Part 8 (1/2)

7. Another Pilgrimage

Beginning at her stern and bearing to the starboard side, Ali set out to become more intimately acquainted with the s.h.i.+p. Almost every step brought to light a fresh marvel. As a camel driver who traveled with caravans, at one time or another he had been in every port that a caravan can visit, and he was not unfamiliar with s.h.i.+ps. But never before had he seen anything to compare with the _Supply_.

A hundred and forty-one feet over all, the wooden three-master had a main and a quarterdeck. An official United States Navy s.h.i.+p, she was armed with a battery of four twenty-four pounders. One glance revealed that her crew of forty officers and men believed in and strictly adhered to the rules of first-cla.s.s seamans.h.i.+p; the _Supply_ was as spotlessly clean as she was trim.

Had she been a conventional s.h.i.+p, Ali would have considered her impressive enough. As it was, he found her overwhelming.

Jefferson Davis, United States Secretary of War, was one of several outstanding Americans who'd long cherished the notion that camels might very well help solve some of the troublesome problems of transportation involved in settling America's vast, arid and little-known Southwest.

Finally, granted official permission to subject this theory to a practical test, the _Supply_ had been rebuilt for the sole purpose of importing an experimental herd.

A well-built stable, sixty feet long, twelve feet wide and not quite seven feet six inches high, extended from just behind the foremast to just in front of the quarterdeck. On either side were twenty portholes that could be left open when weather permitted, but each porthole was equipped with a panel of gla.s.s that closed from the inside in cold weather and wooden shutters that swung from the outside and were to be used during violent storms or in heavy seas. Midway was a hatch that offered direct entry to the stable, and that could be lowered for loading or unloading and raised when the s.h.i.+p was at sea.

Front and rear, high enough above the main deck so that even the most turbulent waves would not wash over them, were other hatches fitted with wind sails--canvas funnels--that admitted air but excluded everything else. Thus, even when it was necessary to close the portholes, there was no danger that the camels would suffocate.

Every stall was fitted with a harness, so arranged that the stall's occupant might have complete freedom of movement when the _Supply_ was in smooth sailing, or be strapped firmly in a kneeling position and unable to move at all, when the s.h.i.+p was in stormy seas. Further to minimize injuries that might result from being tossed about, bags filled with hay were secured to every beam and anything else that a camel might b.u.mp. The stable floor was covered with clean, fresh litter. Reflector lamps would illuminate the stable if it should be necessary to attend the camels at night.

A supply of fresh water was contained in two huge tanks, each holding thirty thousand gallons, and a fire extinguisher was arranged so that it could draw on either tank or both. A sterile cabinet held an ample supply of every known remedy for any aliment that might afflict a camel.

The hold of the _Supply_ was filled to the bursting point with a store of the finest and cleanest hay and grain. No necessity or luxury that a camel might need--or that somebody fancied a camel might need--had been omitted.

There were twenty camels already in the stable and they were making themselves at home there. Twenty-four, including Ben Akbar, remained to be brought on board.

Thirty-seven of the herd were young females, many of which were with young. Every one of the forty-three beasts that the American buyers had selected was an outstanding creature, all in their prime and none with any blemishes or deformities. But even though he must concede that the Americans knew how to choose camels, Ali was both baffled and dazzled by their sending of the _Supply_, obviously representing a tremendous investment, to carry a mere forty-four of even the finest camels all the way to America. Few of the desert-roving camel breeders of Ali's acquaintance would consider it worth their while to drive so small a herd to market, not even if the market was only four miles away.

Rounding the front of the stable and continuing sternward on the opposite side of the _Supply_, Ali felt a tense ripple travel up his spine and rea.s.sured himself that his dagger was at hand when he saw another camel handler approaching. Eight natives in all, seven besides Ali, had been retained to accompany this herd to America and Ali hadn't the faintest doubt that each one knew all the details of his story. But far from any hostile gesture or incident, n.o.body had even mentioned Mecca, to say nothing of the punishment sure to attend any who shed blood in the Holy City. There was a variety of possible explanations for such forbearance. Maybe the seven were lukewarm Moslems, who simply didn't care; perhaps, like Ali, they had personal reasons for wanting to go to some land where Moslems were few; possibly they intended to take action but were waiting for the right moment.

When he was near enough to his fellow camel handler, Mimico Teodara, Ali said decorously, ”I greet thee.”

”And I thee,” the other replied.

Ali relaxed. If Mimico knew his story--and beyond doubt he did know--and if he were a strict Moslem, he would not have spoken to Ali at all. For a moment they remained side by side and both glanced toward the tethered camels that remained on sh.o.r.e. Ali, who somehow felt that Mimico might become his friend, spoke of the riddle that had been puzzling him.

”It is strange, almost past understanding, that Americans would send such a s.h.i.+p, at vast expense, to carry only forty-four camels to America.”

”Strange indeed,” his companion agreed. ”Even more to be wondered at is the fact that, the first time they came, they returned with only thirty-three camels.”

Surprised, Ali asked, ”They have been here before?”

Mimico nodded. ”This is their second voyage.”

”Come,” the foppish interpreter said, ”this is not a time for idling.”

Ali and Mimico walked silently to the lowered hatch through which the camels were brought on board and took their places in the boat that was moored against it. The device employed to bring camels from sh.o.r.e to s.h.i.+p, Ali felt, was another startling example of American ingenuity.

Twenty feet long by seven wide, the boat used as a ferry was fitted with a hinged door at each end. A wheeled truck, st.u.r.dy enough to support the biggest camel, could be pushed through either door and secured in such a manner that it neither moved nor unbalanced the ferry.

Of very shallow draft, the oarsmen had no difficulty in running the ferry up on any beach. Then the hinged door was lowered and the truck run out. A camel was led onto the truck, made to kneel and strapped in place. The truck was pushed back onto the ferry, the door was raised, and the launching accomplished. Reaching the _Supply_, the door on the opposite end was lowered and the ferry brought squarely against the lowered hatch. Then it was necessary only to push the truck and its helpless pa.s.senger onto the deck of the _Supply_ and into the stable.