The Washington times., 1923-03-25

"May you also sleep WE'LL" said
Evan gravely.
He turned and went out as he
had come.
Across the sickly lamplight the
eyes that were like desert wells
looked steadily doorwards. The
girl swayed slightly as she sat, me-
chemically rocking the swaddled in
FAINT, but her gaze still chung to a
presence that had been and now
was not.
Outside, Evan had crossed the
court, passed through a doorless
doorway into black passage-room
whose floor was cluttered with
bundles and sleeping pilgrims and
out again through similar door,
way at it's father end. Abruptly
he was in a street. 1t was a shall
low, zig-zagging ravine of dark
ness. Somewhere in the city was
Joel. He had not seen him since
sunset and instinct told him that
the young scapegrace might be in
need of a friend-a partisan, and
also there were the scents of the
night-good and bad, and the lure
of strange things, and beneath that
the basic, insistent lure of life.
He started to follow the wan
behring's of the street, going quick.
ly but warily, for he was hunter
on the trail of life, the ever-new.
Here in the gut of the foot-way
the watts of orange blossom and
of sandal wood were lost, but
midden-smell almost stopped the
breath Lights nova corner
stall with sweetmeatS laid out on
leaves-compound of pistachio
nuts, ground almonds, honey, dates
and raisins. Now crowded cross
street of many lighted doorways.
There were young and old men
desert jewellers crowned with ropes
of camel's hair, peasants in woody
sheepskin coats, city jewellers,
soldiers from the garrison and an
officer or two-obviously off duty.
II was a matter of shouldering
ones way Little drums thudded,
struck and beaten rhythmically by
palm and fist. Someone started to
bawl Latin barrack song full of
obscene illusions and military
slang
s.Don't talk to me about Rhoda
have you seen Glaphyra? When
she dances her muscles writhe like
little serpents and she looks at you
as though she were about to die.
II tell you this girl is killing me
II can't sleep at nights since |
saw her"
"Grape juice! Grape juice!
Who wants the fresh-pressed blood
of the grape harvest? Sweet az
the honey Of the wildernessw
Snatches of talk, part heard the
blatant bleat of sheep. Grapes?-
Cassandra had shared cluster
with him. He had been interested,
observant. But now he felt sud.
denly like a ship drifting solitary
in the midst of the sea. Where
was Joel? This was just the street
where he would most likely be dis
covered. He began pushing his
way purposefully to each lighted
door-place in turn, searching the
interior with a quick look, his
brows knitted and his jaw set.
On dirt floors laid with mating
dancers stamped and squirmed,
making the muscles of their bodies
shudder and twitch. Their limbs
glistened with oil and Precipitation,
their eyebrows were joined with
black paint and the lower half of
their faces were concealed by
gauze wells falling to the level of
their exposed breasts.
The blush steam of shoulder
ing aromatics rose from the per-
forations of brazen thuribles
shaped like pine cones.
In other doorways waiting
women stood or sat. The cross
legged seated figures were of des-
ert blood-impassive as idols, their
arms packed with hoops of gold
and silver. Those who stood
often leaning loosely against the
doorpost with hand resting on the
curve of the out-thrust hip-were
fair-skinned - Greek, or half
Greek. They bantered with the
passing men. Their lips were ver-
million, their hair, dressed elabor-
ately in the Grecian style, was
powdered with gold dust.
Evan did not look closely at
these women. He was moved to
do so, but reticence that was al
most shyness restrained him.
Was that Joel-there, by that
doorway very dimly lit? He
shouldered forward. The figure
that seemed to be Joel was speak
ing to a woman. AS he came
close he saw that it was not Joel,
and the man that he had mistaken
turned away, leaving him face to
face with the woman il the door
way. He looked at her quickly, as
though to briefly satisfy a re-
pressed curiosity. A duly golden
light filtered through the thin,
Orange-colored curtain that hung
behind her. Her long hair-gold-
en-red-was unbound. Her skin
was pallid, her eyes seemed dark.
Actually they were violet. There
was an odor of myrrh about her.