noon
This time it might be , she said to herself , that politeness covered tragedy . But the same night she received another message from Mabrouka . It was merely to say that , the air of Djazerta not being healthful at this time of year , the Agha had decided , for his daughter 's sake , to finish the week of the wedding feast out in the desert , at the _ douar _ . When Max , at the head of his small caravan , came in sight of the Agha 's _ douar _ , it was almost noon , and the desert , shimmering with heat , was motionless , as if under enchantment . They had travelled through the night , after learning that Ben Râana and his family had gone from Djazerta , with intervals of rest no longer than those allowed to the Legion on march . What they saw was a giant tent as large as a circus tent in a village of America or Europe surrounded at a distance by an army of little tents , black and dirty brown , so flat and low that they were like huge bats with outstretched wings resting on the sand . The great tent of the chief with its high roof , its vast spread of white , red , and amber striped cloth of close-woven camel 's hair , rose nobly above all the others , as a mosque rises above a crowd of prostrate worshippers at prayer .