10. The Expedition
Ali awakened in the dim light of very early morning. For a startledmoment, he reverted to old habit and lay perfectly still, for he was notat once sure as to what lay about him. Then came comprehension.
The many nights he had slept in his lean-to shelter behind the camelkhan marked the longest uninterrupted period of his life ever spent inany one house. He had become accustomed to it and was momentarilybewildered to awake in unfamiliar surroundings. Then the days at CampVerde seemed to fade away and it was as though he had never sleptanywhere except on bare earth, with the sky his only roof. The factthat he was wrapped in a blanket rather than his burnous was the onlydifference between this and the life he had always led.
Ali preferred the burnous, but his was becoming tattered and a newburnous seemed to be almost the only article one could not hope to findin the rich markets of vast America. Putting the garment away againstsome vague future when nothing else would serve, Ali had taken the firststep toward becoming an American by accepting American clothes.
He raised on one elbow and looked toward the corral. All was peacefulthere, so he settled back down. His plan had worked.
The camels had not had enough trail work to toughen their feet, and thejourney from Camp Verde to the expedition's base camp near San Antoniohad necessarily been a slow one. Arriving with some sore-footed camels,in spite of a leisurely pace, the horses and mules that were also to bepart of the expedition promptly took the usual violent exception tothese trespassers from a far land.
In any other circumstances, Ali could have corrected all trouble simply bygoing on with his camels. In this instance, it was not only impossible togo on, but the camels must travel with the rest of the expedition'slivestock for many days and miles and a full-scale rodeo every day andevery mile was not the way to assure success. Since a definite and finalsettlement was obviously indispensable, Ali requested and receivedLieutenant Beale's permission to put the camels in the same corralwith the horses and mules.
The immediate result was pandemonium. Though the camels again refused togive way to excitement, just because everything about them was hysterical,and remained serene, the horses and mules did everything except tear thecorral apart. Since no flesh and blood could maintain such a pace,eventually they had to quiet down because they were too tired to doanything else. Now, although the camels formed their own group and stoodapart from the rest, all was still peaceful. East and West had finallymet, and, even though neither considered the other socially acceptable,at least they had become acquainted. What might have been a majorproblem was already solved.
Some distance away from the corral, a herd of more than three hundredsheep were bedded under the watchful eye of a Mexican herder and hisdog. The sheep were also to go with the expedition, Ali neither knew norcared why. There were to be eight big freight wagons, each drawn by sixmules, and two smaller wagons for personal effects and LieutenantBeale's engineering equipment. There was a total of fifty-six men, mostof them soldiers who had discarded conventional uniforms in favor ofmore practical buckskin garb. There was a miscellany of livestock, toserve wherever extra animals were needed.
Some of the soldiers were to help with the camels. Ali knew nothingabout any of them except that they knew nothing about camels. Some, asusual, resented such duty but, for once, resentment of Ali and hischarges posed no problem. Though relations were on a congenial andinformal basis, nobody had the faintest doubt but that Lieutenant Bealecommanded.
Foremost among the enthusiastic advocates of the proposed Camel Corps,Beale had taken a strong liking to Sied, the white _dalul_, and Ali hadalready given him a few riding lessons. In addition, whenever he couldspare the time, Beale was sitting at Ali's feet and doing his best tolearn Syrian, so that he might address the camels in a tongue with whichthey were already familiar.
Known as a fair-minded man, Beale also had a reputation for meting outdeserved punishment with anything except kid gloves. Thus there wassmall probability that smoldering resentment would be expressed inhostile action, as had been the case at Camp Verde. One of the camels,that had somehow escaped from the khan and strayed, died shortly aftershe was recovered. Subsequent examination disclosed that she had beenhit on the neck with sufficient force to fracture the bones. Nobody everfound out who did it.
Presently, Ali got up and carefully folded his blanket. He laid itbeside the spare clothing and few personal articles that belonged to himand wrapped all in a square of canvas. Though he hadn't the leasttrouble carrying all his worldly goods in one hand, it never evenoccurred to Ali that he lacked anything. On those rare occasions when hegave the matter any thought, the contents of his bundle were wealthindeed compared with what he'd had on the night he rode Ben Akbar awayfrom Al Misri's camp.
