Project Gutenberg's Smain; and Safti's Summer Day, by Robert Hichens

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org


Title: Smain; and Safti's Summer Day
       1905

Author: Robert Hichens

Release Date: November 8, 2007 [EBook #23411]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SMAIN; AND SAFTI'S SUMMER DAY ***




Produced by David Widger






SMAIN; and SAFTI'S SUMMER DAY.

By Robert Hichens

Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers

Copyright, 1905


     "_When the African is in love he plays upon the pipe._"

     Sahara Saying.




SMAIN


Far away in the desert I heard the sound of a flute, pure sound in the
pure air, delicate, sometimes almost comic with the comicality of a
child who bends women to kisses and to nonsense-words. We had passed
through the sandstorm, Safti and I, over the wastes of saltpetre, and
come into a land of palm gardens where there was almost breathless calm.
The feet of the camels paddled over the soft brown earth of the narrow
alleys between the brown earth walls, and we looked down to right and
left into the shady enclosed spaces, seamed with water rills, dotted
with little pools of pale yellow water, and saw always giant palms,
with wrinkled trunks and tufted, deep green foliage, brooding in their
squadrons over the dimness they had made. The activity of man might be
discerned here in the regularity of the artificial rills, the ordered
placing of the trees, each of which, too, stood on its oval hump. But no
man was seen; no flat-roofed huts appeared; no robe, pale blue or white,
fluttered among the shadows; no dog blinked in the golden patches of
the sun--only the sound of the flute came to us from some hidden place
ceaselessly, wild and romantic, full of an odd coquetry, and of an
absurdity that was both uncivilised and touching.

I stopped to listen, and looked round, searching the vistas between the
palms.

"Where does it come from?" I asked of Safti.

His one eye blinked languidly.

"From some gardener among the trees. All who dwell in Sidi-Matou are
gardeners."

The persistent flute gave forth a shower of notes that were like drops
of water flung softly in our faces.

"He is in love," added Safti with a slight yawn.

"How do you know?"

"When the African is in love he plays upon the pipe. That is what they
say in the Sahara."

"And you think he is alone under some palm-tree playing for himself?"

"Yes; he is quite alone. If he is much in love he will play all day,
and, perhaps, all night too."

"But she cannot hear him."

"That does not matter. He plays for his own heart, and his own heart can
hear."

I listened. Since Safti had spoken the music meant more to me. I
tried to read the player's heart in the endless song it made. Trills,
twitterings, grace notes, little runs upward ending in the air--surely
it was a boy's heart, and not unhappy.

"It is coming nearer," I said.

"Yes. Ah, it is Smain!"

Safti's one eye is sharp. I had seen no one. But as he spoke a tall
youth in a single white garment glided into my view, his eyes bent
down, his brown fingers fluttering on a long reed flute covered with red
arabesques. His feet were bare, and he moved slowly.

Safti hailed him with the accented violence peculiar to the Arabs. He
stopped playing, looked, and smiled all over his young face. In a moment
he was on our side of the earth wall, and talking busily, staring at
me the while with unabashed curiosity. For few strangers come to
Sidi-Amrane, and Smain had never wandered far.

"What does he say?" I asked of Safti.

"I tell him we shall be at Touggourt tomorrow night, and shall stay
there a week. He answers that his heart is there with Oreida."

"What! Does his lady-love live at Touggourt?"

"Yes; she is a dancer."

Smain smiled. He did not understand French, but he knew we were speaking
of his love affair, and he was not afflicted with shyness. As he
accompanied us to the village he played again, and I read his nature in
the soft sounds of his flute.

All that day he stayed with us, and nearly all that day he played. Even
when he guided me through the village, where, between terraced houses,
pretty children--the girls in deep purple, with yellow flowers stuck in
their left nostrils, the boys in white--danced with a boisterous grace
round brushwood fires, his flute was at his lips, and his fingers
fluttered ceaselessly. And as night drew on the music was surely more
amorous, and I seemed to see Oreida drawing near over the sands.

