handCrawford struck the acceleration lever. He could make more time nowwhen less of his attention was drawn to the ups and downs of ergtravel.
Patches of thorny bush began to appear, and after a time a small herdof gazelle were flushed and high tailed their way over the horizon.
Isobel said, "Who is this Amenokal you mentioned?"
"These are the real Tuareg, the comparatively untouched. They've gotthree tribes, the Kel Rela, the Tegehe Mellet and the Taitoq, eachheaded by a warrior clan which gives its name to the tribe as a whole.The chief of the Kel Rela clan is also chief of the Kel Rela tribe andautomatically paramount chief, or Amenokal, of the wholeconfederation. His name is Melchizedek."
"Do you think you can win him over?" Isobel said.
"He's a smart old boy. I had some dealings with him over a year ago.Gave him a TV set in the way of a present, hoping he'd tune in on someof our Reunited Nations propaganda. He's probably the mostconservative of the Tuareg leaders."
Her eyebrows went up. "And you expect to bring him around to the mostliberal scheme to hit North Africa since Hannibal?"
He looked at her from the side of his eyes and grinned. "RememberRoosevelt, the American president?"
"Hardly."
"Well, you've read about him. He came into office at a time when thecountry was going to economic pot by the minute. Some of the measureshe and his so-called brain trust took were immediately hailed by hisenemies as socialistic. In answer, Roosevelt told them that in timesof social stress the true conservative is a liberal, since topreserve, you have to reform. If Roosevelt hadn't done the things hedid, back in the 1930s, you probably would have seen some _real_changes in the American socio-economic system. Roosevelt didn'tundermine the social system of the time, he preserved it."
"Then, according to you, Roosevelt was a conservative," she saidmockingly.
Crawford laughed. "I'll go even further," he said. "When socialchanges are pending and for whatever reason are not brought about,then reaction is the inevitable alternative. At such a time then--whensweeping socio-economic change is called for--any reform measuresproposed are concealed measures of reaction, since they tend tomaintain the _status quo_."
"Holy Mackerel," Cliff protested. "Accept that and Roosevelt was notonly not a liberal, but a reactionary. Stop tearing down my childhoodheroes."
Isobel said, "Let's get back to this Amenokal guy. You think he'ssmart enough to see his only chance is in going along with ..."
Homer Crawford pointed ahead and a little to the right. "We'll soonfind out. This is a favorite encampment of his. With luck, he'll bethere. If we can win him over, we've come a long way."
"And if we can't?" Isobel said, her eyebrows raised again.
"Then it's unfortunate that there are only three of us," Homer saidsimply, without looking at her.
There were possibly no more than a hundred Tuareg in all in the nomadencampment of goat leather tents when the solar powered hovercraftdrew up.
When the air cushion vehicle stopped before the largest tent, Crawfordsaid beneath his breath, "The Amenokal is here, all right. Cliff,watch your teguelmoust. If any of these people see more than youreyes, your standing has dropped to a contemptible zero."
The husky Californian secured the lightweight cotton, combination veiland turban well up over his face. Earlier, Crawford had shown him howto wind the ten-foot long, indigo-blue cloth around the head andfeatures.
Isobel, of course, was unveiled, Tuareg fashion, and wore baggytrousers of black cotton held in place with a braided leather cord byway of drawstring and a gandoura upper-garment consisting of a hugerectangle of cloth some seven to eight feet square and folded over onitself with the free corners sewed together so as to leave bottom andmost of both sides open. A V-shaped opening for her head and neck wascut out of a fold at the top, and a large patch had been sewed insideto make a pocket beneath her left breast. She wasn't exactly aParisian fashion plate.
Even as they stepped down from the hovercraft, immediately after ithad drifted to rest on the ground, an elderly man came from the tententrance.
He looked at them for a moment, then rested his eyes exclusively onHomer Crawford.
"_La Bas_, El Hassan," he said through the cloth that covered hismouth.
Homer Crawford was taken aback, but covered the fact. "There is noevil," he repeated the traditional greeting. "But why do you name meEl Hassan?"
