"The slaves of domestic tyranny," said Gibbon, "may vainly exult in their national independence: but the Arab is personally free." In the choice between freedom and comfort, the bedouin chooses freedom. For the sake of his freedom he is willing to live barely; and the sheikh in his tent will turn his blue lips to the winter wind, saying, "That is my liberty." Perhaps we, who have drawn our carpets and cathedrals from the desert, have forgotten the message of the wild men crying in the wilderness, "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"