Smain was but sixteen, tall and slim as a reed, with a poetic face and
lustrous, languid eyes. I imagined Oreida a child too--one of those
flowers of the desert that blossom early and fade ere noontide comes.
Sometimes such flowers are very beautiful. As I heard the flute of Smain
in the pale yellow twilight I knew that Oreida was beautiful--with one
of those exquisite, lithe figures, whose movements make a song; with
long, narrow dark eyes, mysterious pools of light and shadow; with thick
hair falling loosely round a low, broad forehead; and perfect little
hands, made for the dance of the hands that the Bedouin loves so well.

All this I knew from the sound of Smain's flute. I told it to Safti, and
bade him ask Smain if it were not true.

Smain's reply was:--

"She is more beautiful than that; she is like the young gazelle, and
like the first day after the fast of Ramadan."

Then he played once more while the moon rose over the palm gardens, and
Safti, lighting his pipe of keef with tender deliberateness, remarked
placidly:

"He would like to come with us to Touggourt and to die there at
Oreida's feet, but his father, Said-ben-Kouidar, wishes him to remain at
Sidi-Matou and to pack dates. He is young, and must obey. Therefore he
is sad."

The smoke rose up in a cloud round Smain and his flute, and now I
thought that, indeed, there was a wild pathos in the music. The moon
went up the sky, and threw silver on the palms. The gay cries from the
village died down. The gardeners lay upon the earth divans under the
palmwood roofs, and slept. And at last Smain bade us good-bye. I saw his
white figure glide across the great open space that the moon made white
as it was. And when the shadows took him I still heard the faint sound
of his flute, calling to his heart and to the distant Oreida through the
magical stillness of the night.

The next day we reached Touggourt, and in the evening I went with Safti
and the Caid of the Nomads to the great cafe of the dancers in the
outskirts of the town. At the door Arab soldiers were lounging. The
pipes squealed within like souls in torment. In the square bonfires
were blazing fiercely, and the whole desert seemed to throb with beaten
drums. Within the cafe was a crowd of Arabs, real nomads, some in rags,
some richly dressed, all gravely attentive to the dancers, who entered
from a court on the left, round which their rooms were built in
terraces, and danced in pairs between the broad divans.

"Tell me when Oreida comes," I said to Safti, while the Caid spread
forth his ample skirts, and turned a cigarette in his immense black
fingers.

The dancers came and went. They were amazing trollops, painted until,
like the picture of Balzac's madman, they were chaotic, a mere mess of
frantic colours. Not for these, I thought, did Smain play his flute. The
time wore on. I grew drowsy in the keef-laden air, despite the incessant
uproar of the pipes. Suddenly I started--Safti had touched me.

"There is Oreida, Sidi."

I looked, and saw a lonely dancer entering from the court, large, weary,
crowned with gold, tufted with feathers, wrinkled, with greedy, fatigued
eyes, and hands painted blood-red. She was like an idol in its dotage.
Over her spreading bosom streamed multitudes of golden coins, and many
jewels shone upon her wrists, her arms, her withered neck. She advanced
slowly, as if bored, until she was in the midst of the crowd. Then
she wriggled, stretched forth her hands, slowly stamped her feet, and
promenaded to and fro, occasionally revolving like a child's top that is
on the verge of "running down."

"That is not Oreida," I said to Safti, smiling at his absurd mistake.
For this was the oldest and ugliest dancer of them all.

"Indeed, Sidi, it is. Ask the Caid."

I asked that enormous potentate, who was devouring the withered lady
with his eyes. He wagged his head in assent. Just then the dancer paused
before us, and thrusting forward her greasy forehead, enveloped us with
a sphinx-like smirk. As I hastily pressed a two-franc piece above her
eyebrows Safti addressed her animatedly in Arabic. I caught the word
"Smain." The lady smiled, and made a guttural reply; then, with a
somnolent wink at me, she waddled onward, flapping the blood-red hands
and stamping heavily upon the earthen floor.

"Smain loves that!" I said to Safti.

"Yes, Sidi. Oreida is famous, and very rich. She has houses and many
palm-trees, and she is much respected by the other dancers."

