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+Project Gutenberg's Khaled, A Tale of Arabia, by F. Marion Crawford
+
+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: Khaled, A Tale of Arabia
+
+Author: F. Marion Crawford
+
+Release Date: January 14, 2011 [EBook #34959]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KHALED, A TALE OF ARABIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Christine Aldridge and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
+Passages in bold are surrounded by =equal signs=.
+Passages in gothic fonts are surrounded by +plus signs+.
+
+Other transcription notes appear at the end of this e-text.
+
+
+
+
+KHALED: A TALE OF ARABIA
+
+
+[Illustration: M. M. & Co.]
+
+
+
+
+                KHALED
+
+           A Tale of Arabia
+
+         BY F. MARION CRAWFORD
+
+
+               +London+
+       MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
+     NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
+                 1901
+
+         _All rights reserved_
+
+
+               COPYRIGHT
+                 1891
+                  BY
+           F. MARION CRAWFORD
+
+_First Edition (2 Vols. Globe 8vo) May 1891.
+Second Edition (1 Vol. Crown 8vo) November
+        1891, 1892 Re-issue 1901_
+
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+
+   CHAPTER I             1
+  CHAPTER II            22
+ CHAPTER III            43
+  CHAPTER IV            64
+   CHAPTER V            86
+  CHAPTER VI           107
+ CHAPTER VII           128
+CHAPTER VIII           150
+  CHAPTER IX           171
+   CHAPTER X           192
+  CHAPTER XI           213
+ CHAPTER XII           235
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+Khaled stood in the third heaven, which is the heaven of precious
+stones, and of Asrael, the angel of Death. In the midst of the light
+shed by the fruit of the trees Asrael himself is sitting, and will sit
+until the day of the resurrection from the dead, writing in his book the
+names of those who are to be born, and blotting out the names of those
+who have lived their years and must die. Each of the trees has seventy
+thousand branches, each branch bears seventy thousand fruits, each fruit
+is composed of seventy thousand diamonds, rubies, emeralds, carbuncles,
+jacinths, and other precious stones. The stature and proportions of
+Asrael are so great that his eyes are seventy thousand days' journey
+apart, the one from the other.
+
+Khaled stood motionless during ten months and thirteen days, waiting
+until Asrael should rest from his writing and look towards him. Then
+came the holy night called Al Kadr, the night of peace in which the
+Koran came down from heaven. Asrael paused, and raising his eyes from
+the scroll saw Khaled standing before him.
+
+Asrael knew Khaled, who was one of the genii converted to the faith on
+hearing Mohammed read the Koran by night in the valley Al Nakhlah. He
+wondered, however, when he saw him standing in his presence; for the
+genii are not allowed to pass even the gate of the first heaven, in
+which the stars hang by chains of gold, each star being inhabited by an
+angel who guards the entrance against the approach of devils.
+
+Asrael looked at Khaled in displeasure, therefore, supposing that he had
+eluded the heavenly sentinels and concealed an evil purpose. But Khaled
+inclined himself respectfully.
+
+'There is no Allah but Allah. Mohammed is the prophet of Allah,' he
+said, thus declaring himself to be of the Moslem genii, who are upright
+and are true believers.
+
+'How camest thou hither?' asked Asrael.
+
+'By the will of Allah, who sent his angel with me to the gate,' Khaled
+answered. 'I am come hither that thou mayest write down my name in the
+book of life and death, that I may be a man on earth, and after an
+appointed time thou shalt blot it out again and I shall die.'
+
+Asrael gazed at him and knew that this was the will of Allah, for the
+angels are thus immediately made conscious of the divine commands. He
+took up his pen to write, but before he had traced the first letter he
+paused.
+
+'This is the night Al Kadr,' he said. 'If thou wilt, tell me therefore
+thy story, for I am now at leisure to hear it.'
+
+'Thou knowest that I am of the upright genii,' Khaled answered, 'and I
+am well disposed towards men. In the city of Riad, in Arabia, there
+rules a powerful king, the Sultan of the kingdom of Nejed, blessed in
+all things save that he has no son to inherit his vast dominions. One
+daughter only has been born to him in his old age, of such marvellous
+beauty that even the Black Eyed Virgins enclosed in the fruit of the
+tree Sedrat, who wait for the coming of the faithful, would seem but
+mortal women beside her. Her eyes are as the deep water in the wells of
+Zobeideh when it is night and the stars are reflected therein. Her hair
+is finer than silk, red with henna, and abundant as the foliage of the
+young cypress tree. Her face is as fair as the kernels of young almonds,
+and her mouth is sweeter than the mellow date and more fragrant than
+'Ood mingled with ambergris. She possesses moreover all the virtues
+which become women, for she is as modest as she is beautiful and as
+charitable as she is modest. From all parts of Arabia and Egypt, and
+from Syria and from Persia, and even from Samarkand, from Afghanistan,
+and from India princes and kings' sons continually come to ask her in
+marriage, for the fame of her beauty and of her virtues is as wide as
+the world. But her father, desiring only her happiness, leaves the
+choice of a husband to herself, and for a long time she refused all her
+suitors. For there is in the palace at Riad a certain secret chamber
+from which she can observe all those who come and hear their
+conversation and see the gifts which they bring with them.
+
+'At last there came as a suitor an unbeliever, a prince of an island by
+the shores of India, beautiful as the moon, whose speech was honey, and
+who surpassed all the suitors in riches and in the magnificence of the
+presents he brought. For he came bearing with him a hundred pounds'
+weight of pure gold, and five hundred ounces of ambergris, and a great
+weight of musk and aloes and sandal wood, and rich garments without
+number, and many woven shawls of Kashmir, of which the least splendid
+was valued at a thousand sherifs of gold. An innumerable retinue
+accompanied him, and twenty elephants, and horses without number,
+besides camels.
+
+'The Sultan's daughter beheld this beautiful prince from her secret
+hiding-place, and all that he had brought with him. The Sultan received
+him with kindness and hospitality, but assured him that unless he would
+renounce idolatry and embrace the true faith he could not hope to
+succeed in his purpose. Thereupon he was much cast down, and soon
+afterwards, having received magnificent gifts in his turn, he would have
+departed on his way, disappointed and heavy at heart. But Zehowah sent
+for her father and entreated him to bid the young prince remain. "For it
+is not impossible," she said, "that he may yet be converted to the true
+faith. And have I the right to refuse to sacrifice my freedom when the
+sacrifice may be the means of converting an idolater to the right way?
+And if I marry him and go with him to his kingdom, shall we not make
+true believers of all his subjects, so that I shall deserve to be called
+the mother of the faithful like Ayesha, beloved by the Prophet, upon
+whom be peace?" The Sultan found it hard to oppose this argument which
+was founded upon virtue and edified in righteousness. He therefore
+entreated the Indian prince to remain and to profess Islam, promising
+the hand of Zehowah when he should be converted.
+
+'Then I heard the prince taking secret counsel with a certain old man
+who was with him, who shaved his face and wore white clothing and ate
+food which he prepared for himself alone. The prince told all, and then
+the old man counselled him in this way. "Speak whatsoever words they
+require of thee," he said, "for words are but garments wherewith to make
+the nakedness of truth modest and agreeable. And take the woman, and by
+and by, when we are returned to our own land, if she consent to worship
+thy gods, it is good; and if not, it is yet good, for thou shalt possess
+her as thy wife, and her unbelief shall be of consequence only to her
+own soul, but thy soul shall not be retarded in its progress." And the
+young prince was pleased, and promised to do as his counsellor advised
+him.
+
+'So I saw that he was false and that Zehowah's righteousness would be
+but the means to her sorrow if she were allowed to persist. Therefore in
+the night, when all were asleep in the palace, I entered into the room
+where the prince was lying, and I took him in my arms and flew with him
+to the midst of the Red Desert, and there I slew him and buried him in
+the sand, for I saw that he was a liar and had determined to be a
+hypocrite.
+
+'But Allah immediately sent an angel to destroy me because I had put to
+death a man who was about to become a believer, thereby killing his soul
+also, since he had not yet made profession of the faith. But I stood up
+and defended myself, saying that I had slain a hypocrite who had planned
+in his heart to carry away the daughter of a Moslem. Then the angel
+asked the truth of the prince's soul, which was sitting upon the red
+sand that covered the body. The soul answered, weeping, and said: "These
+are true words, and I am fuel for hell." "Have I then deserved death?"
+I asked. "I have killed an unbeliever." The angel answered that I had
+deserved life; and he would have left me and returned to paradise, but I
+would not let him go, and I besought him to entreat Allah that I might
+be allowed to live the life of a mortal man upon earth. "For," I said,
+"thou sayest that I deserve life. But even if thou destroy me not now I
+am only one of the genii, who shall all die at the first blast of the
+trumpet before the resurrection of the dead. Obtain for me therefore
+that I may have a soul and live a few years, and if I do good I shall
+then be with the faithful in paradise; and if not, I shall be bound with
+red-hot chains and burn everlastingly like a sinful man." The angel
+promised to intercede for me and departed. So I sat down upon the mound
+of red sand beside the soul of the Indian prince, to wait for the
+angel's coming again.
+
+'Then the soul reproached me angrily. "But for thee," it said, "I should
+have married Zehowah and returned to my own people, and although I
+purposed to be a hypocrite, yet in time Zehowah might have convinced me
+and I should have believed in my heart. For I now see that there is no
+Allah but Allah, and that Mohammed is the prophet of Allah. And I should
+perhaps have died full of years, a good Moslem, and should have entered
+paradise. Therefore I pray Allah that this may be remembered in thy
+condemnation." At these words I was very angry and reviled the soul,
+scoffing at it. "No doubt Allah will hear thy prayer," I answered, "and
+will hear also at the same time thy lies. And as for Zehowah, thinkest
+thou that she would have loved thee, even if she had married thee? I
+tell thee that her soul rejoices only in the light of the faith, and
+that although she might have married thee, she would have done so in the
+hope of turning thy people from the worship of false gods and not for
+love of thee. For she will never love any man." When I had said this the
+soul groaned aloud and then remained silent.
+
+'In a little while the angel came back, and I saw that his face was no
+longer clouded with anger. "Hear the judgment of Allah," he said.
+"Inasmuch as thou tookest the law upon thyself, which belonged to Allah
+alone, thou deservest to die. But in so far as thou hast indeed slain a
+hypocrite and an unbeliever thou hast earned life. Allah is just,
+merciful and forgiving. It is not meet that in thy lot there should be
+nothing but reward or nothing but punishment. Therefore thou shalt not
+yet receive a soul. Go hence to the third heaven and when the angel
+Asrael shall be at leisure he will write thy name in the book of the
+living. Then thou shalt return hither and go into the city of Riad
+bearing gifts. And Zehowah will accept thee in marriage, though she love
+thee not, for Allah commands that it be so. But if in the course of
+time this virtuous woman be moved to love, and say to thee, 'Khaled, I
+love thee,' then at that moment thou shalt receive an immortal soul, and
+if thy deeds be good thy soul shall enter paradise with the believers,
+but if not, thou shalt burn. Thus saith Allah. Thus art thou rewarded,
+indeed, but wisely and temperately, since thou hast not obtained life
+directly, but only the hope of life." Then the angel departed again,
+leading the way.
+
+'But the soul mocked me. "Thou that sayest of Zehowah that she will
+never love any man, thou art fallen into thine own trap," it cried. "For
+now, if she love thee not thou must perish. Truly, Allah heard my
+prayer." But I was filled with thankfulness and departed after the
+angel, leaving the soul sitting alone upon the red sand.
+
+'Thus have I told thee my history, O Asrael. And now I pray thee to
+write my name in the book of the living that I may fulfil the command of
+Allah and go my way to the city of Riad.'
+
+Then Asrael again took up his pen to write in the book.
+
+'Now thou art become a living man, though thou hast as yet no soul,' he
+said. 'And thou art subject to death by the sword and by sickness and by
+all those evils which spring up in the path of the living. And the day
+of thy death is already known to Allah who knows all things. But he is
+merciful and will doubtless grant thee a term of years in which to make
+thy trial. Nevertheless be swift in thy journey and speedy in all thou
+doest, for though mortal man may live for ever hereafter in glory, his
+years on earth are but as the breath which springs up in the desert
+towards evening and is gone before the stars appear.'
+
+Khaled made a salutation before Asrael and went out of the third heaven,
+and passed through the second which is of burnished steel, and through
+the first in which the stars hang by golden chains, where Adam waits for
+the day of the resurrection, and at the gate he found the angel who had
+led him, and who now lifted him in his arms and bore him back to the Red
+Desert; for as he was now a mortal man he could no longer move through
+the air like the genii between the outer gate of heaven and the earth.
+Nor could he any longer see the soul of the Indian prince sitting upon
+the sand, though it was still there. But the angel was visible to him.
+So they stood together, and the angel spoke to him.
+
+'Thou art now a mortal man,' he said, 'and subject to time as to death.
+To thee it seems but a moment since we went up together to the gate, and
+yet thou wast standing ten months and thirteen days before Asrael, and
+of the body of the man whom thou slewest only the bones remain.'
+
+So saying the angel blew upon the red sand and Khaled saw the white
+bones of the prince in the place where he had laid his body. So he was
+first made conscious of time.
+
+'Nearly a year has passed, and though Allah be very merciful to thee,
+yet he will assuredly not suffer thee to live beyond the time of other
+men. Make haste therefore and depart upon thine errand. Yet because thou
+art come into the world a grown man, having neither father nor mother
+nor inheritance, I will give thee what is most necessary for thy
+journey.'
+
+Then the angel took a handful of leaves from a ghada bush close by and
+gave them to Khaled, and as he gave them they were changed into a rich
+garment, and into linen, and into a shawl with which to make a turban,
+and shoes of red leather.
+
+'Clothe thyself with these,' said the angel.
+
+He broke a twig from the bush and placed it in Khaled's hand.
+Immediately it became a sabre of Damascus steel, in a sheath of leather
+with a belt.
