By the eloquence of gesture our
traveller made the others understand that, unless they withdrew at once,
a similarly abrupt dismissal awaited them. She then drew a circle round
her tent, and forbade them to cross it; an injunction which was strictly
respected.
She had now only to settle with the wife of her guide, who had besieged
her the whole day, pressing as near as possible, and petitioning for some
of her "things." Fortunately her husband came on the scene, and to him
Madame Pfeiffer preferred her complaint, threatening to leave his house
and seek shelter elsewhere,--well knowing that the Arabs consider this a
great disgrace. He immediately ordered his wife to desist, and the
traveller was at peace. "I always succeeded," says Madame Pfeiffer, "in
obtaining my own will. I found that energy and boldness influence all
people, whether Arabs, Persians, Bedaween, or others." But for this
strong will, this indomitable resolution, Madame Pfeiffer assuredly could
not have succeeded in the enterprises she so daringly undertook. Even
for a man to have accomplished them would have earned our praise; what
shall we not say when they were conceived and carried out by a woman?
Towards evening, she says, to her great delight a caldron of mutton was
set on the fire. For eight days she had eaten nothing but bread,
cucumbers, and some dates; and therefore had a great desire for a hot and
more nutritious meal.
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