A week later Safti and I were again at Sidi-Matou, on our way homeward
through the desert. The moon was at the full now, and when we rode up to
the Bordj the open space in front of it, between us and the village,
was flooded with delicate light. Against it one tree, which looked
like Paderewski grown very old, stood up with tousled branches. In
the village bonfires flared, and the dark figures of skipping children
passed and re-passed before them. We heard youthful cries echoing across
the sands. Soon they faded. The lights went out, and the wonderful
silence of night in the desert came in to its heritage.

I sat on the edge of an old stone well before the Bordj, while Safti
smoked his keef. Near midnight, quivering across the sands, came
the faint sound of a flute moving from the village towards the deep
obscurity of the palm gardens. I knew that air, those trills, those
little runs, those grace notes.

"It is Smain," I said to Safti.

"Yes, Sidi. He will play all night alone among the palms. He is in
love."

"But with Oreida! Is it possible?"

"Did he not say that she was like the first day after the fast of
Ramadan? When an African says that his heart is big with love."

The flute went on and on, and I said to myself and to the moon, as I had
often said before:

"He that is born in the Sahara is an impenetrable mystery."





SAFTI'S SUMMER DAY.

By Robert Hichens


Safti is a respectable, one-eyed married man who lives in a brown earth
house in the Sahara Desert. He has a wife and five children, and in
winter he works for his living and theirs. When the morning dawns, and
the great red sun rises above the rim of the wide and wonderful land
which is the only land that Safti knows, he wraps his white burnous
around him, pulls his hood up over his closely-shaven head, rolls and
lights his cigarette, and sets forth to his equivalent of an office.
This is the white arcade of a hotel where unbelieving dogs of travellers
come in winter. I am an unbelieving dog of a traveller, and I come
there in winter, and Safti comes there for me. I, in fact, am Safti's
profession. Byrne, and others like me, he lives. For a consideration
he shows me round the market, which I knew by heart six years ago, and
takes me up the mosque tower, from which I gazed over the flying pigeons
and the swaying palms when Safti was comparatively young and frisky.
Together we visit the gazelles in their pretty garden, and the Caid's
Mill, from which one sees the pink and purple mountains of the Aures. We
ride to the Sulphur Baths, we drive to Sidi-Okba. We take our _dejeuner_
out to the yellow sand dunes, and we sip our coffee among the keef
smokers in Hadj's painted cafe. We listen to the songs of the negro
troubadour, and we smile at Algia's dancing when the silver moon comes
up and the Kabyle dogs round the nomads' tents begin their serenades.
And then I give Safti five francs and my blessing, and he bids me
"_Bonne nuit!_" and his ghostly figure is lost in the black shadows of
the palm-trees.

Oh, Safti works hard, very hard in winter. The other day I asked him:
"Don't you get exhausted, Safti, with all this exertion to keep the
Sahara home together? You are getting on in years now."

"Ah yes, Sidi; I am already thirty-two, alas!"

He was thirty-five when I first met him; but he is as clever at
subtraction as a London beauty.

"Good heavens! So much! But, then, how can you keep up the wear and tear
of this tumultuous life? You must have an iron strength. Such work as
you do would break down an American millionaire."

Safti raised his one dark eye piously towards Allah's dwelling.

"Sidi, I must labour for my children. But in the summer, when you
and all the travellers are gone from the Sahara to your fogs and the
darkness of your days, I take my little holiday."

"Your holiday! But is it long enough?"

"It lasts for only five months, Sidi; but it is enough for me. I am
strong as the lion."

I gazed at him with an admiration I could not repress. There was,
indeed, something of the hero about this simple-minded Saharaman. We
were at the edge of the oasis, in a remote place looking towards the
quivering mirage which guards dead Okba's tomb. A tiny earthen house,
with a flat terrace ending in the jagged bank of the Oued Biskra, was
crouched here in the shade. From it emerged a pleasant scent of coffee.
Suddenly Safti's bare legs began to "give." I felt it would be cruel to
push on farther. We entered the house, seated ourselves luxuriously
upon a baked divan of mud, set our slippers on a reed mat, rolled our
cigarettes, and commanded our coffee. When a Kabyle boy with a rosebud
stuck under his turban had brought it languidly, I said to Safti:

"And now, Safti, tell me how you pass your little holiday."