+
+'Take this sword, which is of such fine temper that it will cleave
+through an iron headpiece and a shirt of mail. But remember that it is
+not a sword made by magic. Let thy magic reside in thy arm, wield it for
+the faith, and put thy trust in Allah.'
+
+Afterwards the angel took up a locust that was asleep on the sand
+waiting for the warmth of the morning sun. The angel held the locust up
+before Khaled, and then let it fall. But as it fell it became at once a
+beautiful bay mare with round black eyes wide apart and an arching tail
+which swept down to the sand like a river of silk.
+
+'Take this mare,' said the angel; 'she is of the pure breed of Nejed and
+as swift as the wind, but mortal like thyself.'
+
+'But how shall I ride her without saddle or bridle?' asked Khaled.
+
+'That is true,' answered the angel.
+
+He laid leaves of the ghada upon the mare's back and they became a
+saddle, and placed a twig in her mouth and it turned into a bit and
+bridle.
+
+Khaled thanked the angel and mounted.
+
+'Farewell and prosper, and put thy trust in Allah, and forget not the
+day of judgment,' the angel said, and immediately returned to paradise.
+
+So Khaled was left alone in the Red Desert, a living man obliged to
+shift for himself, liable to suffer hunger and thirst or to be slain by
+robbers, with no worldly possessions but his sword, his bay mare, and
+the clothes on his back. He knew moreover that he was more than two
+hundred miles from the city of Riad, and he knew that he could not
+accomplish this journey in less than four days. For when he was one of
+the genii he had often watched men toiling through desert on foot, and
+on camels and on horses, and had laughed with his companions at the slow
+progress they made. But now it was no laughing matter, for he had
+forgotten to ask the angel for dates and water, or even for a few
+handfuls of barley meal.
+
+He turned the mare's head westward of the Goat, in which is the polar
+star, for he remembered that when he had carried away the Indian prince
+he had flown toward the south-east, and as he began to gallop over the
+dark sand he laughed to himself.
+
+'What poor things are men and their horses,' he said. 'To destroy me,
+this mare need only stumble and lame herself, and we shall both die of
+hunger and thirst in the desert.'
+
+This reflection made him at first urge the mare to her greatest speed,
+for he thought that the sooner he should be out of the desert and among
+the villages beyond, the present danger would be passed. But presently
+he bethought him that the mare would be more likely to stumble and hurt
+herself in the dark if she were galloping than if she were moving at a
+moderate pace. He therefore drew bridle and patted her neck and made her
+walk slowly and cautiously forward.
+
+But this did not please him either, after a time, for he remembered that
+if he rode too slowly he must die of hunger before reaching the end of
+his journey.
+
+'Truly,' he said, 'one must learn what it is to be a man, in order to
+understand the uses of moderation. Gallop not lest thy horse fall and
+thou perish! Nor delay walking slowly by the road, lest thou die of
+thirst and hunger! Yet thou art not safe, for Al Walid died from
+treading upon an arrow, and Oda ibn Kais perished by perpetual sneezing.
+Allah is just and merciful! I will let the mare go at her own pace, for
+the end of all things is known.'
+
+The mare, being left to herself, began to canter and carried Khaled
+onward all night without changing her gait.
+
+'Nevertheless,' thought Khaled, 'if we are not soon out of the desert we
+shall suffer thirst during the day as well as hunger.'
+
+When there was enough daylight to distinguish a black thread from a
+white, Khaled looked before him and saw that there was nothing but red
+sand in hillocks and ridges, with ghada bushes here and there. But still
+the mare cantered on and did not seem tired. Soon the sun rose and it
+grew very hot, for the air was quite still and it was summer time.
+
+Khaled looked always before him and at last he saw a white patch in the
+distance and he knew that there must be water near it. For the water of
+the Red Desert whitens the sand. He therefore rode on cheerfully, for he
+was now thirsty, and the mare quickened her pace, for she also knew
+that she was near a drinking-place. But as they came close to the spot
+Khaled remembered that the preceding night had been Al Kadr, which falls
+between the seventh and eighth latter days of the month Ramadhan, during
+which the true believers neither eat nor drink so long as there is light
+enough to distinguish a white thread from a black one. So, when they
+reached the well, he let his mare drink her fill, and he took off the
+saddle and bridle and let her loose, after which he sat down with his
+head in the shade of a ghada bush to rest himself.
+
+'Allah is merciful,' he said; 'the night will come, and then I will
+drink.' For he dared not ride farther, for fear of not finding water
+again.
+
+Then again he was disturbed, for he had nothing to eat, and he thought
+that if he waited until night he would be hungry as well as thirsty. But
+presently he saw the mare trying to catch the locusts that flew about.
+She could only catch one or two, because it was now hot and they were
+able to fly quickly.
+
+'When the night comes,' he said, 'the locusts will lie on the ground and
+cling to the bushes, being stiff with the cold, and then I will eat my
+fill, and drink also.'
+
+Soon afterwards he fell asleep, being weary, and when he awoke it was
+night again and the stars were shining overhead. Khaled rose hastily and
+drank at the well and made ablutions and prayed, prostrating himself
+towards the Kebla. He remembered that he had slept a long time, and that
+he had not performed his devotions for a day and a night, so that he
+repeated them five times, to atone for the omission.
+
+The mare was eating the locusts that now lay in great black patches on
+the sand unable to move and save themselves. Khaled threw his cloak over
+a great number of them and gathered them together. Then he kindled a
+fire of ghada by striking sparks from the blade of his sword, and when
+he had made a bed of coals he roasted the locusts after pulling off
+their legs, and ate his fill. While he was doing this he was much
+disturbed in mind.
+
+'I have only just begun to live as a man,' he thought. 'Did I not stand
+ten months and thirteen days in the third heaven, unconscious of the
+passing of time? Who shall tell me whether I have not slept another ten
+months or more under this bush, like the companions of Al Rakim?'
+
+So, when he had done eating and had drunk again from the well, and had
+made the mare drink, he saddled her quickly and mounted, and cantered on
+through the night, guiding his course by the stars. On the following day
+he again found a well, but much later than before, and he suffered much
+from thirst as he watched his mare dip her black lips into the pool.
+Nevertheless he would not break his fast, for he was resolved to be a
+true believer in practice as well as in belief. So he fell asleep and
+awoke when it was night again, and ate and drank. In this way he
+journeyed several days until he began to see the hill country which
+borders the desert towards Riad, and he understood that he had been much
+farther away than he had imagined. But he reflected that Allah had
+doubtless intended to try his constancy by imposing upon him the journey
+through the desert during the days of fasting. But at last, he awoke one
+day just at sunset, instead of sleeping until the night. He had been
+travelling up the first slopes where the ground, though barren, is
+harder than in the desert, and had lain down in a hollow by an abundant
+spring. He rose now and made ablutions and prayed, as usual, towards
+Mecca; that is to say, being where he was, he turned his face to the
+west as the sun was setting. When he had finished he stood some minutes
+watching the red light over the desert below him, and then he was
+suddenly aware that the new moon was hanging just above the diminishing
+fire of the evening, and he knew that the fast of Ramadhan was over and
+that the feast of Bairam had begun. Thereat he was glad, and determined
+to take an unusual number of locusts for his evening meal.
+
+But when he looked about he saw that there were no locusts in the place,
+though there was grass, which his mare was eating. Then he looked
+everywhere near the well to see whether some traveller had not perhaps
+dropped a few dates or a little barley by accident, but there was
+nothing.
+
+'Doubtless,' he said, 'Allah wishes to show me that greediness is a sin
+even on the day of feasting.'
+
+He drank as much of the water as he could in order to stay his hunger as
+well as assuage his thirst, and then he saddled the mare and rode up out
+of the hollow towards the hill country. Towards the middle of the night
+he came to a small village where all the people were celebrating the
+feast, having killed a young camel and several sheep. Seeing that he was
+a traveller they bade him be welcome, and he sat down among them and ate
+his fill of meat, praising Allah. And corn was given to his mare, so
+that the dumb animal also kept the feast.
+
+'Truly,' said the people, 'thy mare is a daughter of Al Borak, the
+heavenly steed called "the Lightning," upon which the nocturnal journey
+was accomplished by the Prophet, upon whom be peace.'
+
+They said this not because they divined that the mare had been given to
+Khaled by an angel, but because they saw by her beauty that she must be
+swift as the wind. For she had a large head, with bony cheeks, and a
+full forehead and round black eyes wide apart, with smooth black skin
+about them, and a pointed nose, and the under lip was like that of a
+camel, projecting a little. And she was neither too long nor too short,
+having straight legs like steel, and small feet and round hoofs, neither
+overgrown in idleness nor overworn with much work. And her tail lay flat
+and long and smooth when she was standing still but arched like the
+plume of an ostrich when she moved. Her coat was bright bay, glossy and
+smooth and without any white markings. By all these signs, which belong
+to the purest blood, the people of the village knew that she was of the
+fleetest reared in Arabia. And Khaled was glad that the people admired
+her, since she was the chief of his few possessions, which indeed were
+not many.
+
+He did not know beforehand what he should do, nor what he should say
+when in the presence of the Sultan of Nejed, still less how he could
+venture to ask Zehowah in marriage, having no gifts to offer and not
+being himself a prince. Before he had become a man it would have been
+easy for him to find treasures in the earth such as men had never seen,
+for, like all the genii, he had been acquainted with the most deeply
+hidden mines and with all places where men had hidden wealth in old
+times. But this knowledge does not belong to the intelligence becoming
+mortals, but rather to the faculty of seeing through solid substance
+which is exercised by the spirits of the air, and in his present state
+it was taken from him, together with all possibility of communicating
+with his former companions. He had nothing but his mare and his sword
+and the garments he wore, and though the mare was indeed a gift for a
+king he did not know whether he was meant to offer it to any one, seeing
+that it had been given him by an angel.
+
+Nevertheless he did not lose heart, for the celestial messenger had told
+him that by the will of Allah he should marry Zehowah, and Allah was
+certainly able to give him a king's daughter in marriage without the aid
+of gifts, of gold, of musk, of 'Ood, of aloes or of pearls.
+
+He rose, therefore, when he had eaten enough and had rested himself and
+his mare, and after thanking the people of the village for their
+entertainment he rode on his way. He passed through a hill country,
+sometimes fertile and sometimes stony and deserted, but he found water
+by the way and such food as he needed; and accomplished the remainder of
+the journey without hindrance.
+
+On the morning of the second day he came to a halting-place from which
+he could see the city of Riad, and he was astonished at the size and
+magnificence of the Sultan's palace, which was visible above the walls
+of the fortification. Yet he was aware that he had seen all this before
+as in a dream not altogether forgotten when a man wakes at dawn after a
+long and restless night.
+
+He gazed awhile, after he had made his ablutions, and then calling to
+his mare to come to him, he mounted and rode through the southern gate
+into the heart of the city.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+When Khaled reached the palace he dismounted from his mare, and leading
+her by the bridle entered the gateway. Here he met many persons, guards,
+and slaves both black and white, and porters bearing provisions, and a
+few women, all hurrying hither and thither; and many noticed him, but a
+few gazed curiously into his face, and two or three grooms followed him
+a little way, pointing out to each other the beauties of his mare.
+
+'Truly,' they said, 'if we did not know the mares of the stud better
+than the faces of our mothers, we should swear by Allah that this beast
+had been stolen from the Sultan's stables by a thief in the night, for
+she is of the best blood in Nejed.'
+
+These being curious they saluted Khaled and asked him whence he came and
+whither he was going, seeing that it is not courteous to ask a stranger
+any other questions.
+
+'I come from the Red Desert,' Khaled answered, 'and I am going into the
+palace as you see.'
+
+The grooms saw that there was a rebuke in the last part of his answer
+and hung back and presently went their way.
+
+'Are such mares bred in the Red Desert?' they exclaimed. 'The stranger
+is doubtless the sheikh of some powerful tribe. But if this be true,
+where are the men that came with him? And why is he dressed like a man
+of the city?'
+
+So they hastened out of the gateway to find the Bedouins who, they
+supposed, must have accompanied Khaled on his journey.
+
+But Khaled went forward and came to a great court in which were stone
+seats by the walls. Here a number of people were waiting. So he sat down
+upon one of the seats and his mare laid her nose upon his shoulder as
+though inquiring what he would do.
+
+'Allah knows,' Khaled said, as though answering her. So he waited
+patiently.
+
+At last a man came out into the courtyard who was richly dressed, and
+whom all the people saluted as he passed. But he came straight towards
+Khaled, who rose from his seat.
+
+'Whence come you, my friend?' he inquired after they had exchanged the
+salutation.
+
+'From the Red Desert, and I desire permission to speak with the Sultan
+when it shall please his majesty to see me.'
+
+'And what do you desire of his majesty? I ask that I may inform him
+beforehand. So you will have a better reception.'
+
+'Tell the Sultan,' said Khaled, 'that a man is here who has neither
+father nor mother nor any possessions beyond a swift mare, a keen sword
+and a strong hand, but who is come nevertheless to ask in marriage
+Zehowah, the Sultan's daughter.'
+
+The minister smiled and gazed at Khaled in silence for a moment, but
+when he had looked keenly at his face, he became grave.
+
+'It may be,' he thought, 'that this is some great prince who comes thus
+simply as in a disguise, and it were best not to anger him.'
+
+'I will deliver your message,' he answered aloud, 'though it is a
+strange one. It is customary for those who come to ask for a maiden in
+marriage to bring gifts--and to receive others in return,' he added.
+
+'I neither bring gifts nor ask any,' said Khaled. 'Allah is great and
+will provide me with what I need.'
+
+'I fear that he will not provide you with the Sultan's daughter for a
+wife,' said the minister as he went away, but Khaled did not hear the
+words, though he would have cared little if he had.
+
+Now it chanced that Zehowah was sitting in a balcony surrounded with
+lattice, over the courtyard, on that morning and she had seen Khaled
+enter, leading his mare by the bridle. But though she watched the
+stranger and his beast idly for some time she thought as little of the
+one as of the other, for her heart was not turned to love, and she knew
+nothing of horses. But her women thought differently and spoke loudly,
+praising the beauty of both.
