{"product_id":"2940013740655","title":"A Bottle of Perrier","description":"A two day's struggle over the treacherous trails in a well-intentioned\u003cbr\u003ebut short-winded \"flivver\", and a ride of two more on a hired mount of\u003cbr\u003eunamiable temper, had disposed young Medford, of the American School of\u003cbr\u003eArchaeology at Athens, to wonder why his queer English friend, Henry\u003cbr\u003eAlmodham, had chosen to live in the desert.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow he understood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was leaning against the roof parapet of the old building, half\u003cbr\u003eChristian fortress, half Arab palace, which had been Almodham's pretext;\u003cbr\u003eor one of them. Below, in an inner court, a little wind, rising as the\u003cbr\u003esun sank, sent through a knot of palms the rain-like rattle so cooling to\u003cbr\u003ethe pilgrims of the desert. An ancient fig tree, enormous, exuberant,\u003cbr\u003ewrithed over a whitewashed well-head, sucking life from what appeared to\u003cbr\u003ebe the only source of moisture within the walls. Beyond these, on every\u003cbr\u003eside, stretched away the mystery of the sands, all golden with promise,\u003cbr\u003eall livid with menace, as the sun alternately touched or abandoned them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYoung Medford, somewhat weary after his journey from the coast, and awed\u003cbr\u003eby his first intimate sense of the omnipresence of the desert, shivered\u003cbr\u003eand drew back. Undoubtedly, for a scholar and a misogynist, it was a\u003cbr\u003ewonderful refuge; but one would have to be, incurably, both.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Let's take a look at the house,\" Medford said to himself, as if speedy\u003cbr\u003econtact with man's handiwork were necessary to his reassurance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe house, he already knew, was empty save for the quick cosmopolitan\u003cbr\u003eman-servant, who spoke a sort of palimpsest Cockney lined with\u003cbr\u003eMediterranean tongues and desert dialects--English, Italian or Greek,\u003cbr\u003ewhich was he?--and two or three burnoused underlings who, having carried\u003cbr\u003eMedford's bags to his room, had relieved the palace of their gliding\u003cbr\u003epresences. Mr. Almodham, the servant told him, was away; suddenly\u003cbr\u003esummoned by a friendly chief to visit some unexplored ruins to the south,\u003cbr\u003ehe had ridden off at dawn, too hurriedly to write, but leaving messages\u003cbr\u003eof excuse and regret. That evening late he might be back, or next\u003cbr\u003emorning. Meanwhile Mr. Medford was to make himself at home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlmodham, as young Medford knew, was always making these archaeological\u003cbr\u003eexplorations; they had been his ostensible reason for settling in that\u003cbr\u003eremote place, and his desultory search had already resulted in the\u003cbr\u003ediscovery of several early Christian ruins of great interest.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMedford was glad that his host had not stood on ceremony, and rather\u003cbr\u003erelieved, on the whole, to have the next few hours to himself. He had had\u003cbr\u003ea malarial fever the previous summer, and in spite of his cork helmet he\u003cbr\u003ehad probably caught a touch of the sun; he felt curiously, helplessly\u003cbr\u003etired, yet deeply content.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd what a place it was to rest in! The silence, the remoteness, the\u003cbr\u003eillimitable air! And in the heart of the wilderness green leafage, water,\u003cbr\u003ecomfort--he had already caught a glimpse of wide wicker chairs under the\u003cbr\u003epalms--a humane and welcoming habitation. Yes, he began to understand\u003cbr\u003eAlmodham. To anyone sick of the Western fret and fever the very walls of\u003cbr\u003ethis desert fortress exuded peace.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs his foot was on the ladder-like stair leading down from the roof,\u003cbr\u003eMedford saw the man-servant's head rising toward him. It rose slowly and\u003cbr\u003eMedford had time to remark that it was sallow, bald on the top,\u003cbr\u003ediagonally dented with a long white scar, and ringed with thick ash-blond\u003cbr\u003ehair. Hitherto Medford had noticed only the man's face--youngish, but\u003cbr\u003esallow also--and been chiefly struck by its wearing an odd expression\u003cbr\u003ewhich could best be defined as surprise.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070258987248,"sku":"2940013740655","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013740655_p0.jpg?v=1763589631","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013740655","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}