Page:Little Ellie and Other Tales (1850).djvu/90

Rh ostrich ran races with me; but I am swifter than he. I came to the desert, to the yellow sand: it looks like the bottom of the sea. I met a caravan; they killed their last camel to get water to drink, but they did not get much. From above they were scorched by the sun, from below they were burned by the sand. The vast desert was endless. There I rolled myself in the fine loose sand, and in great pillars whirled it up into the air. Oh, it was a glorious dance! You should have seen how stupified the dromedary stood, and how the merchant drew his caften over his head! He threw himself down before me, as before Allah, his God. Now they are all buried, but a pyramid of sand stands above them. When some day or other I blow it away, the sun will bleach the white bones, and travellers may see that men have been there before them. But for this no one would believe it in the desert.”

“So, then, you have done nothing but evil,” said his mother. “March! to the sack!” And before he was aware of it, she