A long silence fell upon the sand-dune.  Lewis felt held, oppressed.  He was tired.  He wished to sleep, but the woman’s words rang in his brain like shouts echoing in an empty hall.

Presently came sounds from the mud hut beyond the thorn-thicket.  Men were calling.  There was the patter and scrape of mules’ hoofs, the whistle of those that urged them on.  Lewis and the old hag hurried down.  The guide, the muleteers, and the stranger were having a wordy struggle.

“Hallo,” said the stranger, “where have you been?  What are they trying to say?  I need you even in my sleep.”

“They say,” said Lewis, “that there is no help for it; we must push on to the river now.  The mules must have water.”

“Right you are,” said the stranger.  He pointed to one heavily laden mule.  “We don’t need those provisions.  Give them to Old Immortality.  They’ll last her a hundred years.”

CHAPTER XIII

They arrived in Petrolina at dawn.  Before them swept the vast river.  Beyond it could be seen the dazzling walls and restful, brown-tiled roofs of Joazeiro.  The distant whistle of a shunting locomotive jarred on the morning stillness.

For the first time Lewis saw the stranger in action.  Off came the loads.  They were sorted rapidly.  Tent, outfit, and baggage were piled into one of the ponderous ferry-canoes that lined the shore.  All that was left was handed over to the guide for equal division among the men.

“Now,” cried the stranger, “there’s always a marketplace.  Tell them to take this worn-out bunch along and find the cattle corner.”  He waved at the ponies and mules.

The market was in full swing.  Rubber, goatskins, hides, and orchids from the interior; grain, tobacco, sugar, and rum from the river valley, met, mingled, and passed at this crossways of commerce.  The stranger stood beside his mules.  The dome of his pith helmet rose above the average level of heads.  People gazed upon it in mild wonder, and began to crowd around.

“Now,” said the stranger, poking Lewis’s thin pony in the ribs, “offer this jack-rabbit for sale, cash and delivery on the minute.”

“Offer my—­my pony——­” stammered Lewis.

The stranger eyed him grimly.

“Your pony?”

Suddenly Lewis remembered.  He threw up his head and called out as he was bidden.  People nudged one another, but no man spoke.  Then a wag on the outskirts of the crowd shouted: 

“I’ll give thee a penny for what’s left of that horse, brother.”

There was a ripple of laughter.  Lewis colored, and his eyes grew moist.

“He says he will give a penny,” he said.

“A penny?” said the stranger, gravely.  “Take it.  Cash, mind you.  Cash on delivery.”

The sale was made amid general consternation.  As the dazed wag led his purchase away, he trembled as though from a first stroke of paralysis.  The marketplace began to buzz, to hum, and then to shout, “A stranger sells horses for a penny, cash on delivery!” They laughed and crowded nearer.  Merchants forgot their dignity, and came running from the streets of the town.