Volume IV Part 8 (1/2)
I
One of my friends had said to me:--
”If you happen to be near Bordj-Ebbaba while you are in Algeria, be sure and go to see my old friend Auballe, who has settled there”
I had forgotten the na of this planter, when I arrived at his house by pure accident For a nificent district which extends froiers to Cherchell, Orleansville, and Tiaret It is at the sa Between two hills, one coh which torrents rush in the winter Enormous trees, which have fallen across the ravine, serve as a bridge for the Arabs, and also for the tropical creepers, which twine round the dead stems, and adorn them with new life
There are hollows, in little known recesses of the mountains, of a terribly beautiful character, and the sides of the brooks, which are covered with oleanders, are indescribably lovely
But what has left behind it theafter-dinner walks along the slightly wooded roads on those undulating hills, from which one can see an immense tract of country from the blue sea as far as the chain of the Quarsenis, on whose summit there is the cedar forest of Teniet-el-Haad
On that day I lost my way I had just cli extent of rising ground, I had seen the extensive plain of Metidja, and then, on the summit of another chain, ale monument which is called _The Tomb of the Christian Wos of Mauritana I went down again, going southward, with a yellow landscape before e of the desert, as yellow as if all those hills were covered with lions' skins sewn together, sometimes a pointed yellow peak would rise out of the midst of them, like the bristly back of a cahtly, like as one does when following tortuous paths on a h on one in those short, quick walks through the invigorating air of those heights, neither the body, nor the heart, nor the thoughts, nor even cares On that day I felt nothing of all that crushes and tortures our life; I only felt the pleasure of that descent In the distance I saw an Arab encampment, brown pointed tents, which seeourbis_, huts ures,slowly about, and the bells of the flocks sounded vaguely through the evening air
The arbutus trees on ht of their purple fruit, which was falling on the ground They looked like , for at the top of every tier there was a red spot, like a drop of blood
The earth all round them was covered with it, and as my feet crushed the fruit, they left blood-colored traces behind the, I would jump and pick one, and eat it
All the valleys were by this time filled with a white vapor, which rose slowly, like the steam from the flanks of an ox, and on the chain of mountains that bordered the horizon, on the outskirts of the desert of Sahara, the sky was in flaold alternated with streaks of blood--blood again! Blood and gold, the whole of human history--and soreenish azure, far away like a dreas hich one occupies oneself on the boulevards, far fro, without thought or consciousness, far froht caht were falling onto the earth like a shower of darkness, and I saw nothing before me but the mountains, in the far distance Presently, I saw some tents in the valley, into which I descended, and tried to make the first Arab I o I do not knohether he understoodanshich I did not in the least understand In despair, I was about tonear the encae words he uttered, I fancied that I heard the name, _Bordj-Ebbaba_, and so I repeated:
”_Bordj-Ebbaba_”
”Yes, yes”
I showed him two francs that were a fortune to him, and he started off, while I followed him Ah! I followed that pale phanto stony paths, on which I stu tiht, and we soon reached the door of a white house, a kind of fortress with straight walls, and without any outside s When I knocked, dogs began to bark inside, and a voice asked in French:
”Who is there?”
”Does Monsieur Auballe live here?” I asked
”Yes”
The door was opened for me, and I found myself face to face with Monsieur Auballe himself, a tall man in slippers, with a pipe in his mouth and the looks of a jolly Hercules
As soon as I mentioned my name, he put out both his hands and said:
”Consider yourself at home here, Monsieur”
A quarter of an hour later I was dining ravenously, opposite to