Hashish: A Smuggler's Tale (30 page)

‘Stay there,’ he said; 1 shall go on alone. If you hear voices, go away, but if, on the contrary, you see the glow of a cigarette, come towards it.’

‘Have you matches?’

‘No, but I have a flint in my pocket.’

The ‘flint’ was a piece of camel-dropping, which he had lit before leaving home. As he had been behind me I had not smelt this natural wick. The water reached his waist; I saw him go slowly into the darkness, his clothes in a bundle on his shoulder. Only a faint line of phosphorescence showed where he had passed, but now I smelt the fire he carried with him in his turban. Then he seemed to begin to make as much noise as possible as he walked in the water. He spat, cleared his throat, churned up the water like a man who was performing his ablutions without any attempt at concealment. I understand that he did this on approaching land, so as to attract the attention of a possible sentinel, who would call out when he heard the noise. This was the best way of finding out if danger lurked in these mysterious shadows.

Then silence fell. He had probably left the water. We remained motionless and silent while the minutes dragged by. From time to time we
could hear the cry of a sea-bird echoing among the rocks or the swish of the water at the passage of the little coast sharks, but on shore there was profound silence. This continued so long that I was afraid I had missed the glow of the lighted cigarette, but at last we perceived on our right the intermittent blinking of the little red eye.

So the way was clear. We advanced fearlessly, and found Djebeli waiting at the edge of the water. He bade us hasten and walk exactly in his footprints over the sand. Thus it would seem that only one man had passed this way. Anyhow the strip of sand was very narrow; almost immediately we found ourselves walking on hard soil. We crossed under the telegraph wires which skirted the coast from the entrance of the Gulf, the poles studding the path along which came the patrols.

They have passed,’ said Djebeli. ‘I saw the traces, and I was lucky enough to find these camel-droppings. They are still warm, which proves that they passed about half an hour ago. The guide must go and announce our arrival without losing a moment, so that we can get everything done before the patrol comes back.’

The Bedouin, thankful to be back on dry land, had already vanished in the direction of the hills. Djebeli sat down in the hollow of a rock from where he could see without being seen. From here he could signal to us with his everlasting cigarette if the way was clear. I noticed how he did it. He enclosed the cigarette with his hand so that the light could only be seen from one direction, and the incandescent glow was visible at night from a considerable distance.

We went back to the
boutre
to fetch our merchandise. Half an hour later the first load of bundles arrived, watched over by the little red point of fire. We tried as far as possible to walk in the same prints or at least to reduce as much as possible the width of the trampled belt of sand. There were fourteen bundles attached in twos in such a way that if necessary they could be thrown over a saddle without a second being lost. They were shaped so that they could be placed in two openings hollowed out in the stuffing of the saddle. The whole crew had swum ashore, for the
pirogue
was heavily laden with the goods. Silently each man seized his double bundle, weighing nearly a hundredweight, and ran off in Indian file. The last one had just crossed the path with the telegraph poles; the worst danger was now past. We were swallowed up by the darkness, the bushes and the rocks. Firan had rowed the
pirogue
about three cables.’
lengths out and was waiting for us. If anyone did pass along the path he would see nothing.

As soon as we had got a safe distance from this dangerous path we laid down our bundles and waited for the return of the Bedouin, who had gone to tell the camel-drivers. Time passed and he did not come back. I began to be anxious.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Djebeli; ‘the camels are often at a considerable distance and our messenger may not be back for some time yet. We have no time to lose; it would be better to fetch the rest of the bundles, for the great thing is to get them across the path. Once they are here the risk is very slight, and we can wait calmly for the camel-drivers.’

So we set off to fetch the second and last part of the cargo. Only one man went with the cabin-boy on board; the rest of us waited on the beach. Djebeli was with us. I calculated that the
pirogue
would be back in about a quarter of an hour. That would be the critical moment, for what a disaster if it reached the shore just as the patrol came back. I waited, strung up to a high pitch of nervous tension. Every minute I thought I could see the lofty silhouette of a man on a racing-camel. The very telegraph poles became threatening. I was eaten up with impatience for the return of the
pirogue
which seemed to be so long in coming. Djebeli was crouching near me. He had just lit a fresh cigarette and was drawing long whiffs between his cupped hands.

