B. L. Van Vors<br >ms had supervised Koreans who had labored with<br >aipment to build it. A German electrical firm had<br >~ountless needlelike microwave emergency towers<br >the highway every ten kilometers like digits on an<br >，ng ruler.<br >appeared silver in the distance， shimmering in the<br >eat. Although the refineries at Sedemi on the coast<br > excess of tar and asphalt， the road had been built<br >Only the best for Khalid. The world was watching.<br >ad heard that the cost had been in excess of four<br >Enough money， as bin Khagi the camel trader had<br >a wonder， to pave the streets of Paradise with gold.<br > east a car was approaching， a determined ant on<br > concrete. Watching its slow progress， a sharp，<br >~adness overcame Raisuli. It was f mished， he knew.<br >Ly and the approaching automobile were symbols<br >: completion of a cycle， the final end of an age.<br >his age. He saw now why he had so long put off<br >journey.<br >teither anger nor bitterness， instead， a longing for<br >ff which he knew not the nature came to him with<br >ity， it made his body tremble and brought tears to<br >es. The feeling was at once both overwhelmingly<br >yet poignantly familiar.<br >it， when the tears had dried and the trembling eased，<br >Magnificent turned away from the road. He had<br >Le had come for. He understood the import of what<br >d， but he also knew that， though drawing to a close，<br >s in the woddwas not yet finished. Slowly， so as<br >erbate the stiffness in his right leg， he mounted al<br >Chapter 1<br >"Awad， stop the car!"<br > Miriam always kept a strong pair of Leica field glasses in<br >the utility compartment of what had once been the limousine s<br >bar. Distances were great in the Sahara， and they had come in<br >useful more than once， though this time she was not sure why<br >a lone Bedouin on a horse had caught her interest so. She had<br >tried the glasses while the car was moving， but there was not<br >enough light coming through the heavily tinted windows， and<br >even on the smooth surface of the new highway， ninety miles<br >all hour made focusing difficult.<br > "! Awad， the grizzled Nubian driver she had inherited from<br >h~r mother-in-law， looked startled but kept his silence， slowing<br >the，，~N， :car until it stopped underneath an aluminum emergency<br >telephone tower. The towers were an eyesore， but Khalid had<br >been right to install them， Miriam thought. With modern au-<br >tomobiles and air conditioning it was easy to forget that just<br >outside the safety glass windows， the temperature could reach<br >one hundred and forty degrees in summer， hot enough to kill<br >a man in a few short hours if he hadn t water or shade.<br > It had been different with the old macadam road， parts of<br >which could still be seen between the dunes， when the shifting<br >sands permitted. Miriam never would have taken the limousine<br >lit<br ><br >