being washed, each of these adventurers
conceals a pistol and a dagger. Their heads
are covered with brown caps, and their feet
are naked. They march in silence across the
country, and do not stop till they are within
sight of their enemy's fires. The hostile douar
consists of ten or twelve tents pitched in a
circle, and touching each other. In the
middle are the flocks and herds. Outside,
and before each tent, are a multitude of dogs,
who admirably fulfil the duty of sentinels.
In the douar is a man whose father, or
grandfather, killed the parent, or the grandparent,
of one of our adventurers. The life of this
man is what they want. One by one the
fires are put out, and everybody sleeps, or
seems to sleep, except the dogs. The elder,
aware that at a certain hour of the night
some of the dogs, worn out with fatigue, go
to sleep at last, waits for the moment of
action to arrive.

Meanwhile, a lion who has gone without
his dinner, and who, as may be supposed
from the lateness of the hour, has a rather
sharp-set appetite, arrives in the same direction.
He perceives three men crouching on
the ground. "Good," he says; "here are
three comrades waiting for me extremely
apropos." And he lays himself down. You
must know that the lion is naturally very
indolent. Now, as men who prowl about by
night are more frequently cattle-stealers than
murderers, the mother-lioness generally gives
the following advice to her cub, when, on
attaining his majority, he feels a desire to
see the world: " My child, whenever you
meet with men by night, you will follow
them; you will do them no harm, so long as
they keep quiet. Men's flesh is not so good
as bullock's flesh; for the most part, they
are as dry as herrings. You will therefore
travel in company with them. When they
arrive near a douar, you will lie down, and
they will work for your benefit. Allow them
to drive away the beasts they have stolen, to
a certain distance; and then, when you come
to a brook or a spring beside the path, present
yourself and claim your portion.

The lion who has followed his mamma's
instructions, has found the advantage of
doing so. Instead of having to carry or drag
his dinner for a tiresome quarter of an hour,
and then going afterwards to find a brook to
slake his thirst, he is spared all that trouble
by his human friends. Well; our lion is
stretched on the ground, and is waiting;
but the dogs, who have seen his eyes, or have
scented him, make a diabolical hubbub. The
alarm is given in the douar, and every one is
up and stirring. The women relight the fires,
and throw blazing brands about. If that
manoeuvre is to go on long, the day will
break before the lion's comrades can do a
stroke of business. But hunger is pressing,
and he grows impatient. " Ah, ha! " he
says; " I may as well take a sheep myself; it
is not heavy to carry." And he rises. The
douar is situated on a slope, and he rapidly
wends his way to a point above it. The dogs,
who follow him with eye and nose, move
towards the same quarter. He darts forward,
and, in less time than it takes me to
tell it, he has cleared the hedge, six feet in
height, which surrounds the douar. He has
caught a sheep in the inclosure, leapt back
again, and disappeared. The dogs are inside
the tents, dumb with stupor. The men are like
the dogs. The tempest over, the rape of the
sheep is formally verified. No European eye
would be able to distinguish either sheep or
tents, so grave-dark is the night. Everyone has
gone to rest again, and, with the exception
of a few old dogs, the guardian pack have
followed their master's example. Then our
three men carefully inspect the priming of
their pistols, and, creeping on their hands
and knees, they advance silent and invisible.
The tent is pointed out by the elder, who
only says these words to the young people,
"Children, be men." They touch the hedge
of living bushes which protects the douar;
the outlet for the flock is stopped up with
thorns. The old man whispers in his
companions' ears, " Do not stir from this spot
till you hear the dogs barking on the other
side; but then dispatch your work quickly.
"He turns on his belly right-about face, and,
creeping round the douar, he has arrived at
the side opposite to the tent of the common
enemy, he raises himself little by little.
If the dogs do not yet see him, he advances
a few steps— he coughs. That will do. In
an instant, at the warning given by one, all
the curs of the douar are around him. To
keep them at a distance he has only to walk
towards them on all fours— the dogs are
afraid, and will not come near him.

But the gate of the douar has already
been cautiously removed by his lads in training.
The tent is there, within their grasp.
They thrust their heads in, and listen.
Nothing. Everybody is slumbering. The
women are at the further end—  the children
are near the women. The master, whom
they want, is lying asleep across the
entrance, with a pistol under his head
and his yataghan by his side. The lad with whom
we are acquainted has completely disappeared
beneath the tent. The darkness prevents
him from seeing his enemy, but he hears his
breathing. He drags himself up to him;
he scents his breath. The head must
certainly be there! A pistol-shot is heard, and
all is told. An hour afterwards, our three
assassins are snoring in their tents, like
saints in bliss. Next day, the child is
proclaimed a man, and is allowed a deliberative
voice in the councils. His comrades speak
to him with deference, and some pretty girl
will recompense him for his good action.

The man who has received such an education
as this is necessarily bold, and bold by
night. Whence, then, comes the respect
which the Arab entertains for the lion? It