Leaving the bundle where it lay, Ali devoted himself to the first solemnduty of every morning. He walked toward the corral. Seeing him, BenAkbar detached himself from the little herd of camels and came to thefence. Ali dug in his pocket for a lump of sugar, a delicacy that onlythe wealthy could enjoy elsewhere but that was available to even thepoorest in America. Ben Akbar licked it from the palm of his hand andmade gusty smacking noises as he chewed. Ali scratched the big _dalul's_neck.
"We are on the way," he murmured. "The camp of idleness lies behind, andonce more the caravan routes are ahead. It is well."
Only the cook, a sour individual who must necessarily be astir longbefore anyone else if breakfast was to be eaten in time for an earlystart, had been up before Ali. He greeted the young camel driver with agrunt, but heaped a plate with food and filled a mug with coffee. Alihad finished his breakfast when the rest of the camp began to stir.
Returning to the corral, Ali looked past Ben Akbar to the remainingcamels. A troubled frown creased his brow.
The horses and mules were none of his responsibility, for which he wasduly thankful. The camels were, and Ali's frown deepened as the problemhe must solve assumed its correct proportions. On the trip from CampVerde, the camels had carried little except their bells, harness and afew gay trappings to add color. In spite of that, and a leisurely pace,some had come in sore-footed.
Because Lieutenant Beale was determined to forestall any possibleaccusations to the effect that there had been no fair test, every camelwas to carry a full load from this camp on. Though all were in superbcondition in every respect save one, that single lack could be seriousand perhaps disastrous. Since their feet were still soft, sore-footedcamels were not only to be expected but were practically inevitable.Until such time as they were again trail-hardened, camels that mightotherwise have left a favorable impression on a highly-skeptical publicwould make a dismal showing indeed.
Ali shrugged. There was nothing for it except go on, hope for the bestand trust Lieutenant Beale.
Entering the corral, Ali saddled and bridled Ben Akbar and tied him tothe top rail. It would help nothing if some soldier who decided he couldhandle Ben Akbar as he might a fractious mule were trampled and mauledfor his pains.
Presently the soldiers came. All had considerable experience inconventional Army transport and all would have known exactly what todo if they were about to deal with conventional beasts of burden. As itwas, none had the vaguest notion of the correct procedure with camels,and their lack of knowledge was expressed in a lack of confidence. Theywere awkward and self-conscious, and, at the same time, they were tryingto conceal their uncertainty beneath a mask of indifference.
"Here we are, pal," the leader informed Ali. "What's next?"
Ali grinned, understanding nothing but having been previously informedthat his helpers would need instruction. Before anything else, he pointedto Ben Akbar. As Lieutenant Beale had instructed, he said, "Bad one. Stayaway."
The soldiers regarded Ben Akbar with respect plus challenging interest.All had met the bad ones and none had stayed away, but they had beenhandling beasts with which they were familiar. This time, at least untilthey had a better idea of what they were doing, it might be well to takethis camel drive
r's advice. They turned expectantly back to him.
Ali saddled Mohamet, seeming to do so with a few deft motions, but yearsof experience and great skill were his invisible helpers. None knewbetter than he that a camel must be saddled with absolute perfection. Ifanything less, a slipping saddle will be certain a chafe a tender hump.It was an unwise practice, even if one had no regard for the animalitself; sore-backed camels cannot carry packs.
When Ali finished, each soldier selected a saddle and set about topractice the lesson he had just learned. Busy with a second camel, Alipivoted when the air was split with a thunderous, "You ornery,slab-sided, no good, devil-begotten son of nothing!"
One of the aspiring cameleers was reeling back with both hands over hiseyes. The camel he had been trying to saddle was standing quietly,apparently interested in nothing but a dreamy contemplation of thehorizon. The soldier wiped his eyes.
"The critter spit at me!" he ejaculated. Again, and as though he didn'tquite believe, "The critter _spit_ at me, and got me square in theeyes!"
