we are sitting now, and little Marie was playing just outside by
the well, so that I could see her through the window. By the sounds, I
knew a great caravan was coming up, and passing towards the south.
They always water at the well, and I stood by the window to see them.
Little Marie stood too, shading her eyes with her bit of a hand. The
drums and pipes got louder, and round the corner of the inn came as big
a caravan as I've ever seen; near a hundred camels, horsemen, and led
mules and donkeys, Kabyle dogs and goats, the music playing all the
time, and a Caïd's flag flying in the front. They made for the well, as I
knew they would, and little Marie stood all the while watching them.
M'sieu, there were square packs on some of the camels, and veiled
women on the packs."
He looked across at me hard.
"Veiled women?" I repeated.
"When they got to the well they made the camels kneel for the women
to get down; and one of the women, when she was down, caught sight
of Marie standing there, with her little hand shading her eyes. That
woman gave a great cry behind her veil. I heard it, m'sieu, as I stood by
the window there, and I saw the woman run at the little one."
He got up from his seat slowly, and stood by the wooden shutter,
against which the sand was driven by the wind.
"In a place like this, m'sieu, one keeps a revolver here."
He put his hand to a pocket at the back of his breeches, brought out a
revolver, and pointed it at the shutter.
"When I heard the woman cry I took my revolver out. When I saw the
woman run I fired, and the bullet struck the veil."
He put the revolver back into his pocket, and sat down again quietly.
"And that's why they call me Fin Tireur."
I said nothing, and sat staring at him.
"When the camels had been watered the caravan went on."
"But--but the Arabs------"
"The Caïd had the body tied across a donkey--they told me."
"You didn't see?"
"No. I took the little one in. She was screaming, and I had to see to her.
It was two days afterwards, when I was at the market, that a scorpion
stung her. She was dead when I came back. Well, m'sieu, are you sorry
you ate your supper?"
Before I could reply, the door opening into the courtyard gaped, and the
driver entered, followed by a cloud of whirling sand grains.
"Nom d'un chien!" he exclaimed. "Get me a tumbler of wine, for the
love of God, Fin Tireur. My throat's full of the sand. Sacré nom d'un
nom d'un nom!"
He pulled off his coat, turned it upside down, and shook the sand out of
the pockets, while Fin Tireur went over to the corner of the kitchen
where the bottles stood in a row against the earthen wall.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of "Fin Tireur", by Robert
Hichens
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "FIN
TIREUR" ***
***** This file should be named 23416-8.txt or 23416-8.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/4/1/23416/
Produced by David Widger
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be
renamed.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set
forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying
and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the
PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge
for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you do not
charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is
very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as
creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. They
may be modified and printed and given away--you may do practically
ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is subject to
the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE PLEASE READ
THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or
any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online
![](qr/33936/4.png)
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the
Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.