Safti smiled gently in his beard. He was glad to have this moment of
repose.

"Each day is like its brother, Sidi," he responded, gazing out through
the low doorway to the shimmering Sahara.

"Then tell me how you pass a summer day."

The coffee nerved him to this stubborn exertion, and he spoke.

"_Sahah_ Sidi."

"_Merci_."

We sipped.

"A day in summer, Sidi, when the great heats begin in June? Well, at
five in the morning I get up----'

"And light the fire," I murmured mechanically.

The one eye stared in blank amazement.

"Proceed, Safti. You get up at five. That is very early."

"The sun rises at a quarter to five."

"To call you. Well?"

"I eat three fresh figs, and sometimes four. I then mount upon my mule,
and I ride very quietly into Biskra to take coffee with my friends."

"That is half-an-hour's exercise?"

"About half-an-hour. After taking coffee with my friends we play at
dominoes. It is forbidden for the Arabs to play at cards in Biskra. I
remain in the cafe at the corner--"

"I know--by the Garden of the Gazelles!" "--till eleven o'clock, at
which time I again mount upon my mule, and return quietly to my home.
When I reach there I eat with my wife and children sour milk, bread, and
dates from my palm-trees which I have kept from the autumn. At twelve we
all go to bed together in a black room."

"A black room?"

"We fear the flies."

"I see."

"Till four in the afternoon I, my wife, and my children sleep in the
black room. At that hour I rise once more, and go quietly to the Cafe
Maure in old Biskra, near my house. I play cards there for five coffees
till seven o'clock. At seven the mosquitoes arrive, and prevent us from
playing any more."

"How intrusive! Always at seven?"

"Always at seven. I then walk very quietly with my friends to the end of
the oasis."

"To the Tombuctou road?"

"Yes, Sidi; to get the air. We come back by the same road quietly, and
I go to my house, and eat a cold kous-kous with my wife and children.
After this I return to the cafe and play ronda till one o'clock."

"One o'clock at night?"

"Yes. At one o'clock I go with my friends very quietly to bathe in
the stream beneath the wall near the mosque. We stay in the water for,
perhaps, an hour, and when we come out we drink lagmi."

"What's lagmi?"

"Palm wine. Then at three o'clock I go to my home, mount upon the roof
quietly with my wife and children, and sleep till dawn."

"And you do this for five months?"

"For five months, Sidi."

"And--and your wife, Safti?"

I felt that I was very indiscreet; but Safti is good-natured, and has
bought quite a number of palm-trees out of his savings when with me.

"My wife, Sidi?"

"What does she do all the time?"

"She remains quietly in my house."

"She never goes out?"

"Never, except upon the roof to take a little air."

"Doesn't she get rather bor----"

The one eye began to look remarkably vague.

"And you find five months of this life a sufficient rest in the course
of the year?"

Safti smiled at me with resignation.

"I cannot take more, Sidi; I am not a rich Englishman."

"Well, Safti, you must make the best of your fate. It is the will of
Allah that you should toil."

"_Shal-lah!_ I will take another coffee, Sidi."

"Larbi!"

I called the Kabyle boy.






End of Project Gutenberg's Smain; and Safti's Summer Day, by Robert Hichens

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SMAIN; AND SAFTI'S SUMMER DAY ***

***** This file should be named 23411.txt or 23411.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/4/1/23411/

Produced by David Widger

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.



*** START: FULL LICENSE ***

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
http://gutenberg.org/license).


Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works

1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.  See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.

1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
1.E.9.

1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.

1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.

1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
that

- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."

- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
     License.  You must require such a user to return or
     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
     Project Gutenberg-tm works.

- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
     of receipt of the work.

- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.

1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
your equipment.

1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.

1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.


Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm

Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.


Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.

The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at http://pglaf.org

For additional contact information:
     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
     Chief Executive and Director
     gbnewby@pglaf.org


Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
particular state visit http://pglaf.org

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate


Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.

Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.


Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.


Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:

     http://www.gutenberg.org

This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.