A dozen veiled desert men, all with the Tuareg sword, several withmodern rifles, had formed behind the Tuareg chief.
Melchizedek made a movement of hand to mouth, in a universal gestureof amusement. "Ah, El Hassan," he said, "you forget you left me themagical instrument of the Roumi."
Crawford was mystified, but he stood in silence. What the Tuaregparamount chief said now made considerable difference. As he recalledhis former encounter with the Ahaggar leader, the other had beenneither friendly nor antagonistic to the Reunited Nations teamCrawford had headed in their role as itinerant desert smiths.
The Amenokal said, "Enter then my tent, El Hassan, and meet mychieftains. We would confer with you."
The first obstacle was cleared. Subduing a sigh of relief, HomerCrawford turned to Cliff. "This, O Amenokal of all the Ahaggar, isClif ben Jackson, my Vizier of Finance."
The Amenokal bowed his head slightly, said, "_La Bas_."
Cliff could go that far in the Tuareg tongue. He said, "_La Bas_."
The Amenokal said, looking at Isobel, "I hear that in the lands of theRoumi women are permitted in the higher councils."
Homer said steadily, "This I have also been amazed to hear. However,it is fitting that my followers remain here while El Hassan discussesmatters of the highest importance with the Amenokal and hischieftains. This is the Sitt Izubahil, high in the councils of herpeople due to the great knowledge she has gained by attending the newschools which dispense rare wisdom, as all men know."
The Amenokal courteously said, "_La Bas_," but Isobel held her peacein decency amongst men of chieftain rank.
When Homer and the Tuaregs had disappeared into the tent, she said toCliff, "Stick by the car, I'm going to circulate among the women.Women are women everywhere. I'll pick up the gossip, possibly getsomething Homer will miss in there."
A group of Tuareg women and children, the latter stark naked, hadgathered to gape at the strangers. Isobel moved toward them, beganimmediately breaking the ice.
Under his breath, Cliff muttered, "What a gal. Give her a few hoursand she'll form a Lady's Aid branch, or a bridge club, and where elseis El Hassan going to pick up so much inside information?"
* * * * *
The tent, which was of the highly considered mouflon skins, wasmounted on a wooden frame which consisted of two uprights with ahorizontal member laid across their tops. The tent covering wasstretched over this framework with its back and sides pegged down andthe front, which faced south, was left open. It was ten feet deep,fifteen feet wide and five feet high in the middle.
The men entered and filed to the right of the structure wheresheepskins and rugs provided seating. The women and children, whoabided ordinarily to the left side, had vanished for this gathering ofthe great.
They sat for a time and sipped at green tea, syrup sweet with mint andsugar, the tiny cups held under the teguelmoust so as not to obscenelyreveal the mouth of the drinker.
Finally, Homer Crawford said, "You spoke of the magical instrument ofthe Roumi which I gave you as gift, O Amenokal, and named me ElHassan."
Several of the Tuareg chuckled beneath their veils but Crawford couldread neither warmth nor antagonism in their amusement.
The elderly Melchizedek nodded. "At first we were bewildered, O ElHassan, but then my sister's son, Guemama, fated perhaps one day tobecome chief of the Kel Rela and Amenokal of all the Ahaggar, recalledthe tales told by the storytellers at the fire in the long evenings."
Crawford looked at him politely.
Melchizedek's laugh was gentle. "But each man has heard, in his time,
O El Hassan, of the ancient Calif Haroun El Raschid of Baghdad."
Crawford's mind went into high gear, as the story began to come backto him. From second into high gear, and he could have blessed thesebedouin for handing him a piece of publicity gobblydygook worthy ofFifth Avenue's top agency.
He held up a hand as though in amusement at being discovered."Wallahi, O Amenokal, you have discovered my secret. For many months Ihave crossed the deserts disguised as a common Enaden smith to seekout all the people and to learn their wishes and their needs."
"Even as Haroun el Raschid in the far past," one of the subchiefsmuttered in satisfaction, "used to disguise himself as a lowborndragoman and wander the streets of