The Last Exodus
327
mortar shell had pierced the wall. A print of Mount Ararat—
the historic Armenian mountain—was on the right. Other
prints were of the Crucifixion, the carrying away of His body,
and the Virgin. Beneath them, in a corner, were bloodstained
stretchers. The fly swarms buzzed even at night. 1 put a handkerchief over my face as protection and fell asleep.
I slept soundly and awoke at dawn of May 28—a day that
was to prove almost as historic to Jewish destiny as May 1?.
De Luce was already awake. He washed, shaved, and despite
his rumpled uniform and Arab Legion headdress, gleamed like
a well-dressed American. I went around like an Arab, unshaved, unpolished—happier that way, and as unnoticed as a
used towel. The Jews were begging for favorable surrender
terms through the International Red Cross. There was much
going back and forth by couriers. Everyone who had a wrist
watch looked at it every few minutes. The deadline set by
Abdullah el Tel was 1.30 p.m., by which time the surrender
was to be accepted or the devastation would be resumed.
There were rumors that the Jewish emissaries were on their
way here. Other rumors floated about that all the Jews were
dead. Liaison between the Legion and the correspondents was
a sergeant, a decent fellow, as I found most of the Legionnaires to be except when they were fighting.
"The native Arabs want to kill the Jews. It is good we are
here. They have already begun to steal from the houses. We
chase them away and even shoot at them, but they come back
as soon as we leave."
"How about the houses in the Armenian quarter?" I asked.
"They were cleaned out long ago, before we arrived."
The reporters, who had spent the night in comfort in
Amman, returned by midmorning. The two queer ones had
changed their attire; one carried a tourist camera that made
him look even more absurd, if that was possible. The boys
moved around in exclusive little cliques. They were away
when an Arab Legion soldier came running toward the entrance of the Armenian quarter. I followed. Above the heads