We were right at the edge of the water, sheltered from indiscreet eyes by a small dune covered with bushes. The path lay thirty feet behind us, guarded by two men I had posted one on each side of us. In this way each sentinel had only one direction to guard. They were to throw a pebble towards our bushes if they saw the slightest shadow. This sound would be enough to warn us while it could not be heard by anyone approaching. So we had only to keep watch on the sea before us, wait for the
pirogue
to arrive, and listen.

Ali noticed a black speck on the water. It grew bigger; it was the laden
pirogue.
Through my glasses I could make out the heap of bundles. At last we could get on. Just as we were about to spring up to go and meet it, the sharp sound of a rolling stone froze us into immobility. A second pebble followed: probably the sentinel had been afraid we should not hear the first. Djebeli instantly put out his cigarette, and we waited, holding our breath. The accursed
pirogue
seemed to fill the whole horizon
to the exclusion of everything else. The signal which was to guide her had vanished, but would the men understand what had happened? She came on, slowly and noiselessly, but undoubtedly approaching. Then a dull, rhythmic sound beat upon the air, and we heard the stones rolling under the swift gallop of two racing-camels. The soldiers reined in their mounts to a foot-pace. I could plainly make out the two men through my night glasses, and even distinguish the barrels of the rifles slung across their saddles.

The
pirogue
now seemed to have stopped. They had realized the danger. But instead of remaining in the same position she veered round and presented her broadside to the land. This time she was clearly visible; we were lost. The two camels passed a bare fifteen yards behind us. I heard the soldiers clicking their tongues to encourage their camels, which started to trot. The
pirogue
continued to swing round until she was just a vague speck in the night. She had taken up a position at right angles to the shore. The meharists had now passed us. They trotted off, and in a few seconds the sounds of drumming hoofs died away, and there was silence again.

‘We certainly are lucky,’ I said to Djebeli; ‘it’s a miracle they did not see the
pirogue
.’

‘
Nocib!
’ replied Djebeli, ‘but I think they did see it, only they were afraid they were surrounded by armed men hidden in the bushes and they preferred to trot off as quickly as they could. When the frontier guards are in detached pairs they are not very dangerous. But we’ll have to hurry, for they will give the alarm at the first post which has a telephone, and before morning there will be a whole army here. It’s rather a nuisance

While he was speaking he searched for fire to relight his cigarette, but he hadn’t any more and my matches were damp. Those stupid details can sometimes start the most tragic and far-reaching dramas. Somebody has called these infinitesimal beginnings of great convulsions ‘the conjuration of imponderables’. I should be obliged to call the
pirogue.
It was most imprudent, but there was nothing else to be done. Making a megaphone of my hands I stooped down and sent a call softly over the water. By this means those who are near the surface of the water can hear at great distances. Perhaps the vibrations are transmitted by the mass of water, or the elasticity of the surface; the superficial tension acts as a membrane.
But at this moment I was far from indulging in speculations about acoustics; I contented myself with doing as I had seen fishermen do.

But the
pirogue
did not seem to hear, so, throwing prudence to the wind, I shouted. Let come what might. At last I heard the dip of the paddles, and the
pirogue
grounded on the beach. We threw ourselves feverishly on the bundles and carried them off instantly in a sort of frenzy, as if avenging ourselves on them for the anxiety they had made us endure for three-quarters of an hour.

At last everything was gathered in a sort of little ravine at the foot of these hills which had served us as guides. Still our Bedouin had not come tack. The dawn was near, the morning star had just risen out of the sea and was rapidly climbing the sky. How quickly it seemed to go up today. I thought of the stormy nights when I had sighed after its appearance and when it had seemed to linger on purpose. But now when it was a few degrees higher the sky would begin to pale.

Djebeli was worried too. He said nothing, but I could follow his thoughts. This night patrol, the distance at which the camels had remained, all that was not reassuring. If anything happened here our merchandise was spread out in full view and there was no chance of hiding it in this rocky ground. In less than an hour we should be forced to beat a retreat, abandoning everything.