+
+'There is indeed a warrior able to fight in the front of our armies,'
+they said. 'Truly such a man must have been Khaled ibn Walad, the Sword
+of the Lord, in the days of the Prophet--upon whom peace.'
+
+By and by there was a cry that the Sultan was coming into the room, and
+the women rose and retired. The Sultan sat down upon the carpet by his
+daughter, in the balcony.
+
+'Do you see that stranger, holding a beautiful mare by the bridle?' he
+asked.
+
+'Yes, I see him,' answered Zehowah indifferently.
+
+'He is come to ask you in marriage.'
+
+'Another!' she exclaimed with a careless laugh. 'If it is the will of
+Allah I will marry him. If not, he will go away like the rest.'
+
+'This man is not like the rest, my daughter. He is either a madman or
+some powerful prince in disguise.'
+
+'Or both, perhaps,' laughed Zehowah. She laughed often, for although she
+was not inclined to love, she was of a gentle and merry temper.
+
+'His message was a strange one,' said the Sultan. 'He says that he
+neither brings gifts nor asks them, that he has neither father nor
+mother, nor any possessions excepting a swift mare, a keen sword and a
+strong hand.'
+
+'I see the mare, the sword and the hand,' answered Zehowah. 'But the
+hand is like any other hand--how can I tell whether it be strong? The
+sword is in its sheath, and I cannot see its edge, and though the mare
+is pretty enough, I have seen many of your own I liked as well. The
+elephants of the Indian prince were more amusing, and the prince himself
+was more beautiful than this stranger with his black beard and his
+solemn face.'
+
+'That is true,' said the Sultan with a sigh.
+
+'Do you wish me to marry this man?' Zehowah asked.
+
+'My daughter, I wish you to choose of your own free will. Nevertheless I
+trust that you will choose before long, that I may see my child's
+children before I die.'
+
+For the Sultan was old and white-bearded, and was already somewhat bowed
+with advancing years and with burden of many cares and the fatigues of
+many wars. Yet his eye was bright and his heart fearless still, though
+his judgment was often weak and vacillating.
+
+'Do you wish me to marry this man?' Zehowah asked again. 'He will be a
+strange husband, for he is a strange suitor, coming without gifts and
+having neither father nor mother. But I will do as you command. If you
+leave it to me I shall never marry.'
+
+'I did not say that I desired you to take this one especially,'
+protested the Sultan, 'though for the matter of gifts I care little,
+since heaven has sent me wealth in abundance. But my remaining years are
+few, and the years of life are like stones slipping from a mountain
+which move slowly at first, and then faster until they outrun the
+lightning and leap into the dark valley below. And what is required of a
+husband is that he be a true believer, young and whole in every part,
+and of a charitable disposition.'
+
+'Truly,' laughed Zehowah, 'if he have no possessions, charity will avail
+him little, since he has nothing to give.'
+
+'There is other charity besides the giving of alms, my daughter, since
+it is charity even to think charitably of others, as you know. But I
+have not said that you should marry this man, for you are free. And
+indeed I have not yet talked with him. But I have sent for him and you
+shall hear him speak. See--they are just now conducting him to the hall
+of audiences. But indeed I think he is no husband for you, after all.'
+
+The Sultan rose and went to receive Khaled, and Zehowah went to the
+secret window above her father's raised seat in the hall.
+
+Khaled made the customary salutation with the greatest respect, and the
+Sultan made him sit down at his right hand as though he had been a
+prince, and asked him whence he had come. Then a refreshment was
+brought, and Khaled ate and drank a little, after which the Sultan
+inquired his business.
+
+'I come,' said Khaled boldly, 'to ask your daughter Zehowah in marriage.
+I bring no gifts, for I have none to offer, nor have I any inheritance.
+My mare is my fortune, my sword is my argument and my wit is in my arm.'
+
+'You are a strange suitor,' said the Sultan; but he kept a pleasant
+countenance, since Khaled was his guest. 'You are no doubt the sheikh of
+a tribe of the Red Desert, though I was not aware that any tribes dwelt
+there.'
+
+'So far as being the sheikh of my tribe,' said Khaled with a smile,
+'your majesty may call me so, for my tribe consists of myself alone,
+seeing that I have neither father nor mother nor any relations.'
+
+'Truly, I have never talked with such a suitor before,' answered the
+Sultan. 'At least I presume that you are a son of some prince, and that
+you have chosen to disguise yourself as a rich traveller and to hide
+your history under an allegory.'
+
+The Sultan would certainly not have allowed himself to overstep the
+bounds of courtesy so far, but for his astonishment at Khaled's daring
+manner. He was too keen, however, not to see that this man was
+something above the ordinary and that, whatever else he might be, he was
+not a common impostor. Such a fellow would have found means to rob a
+caravan of valuable goods, to offer as gifts, would have brought himself
+a train of camels and slaves and would have given himself out as a
+prince of some distant country from which it would not be possible to
+obtain information.
+
+'Istaghfir Allah! I am no prince,' Khaled answered. 'I ask for the hand
+of your daughter. The will of Allah will be accomplished.'
+
+He knew that Zehowah was watching and listening behind the lattice in
+her place of concealment, for the memory of such things had not been
+taken from him when he had lost the supernatural vision of the genii and
+had become an ordinary man. He was determined therefore to be truthful
+and to say nothing which he might afterwards be called upon to explain.
+For he never doubted but that Zehowah would be his wife, since the angel
+had told him that it should be so.
+
+'And what if I refuse even to consider your proposal?' inquired the
+Sultan, to see what he would say.
+
+'If it is the will of Allah that I marry your daughter, your refusal
+would be useless, but if it is not his will, your refusal would be
+altogether unnecessary.'
+
+The Sultan was much struck by this argument which showed a ready wit in
+the stranger and which he could only have opposed by asserting that his
+own will was superior to that of heaven itself.
+
+'But,' said he, defending himself, 'any of the previous suitors might
+have said the same.'
+
+'Undoubtedly,' replied Khaled, unabashed. 'But they did not say it. Your
+majesty will certainly now consider the matter.'
+
+'In the meanwhile,' the Sultan answered, very graciously, 'you are my
+guest, and you have come in time to take part in the third day of the
+feast, to which you are welcome in the name of Allah, the merciful.'
+
+Thereupon the Sultan rose and Khaled was conducted to the apartments set
+apart for the guests. But the Sultan returned to the harem in a very
+thoughtful mood, and before long he found Zehowah who had returned to
+her seat in the balcony.
+
+'This is a very strange suitor,' he said, shaking his head and looking
+into his daughter's face.
+
+'He is at least bold and outspoken,' she answered. 'He makes no secret
+of his poverty nor of his wishes. Whatever he be, he is in earnest and
+speaks truth. I would like well to know the only secret which he wishes
+to keep--who he really is.'
+
+'It may be,' said the Sultan thoughtfully, 'that if I threaten to cut
+off his head he will tell us. But on the other hand, he is a guest.'
+
+'He is not of those who are easily terrified, I think. Tell me, my
+father, do you wish me to marry him?'
+
+'How could you marry a man who has no family and no inheritance? Would
+such a marriage befit the daughter of kings?'
+
+'Why not?' asked Zehowah with much calmness.
+
+The Sultan stared at her in astonishment.
+
+'Has this stranger enchanted your imagination?' he inquired by way of
+answer.
+
+'No,' replied Zehowah scornfully. 'I have seen the noblest, the most
+beautiful and the richest of the earth, ready to take me to wife, and I
+have not loved. Shall I love an outcast?'
+
+'Then how can you ask my wishes?'
+
+'Because there are good reasons why I should marry this man.'
+
+'Good reasons? In the name of Allah let me hear them, if there are any.'
+
+'You are old, my father,' said Zehowah, 'and it has not pleased heaven
+to send you a son, nor to leave you any living relation to sit upon the
+throne when your years are accomplished. You must needs think of your
+successor.'
+
+'The better reason for choosing some powerful prince, whose territory
+shall increase the kingdom he inherits from me, and whose alliance shall
+strengthen the empire I leave behind me.'
+
+'Istaghfir Allah! The worse reason. For such a prince would be attached
+to his own country, and would take me thither with him and would neglect
+the kingdom of Nejed, regarding it as a land of strangers whom he may
+oppress with taxes to increase his own splendour. And this is not
+unreasonable, since no king can wisely govern two kingdoms separated
+from each other by more than three days' journey. No man can have other
+than the one of two reasons for asking me in marriage. Either he has
+heard of me and desires to possess me, or he wishes to increase his
+dominions by the inheritance which will be mine.'
+
+'Doubtless, this is the truth,' said the Sultan. 'But so much the more
+does this stranger in all probability covet my kingdom, since he has
+nothing of his own.'
+
+'This is what I mean. For, having no other possessions to distract his
+attention, he will remain always here, and will govern your kingdom for
+its own advantage in order that it may profit himself.'
+
+'This is a subtle argument, my daughter, and one requiring
+consideration.'
+
+'The more so because the man seems otherwise well fitted to be my
+husband, since he is a true believer, and young, and fearless and
+outspoken.'
+
+'But if this is all,' objected the Sultan, 'there are in Nejed several
+young men, sons of my chief courtiers, who possess the same
+qualifications. Choose one of them.'
+
+'On the contrary, to choose one of them would arouse the jealousy of all
+the rest, with their families and slaves and freedmen, whereby the
+kingdom would easily be exposed to civil war. But if I take a stranger
+it is more probable that all will be for him, since you are beloved, and
+there is no reason why one party should oppose him and another support
+him, since none of them know anything of him.'
+
+'But he will not be beloved by the people unless he is liberal, and he
+has nothing wherewith to be generous.'
+
+'And where are the treasures of Riad?' laughed Zehowah. 'Is it not easy
+for you to go secretly to his chamber and to give him as much gold as he
+needs?'
+
+'That is also true. I see that you have set your heart upon him.'
+
+'Not my heart, my father, but my head. For I have infinitely more head
+than heart, and I see that the welfare of the kingdom will be better
+secured with such a ruler, than it would have been under a foreign
+prince whose right hand would be perpetually thrust out to take in Nejed
+that which his left hand would throw to courtiers in his own country. Do
+I speak wisdom or folly?'
+
+'It is neither all folly nor all wisdom.'
+
+'I have seen this man, I have heard him speak,' said Zehowah. 'He is as
+well as another since I must marry sooner or later. Moreover I have
+another argument.'
+
+'What is that?'
+
+'Either he is a man strong enough to rule me, or he is not,' Zehowah
+answered with a laugh. 'If he can govern me, he can govern the kingdom
+of Nejed. But if not I will govern it for him, and rule him also.'
+
+The Sultan looked up to heaven and slightly raised his hands from his
+knees.
+
+'Allah is merciful and forgiving!' he exclaimed. 'Is this the spirit
+befitting a wife?'
+
+'Is it charity to cause happiness?'
+
+'Undoubtedly it is charity.'
+
+'And which is greater, the happiness of many or the happiness of one?'
+
+'The happiness of many is greater,' answered the Sultan. 'What then?' he
+asked after a time, seeing that she said nothing more.
+
+'I have spoken,' she replied. 'It is best that I should marry him.'
+
+Then there was silence for a long time, during which the Sultan sat
+quite motionless in his place, watching his daughter, while she looked
+idly through the lattice at the people who came and went in the court
+below. She seemed to feel no emotion.
+
+The Sultan did not know how to oppose Zehowah's will any more than he
+could answer her arguments, although his worldly wisdom was altogether
+at variance with her decision. For she was the beloved child of his old
+age and he could refuse her nothing. Moreover, in what she had said,
+there was much which recommended itself to his judgment, though by no
+means enough to persuade him. At last he rose from the carpet and
+embraced her.
+
+'If it is your will, let it be so,' he said.
+
+'It is the will of Allah,' answered Zehowah. 'Let it be accomplished
+immediately.'
+
+With a sigh the Sultan withdrew and sent a messenger to Khaled
+requesting him to come to another and more secluded chamber, where they
+could be alone and talk freely.
+
+Khaled showed no surprise on hearing that his suit was accepted, but he
+thought it fitting to express much gratitude for the favourable
+decision. Then the Sultan, who did not wish to seem too readily
+yielding, began to explain to Khaled Zehowah's reasons for accepting a
+poor stranger, presenting them as though they were his own.
+
+'For,' he said, 'whatever you may in reality be, you have chosen to
+present yourself to us in such a manner as would not have failed to
+bring about a refusal under any other circumstances. But I have
+considered that as it will be your destiny, if heaven grants you life,
+to rule my kingdom after me, you will in all likelihood rule it more
+wisely and carefully, for having no other cares in a distant country to
+distract your attention; and because you have no relations you are the
+less liable to the attacks of open or secret jealousy.'
+
+The Sultan then gave him a large sum of money in gold pieces, which
+Khaled gladly accepted, since he had not even wherewithal to buy himself
+a garment for the wedding feast, still less to distribute gifts to the
+courtiers and to the multitude. The Sultan also presented him with a
+black slave to attend to his personal wants.
+
+Khaled then sent for merchants from the bazar, and they brought him all
+manner of rich stuffs, such as he needed. There came also two tailors,
+who sat down upon a matting in his apartment and immediately began to
+make him clothes, while the black slave sat beside them and watched
+them, lest they should steal any of the gold of the embroideries.
+
+When it was known in the palace that the Sultan's only daughter was to
+be married at once, there were great rejoicings, and many camels were
+slaughtered and a great number of sheep, to supply food for so great a
+feast. A number of cooks were hired also to help those who belonged to
+the palace, for although the Sultan fed daily more than three hundred
+persons, guests, travellers, and poor, besides all the members of the
+household, yet this was as nothing compared with the multitude to be
+provided for on the present occasion.
+
+Then it was that Hadji Mohammed, the chief of the cooks, sat down upon
+the floor in the midst of the main kitchen and beat his breast and wept.
