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 dares not spread out her precious waters before his annihilating glance; instead, she hides them carefully beneath the sands. Far below the parched surface of the desert she has hollowed out an endless treasure cave, through which her silver waters safely glide. But to the poor dwellers in this thirsty land she has whispered her secret; they have been permitted to dig wells, to tap the precious flood and thus preserve their oases, their palm-trees, and their lives. It has, however, remained for the Frenchman to realize to the fullest extent the blessing of that concealed river. The native wells were naturally crude and often became choked at the source, endangering the very existence of the oases. Often the angry sun has scorched the trees, reduced the habitations to dust, and driven the people out before the obstruction in the well could be removed by the primitive methods of the native divers. And these divers, called the R'tass, deserve an honorable mention. They form a semi-religious confraternity; their duties demand the exercise of superhuman courage, endurance, and unselfishness. They may be called the firemen of the oases; they fight the fires of heaven by releasing the waters strangled in the sand.

A PUEBLO AND A PALM GROVE

When the divers learn of a stoppage, or, as they say, the "blinding of the eye" of a well, they hasten to the point of danger. One of them strips and stops his ears