The Garden Of Allah Robert Hichens The Garden Of Allah Table of Contents The Garden Of Allah................................................................................................................................................1 Robert Hichens...............................................................................................................................................1 BOOK I. PRELUDE...................................................................................................................................................2 CHAPTER I...................................................................................................................................................2 CHAPTER II..................................................................................................................................................6 CHAPTER III..............................................................................................................................................14 CHAPTER IV..............................................................................................................................................17 CHAPTER V................................................................................................................................................26 CHAPTER VI..............................................................................................................................................40 BOOK II. THE VOICE OF PRAYER......................................................................................................................58 CHAPTER VII.............................................................................................................................................58 CHAPTER VIII............................................................................................................................................69 CHAPTER IX..............................................................................................................................................85 BOOK III. THE GARDEN.....................................................................................................................................106 CHAPTER X..............................................................................................................................................106 CHAPTER XI............................................................................................................................................127 CHAPTER XII...........................................................................................................................................140 CHAPTER XIII..........................................................................................................................................151 CHAPTER XIV.........................................................................................................................................172 CHAPTER XV...........................................................................................................................................184 BOOK IV. THE JOURNEY...................................................................................................................................193 CHAPTER XVI.........................................................................................................................................193 CHAPTER XVII........................................................................................................................................202 CHAPTER XVIII.......................................................................................................................................211 CHAPTER XIX.........................................................................................................................................221 CHAPTER XX...........................................................................................................................................234 CHAPTER XXI.........................................................................................................................................247 CHAPTER XXII........................................................................................................................................258 CHAPTER XXIII.......................................................................................................................................264 CHAPTER XXIV......................................................................................................................................274 CHAPTER XXV........................................................................................................................................284 BOOK V. THE REVELATION.............................................................................................................................291 CHAPTER XXVI......................................................................................................................................291 BOOK VI. THE JOURNEY BACK.......................................................................................................................312 CHAPTER XXVII.....................................................................................................................................312 CHAPTER XXVIII....................................................................................................................................317 CHAPTER XXIX......................................................................................................................................329 CHAPTER XXX........................................................................................................................................337 CHAPTER XXXI......................................................................................................................................346 i The Garden Of Allah Robert Hichens This page copyright © 2001 Blackmask Online. http://www.blackmask.com • BOOK I. PRELUDE • CHAPTER I • CHAPTER II • CHAPTER III • CHAPTER IV • CHAPTER V • CHAPTER VI • BOOK II. THE VOICE OF PRAYER • CHAPTER VII • CHAPTER VIII • CHAPTER IX • BOOK III. THE GARDEN • CHAPTER X • CHAPTER XI • CHAPTER XII • CHAPTER XIII • CHAPTER XIV • CHAPTER XV • BOOK IV. THE JOURNEY • CHAPTER XVI • CHAPTER XVII • CHAPTER XVIII • CHAPTER XIX • CHAPTER XX • CHAPTER XXI • CHAPTER XXII • CHAPTER XXIII • CHAPTER XXIV • CHAPTER XXV • BOOK V. THE REVELATION • CHAPTER XXVI • BOOK VI. THE JOURNEY BACK The Garden Of Allah 1 The Garden Of Allah • CHAPTER XXVII • CHAPTER XXVIII • CHAPTER XXIX • CHAPTER XXX • CHAPTER XXXI Etext prepared by Dagny, [email protected] and John Bickers, [email protected] BOOK I. PRELUDE CHAPTER I The fatigue caused by a rough sea journey, and, perhaps, the consciousness that she would have to be dressed before dawn to catch the train for Beni−Mora, prevented Domini Enfilden from sleeping. There was deep silence in the Hotel de la Mer at Robertville. The French officers who took their pension there had long since ascended the hill of Addouna to the barracks. The cafes had closed their doors to the drinkers and domino players. The lounging Arab boys had deserted the sandy Place de la Marine. In their small and dusky bazaars the Israelites had reckoned up the takings of the day, and curled themselves up in gaudy quilts on their low divans to rest. Only two or three gendarmes were still about, and a few French and Spaniards at the Port, where, moored against the wharf, lay the steamer Le General Bertrand, in which Domini had arrived that evening from Marseilles. In the hotel the fair and plump Italian waiter, who had drifted to North Africa from Pisa, had swept up the crumbs from the two long tables in the salle−a−manger, smoked a thin, dark cigar over a copy of the Depeche Algerienne, put the paper down, scratched his blonde head, on which the hair stood up in bristles, stared for a while at nothing in the firm manner of weary men who are at the same time thoughtless and depressed, and thrown himself on his narrow bed in the dusty corner of the little room on the stairs near the front door. Madame, the landlady, had laid aside her front and said her prayer to the Virgin. Monsieur, the landlord, had muttered his last curse against the Jews and drunk his last glass of rum. They snored like honest people recruiting their strength for the morrow. In number two Suzanne Charpot, Domini's maid, was dreaming of the Rue de Rivoli. But Domini with wide−open eyes, was staring from her big, square pillow at the red brick floor of her bedroom, on which stood various trunks marked by the officials of the Douane. There were two windows in the room looking out towards the Place de la Marine, below which lay the station. Closed persiennes of brownish−green, blistered wood protected them. One of these windows was open. Yet the candle at Domini's bedside burnt steadily. The night was warm and quiet, without wind. As she lay there, Domini still felt the movement of the sea. The passage had been a bad one. The ship, crammed with French recruits for the African regiments, had pitched and rolled almost incessantly for thirty−one hours, and Domini and most of the recruits had been ill. Domini had had an inner cabin, with a skylight opening on to the lower deck, and heard above the sound of the waves and winds their groans and exclamations, rough laughter, and half−timid,