+For the confusion was great so that the voice of one man could not be
+heard for the diabolical screaming of the many, and the cooks smote the
+young lads who helped them, and these, running to escape from the blows,
+fell against the porters who came in from outside bearing sacks of
+sugar, and great baskets of fruit and quarters of meat and skins of
+water, and bushels of meal and a hundred other things equally necessary
+to the cooking; and the porters, staggering under their burdens, fell
+between the legs of the mules loaded with firewood, that had been
+brought to the gate, and the dumb beasts kicked violently in all
+directions, while the slaves who drove them struck them with their
+staves, and the mules began to run among the camels, and the camels,
+being terrified, rose from the ground and began to plunge and skip like
+young foals, while more porters and more mules and more slaves came on
+in multitudes to the door of the kitchen. And it was very hot, for it
+was noontide, and in summer, and there were flies without number, and
+the dogs that had been sleeping in the shade sprang up and barked loudly
+and bit whomsoever they could reach, and all the men bellowed together,
+so that the confusion was extreme.
+
+'Verily,' cried Hadji Mohammed, 'this is not a kitchen but Yemamah, and
+I am not the chief of the cooks, but the chief of sinners and fuel for
+hell.' So he wept bitterly and beat his breast.
+
+But at last matters mended, for there were many who were willing to do
+well, so that when the time came Hadji Mohammed was able to serve an
+honourable feast to all, though the number of the guests was not less
+than two thousand.
+
+But Khaled, having visited the bath, arrayed himself magnificently and
+rode upon his bay mare to the mosque, surrounded by the courtiers and
+the chief officers of the state, and by a great throng of slaves from
+the palace. As he rode, he scattered gold pieces among the people from
+the bags which he carried, and all praised his liberality and swore by
+Allah that Zehowah was taking a very goodly husband. And as none knew
+whence he came, all were equally pleased, but most of all the Bedouins
+from the desert, of whom there were many at that time in Riad, who had
+come to keep the feast Bairam, for Khaled's own words had been repeated,
+and they had heard that he came from the desert like themselves. And
+when he had finished his prayers, he rode back to the palace.
+
+When the time for the feast came the Sultan led Khaled into the great
+hall and made him sit at his right hand. The Sultan himself was
+magnificently dressed and covered with priceless jewels, so that he
+shone like the sun among all the rest. Then he presented Khaled to the
+assembly.
+
+'This,' said he, 'is Khaled, my beloved son-in-law, the husband of my
+only daughter, whom it has pleased Allah to send me, as the stay of my
+old age and as the successor to my kingdom. He will be terrible in war
+as Khaled ibn Walid, his namesake, the Sword of the Lord, and gentle and
+just in peace as Abu Bakr of blessed memory. He is as brave as the lion,
+as strong as the camel, as swift as the ostrich, as sagacious as the fox
+and as generous as the pelican, who feeds her young with the blood of
+her own breast. Love him therefore, as you have loved me, for he is
+extremely worthy of affection, and hate his enemies and be faithful to
+him in the time of danger. By the blessing of Allah he shall rear up
+children to me in my old age, to be with you when he is gone.'
+
+Thereupon Khaled turned and answered, speaking modestly but with much
+dignity in his manner.
+
+'Ye men of Nejed, this is my marriage feast and I invite you all to be
+merry with me. Whether it shall please Allah to give me a long life, or
+whether it shall please him to take me this night I know not. We are in
+the hand of Allah. But this I do know. I will love you as my own people,
+seeing that I have no people of my own. I will fight for you as a man
+fights for his own soul, for his wife and for his children, and I will
+divide justly the spoils in war, and give in peace whatsoever I am able,
+to all those who are in need. I swear by Allah! You are all witnesses.'
+
+The courtiers and all the guests were much pleased with this short
+speech, for they saw that Khaled was a man of few words and not proud or
+overbearing, and none could look into his face and doubt his promise.
+For the present moment at least Zehowah's prediction had been verified,
+for no one was jealous of him, and there was but one party among them
+all and that was for him. So they all feasted together in harmony until
+the sun was low.
+
+In the meantime Zehowah remained in the harem, surrounded by her women,
+and a separate meal was brought to them. They all sat upon the rich
+carpets leaning on cushions set against the walls, and small low tables
+were brought in, covered with dishes and bowls containing delicately
+prepared rice and mutton in great abundance and fresh blanket bread, hot
+from the stones, and olives brought from Syria. Afterwards came
+sweetmeats without number, such as Hadji Mohammed knew how to prepare,
+and gold and silver goblets filled with a drink made from large sweet
+lemons and water, which is called 'treng.' Zehowah indeed ate sparingly,
+for she was accustomed to such dainties every day, but her women were
+delighted with the abundance and left nothing to be taken away.
+
+While they were eating six of the women played upon musical instruments
+by turns, while others danced slow and graceful measures, singing as
+they moved, and describing the unspeakable happiness which awaited their
+princess in marriage. Afterwards when the tables had been taken away and
+they had washed their hands with rose water from Ajjem, Zehowah
+commanded the singing and the dancing to cease, and the women brought
+her one by one the dresses which she was to wear before Khaled. They
+were very magnificent, for it had needed many years to prepare them, and
+a great weight of gold and silver threads had been weighed out to the
+tailors and embroiderers who had worked in the preparation of them ever
+since Zehowah had been two years old. For the piece of material is
+weighed first, and then the gold, and afterwards, when the work is
+finished, the whole is weighed together, lest the tailors should steal
+anything.
+
+But Zehowah looked coldly at the garments, one after the other, as they
+were brought and taken away, and the women fancied that she was to be
+married to the stranger against her will, and that she remembered the
+Indian prince.
+
+'It is a pity,' one of them ventured to say, 'that the bridegroom has
+not brought any elephants with him, for we would have watched them from
+the balconies, since they are diverting beasts.'
+
+'And it is a pity,' said Zehowah scornfully, 'that my husband has not a
+round, soft face, like the moon in May, and the eyes of a gazelle and
+the heart of a hare. Truly, such a one would have made you a good king,
+seeing that he was also an unbeliever!'
+
+'Nay,' said the woman humbly, 'Allah forbid that I should make a
+comparison, or bring an ill omen on the day by speaking of that which
+chanced a year ago. Truly, I only spoke of elephants, and not of men.
+For, surely, we all said when we saw him in the court that he looked a
+brave warrior and a goodly man.'
+
+Then a messenger came from the Sultan saying that it was time to make
+ready. So they went to another apartment, where the nuptial chamber had
+been prepared. The Sultan came, then, leading Khaled, and followed by
+the Kadi, and all the women veiled themselves while the latter read the
+declaration of marriage. After that they all withdrew and Khaled took
+his seat upon the high couch in the middle of the room. Presently all
+the women returned, unveiled, with loud singing and playing of
+instruments, leading Zehowah dressed in the first of the dresses which
+she was to put on, and which, though it was very splendid, was of course
+the least magnificent of all those which had been prepared. But Khaled
+sat in his place looking on quietly, for he was acquainted with the
+custom, and he cared little for the rich garments, but looked always
+into Zehowah's face.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+Khaled sat with his sword upon his feet, and when Zehowah was not in the
+room he played with the hilt and thought of all that was happening.
+
+'Truly,' he said to himself, 'Allah is great. Was I not, but a few days
+since, one of the genii condemned to perish at the day of the
+resurrection? And am I not now a man, married to the most beautiful
+woman in the whole world, and the wisest and the best, needing only to
+be loved by her in order to obtain an undying soul? And why should this
+woman not love me? Truly, we shall see before long, when this mummery is
+finished.'
+
+So he sat on the couch while Zehowah was led before him again and again
+each time in clothing more splendid than before, and each time with new
+songs and new music. But at the last time the attendants left her
+standing before him and went away, and only a very old woman remained at
+the door, screaming out in a cracked voice the customary exhortations.
+Then she, too, went away and the door was shut and Khaled and Zehowah
+were alone.
+
+It was now near the middle of the night. The chamber was large and high,
+lighted by a number of hanging lamps such as are made in Bagdad, of
+brass perforated with beautiful designs and filled with coloured
+glasses, in each of which a little wick floats upon oil. Upon the walls
+rich carpets were hung, both Arabian and Persian, some taken in war as
+booty, and some brought by merchants in time of peace. A brass chafing
+dish stood at some distance from the couch, and upon the coals the women
+had thrown powdered myrrh and benzoin before they went away. But Khaled
+cared little for these things, since he had seen all the treasures of
+the earth in their most secret depositories.
+
+Zehowah had watched him narrowly during the ceremony of the dresses and
+had seen that he felt no surprise at anything which was brought before
+him.
+
+'His own country must be full of great wealth and magnificence,' she
+thought, 'since so much treasure does not astonish him.' And she was
+disappointed.
+
+Now that they were alone, he still sat in silence, gazing at her as she
+stood beside him, and not even thinking of any speech, for he was
+overcome and struck dumb by her eyes.
+
+'You are not pleased with what I have shown you,' Zehowah said at last
+in a tone of displeasure and disappointment. 'And yet you have seen the
+wealth of my father's palace.'
+
+'I have seen neither wealth nor treasure, neither rich garments, nor
+precious stones nor chains of gold nor embroideries of pearls,' Khaled
+answered slowly.
+
+But Zehowah frowned and tapped the carpet impatiently with her foot
+where she stood, for she was annoyed, having expected him to praise the
+beauty of her many dresses.
+
+'They who have eyes can see,' she said. 'But if you are not pleased, my
+father will give me a hundred dresses more beautiful than these, and
+pearls and jewels without end.'
+
+'I should not see them,' Khaled replied. 'I have seen two jewels which
+have dazzled me so that I can see nothing else.'
+
+Zehowah gazed at him with a look of inquiry.
+
+'I have seen the eyes of Zehowah,' he continued, 'which are as the stars
+Sirius and Aldebaran, when they are over the desert in the nights of
+winter. What jewels can you show me like these?'
+
+Then Zehowah laughed softly and sat down beside her husband on the edge
+of the couch.
+
+'Nevertheless,' she said, 'the dresses are very rich. You might admire
+them also.'
+
+'I will look at them when you are not near me, for then my sight will be
+restored for other things.'
+
+Khaled took her hand in his and held it.
+
+'Tell me, Zehowah, will you love me?' he asked in a soft voice.
+
+'You are my lord and my master,' she answered, looking modestly
+downward, and her hand lay quite still.
+
+She was so very beautiful that as Khaled sat beside her and looked at
+her downcast face, and knew that she was his, he could not easily
+believe that she was cold and indifferent to him.
+
+'By Allah!' he thought, 'can it be so hard to get a woman's love? Truly,
+I think she begins to love me already.'
+
+Zehowah looked up and smiled carelessly as though answering his
+question, but Khaled was obliged to admit in his heart that the answer
+lacked clearness, for he found it no easier to interpret a woman's smile
+than men had found it before him, and have found it since, even to this
+day.
+
+'You have had many suitors,' he said at last, 'and it is said that your
+father has given you your own free choice, allowing you to see them and
+hear them speak while he was receiving them. Tell me why you have chosen
+me rather than the rest, unless it is because you love me? For I came
+with empty hands, and without servants or slaves, or retinue of any
+kind, riding alone out of the Red Desert. It was therefore for myself
+that you took me.'
+
+'You are right. It was for yourself that I took you.'
+
+'Then it was for love of me, was it not?'
+
+'There were and still are many and good reasons,' answered Zehowah
+calmly, and at the same time withdrawing her hand from his and smoothing
+back the black hair from her forehead. 'I told them all to my father,
+and he was convinced.'
+
+'Tell them to me also,' said Khaled.
+
+So she explained all to him in detail, making him see everything as she
+saw it herself. And the explanation was so very clear, that Khaled felt
+a cold chill in his heart as he understood that she had chosen him
+rather for politic reasons, than because she wished him for her husband.
+
+'And yet,' she added at the end, 'it was the will of Allah, for
+otherwise I would not have chosen you.'
+
+'But surely,' he said, somewhat encouraged by these last words, 'there
+was some love in the choice, too.'
+
+'How can I tell!' she exclaimed, with a little laugh. 'What is love?'
+
+Finding himself confronted by such an amazing question, Khaled was
+silent, and took her hand again. For though many have asked what love
+is, no one has ever been able to find an answer in words to satisfy the
+questioner, seeing that the answer can have no more to do with words
+than love itself, a matter sufficiently explained by a certain wise man,
+who understood the heart of man. If, said he, a man who loves a woman,
+or a woman who loves a man could give in words the precise reason why
+he or she loves, then love itself could be defined in language; but as
+no man or woman has ever succeeded in doing this, I infer that they who
+love best do not themselves know in what love consists--still less
+therefore can any one else know, wherefore the definition is impossible,
+and no one need waste time in trying to find it.
+
+A certain wit has also said that although it be impossible for any man
+to explain the nature of love to many persons at the same time, he
+generally finds it easy to make his explanations to one person only. But
+this is a mere quibbling jest and not deserving of any attention.
+
+Zehowah expected an answer to her question, and Khaled was silent, not
+because he was as yet too little acquainted with the feelings of a man
+to give them expression, but because he already felt so much that it was
+hard for him to speak at all.
+
+Zehowah laughed and shook her head, for she was not of a timid temper.
+
+'How can you expect me to say that I love you, when you yourself are
+unable to answer such a simple question?' she asked. 'And besides, are
+you not my lord and my master? What is it then to you, whether I love
+you or not?'
+
+But again Khaled was silent, debating whether he should tell her the
+truth, how the angel had promised in Allah's name that if she loved him
+he should obtain an undying soul, and how the task of obtaining her love
+had been laid upon him as a sort of atonement for having slain the
+Indian prince. But as he reflected he understood that this would
+probably estrange her all the more from him.
+
+'Yet I can answer your question,' he said at last. 'What is love? It is
+that which is in me for you only.'
+
+'But how am I to know what that is?' asked Zehowah, drawing up the
+smooth gold bracelets upon her arm and letting them fall down to her
+wrist, so that they jangled like a camel's bell.
+
+'If you love me you will know,' Khaled answered, 'for then, perhaps, you
+will feel a tenth part of what I feel.'
+
+'And why not all that you feel?' she asked, looking at him, but still
+playing with the bracelets.
+
+'Because it is impossible for any woman to love as much as I love you,
+Zehowah.'
