IX. MAN IN ARID LANDS: NORTH FROM JIDDAH
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Fig. 2. Working on the plugged gas line.
ply him with food and water. Misfir took about five minutes to give his
diagnosis: the gas line was plugged (see Fig. 2). He detached the line,
blew air through it and tried the starter. The truck coughed and caught.
Misfir explained to the man what he must do if the line continued to
fill up and in a few minutes that driver too went roaring down the road.
As we got back in the cab and started off again, I inspected him more
closely. He's a big man with the barest trace of a beard, and a hearty
laugh. He's also very strong. Just the day before, I recalled, Muhammad
had stalled and to get him started Misfir had to "crank" the truck, by
spinning simultaneously the wheels, drive shaft, and fanbelt. He's also unusually alert. Shortly after we left the paved road he looked sharply at
our other truck and suddenly reached up and yanked the cord to the horn
and sent a two-note bellow echoing over to Muhammad. When Muhammad stopped, Misfir pointed to a trickle of precious water coming from
the spigot in one of the hiptanks. I could barely see the trickle even then.
And shortly after that he saw a movement by the side of the road and
before I could even guess what it was, he had stopped and begun to fill