Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/269

Rh Returning to the street after our visit to this most unusual of factories, we were interrupted in our discussion of it by the sight of a fleeing native, running as though his life depended upon it. Nor was the figure wrong, for he was followed after a very short interval by a second, carrying a knife and pressing hard the pursuit, which continued in a grim, ominous silence until the trail took them from our sight.

"A blood-revenge," was all that Ali said, as he shrugged his shoulders.

I understood then more clearly the place of the poignard in an ordinary costume and returned to the hotel after midnight, feeling a little of the friendship and confidence which this element of my disguise instilled.