+
+'You mean, perhaps, that a woman is too weak to love so well,' she
+suggested. 'And you think, perhaps, that we are weak because we sit all
+our lives upon the carpets in the harem eating sweetmeats, and listening
+to singing girls and to old women who tell us tales of long ago. Yet
+there have been strong women too--as strong as men. Kenda, who tore out
+the heart of Kamsa--was she weak?'
+
+'Women are stronger to hate than to love,' said Khaled.
+
+'But a man can forget his hatred in the love of a woman, and his
+strength also,' laughed Zehowah. 'I would rather that you should not
+love me at all, than that you should forget to be strong in the day of
+battle. For I have married you that you may lead my people to war and
+bring home the spoil.'
+
+'And if I destroy all your enemies and the enemies of your people, will
+you love me then, Zehowah?'
+
+'Why should I love you then, more than now? What has war to do with
+love? Again, I ask, what is it to you whether I love you or not? Am I
+not your wife, and are you not my master? What is this love of which you
+talk? Is it a rich garment that you can wear? A precious stone that you
+can fasten in your turban? A rich carpet to spread in your house? A
+treasure of gold, a mountain of ambergris, a bushel of pearls from Oman?
+Why do you covet it? Am I not beautiful enough? Then is love henna to
+make my hair bright, or kohl to darken my eyes, or a boiled egg with
+almonds to smooth my face? I have all these things, and ointments from
+Egypt, and perfumes from Syria, and if I am not beautiful enough to
+please you, it is the will of Allah, and love will not make me fairer.'
+
+'Yet love is beauty,' Khaled answered. 'For Kadijah was lovely in the
+eyes of the Prophet, upon whom be peace, because she loved him, though
+she was a widow and old.'
+
+'Am I a widow? Am I old?' asked Zehowah with some indignation. 'Do I
+need the imaginary cosmetic you call love to smooth my wrinkles, to
+lighten my eyes, or to make my teeth white?'
+
+'No. You need nothing to make you beautiful.'
+
+'And for the matter of that, I can say it of you. You tell me that you
+love me. Is it love that makes your body tall and straight, your beard
+black, your forehead smooth, your hand strong? Would not any woman see
+what I see, whether you loved her or not? See! Is your hand whiter than
+mine because you love and I do not?'
+
+She laughed again as she held her hand beside his.
+
+'Truly,' thought Khaled, 'it is less easy than I supposed. For the heart
+of a woman who does not love is like the desert, when the wind blows
+over it, and there are neither tracks nor landmarks. And I am wandering
+in this desert like a man seeking lost camels.'
+
+But he said nothing, for he was not yet skilled in the arguments of
+love. Thereupon Zehowah smiled, and resting her cheek upon her hand,
+looked into his face, as though saying scornfully, 'Is it not all vanity
+and folly?'
+
+Khaled sighed, for he was disappointed, as a thirsty man who, coming to
+drink of a clear spring, finds the water bitter, while his thirst
+increases and grows unbearable.
+
+'Why do you sigh?' Zehowah asked, after a little silence. 'Are you
+weary? Are you tired with the feasting? Are you full of bitterness,
+because I do not love you? Command me and I will obey. Are you not my
+lord to whom I am subject?'
+
+He did not speak, but she drew him to her, so that his head rested upon
+her bosom, and she began to sing to him in a low voice.
+
+For a long time Khaled kept his eyes shut, listening to her voice. Then,
+on a sudden, he looked up, and without speaking so much as a word, he
+clasped her in his arms and kissed her.
+
+Before it was day there was a great tumult in the streets of Riad, of
+which the noise came up even to the chamber where Khaled and Zehowah
+were sleeping. Zehowah awoke and listened, wondering what had happened
+and trying to understand the cries of the distant multitude. Then she
+laid her hand upon Khaled's forehead and waked him.
+
+'What is it?' he asked.
+
+'It is war,' she answered. 'The enemy have surprised the city in the
+night of the feast. Arise and take arms and go out to the people.'
+
+Khaled sprang up and in a moment he was clothed and had girt on his
+sword. Then he took Zehowah in his arms.
+
+'While I live, you are safe,' he said.
+
+'Am I afraid? Go quickly,' she answered.
+
+At that time the Sultan of Nejed was at war with the northern tribes of
+Shammar, and the enemy had taken advantage of the month of Ramadhan, in
+which few persons travel, to advance in great numbers to Riad. During
+the three days' feast of Bairam they had moved on every night, slaying
+the inhabitants of the villages so that not one had escaped to bring the
+news, and in the daytime they had hidden themselves wherever they could
+find shelter. But in the night in which Khaled and Zehowah were married
+they reached the very walls of the city, and waiting until all the
+people were asleep, a party of them had climbed up upon the ramparts and
+had opened one of the gates to their companions after killing the
+guards.
+
+Khaled found his mare and mounted her without saddle or bridle in his
+haste, then drawing his sabre he rode swiftly out of the palace into the
+confusion. The enemy with their long spears were driving the
+panicstricken guards and the shrieking people before them towards the
+palace, slaughtering all whom they overtook, so that the gutters of the
+streets were already flowing with blood, and the horses of the enemy
+stumbled over the bodies of the defenders. The whole multitude of the
+pursued and the pursuers were just breaking out of the principal street
+into the open space before the palace when Khaled met them, a single man
+facing ten thousand.
+
+'I shall certainly perish in this fight,' he said to himself, 'and yet I
+shall not receive the reward of the faithful, since Allah has not given
+me a soul. Nevertheless certain of these dogs shall eat dirt before the
+rest get into the palace.'
+
+So he pressed his legs to the bare sides of his mare and lifted up his
+sword and rode at the foe, having neither buckler, nor helmet, nor shirt
+of mail to protect him, but only his clothes and his turban. But his arm
+was strong, and it has been said by the wise that it is better to fall
+upon an old lion with a reed than to stand armed in the way of a man who
+seeks death.
+
+'Yallah! The Sword of the Lord!' shouted Khaled, in such a terrible
+voice that the assailants ceased to kill for a moment, and the terrified
+guards turned to see whence so great a voice could proceed; and some who
+had seen Khaled recognised him and ran to meet him, and the others
+followed.
+
+When the enemy saw a single man riding towards them across the great
+square before the palace, they sent up a shout of derision, and turned
+again to the slaughter of such of the inhabitants as could not extricate
+themselves.
+
+'Shall one man stop an army?' they said. 'Shall a fox turn back a herd
+of hyaenas?'
+
+But when Khaled was among them they found less matter for laughter. For
+the sword was keen, the mare was swift to double and turn, and Khaled's
+hand was strong. In the twinkling of an eye two of the enemy lay dead,
+the one cloven to the chin, the other headless.
+
+Then a strange fever seized Khaled, such as he had not heard of, and all
+things turned to scarlet before his eyes, both the walls of the houses,
+and the faces and the garments of his foes. Men who saw him say that his
+face was white and shining in the dawn, and that the flashing of the
+sword was like a storm of lightning about his head, and after each flash
+there was a great rain of blood, and a crashing like thunder as the
+horses and men of the enemy fell to the earth.
+
+In the meantime, too, the soldiers of the city and the Bedouins of the
+desert who were within the walls for the feast, took courage, and
+turning fiercely began to drive the assailants back by the way they had
+come, towards the market-place in the bazar. But those behind still kept
+pressing forward, while those in front were driven back, and the press
+became so great that the Shammars could no longer wield their weapons.
+The enemy were crowded together like sheep in a fold, and Khaled, with
+his men, began to cut a broad road through the very midst of them,
+hewing them down in ranks and throwing them aside, as corn is harvested
+in Egypt.
+
+But after some time Khaled saw that he was alone, with a few followers,
+surrounded by a great throng of the enemy, for some of his men had been
+slain after slaying many of their foes, and some had not been able to
+follow, being hindered at first by the heaps of dead and afterwards by
+the multitude of their opponents who closed in again over the bloody way
+through which Khaled had passed.
+
+And now the Shammars saw that Khaled could not escape them, and they
+pressed him on every side, but the archers dared not shoot at him for
+fear of hitting their own friends, if their arrows chanced to go by the
+mark. Otherwise he would undoubtedly have perished, since he had no
+armour, and not even a buckler with which to ward off the darts. But
+they thrust at him with spears and struck at him with their swords, and
+wounded him more than once, though he was not conscious of pain or loss
+of blood, being hot with the fever of the fight. He was hard pressed
+therefore, and while he smote without ceasing he began to know that
+unless a speedy rescue came to him, his hour was at hand. From the
+borders of the market-place, the men of Riad could still see his sword
+flashing and striking, and they still heard his fierce cry.
+
+He looked about him as he fought, and he saw that he was now almost
+alone. One after another, the few who had penetrated so far forward with
+him into the press, were overwhelmed by numbers and fell bleeding from a
+hundred wounds till only a score were left, and Khaled saw that unless
+he could now cut his way free, he must inevitably perish. But the press
+was stubborn and a man might as well hope to make his way through a herd
+of camels crowded together in a narrow street. Then Khaled bethought him
+of a stratagem. He alone was on horseback, for the enemy's riders had
+ridden before, and he had met them in the street leading to the palace,
+when he had himself slain many, and where the rest were even now falling
+under the swords of the men of Riad. And the few men who were with him
+were also all on foot. Therefore looking across the market-place he made
+as though he saw a great force coming to his assistance, and he shouted
+with all his breath, while his arm never rested.
+
+'Smite, men of Nejed!' he cried. 'For I see the Sultan himself coming to
+meet us with five hundred horsemen! Smite! Yallah! It is the Sword of
+the Lord!'
+
+Hearing these words, his men were encouraged, and of the enemy many
+turned their heads to see the new danger. But being on foot they were
+hindered from seeing by the throng. Yet so much the more Khaled shouted
+that the Sultan was coming, and many of the heads that turned to look
+were not turned back again, but rolled down to the feet of those to
+whom they had belonged. The brave men who were with Khaled took heart
+and hewed with all their might, taking up the cry of their leader when
+they saw that it disconcerted their foes, so that the last took fright,
+and the panic ran through the whole multitude.
+
+'We shall be slain like sheep, and taken like locusts under a mantle,
+for we cannot move!' they cried, and they began to press away out of the
+market-place, forcing their comrades before them into the narrow
+streets.
+
+But here many perished. For while every man in Riad had taken his sword
+and had gone out of his house to fight, the women had dragged up
+cauldrons of boiling water, and also hand-mill stones, to the roofs, and
+they scalded and crushed their retreating foes. Then too, as the
+market-place was cleared, the soldiers came on from the side of the
+palace, having slain all that stood in their way and taken most of their
+horses alive, which alone was a great booty, for there are not many
+horses in Nejed besides those of the Sultan, though these are the very
+best and fleetest in all Arabia. But the Shammars of the north are great
+horse-breeders. So the soldiers mounted and joined Khaled in the
+pursuit, and a great slaughter followed in the streets, though some of
+the enemy were able to escape to the gates, and warn those of their
+fellows who were outside to flee to the hills for safety, leaving much
+booty behind.
+
+At the time of the second call to prayer Khaled dismounted from his mare
+in the market-place, and there was not one of the enemy left alive
+within the walls. Those who remember that day say that there were five
+thousand dead in the streets in Riad.
+
+Khaled made such ablution as he could, and having prayed and given
+thanks to Allah, he went back on foot to the palace, his bay mare
+following him, and thrusting her nose into his hand as he walked. For
+she was little hurt, and the blood that covered her shoulders and her
+flanks was not her own. But Khaled had many wounds on him, so that his
+companions wondered how he was able to walk.
+
+In the court of the palace the Sultan came to meet him, and fell upon
+his neck and embraced him, for many messengers had come, from time to
+time, telling how the fight went, and of the great slaughter. And Khaled
+smiled, for he thought that he should now win the love of Zehowah.
+
+'Said I not truly that he is as brave as the lion, and as strong as the
+camel?' cried the Sultan, addressing those who stood in the court. 'Has
+he not scattered our enemies as the wind scatters the sand? Surely he is
+well called by the name Khaled.'
+
+'Forget not your own men,' Khaled answered, 'for they have shared in the
+danger and have slain more than I, and deserve the spoil. There was a
+score of stout fellows with me at the last in the market-place, whose
+faces I should know again on a cloudy night. They fought as well as I,
+and it was the will of Allah that their enemies should broil
+everlastingly and drink boiling water. Let them be rewarded.'
+
+'They shall every one have a rich garment and a sum of money, besides
+their share of the spoil. But as for you, my beloved son, go in and
+rest, and bind up your wounds, and afterwards there shall be feasting
+and merriment until the night.'
+
+'The enemy is not destroyed yet,' answered Khaled. 'Command rather that
+the army make ready for the pursuit, and when I have washed I will arm
+myself and we will ride out and pursue the dogs until not one of them is
+left alive, and by the help of Allah we will take all Shammar and lay it
+under tribute and bring back the women captive. After that we shall
+feast more safely, and sleep without fear of being waked by a herd of
+hyaenas in our streets.'
+
+'Nay, but you must rest before going upon this expedition,' objected the
+Sultan.
+
+'The true believer will find rest in the grave, and feasting in
+paradise,' answered Khaled.
+
+'This is true. But even the camel must eat and drink on the journey, or
+both he and his master will perish.'
+
+'Let us then eat and drink quickly, that we may the sooner go.'
+
+'As you will, let it be,' said the Sultan, with a sigh, for he loved
+feasting and music, being now too old to go out and fight himself as he
+had formerly done.
+
+Thereupon Khaled went into the harem and returned to Zehowah's
+apartment. As he went the women gathered round him with cries of
+gladness and songs of triumph, staunching the blood that flowed from his
+wounds with their veils and garments as he walked. And others ran before
+to prepare the bath and to tell Zehowah of his coming.
+
+When she saw him she ran forward and took him by the hands and led him
+in, and herself she bathed his wounds and bound them up with precious
+balsams of great healing power, not suffering any of the women to help
+her nor to touch him, but sending them away so that she might be alone
+with Khaled.