Ali went patiently to the aid of the agitated soldier. If he had knownhow, he would have explained that improperly handled camels will notonly spit, but are uncannily accurate. Wilder beasts than these wouldbite.
Two hours later, an anxious Lieutenant Beale entered the corral. "How'sit going?" he queried.
Ali indicated the few saddled camels that were tied to the rail and themany unsaddled ones that were presently dodging about the corral andrather deftly eluding amateur packers. It would be necessary to catchevery one. Since nobody except Ali had yet succeeded in bringing a cameland a camel saddle together, it followed that Ali would have to saddleevery one after he caught it.
Lieutenant Beale nodded and left.
* * * * *
Back pillowed against a boulder, Ali sprawled in the warm sun andwatched the camels browse. Far more than a pleasant sight, he thought,it was a vision that could not fail to lift the heart of anyone not toodull to be inspired. For to see the camels as they were--and where theywere--meant that a great victory was won.
It was no small victory.
The camels had arrived at the expedition's base camp on the twenty-firstof June. Departure was scheduled for the next morning. But with camelsalready driven wild by inexperienced help and rapidly getting wilder,they hadn't even succeeded in saddling all of them on that day or forseveral days thereafter.
Not until June the twenty-fifth were they finally under way, and Ali couldnot recall a sorrier caravan. The soldiers had acquired just enough skillso they could put a pack on a camel and have some assurance that itwouldn't fall off. In accordance with Lieutenant Beale's wish for athorough test, the minimum load for any baggage animal was seven hundredpounds. That was far more than should have been carried by animals whoseexercise in recent months had consisted of shuffling about the khan.
There were immediate complications. Freight wagons drawn by six mules,conveyances not noted for speed, whizzed past sore-footed and overloadedcamels and seemed swift in comparison. To the unrestrained hilarity ofthose who came to watch--and presently of the country at large when newssources got hold of the story--the camels functioned in every way exceptefficiently. Far from reaching the Colorado River at the Californiaborder, the end of the survey, it became increasingly apparent thatBeale and his camels would be fortunate indeed if they were trapped inthe suburbs of a growing San Antonio.
Then the outlook changed.
Though it did not happen overnight, eventually the camels becametrail-hardened. Weary and sore beasts that had plodded into camp hoursafter the mule wagons were already there during the first harassed daysbegan arriving at the next night's camp hours before the wagons wereeven sighted. Two camels so ill that they were abandoned on the trail,rejoined the caravan, apparently as well as ever, a few daysafterwards.
Baggage camels that staggered under over-heavy loads on the day ofdeparture, now bore equally-heavy burdens without the least effort. Theyproved as indifferent to drenching rains as they had been to blazingsun. They not only ate but thrived on any forage they found; theexpedition's store of grain never had to feed starving camels.
Soldiers who hadn't known the first thing of camel transport hadacquired a liberal education. Most had come to like these strangebeasts. Some turncoats had even been heard to declare that camels werefar better than mules in any way anyone might compare the two species.
Probably the outstanding triumph belonged to Lieutenant Beale. Growingever fonder of Sied, Beale had ridden the white _dalul_ at everyopportunity and even Ali admitted that he had become a very skilfulrider. Near Albuquerque, Beale had news that a friend, Colonel Loring,was in the vicinity.
Mounting Sied, Lieutenant Beale set out to find his friend. The camel,whose only nourishment since leaving San Antonio had consisted ofwhatever forage the trail offered, not only carried his rider to ColonelLoring, but when Loring accepted an invitation to visit the expedition'scamp, outdistanced the grain-fed horses of the colonel and his men onthe return trip.
All was well, Ali thought dreamily, and may Allah have mercy on whoeverwas unable to see sublime beauty in the camels as they were and wherethey were. For they were still fat and healthy and they were at FortDefiance. The pedestrian and least interesting part of the journey wasbehind. Fort Defiance was a true frontier post. Unless they turned back,which was unthinkable, they must go ahead.
And ahead lay the unknown.