He offered
Mrs. Travers his arm ready to lead her away, but at the last moment did
not move.
With an authoritative gesture Daman had parted the ranks of Belarab's
young followers with the red skullcaps and was seen advancing toward the
whites striking into an astonished silence all the scattered groups in
the courtyard. But the broken ranks had closed behind him. The Illanun
chiefs, for all their truculent aspect, were much too prudent to attempt
to move. They had not needed for that the faint warning murmur from
Daman. He advanced alone. The plain hilt of a sword protruded from the
open edges of his cloak. The parted edges disclosed also the butts of
two flintlock pistols. The Koran in a velvet case hung on his breast by
a red cord of silk. He was pious, magnificent, and warlike, with calm
movements and a straight glance from under the hem of the simple piece
of linen covering his head. He carried himself rigidly and his bearing
had a sort of solemn modesty. Lingard said hurriedly to Mrs. Travers
that the man had met white people before and that, should he attempt to
shake hands with her, she ought to offer her own covered with the end
of her scarf.--"Why?" she asked. "Propriety?"--"Yes, it will be better,"
said Lingard and the next moment Mrs. Travers felt her enveloped hand
pressed gently by slender dark fingers and felt extremely Oriental
herself when, with her face muffled to the eyes, she encountered the
lustrous black stare of the sea-robbers' leader.
Pages:
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351