+
+'I have slain certain of your enemies, Zehowah,' he said, at last, 'and
+I have driven out the rest from the city.' As yet neither of them had
+spoken.
+
+'Do you think that I have not heard what you have done?' Zehowah asked.
+'You have saved us all from death and captivity. You are our father and
+our mother. And now I will bring you food and drink and afterwards you
+shall sleep.'
+
+'So you are well pleased with the doings of the husband you have
+married,' he said.
+
+He was displeased, for he had supposed that she would love him for his
+deeds and for his wounds and that she would speak differently. But
+though she tended him and bound his wounds, and bathed his brow with
+perfumed waters, and laid pillows under his head and fanned him, as a
+slave might have done, he saw that there was no warmth in her cheek, and
+that the depths of her eyes were empty, and that her hands were neither
+hot nor cold. By all these signs he knew that she felt no love for him,
+so he spoke coldly to her.
+
+'Is it for me to be pleased or displeased with the deeds of my lord and
+master?' she asked. 'Nevertheless, thousands are even now blessing your
+name and returning thanks to Allah for having sent them a preserver in
+the hour of danger. I am but one of them.'
+
+'I would rather see a faint light in your eyes, as of a star rising in
+the desert than hear the blessings of all the men of Nejed. I would
+rather that your hand were cold when it touches mine, and your cheek hot
+when I kiss it, than that your father should bestow upon me all the
+treasures of Riad.'
+
+'Is that love?' asked Zehowah with a laugh. 'A cold hand, a hot cheek, a
+bright eye?'
+
+Khaled was silent, for he saw that she understood his words but not his
+meaning. It was now noon and it was very hot, even in the inner shade of
+the harem, and Khaled was glad to rest after the hard fighting, for his
+many slight wounds smarted with the healing balsam, and his heart was
+heavy and discontented.
+
+Then Zehowah called a slave woman to fan him with a palm leaf, and
+presently she brought him meat and rice and dates to eat, and cool drink
+in a golden cup, and she sat at his feet while he refreshed himself.
+
+'How many did you slay with your own hand?' she asked at last, taking up
+the good sword which lay beside him on the carpet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Khaled pondered deeply, being uncertain what to do, and trying to find
+out some action which could win for him what he wanted. Zehowah received
+no answer to her question as to the number of enemies he had slain and
+she did not ask again, for she thought that he was weary and wished to
+rest in silence.
+
+'What do you like best in the whole world?' he asked after a long time,
+to see what she would say.
+
+'I like you best,' she answered, smiling, while she still played with
+his sword.
+
+'That is very strange,' Khaled answered, musing. But the colour rose
+darkly in his cheeks above his beard, for he was pleased now as he had
+been displeased before.
+
+'Why is it strange?' asked Zehowah. 'Are you not the palm tree in my
+plain, and a tower of refuge for my people?'
+
+'And will you dry up the well from which the tree draws life, and take
+away the corner-stone of the tower's foundation?'
+
+'You speak in fables,' said Zehowah, laughing.
+
+'Yet you imagined the fable yourself, when you likened me to a palm and
+to a tower. But I am no lover of allegories. The sword is my argument,
+and my wit is in my arm. The wall by the tree is the wall of love, and
+the chief foundation of the tower is the love of Zehowah. If you destroy
+that, the tree will wither and the tower will fall.'
+
+'Surely there was never such a man as you,' Zehowah answered, half
+jesting but half in earnest. 'You are as one who has bought a white
+mare; and though she is fleet, and good to look at, and obedient to his
+voice and knee, yet he is discontented because she cannot speak to him,
+and he would fain have her black instead of white, and if possible would
+teach her to sing like a Persian nightingale.'
+
+'Is it then not natural in a woman to love man? Have you heard no tales
+of love from the story-tellers of the harem?'
+
+'I have heard many such tales, but none of them were told of me,'
+Zehowah replied. 'Will you drink again? Is the drink too sweet, or is it
+not cool?'
+
+She had risen from her seat and held the golden cup, bending down to
+him, so that her face was near his. He laid his hand upon her shoulder.
+
+'Hear me, Zehowah,' he said. 'I want but one thing in the world, and it
+was for that I came out of the Red Desert to be your husband. And that
+thing I will have, though the price be greater than rubies, or than
+blood, or than life itself.'
+
+'If it is mine, I freely give it to you. If it is not mine, take it by
+force, or I will help you to take it by a stratagem, if I can. Am I not
+your wife?'
+
+She spoke thus, supposing from his face that he meant some treasure that
+could be taken by strength or by wile, for she could not believe a man
+could speak so seriously of a mere thought such as love.
+
+'Neither my right hand nor your wit can give me this, but only your
+heart, Zehowah,' he answered, still holding her and looking at her.
+
+But now she did not laugh, for she saw that he was greatly in earnest.
+
+'You are still talking of love,' she said. 'And you are not jesting. I
+do not know what to answer you. Gladly will I say, I love you. Is that
+all? What is it else? Are those the words?'
+
+'I care little for the words. But I will have the reality, though it
+cost your life and mine.'
+
+'My life? Will you take my life, for the sake of a thought?'
+
+'A thought!' he exclaimed. 'Do you call love a thought? I had not
+believed a woman could be so cold as that.'
+
+'If not a thought, what then? I have spoken the truth. If it were a
+treasure, or anything that can be taken, you could take it, and I could
+help you. But if the possibility of possessing it lie not in deeds, it
+lies in thoughts, and is itself a thought. If you can teach me, I will
+think what you will; but if you cannot teach me, who shall? And how will
+it profit you to take my life or your own?'
+
+'Is it possible that love is only a thought?' asked Khaled, speaking
+rather to himself than to her.
+
+'It must be,' she answered. 'The body is what it is in the eyes of
+others, but the soul is what it thinks itself to be, happy or unhappy,
+loving or not loving.'
+
+'You are too subtle for me, Zehowah,' Khaled said. 'Yet I know that this
+is not all true.'
+
+For he knew that he possessed no soul, and yet he loved her. Moreover he
+could think himself happy or unhappy.
+
+'You are too subtle,' he repeated. 'I will take my sword again and I
+will go out and fight, and pursue the enemy and waste their country, for
+it is not so hard to cut through steel as to touch the heart of a woman
+who does not love, and it is easier to tear down towers and strongholds
+of stone with the naked hands than to build a temple upon the moving
+sand of an empty heart.'
+
+Khaled would have risen at once, but Zehowah took his hand and entreated
+him to stay with her.
+
+'Will you go out in the heat of the day, wounded and wearied?' she
+asked. 'Surely you will take a fever and die before you have followed
+the Shammars so far as two days' journey.'
+
+'My wounds are slight, and I am not weary,' Khaled answered. 'When the
+smith has heated the iron in the forge, does he wait until it is cold
+before striking?'
+
+'But think also of the soldiers, who have striven hard, and cannot thus
+go out upon a great expedition without preparation as well as rest.'
+
+'I will take those whom I can find. And if they will go with me, it is
+well. But if not, I will go alone, and they and the rest will follow
+after.'
+
+'It is summer, too,' said Zehowah, keeping him back. 'Is this a time to
+go out into the northern desert? Both men and beasts will perish by the
+way.'
+
+'Has not Allah bound every man's fate about his neck? And can a man cast
+it from him?'
+
+'I know not otherwise, but if heat and hunger and thirst do not kill the
+men, they will certainly destroy the beasts, whose names are not
+recorded by Asrael, and who have no destiny of their own.'
+
+'You hinder me,' said Khaled. 'And yet you do not know how many of the
+Shammar may be yet lurking within a day's march of the city, slaying
+your people, burning their houses and destroying their harvest. Let me
+go. Will you love me better if I stay?'
+
+'You will be the better able to get the victory.'
+
+'Will you love me better if I stay?'
+
+'If you go now, you may fail in your purpose and perish as well. How
+could I love you at all then?'
+
+'It is the victory you love then--not me?'
+
+'Could I love defeat? Nay, do not be angry with me. Stay here at least
+until the evening. Think of the burning sun and the raging thirst and
+the smarting of your wounds which have only been dressed this first
+time. Think of the soldiers, too----'
+
+'They can bear what I can bear. Was it not summer-time when the Prophet
+went out against the Romans?'
+
+'I do not know. Stay with me, Khaled.'
+
+'I will come back when I have destroyed the Shammars.'
+
+'And if the soldiers will not go with you, will you indeed go out
+alone?'
+
+'Yes. I will go alone. When they see that they will follow me. They are
+not foxes. They are brave men.'
+
+Khaled rose and girt his sword about him. Zehowah helped him, seeing
+that she could not persuade him to stay.
+
+'Farewell,' he said, shortly, and without so much as touching her hand
+he turned and went out. She followed him to the door of the room and
+stood watching as he went away.
+
+'One of us two was to rule,' she said to herself, 'and it is he, for I
+cannot move him. But what is this talk of love? Does he need love, who
+is himself the master?'
+
+She sighed and went back to the carpet on which they had been sitting.
+Then she called in her women and bid them tell her all they had heard
+about the fight in the morning; and they, thinking to please her,
+extolled the deeds of Khaled and of the tens he had slain they made
+hundreds, and of the thousands of the enemy's army, they made tens of
+thousands, till the walls of Riad could not have contained the hosts of
+which they spoke, and the dry sand of the desert could not have drunk
+all the blood which had been shed.
+
+Meanwhile Khaled went into the outer court of the palace, where many
+soldiers were congregated together in the shade of the high wall, eating
+camel's meat and blanket bread and drinking the water from the well.
+They were all able-bodied and unhurt, for those who had been wounded
+were at their houses, tended by their wives.
+
+'Men of Riad!' cried Khaled, standing before them. 'We have fought a
+good fight this morning and the power of our foes is broken. But all are
+not yet destroyed, and it may be that there are many thousands still
+lurking within a day's march of the city, slaying the people, burning
+their houses and destroying their harvests. Let us go out and kill them
+all before they are able to go back to their own country. Afterwards we
+will pursue those who are already escaping, and we will lay all the
+tribes of Shammar under tribute and bring back the women captive.'
+
+Thereupon a division arose among the soldiers. Some were for going at
+once with Khaled, but others said it was the hot season and no time for
+war.
+
+'It is indeed summer,' said Khaled. 'But if the Shammars were able to
+come to Riad in the heat, the men of Riad are able to go to them. And I
+at least will go at once, and those who wish to share the spoil will go
+with me, but those who are satisfied to sit in the shade and eat camel's
+meat will stay behind. In an hour's time I will ride out of the northern
+gate.'
+
+So saying, Khaled rode slowly down into the city towards the
+market-place. The people were carrying away their own dead, and dragging
+off the bodies of their enemies, with camels, by fours and fives tied
+together to bury them in a great ditch without the walls. When Khaled
+appeared, many of the men gathered round him, with cries of joy, for
+they had supposed that some of his wounds were dangerous and that they
+should not see him for many days.
+
+'Wallah! He is with us again!' they shouted, jostling each other to get
+near, and standing on tiptoe to see the good mare that had carried him
+so well in the fight.
+
+'Masallah! I am with you,' answered Khaled, 'and if you will go with me
+we will send many more of the Shammars to eat thorns and thistles, as
+many as dwell in Kasim and Tabal Shammar as far as Hail; and by the help
+of Allah we will take the city of Hail itself and divide the spoil and
+bring away the women captive; and when we have taken all that there is
+we will lay the land under tribute and make it subject to Nejed. So let
+those who will go with me arm themselves and take every man his horse or
+his camel, and dates and barley and water-skins, and in an hour's time
+we will ride out. For Allah will certainly give us the victory.'
+
+'Let us bury the dead to-day and to-morrow we will go,' said many of
+those nearest to him.
+
+'Are there no old men and boys in Riad to bind the sheaves you have
+mown?' asked Khaled. 'And are there no women to mourn over the dead of
+your kindred who have fallen in a good fight? And as for to-morrow, it
+is yet in Allah's hand. But to-day we have already with us. However, if
+you will not go with me, I will go alone.'
+
+The men were pleased with Khaled's speech, and indeed the greater part
+of the dead were buried by this time, for all the people had made haste
+to the work, fearing lest the bodies should bring a pestilence among
+them, since it was summer-time and very hot. Then all those who were
+unhurt and could bear arms, went and washed themselves, and took their
+weapons and food, as Khaled had directed them. Before the call to
+afternoon prayers the whole host went out of the northern gate.
+
+Then Khaled accomplished all that he had spoken of, and much more, for
+he drove the scattered force of the enemy before him, overtaking all at
+last and slaying all whom he overtook as far as Zulfah which is by the
+narrow end of the Nefud. Here he rested a short time, and then quickly
+crossing the sand, he entered the country called Kasim which is subject
+to the Shammars. Here he was told by a woman who had been taken that the
+Shammars were coming with a new army against him out of Hail. He
+therefore hid his host in a pass of the hills just above the plain, and
+sent down a few Bedouins to encamp at the foot of the mountains, bidding
+them call themselves Shammars and make a show of being friendly to the
+enemy. So when the army of the Shammars reached the foot of the hills,
+they saw the tents and only one or two camels, and Khaled's Bedouins
+came out and welcomed them, and told them that Khaled was still crossing
+the Nefud, and that if they made haste through the hills they might come
+upon him unawares and at an advantage as he began to ascend. Thereupon
+the enemy rejoiced and entered the pass in haste, after filling their
+water-skins.
+
+When they were in the midst of the hills, Khaled and his army sprang up
+from the ambush and fell upon them, and utterly destroyed them, taking
+all their horses and camels and arms; after which he went down into the
+plain and laid waste the country about Hail. He took the city as the
+Shammars had taken Riad. For he himself got upon the wall at night, with
+the strongest and the bravest of his followers, and slew the guards and
+opened the gate just before the dawn. But there was no Khaled in Hail to
+rally the soldiers and give them heart to turn and make a stand in the
+streets.