I cursed Gorgis and Stavro who had so lightly led me into this scrape. If I had been in their place I should rather have died than go back on my word. And I thought of Gorgis’ palace with its pink marble staircase and his ostentatious spending. What did he risk? His customers’ money, that was all. No doubt he was sleeping at this moment and snoring like a brute. All Stavro did was to burn candles and dream dreams. Nice mess I had got myself into, thinking I was plunging into a romantic adventure. I had wanted to play at smuggling and act for my own benefit. Up to the present I had adventured alone, counting only on myself, but now I had to depend on others. That was where I had made the mistake and I was to pay dearly for it. But it served me right. I was well punished for having neglected the Arab proverb which says: ‘Think always that everybody depends on thee, but do thou depend only on thyself.’ When one forgot this proverb one raved of ingratitude, injustice, persecution and so on, and one became morose and soured. I tried to whip up my courage by such reasoning to give
me the strength to go through with this disastrous abandon without complete despair.

Just at that moment, when I had resigned myself to the worst, shadows suddenly and silently began to flit between the rocks round us. They undulated and crouched. I could see the gleam of rifle barrels. Then they stood abruptly upright. One of them came forward; it was our Bedouin guide. A score of others advanced as soon as he had recognized us. All my philosophy was forgotten; only one thing existed in the world; that was the necessity of loading our merchandise on the camels at lightning speed.

Without a word each Arab seized a double bundle and vanished into the ravine. Djebeli held a low conversation with four hefty fellows armed with Remingtons. His first words had been to ask for matches, for he could not remain a single hour without smoking. I admired his imperturbable calm; he seemed to be a blasé spectator of all this feverish activity. This strange being never showed the slightest emotion. I had to ask him to interpret for me, for I could not understand a word of the dialect of these mountaineers. They had been forced to leave the camels six miles away because all the patrols had been doubled the last three days, and the presence of this herd of camels would have aroused suspicion. Nobody knew yet the reason for this extra vigilance.

The leader of the caravan had thought it would be more prudent to put the affair off until another day, and had sent a man to warn us that he would not be there. Our Bedouin had happened to meet him halfway, and had explained that as all the cargo had already been landed there could be no question of putting off till next day, for if we did we should lose everything. Thanks to this chance meeting, which was almost miraculous when one reflects that it was very dark and that neither man followed any definite path, the camel-drivers had come themselves to transport the bundles while the camels advanced slowly to meet them. When they had all disappeared with their loads, the four armed Arabs who had been the advance guard now closed the rear.

When I saw these grimly determined men I realized that their way of earning their living is a most dangerous one. Once they had started on an expedition human life was cheap indeed in their eyes; they became primitives ready to kill an adversary without the slightest hesitation or scruple. That is what happened to us in the war, though we were alleged to be civilized and had been brought up to venerate human life. After a little training we massacred men who had done us no harm, with as little hesitation as we might have shot a pheasant before the war. I also realized that the job of frontier guard was no sinecure when they went out after these desperate men, and I quite understood the haste with which the two soldiers of the patrol had spurred on their mounts when they saw on the sea what they had taken for a boat.

Words cannot describe our lightness of heart as we made our way back to the sea; it was almost worth all the worry to have such a glorious feeling. The most urgent thing to do was to efface the marks of our bare feet in the sand. I realized that we should never manage to restore its virginal appearance to the trampled sand, but on the contrary, any attempt would simply point to a guilty conscience. If an innocent fisherman had landed there he would never think of trying to efface his footprints. So I stopped my men levelling the sand, and sent them to pick up driftwood. I was lucky enough to find some fairly big branches, and I set up three stones to make a primitive hearth, as the fishermen do. Thanks to the matches Djebeli had luckily thought of asking, I contrived to light a fire in the shelter of a rock. I piled up the wood so as to get as much ash as possible. If a patrol came to inspect the beach next day this fire would explain the footprints. Since the camels had remained several miles inland, there were no suspicious traces to upset the theory that a peaceful fisherman had been here in the night.