There is, for instance,
the kind custom that dictates the setting free of slaves when they
have rendered seven years' good service.
That rule (and it is rather rule than law) tends to eliminate all
class and color prejudice. Provided that a man will bow to Mecca
three times daily and refrain from pork and wine, he may wear whatever
skin God gave him and yet mingle with the best. He may even marry
whom he will and can afford; and he may be whatever his ability,
ambition, and audacity dictate.
And Hassan Ah had never been a slave, so he had even less to overcome
than might have been the case. He stalked Adra socially uncondemned
where once he had caught fish, groomed camels, and done other irritating
jobs. His old fish-catching days had given him an intimate acquaintance
with the reef, and his small-boat seamanship, born of hard pulling
in the trough of beam-on-seas, was well suited to the local type of
craft.
So nobody questioned his right to the title of harbor pilot. And
if certain perquisites went with an otherwise barren office, that
was to be expected.
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