+
+Khaled then entered the palace and took the Sultan of Shammar alive, not
+suffering him to be hurt, for he wished to bring him to Riad. This
+Sultan was a man of middle age, having only one eye, and also otherwise
+ill-favoured, besides being cowardly and fat. So Khaled ordered that he
+should be put into a litter, and the litter into a cage, and the cage
+slung between two camels. But he commanded that the women of the harem
+should be well treated and brought before him, that he might see them,
+intending to bring back the most beautiful of them as presents to his
+father-in-law.
+
+'Surely,' said the men who were with him, 'you will keep the fairest for
+yourself.'
+
+But Khaled turned angrily upon them.
+
+'Have I not lately married the most beautiful woman in the world?' he
+asked. 'I tell you it is for her sake that I have destroyed the
+Shammars. But the Sultan shall have the best of these women, and
+afterwards the rest of them will be divided amongst you by lot.'
+
+When the women heard that they were to be distributed among the men of
+Nejed they at first made a pretence of howling and beating their
+breasts, but they rejoiced secretly and soon began to laugh and talk
+among themselves, pointing out to each other the strongest and most
+richly dressed of Khaled's followers, as though choosing husbands among
+them. But one of them neither wept nor spoke to her companions, but
+stood silently watching Khaled, and when he sat down upon a carpet in
+the chief kahwah of the house, she brought him drink in a goblet set
+with pearls from Katar, and sat down at his feet as though she had been
+his wife. But he took little heed of her at first, for he was busy with
+grave matters.
+
+The other women, seeing what she did, thought that she was acting wisely
+in the hope of gaining Khaled's favour, seeing that he was the chief of
+their enemies, so they, too, came near, and brought water for his hands,
+and perfumes, and sweetmeats, thinking to outdo her. But she pushed them
+away, taking what they brought for him, and offering it herself.
+
+'Are you better than we?' the women said angrily. 'Has our lord chosen
+you for himself, that you will not let us come near him?'
+
+Then Khaled noticed her and began to wonder at her attention and zeal.
+
+'What is your name?' he asked. But she did not speak. 'Who is she?' he
+inquired of the other women.
+
+'She is an unbeliever,' they answered contemptuously. 'And she is proud,
+for she trusts in her white skin and her blue eyes, and her hair which
+is red without henna. She thinks she is better than we. Command us to
+uncover our faces, that you may see and judge between us.'
+
+'Let it be so. Let us see who is the fairest,' said Khaled, and he
+laughed.
+
+Then the woman who sat at his feet threw aside her veil, and all the
+others did the same. Khaled saw that the one was certainly more
+beautiful than the rest, for her skin was as white as milk, and her eyes
+like the sea of Oman when it is blue in winter. She had also long hair,
+plaited in three tresses which came down to her feet, red as the locusts
+when the sun shines upon them at evening, and not dyed.
+
+'There is a bay mare in a stable of black ones,' Khaled said. 'What is
+the name of the bay mare?'
+
+'Her name is Aziz, and she is a Christian,' said one of the women.
+
+'Not Aziz--Almasta,' said the beautiful woman in an accent which showed
+that she could not speak Arabic fluently. 'Almasta, a Christian.'
+
+'She was lately sent as a present to our master by the Emir of Basrah,'
+said one of the others.
+
+'He paid a thousand and five hundred sequins for her, for she was
+brought from Georgia,' said another. 'But I am a free woman, and myself
+the daughter of an emir.'
+
+Then all the others began to scream.
+
+'It is a lie,' they cried. 'Your father was a white slave from Syria.'
+
+'You are fools,' retorted the woman who had spoken. 'You should have
+said that you were also free women and the daughters of emirs. So our
+lord would have treated you with more consideration.'
+
+The others saw their folly and were silent and drew back, but Khaled
+only smiled.
+
+'As good mares are bred in the stable as in the desert,' he said, and
+the women laughed with him at the jest, for they saw that it pleased
+him.
+
+But Almasta was silent and sat at his feet, looking into his face.
+
+'You must learn to talk in Arabic,' he said, 'and then you will be able
+to tell stories of your native country to the Sultan, for he loves tales
+of travel.'
+
+Almasta smiled and bent her head a little, but she did not understand
+all he said, being but lately come into Arabia.
+
+'I will go with you,' she answered.
+
+'Yes. You will go with me to Riad to the Sultan, and perhaps he will
+make you his wife, for he has none at present.'
+
+'I will go with you,' she repeated, looking at him.
+
+'She does not understand you,' said the women, laughing at her ignorance
+of their own tongue.
+
+'It is no matter,' said Khaled. 'She will learn in due time. Perhaps it
+has pleased Allah to send my lord the Sultan a wife without a tongue for
+a blessing in his old age.'
+
+'I will go with you,' Almasta said again.
+
+'She can say nothing else,' jeered the women.
+
+One of them pulled her by her upper garment, so that she looked round.
+
+'Can you say this, "My father was a dog and the son of dogs"?' asked the
+woman.
+
+But Almasta pushed her angrily away, for she half understood. Then the
+woman grew angry too, and shook her fist in Almasta's face.
+
+'If you fight, you shall eat sticks,' said Khaled, and then they were
+all quiet.
+
+Thus he took possession of the city of Hail and remaining there some
+time he reduced all the country to submission, so that it remained a
+part of the kingdom of Nejed for many years after that. For the power of
+the Shammars was broken, and they could nowhere have mustered a thousand
+men able to bear arms. Khaled set a governor in the place of the Sultan
+and ordered all the laws of the country in the same manner as those of
+Nejed, and after he had been absent from Riad nearly two months, he set
+aside a part of his force to remain behind and keep the peace in case
+there should be an outbreak, and with the rest he began to journey
+homeward, taking a great spoil and many captives with him.
+
+During the march most of the women captives rode on camels, but a few of
+the most beautiful were taken in litters lest the fatigues of riding
+should injure their appearance and thus diminish their value. Almasta
+was one of these, and the Sultan of Hail was taken in a cage as has been
+said, though he was not otherwise ill-treated, and received his portion
+of camel's meat and bread, equal to that of the soldiers.
+
+Khaled sent messengers on fleet mares to Riad to give warning of his
+coming, but he could not himself proceed very quickly, because his army
+was burdened with so much spoil; and as there was now no haste to
+overtake an enemy he journeyed chiefly at night, resting during the day
+wherever there was water, for although the summer was far advanced it
+was still hot. He thought continually of Zehowah, by day in his tent and
+by night on the march, for he supposed that she would be glad when she
+heard of the victory and that she would now love him, because he had
+avenged her people, and taken Hail, and brought back gold and captives,
+besides other treasures.
+
+'She was already pleased with my deeds, before we left Riad,' he
+thought, 'for she asked me how many of the Shammars I had slain with my
+own hand, and at the last she wished me to stay with her, most probably
+that I might tell her more about the fight. How much the more will she
+be glad now, since I have killed so many more and have brought back
+treasure, and made a whole country subject to her father. Shall not
+blood and gold buy the love of a woman?'
+
+It chanced once during this journey that Khaled was sitting at the door
+of his tent after the sun had gone down and before the night march had
+begun. Upon the one side, at a little distance, was the tent of the
+women captives who had been taken from the palace in Hail, and upon the
+other the soldiers had set down the cage in which the Sultan of Shammar
+was carried. The men had laid a carpet over the cage to keep the sun
+from the prisoner during the heat of the day, lest he should not reach
+Riad alive as Khaled desired. For the Sultan was fat and of a choleric
+temper. Now the soldiers had given him food but had forgotten to bring
+him water, and it was hot under the carpet now that the evening had
+come. But he could lift it up a little on one side, and having done so,
+he began to cry out, cursing Khaled and railing at him, not knowing that
+he was so near at hand.
+
+'Oh you whose portion it shall be to broil everlastingly, and to eat
+thistles and thorns, and to lie bound in red-hot chains as I lie in this
+cage! Have you brought me out into the desert to die of thirst like a
+lame camel? Surely your entertainment on the day of judgment shall be
+boiling water and the fruit of Al Zakkam, and whenever you try to get
+out of hell you shall be dragged back again and beaten with iron clubs,
+and your skin shall dissolve, and the boiling water shall be poured upon
+your head!'
+
+In this way the captive cried out, for he was very thirsty. But when
+Khaled saw that no one gave him water he called in the darkness to the
+women who sat by their tent.
+
+'Fetch water and give the man to drink,' he said.
+
+One of the women rose quickly and filled a jar at the well close by, and
+took it to the cage. But then the railing and cursing broke out afresh,
+so that Khaled wondered what had happened.
+
+'Who has sent me this unbelieving woman to torture me with thirst?'
+cried the prisoner. 'Are you not Aziz whom I was about to take for my
+fourth wife on account of your red hair? But your hair shall be a
+perpetual flame hereafter, burning the bones of your head, and your
+flesh shall be white with heat as iron in a forge. If I were still in my
+kingdom you should eat many sticks! If Allah delivers me from my enemies
+I will cause your skin to be embroidered with gold for a trapping to my
+horse!'
+
+The moon rose at this time, being a little past the full, and Khaled
+looked towards the cage and saw that the woman was standing two paces
+away from the Sultan's outstretched hand. She dabbled in the cool water
+with her fingers so that a plashing sound was heard, and then drank
+herself, and scattered afterwards a few drops in the face of the thirsty
+captive.
+
+'It is good water,' she said. 'It is cold.'
+
+Khaled knew from her broken speech that it was Almasta, and he
+understood that she was torturing the prisoner with the sound and sight
+of the water, and with her words. So he rose from his place and went to
+the cage.
+
+'Did I not tell you to give him drink?' he asked, standing before the
+woman.
+
+'Oh my lord, be merciful,' cried the captive, when he saw that Khaled
+himself was there. 'Be merciful and let me drink, for your heart is
+easily moved to pity, and by an act of charity you shall hereafter sit
+in the shade of the tree Sedrat and drink for ever of the wine of
+paradise.'
+
+'I do not desire wine,' said Khaled. 'But you shall certainly not
+thirst. Give him the jar,' he said to Almasta. But she shook her head.
+
+'He is bad and ugly,' she said. 'If he does not drink, he will die.'
+
+Then Khaled put out his hand to take the jar of water, but Almasta threw
+it violently to the ground, and it broke to pieces. Thereupon the
+captive began again to rail and curse at Almasta and to implore Khaled
+with many blessings.
+
+'You shall drink, for I will bring water myself,' said Khaled. He went
+back to his tent and took his own jar to the well, and filled it
+carefully.
+
+When he turned he saw that Almasta was running from his tent towards the
+cage, with a drawn sword in her hand. He then ran also, and being very
+swift of foot, he overtook her just as she thrust at the Sultan through
+the bars. But the sword caught in the folds of the soft carpet, and
+Khaled took it from her hand, and thrust her down so that she fell upon
+her knees. Then he gave the prisoner the jar with the water that
+remained in it, for some had been spilt as he ran.
+
+'Who has given you the right to kill my captives?' he asked of Almasta.
+
+'Kill me, then!' she cried.
+
+'Indeed, if you were not so valuable, I would cut off your head,' Khaled
+answered. 'Why do you wish me to kill you?'
+
+'I hate him,' she said, pointing to the captive who was drinking like a
+thirsty camel.
+
+'That is no reason why I should kill you. Go back to the tents.'
+
+But Almasta laid her hand on the sword he held and tried to bring it to
+her own throat.
+
+'This is a strange woman,' said Khaled. 'Why do you wish to die? You
+shall go to Riad and be the Sultan's wife.'
+
+'No, no!' she cried. 'Kill me! Not him, not him!'
+
+'Of whom do you speak?'
+
+'Him!' she answered, again pointing to the prisoner. 'Is he not the
+Sultan?'
+
+Khaled laughed aloud, for he saw that she had supposed she was to be
+taken to Riad to be made the wife of the Sultan of Shammar. Indeed, the
+other women had told her so, to anger her.
+
+'Not this man,' he said, endeavouring to make her understand. 'There is
+another Sultan at Riad. The Sultan of Shammar is one, the Sultan of
+Nejed another.'
+
+'You?' she asked, suddenly springing up. 'With you?'
+
+The moon was bright and Khaled saw that her eyes gleamed like stars and
+her face grew warm, and when she took his hands her own were cold.
+
+'No, not I,' he answered. 'I am not the Sultan.'
+
+But her face became grey in the moonlight, and she covered her head with
+her veil and went slowly back to her tent.
+
+'This woman loves me,' Khaled thought. 'And as I have not talked much
+with her, it must be because I am strong and have conquered the people
+among whom she was captive. How much the more then, will Zehowah love
+me, for the same reason.'
+
+So he was light of heart, and soon afterwards he commanded everything to
+be made ready and mounted his bay mare for the night march.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+When Khaled was within half a day's march of Riad, the Sultan came out
+to meet him with a great train of attendants and courtiers, with cooks
+bringing food and sweetmeats, and a number of musicians. And they all
+encamped together for a short time in the shade of the trees, for there
+were gardens in the place. The Sultan embraced Khaled and put upon him a
+very magnificent garment, after which they sat down together in a large
+tent which the Sultan had brought with him. When they had eaten and
+refreshed themselves they began to talk, and Khaled told his
+father-in-law all that he had done, and gave him an account of the
+spoils which he had brought back, commanding the most valuable objects
+to be brought into the tent. After this the Sultan desired to see the
+women captives.
+
+'There is one especially whom it may please you to take for yourself,'
+said Khaled, and he ordered Almasta to be brought in.
+
+When the male slaves had left the tent, Almasta drew aside her veil. The
+Sultan looked at her and smiled, stroking his beard, for he was much
+pleased.
+
+'Her face is like a pearl and her hair is a setting of red gold,' he
+said. 'Truly she is like the sunrise on a fair morning when there are
+red clouds in the east.'
+
+Almasta looked attentively at him, and afterwards she glanced at Khaled,
+who could not avoid looking at her on account of her beauty. Her face
+was grave and indifferent. Then Khaled told the Sultan how she had hated
+the Sultan of Shammar and had tried to kill him on the journey.
+
+'This is a dangerous woman, my son,' said the old man. But he laughed as
+he said it, for although he was old, he was no coward. 'She is
+dangerous, indeed. Will you love me, pearl of my soul's treasures?' he
+inquired of her, still smiling.
