The car plunged on through the dark of night, on its way to Baghdad, devouring the desert... It went a mile, then two miles... but it was traveling without direction. Suleiman noticed that he was lost, without a doubt, and no longer hoped for any good in continuing the journey, so he preferred to propose to the companions that they stay where they were until dawn should break — "better morning's ill than evening's good." The companions approved this idea, and they slept that night lost in the open desert, hoping for better things on the morrow.

A day passed, then a second day, and a third... while Suleiman circled about in his car, devouring the desert to no result. Suddenly the car stopped and would move no more. Suleiman was dumbfounded and got up to search for the cause... then he hung his head, drained of color, confusion and perplexity written on his brow, searching wearily... One of the travelers put his head out of the car and asked:

— What is it, Suleiman?

Suleiman looked at his ques-tioner, hesitating over what he should say. Should he reveal to them the secret of the car's stopping?... And what effect would the announcement have on the companions' spirits?... But why should he blame himself... was he responsible for all this? No... he was not responsible... He had filled the tank with provision for the road and more... but the tank had been pierced, for one reason or another — was he responsible for that?

...Only, the Emir was in great haste... and obliged to reach Baghdad on the morrow... How could he surprise him with the car's stopping... its long, long stopping — until God should will to open for them the door of relief in this desert?

And he cursed the hour in which he had decided upon this journey, wishing he had stayed at home, tranquil and content, near his tender mother, and near the one he loved.

Yet why, after all this, should he hesitate to announce the matter?... What befell the travelers would befall him. They were all equals in the ordeal. Well, then... let him tell them the truth of the matter... perhaps one of them would come out with a sound idea...

And before he could begin to speak, the Emir asked him:

— All is well, God will-ing, Suleiman...

What is the cause?

— The gasoline has run out, my lord!

"The gasoline has run out!" The travelers repeated it inwardly more than once, looking at one another, their faces overspread with the pallor of failure and dismay.

And Suleiman thanked his Lord that the Emir and his companions did not reproach him, nor ask him why the gasoline had run out. They did not say to him: "You are responsible for this." And he mar-veled when he saw the Emir taking the situation greatly to heart. Then he saw him blaming the guide for having brought them to this deadly pass... Then, when he dismounted and mingled among the travelers, it was as though the emirate had been stripped from him... They had all become men with no barrier dividing them: among them no great man and no lowly one, no emir and no driver — rather, in the face of the intractable ordeal, all of them met the same hardships and thought the same thoughts.

...But the guide was weary beyond all weariness, and thinking the hardest of thoughts: he alone was responsible for this ordeal, and it fell to him, alone, to work for their deliverance from it... He stared into the soft sand, never raising his eyes... Was he thinking of himself, one wonders, or was he thinking of the others?... Was he busy searching for an outlet by which they might escape?... He came to himself only at the voice of the Emir calling him:

— Munif, speak... you know the desert. Is there any way out for us?

He bowed his head a little, then said:

— I know, my lord, in these parts an old building with a well of water near it, which the tribes visit. My counsel is that we make toward it — and our fate is in God's hands.

— Is it very far?

— I do not know exactly.

Suleiman was not confident of

the truth of the guide's words, and he almost thought he had invented that way out from whole cloth. Indeed, he did think so — only he did not dare declare what he believed... And if he declared it, and they said to him: "Give us your opinion, then — have you a better way out than this?"... He was com-pelled to follow the travelers wher-ever they turned, for he knew noth-ing of the outlets of the desert... And besides, to meet evil in his own person, alone, was far harder than to meet it with the travelers. He kept telling himself something like this: "Put your trust in your Lord, man, and go with these people. What God Almighty decrees, no son of Adam can escape." And he came to himself only at the Emir's voice, calling him to run toward the spot the guide had fixed. But he was not as good at running as the travelers, all of whom were Bedouins — and the Bedouins' power of running is famous!

Then too, the travelers were running without a look behind them; but he — he would be leaving his car by itself in the open desert... How could he leave it and go far from it, when it was his path to a livelihood, when he owned nothing else by which he could gain anything from life?! And yet he would come back to himself and say: "Why stay here beside this car?... What do I gain if I keep it and lose my life to hunger and thirst?... No — let me go with the men. Perhaps we shall find water there, and drink; perhaps we shall come upon the Bedouins, and they will bring us food."

And he dashed off running with the travelers — a running from which he hoped no good and no profit. Every few steps he would ask Munif: "Are we still very far, Munif?" And he would hear Munif's voice, out of the heart of the desert, full of consolation and encourage-ment: "Trust in God, Suleiman... we shall arrive." And Suleiman would repeat within himself: "We shall arrive!

"No... we shall not arrive... Ah... we shall not arrive."

And fatigue began to wear Suleiman's body utterly, and to show upon him; he could not keep pace with the companions' running. They outstripped him... outstripped him... and there he was, alone, running far behind them, calling to them to slow down so that he might