As for gratitude—well—if a man has done them a favor they perhaps tell him fewer lies, and cheat him less than they do others. The camel is a very important animal in the deserts where the Bedouins live, for he can easily tread the sands, and can live a long time without water, and can bear heavy burdens. But he is very, very stupid, and ill-natured, and obstinate. Perhaps the poor beasts would do better if they had better masters, for the Bedouins half starve them, and constantly ill-treat them; and I don’t blame the camels for resenting such conduct. It is not likely that such a race of people would treat horses any better than they do their camels. Horses could not bear such treatment long, however. It would kill them. And in fact, the Bedouins have very few horses. The fleet and beautiful Arab steeds are owned by the Arabs who dwell in the villages and try to live somewhat as we do. [Illustration: AN ARAB ENCAMPMENT.] Tent life is very pleasant, for a few days, when you go out into the green woods with a party of friends. But it would be a very different thing, you would find, if you were compelled to spend your life that way; sometimes under the shade of palms, but, more frequently on the hot desert sands. Dirt and discomfort belong to an Arab tent; and legions of fleas take up their abode there. If you were to stay with these Bedouins for awhile I think you would gladly go back to civilization and work; and you would come to the conclusion that schools and wash-tubs were good institutions. FOOL-HARDY CARL HOFER, AND THE WATER-LADY. A good many years ago, on the banks of the Rhine, there lived a boy named Carl Hofer. “Climbing Carl” he was often called because he excelled in climbing; and, quite as frequently, he was called “Fool-hardy Carl,” because he would put himself in very unsafe places, where no sensible person would venture. Everybody said he would be killed some day; and the wonder was that he had reached the age of fourteen years without breaking his neck. His father and mother had tried every means of curing him of these foolish ways; but, although he was a pretty good boy in regard to most things, he was very disobedient about climbing.