrielle d6 nnun@ioI es :ierges au& 'ochers. *f. !he 'e%ue des "eu& !ondes of "ctober ;0, ;LEOA page LOS.

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