230
CAIRO TO DAMASCUS
and main of the Deir Aboutor defense proved unable to open
a metal box about a foot square.
"Get the American!"
"Will you give me the negatives if I open the box?" I bargained.
I took a close look at the box. It was shaped like a sardine
can—only larger and stronger. I laid it upside down, while
Zaki and Faris put their feet at both ends to keep it steady. I
hammered the edge of a screwdriver against the metal, and
within a few minutes had opened the box—much to the
amazement of the Arabs.
"You are very clever, Artour," Zaki said.
"Will you give me the negatives now?"
The strong box was placed on the table, and the Arabs
gathered around in anticipation. One by one the articles were
pulled out. They were a few Palestinian coins, a folded document in German which seemed to be a deed to something,
and a stack of receipted bills. The Henschels hadn't proved
the fools the Arabs had taken them to be. ... I had my eyes
on the negative file. Though I tried again and again, and even
offered Zaki five pounds—a huge sum for a penniless adventure—he could not induce the others to part with it.
THE ARABS IN ACTION
NEXT morning hell broke loose. Up to this time Haganah
forces had ignored us, apparently unaware of our strong Arab
concentrations at Deir Aboutor. But by ten a.m. bullets were
whizzing over our heads. At first they were wild and whistled
through the trees, but they were soon bouncing off the stone
masonry of Osborne House. It was time to duck—and fight
back.
Yallah!
Moustafa, whose leadership up to this time had been