Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/198

 a time. Rifʻat and Tûmân drove away the rest of the thirsty animals, which were thronging round the well. Going down with Sbejḥ through the šeʻîb to look for more wells, we found a few half-covered in and likewise containing water, but it was not possible to lead the camels to them because the channel was littered with huge rugged boulders, among which it was very difficult to push forward. We also wished to fill at least one bag with water. Sbejḥ crawled to the well and with a bowl poured water into the bag, which I held suspended by a rope. We had filled the skin about half-way, when above us we heard a voice and a dull report, and a bullet struck the rock a few centimeters above my head. To this very day I feel ashamed to think that for a moment I was frightened. Pulling myself together, I held the rope with the water bag in my left hand, while with my right I drew out my Mannlicher pistol and fired it in the direction of the smoke. At that moment Sbejḥ crawled from the well, took his rifle, and shouted:

“If you are ʻAṭâwne or Ḥwêṭât, show yourselves, but otherwise disappear, or we will shoot you all.”

Somewhere about the middle of the left-hand slope we perceived two rifle barrels aimed at us. We did not see our assailants, who were hidden in a rocky crevice. In reply to Sbejḥ’s challenge, a voice was heard: “Who are you?” Sbejḥ gave a suitable reply; whereupon two men appeared and scrambled down to us in a zigzag. They belonged to the Ḥwêṭât at-Tihama and were guarding the approach to the various wells, because they said within the šeʻibân of as-Saʻejdât there had appeared a band of robbers whom they wished to frighten away by preventing them from getting at the water.

Having filled the water bag we returned to our companions, who were awaiting our arrival in a state of alarm. They had heard the three shots, Tûmân had recognized the sound of my pistol, and they had not known whether to hasten to our assistance or to guard our baggage and the camels. The baggage had been loaded up and Muṭalleḳ said that the camels had drunk all the water they wanted. But Rifʻat’s camel began greedily licking the water bag which we had brought, showing that it was thirsty. As I supposed that only that camel had not drunk enough, I ordered water to be given it from the bag, but all the rest of the camels