A short while after my arrival our aeroplanes brought in word that the
Turks were massing at Daur, and General Cobbe decided that when they
launched forth he would go and meet them. Accordingly, we all moved out
one night, expecting to give "Abdul," as the Tommies called him, a
surprise. Whether it was that we started too early and their aeroplanes
saw us, or whether they were only making a feint, we never found out; but
at all events the enemy fell back, and save for some advance-guard
skirmishing and a few prisoners, we drew a blank. We were not prepared to
attack the Daur position, and so returned to Samarra to await
developments.
Meanwhile I busied myself searching for an Arab servant. Seven or eight
years previous, when with my father in Africa, I had learned Swahili, and
although I had forgotten a great deal of it, still I found it a help in
taking up Arabic. Most of the officers had either British or Indian
servants; in the former case they were known as batmen, and in the latter
as bearers; but I decided to follow suit with the minority and get an
Arab, and therefore learn Arabic instead of Hindustanee, for the former
would be of vastly more general use. The town commandant, Captain Grieve
of the Black Watch, after many attempts at length produced a native who
seemed, at any rate, more promising than the others that offered
themselves. Yusuf was a sturdy, rather surly-looking youth of about
eighteen.
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