+
+'You are my lord and my master,' she answered, looking down.
+
+When Khaled heard this he wondered whether his father-in-law would get
+any affection from her. Zehowah had answered in the same words.
+
+'By Allah, I will give you such gifts as will make you love me,' said
+the Sultan. 'What shall I give you?'
+
+'His head,' answered Almasta, raising her eyes quickly.
+
+'The head of the Sultan of Shammar?'
+
+Almasta nodded, and Khaled could see that her lips trembled.
+
+'A dead man has no companions,' said the Sultan, looking at Khaled to
+see what he would do. But Khaled cared little, and said nothing.
+
+So the Sultan called a slave and ordered the captive's head to be struck
+off immediately. Then Almasta threw herself upon the carpet on the floor
+of the tent and embraced his feet.
+
+'See how easily the love of a woman is got,' Khaled thought, 'even by an
+old man whose beard is grey and his limbs heavy.'
+
+When Almasta rose again, she looked at Khaled triumphantly, as though to
+remind him of the night on the journey when he had hindered her from
+killing the captive in his cage. But though he understood her, he held
+his peace, for he had cared nothing whether the prisoner lived or died
+after he had delivered him over to his father-in-law, and he was
+considering whether he might not please Zehowah in some similar manner.
+This was not easy, however, for he was not aware that Zehowah had any
+private enemy, whose head he might offer her.
+
+After the Sultan had seen the other women and the best of the spoils,
+Khaled begged that he might be allowed to ride on into Riad alone, for
+he saw that the Sultan intended to spend the night in feasting where he
+had encamped. The Sultan was so much pleased with Almasta and so
+greatly diverted in examining the rich stuffs and the gold and silver
+vessels and jewels, that he let Khaled go, almost without trying to
+detain him, though he made him many speeches praising his conduct of the
+war, and would have loaded him with gifts. But Khaled would take nothing
+with him, saying that he would only receive his just share with the
+rest; and the fame of his generosity immediately went abroad among the
+soldiers and the Bedouins throughout all the camp.
+
+'For,' said Khaled, 'there is not a fleeter mare than mine among all
+those we have taken; my sword proves to be a good one, for I have tried
+it well; as for women, I am satisfied with one wife; and besides a wife,
+a sword and a horse, there are no treasures in the world which I covet.'
+
+So Khaled rode away alone into Riad, for he desired no company, being
+busy with his own thoughts. He reached the gates at nightfall and went
+immediately to the palace and entered Zehowah's apartments. He found her
+sitting among her women in her accustomed place, listening to the tales
+of an old woman who sat in the midst of the circle. As soon as Zehowah
+saw her husband she sprang up gladly to meet him, as a friend would have
+done.
+
+'Though it is summer-time, I have pursued the enemy,' said Khaled. 'And
+though the sun was hot, I have got the victory and brought home the
+spoil.'
+
+He said this remembering how she had tried to hinder him from going.
+Then he gave her his sword and he sat down with her, while the women
+brought food and drink, for he was weary, and hungry and thirsty. The
+women also brought their musical instruments and began to sing songs in
+praise of Khaled's deeds; but after a time he sent them all away and
+remained alone with Zehowah.
+
+'O Zehowah,' he said, 'you are my law and my rule. You are my speech and
+my occupation. You are my Kebla to which I turn in prayer. For the love
+of you I have got the victory over many foes. And yet I see that your
+cheek is cold and the light of your eyes is undisturbed. Have you no
+other enemies for me to destroy, or have you no secret foe whose head
+would be a pleasant gift?'
+
+Zehowah laughed, as she fanned him with a palm leaf.
+
+'Do you still thirst for war, Khaled?' she asked. 'Truly you have
+swallowed up all our enemies as the dry sand swallows up water. Where
+shall I find enemies enough for you to slay? You went out in pride and
+you have returned in glory. Are you not yet satisfied? And as for any
+secret foe, if I have any I do not know him. Rest, therefore; eat and
+drink and spend your days in peace.'
+
+'I care little for either food or drink,' Khaled answered, 'and I need
+little rest.'
+
+'Will nothing but war please you? Must you overcome Egypt and make Syria
+pay tribute as far as Damascus before you will rest?'
+
+'I will conquer the whole world for you, if you wish it,' said Khaled.
+
+'What should I do with the world?' asked Zehowah. 'Have I not treasures
+and garments enough and to spare, besides the spoil you have now brought
+home? And besides, if you would conquer the world you must needs make
+war upon true believers, amongst whom we do not count the people of
+Shammar. Be satisfied therefore and rest in peace.'
+
+'How shall I be satisfied until I have kindled the light in Zehowah's
+eyes at my coming, and until I feel that her hand is cold and trembles
+when I take it in mine?'
+
+'Do I say to my eyes, "be dull"--or to my hand, "do not tremble"?'
+Zehowah asked. 'Is this, which you ask of me, something I can command at
+will, as I can a smile or a word? If it is, teach me and I will learn.
+But if not, why do you expect of me what I cannot do? Can a camel gallop
+like a horse, or a horse trot like a camel, or bear great burdens
+through the desert? Have you come back from a great war only to talk of
+this something which you call love, which is yours and not mine, which
+you feel and I cannot feel, which you cannot explain nor describe, and
+which, after all, is but a whim of the fancy, as one man loves sour
+drink and another sweet?'
+
+'Do you think that love is nothing but a whim of the fancy?' asked
+Khaled bitterly.
+
+'What else can it be? Would you love me if you were blind?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'And if you were deaf?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'And if you could not touch my face with your hands, nor kiss me with
+your lips?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+Zehowah laughed.
+
+'Then love is indeed a fancy. For if you could not see me, nor touch me,
+nor hear me, what would remain to you but an empty thought?'
+
+'Have I seen you, or touched you, or heard your voice for these two
+months and a half?' asked Khaled. 'Yet I have loved you as much during
+all that time.'
+
+'You mean that you have thought of me, as I have thought of you, by the
+memory of what was not fancy, but reality. Would you dispute with me,
+Khaled? You will find me subtle.'
+
+'There is more wit in my arm than in my head,' Khaled answered, 'and it
+is not easy for a man to persuade a woman.'
+
+'It is very easy, provided that the man have reason on his side. But
+where are the treasures you have brought back, the slaves and the rich
+spoils? I would gladly see some of them, for the messengers you sent
+told great tales of the riches of Hail.'
+
+'To-morrow they will be brought into the city. Your father has remained
+feasting in the gardens towards Dereyiyah, and the whole army with him.
+I rode hither alone.'
+
+'Why did you not remain too?'
+
+'Because that whim of the fancy which I call love brought me back,'
+Khaled answered.
+
+'Then I am glad you love me,' said Zehowah. 'For I am glad you came
+quickly.'
+
+'Are you truly glad?'
+
+'I was very tired of my women,' she answered. 'I am sorry you have
+brought nothing with you. Are there any among the captives who are
+beautiful?'
+
+'There is one, a present sent lately to the Sultan of Shammar. She is
+very beautiful, and unlike all the rest. Your father is much pleased
+with her, and will perhaps marry her.'
+
+'Of what kind is her beauty?' asked Zehowah.
+
+'She is as white as milk, her eyes are twin sapphires, her mouth is a
+rose, her hair is like gold reddened in fire.'
+
+Zehowah was silent for a while, and twisted a string of musk-beads round
+her fingers.
+
+'The others are all Arabian women,' Khaled said at last.
+
+'Why did you not keep the beautiful one for yourself?' asked Zehowah,
+suddenly throwing aside her beads and looking at him curiously. 'Surely
+you, who have borne the brunt of the war, might have chosen for yourself
+what pleased you best.'
+
+Khaled looked at her in great astonishment.
+
+'Have I not married Zehowah? Would you have me take another wife?'
+
+'Why not? Is it not lawful for a man to take four wives at one time? And
+this woman might have loved you, as you desire to be loved.'
+
+'Would it be nothing to you, if I took her?'
+
+'Nothing. I am the King's daughter. I shall always be first in the
+house. I say, she might love you. Then you would be satisfied.'
+
+'Zehowah, Zehowah!' cried Khaled. 'Is love a piece of gold, that it
+matters not whence it be, so long as a man has it in his own possession?
+Or is it wood of the 'Ood tree that one may buy it and bring it home and
+make the whole house fragrant with it? Is a man's heart like his belly,
+which is alike satisfied with different kinds of food?'
+
+'He who eats, knows by the taste whether he eats Persian mutton, or
+barley bread, or only broiled locusts. But a man who believes that he is
+loved, knows that he is loved, so far as knowing is possible, and must
+be satisfied, if to be loved is what he desires.'
+
+'That may be true. But he who desires bread is not satisfied with
+locusts. It is your love which I would have. Not the love of another.'
+
+'You are like a man who hopes to get by argument a sum of money from one
+who has nothing,' said Zehowah, smiling at him. 'Can you make gold grow
+in the purse of a beggar? Or can you cause a ghada bush to bear dates by
+reasoning with it? Your heart is a palm tree, but mine is a ghada bush.'
+
+'Yet an angel may touch the ghada and it will bear fruit,' answered
+Khaled, for he remembered how the angel had turned dry leaves into rich
+garments for him to wear.
+
+'Doubtless, Allah can do all things. But where is the angel? Hear me,
+Khaled, for I speak very reasonably, as a wife should speak to her
+husband, who is her lord and master. My lord is not satisfied with me
+and desires something of me which is not mine to give. Let him take
+another wife beside me. I have given my lord a kingdom and great riches
+and power. Let him take another wife now, who will give him this fancy
+of his thoughts for which he yearns, though she have no other
+possessions. In this way my lord will be satisfied.'
+
+Khaled listened sadly to what Zehowah said, and he began to despair,
+for he was not subtle in argument nor eloquent in speech. The reason of
+this was plain. In the days when he had been one of the genii he had
+wandered over the whole earth and had heard the eloquence of all nations
+and the arguments of all philosophers, learning therefrom that deeds are
+no part of words, and that they who would be believed must speak little
+and do much. But the genii possess no insight into the hearts of women.
+
+Khaled reflected also that the length of life granted him was uncertain,
+and that he had already spent two months and a half at a distance from
+Zehowah in accomplishing the conquest whereby he had hoped to win her
+love. But since this had utterly failed, he cast about in his mind for
+some new deed to do, which could be done without leaving her even for a
+short time. But he was troubled by her indifference, and most of all by
+her proposing that he should take another wife. As he thought of this,
+he was filled with horror, and he understood that he loved Zehowah more
+than he had supposed, since he could not bear to think of setting
+another woman beside her.
+
+Then his face became very dark and his eyes were like camp fires far off
+in the desert, and he took Zehowah's wrist in his hand, holding it
+tightly as though he would not let it go. As his heart grew hot in his
+breast, words came to his lips unawares like the speech of a man in a
+dream, and he heard his own voice as it were from a distance.
+
+'I will not take another,' he said. 'What is the love of any other woman
+to me? It is as dust in the throat of a man thirsting for water. Show me
+a woman who loves me. Her face shall be but a cold mirror in which the
+image of a fire is reflected without warmth, her soft words shall be to
+me as the screaming of a parrot, her touch a thorn and her lips ashes.
+What is it to me if all the women of the world love me? Kindle a fire
+and burn them before me, for I care not. Let them perish all together,
+for I shall not know that they are gone. I love you and not another.
+Shall it profit a man to fill his mouth with dust, though it be the dust
+of gold mingled with precious stones, when he desires water? Or shall he
+be warmed in winter by the reflection of a fire in a mirror? By Allah! I
+want neither the wealth of Hail, nor a wife with red hair. Let them take
+gold who do not ask for love. I want but one thing, and Zehowah alone
+can give it to me. Wallah! My heart burns. But I would give it to be
+burned for ever in hell if I might get your love now. This I ask. This
+only I desire. For this I will suffer and for this I am ready to die
+before my time.'
+
+Zehowah was silent, looking at him with wonder, and yet not altogether
+pleased. She saw that she could not understand him, though she did as
+well as she could.
+
+'Has he not all that the heart of man can desire?' she thought. 'Am I
+not young and beautiful, and possessed of many jewels and treasures?
+Have I not given him wealth and power, and has he not with his own hand
+got the victory over his enemies and mine? And yet he is not satisfied.
+Surely, he is too hard to please.'
+
+But he, reading her thoughts from her face, continued in his speech.
+
+'What is all the happiness of the world without love?' he asked. 'It is
+like a banquet in which many rich viands are served, but the guests
+cannot eat them because there is no salt in any of them. And what is a
+beautiful woman without love? She is like a garden in which there are
+all kinds of rare flowers, and much grass, and deep shade, but in which
+a man cannot live, because nothing grows there which he can eat when he
+is hungry.'
+
+'Truly,' said Zehowah, 'that is what you will make of your life. For
+there is a garden called Irem, planted in a secret place of the deserts
+about Aden, by Sheddad the son of Ad, who desired to outdo the gardens
+of paradise, and was destroyed for his impiety with all his people, by
+the hand of Allah. But a certain man named Abdullah ibn Kelabah was
+searching in the desert for a lost camel, and came unawares upon this
+place. There were fruits and water there and all that a man could wish
+for, and Abdullah dwelt in peace and plenty, praising Allah. Then on a
+certain day he desired to eat an onion, and finding none anywhere, he
+went out, intending to obtain one, and having eaten it, to return
+immediately. But though he searched the desert many months he was never
+able to find the garden again. Wherefore it is said that Abdullah ibn
+Kelabah lost the earthly paradise of Irem for a mouthful of onion.'
+
+'How can you understand me if you do not love me?' asked Khaled. 'Love
+has its own language, and when two love they understand each the other's
+words. But when the one loves and the other loves not, they are
+strangers, though they be man and wife; or they are like Persians and
+Arabians not understanding either the other's speech, or that if the
+wife cries "father," her husband will bring her a cup of water supposing
+her to be thirsty. For those who would speak one language must be of one
+heart, and they who would be of one heart must love each other.'
+
+Then Zehowah sighed and leaned against the cushions by the wall and drew
+her hand away from Khaled.
+
+'What is it?' she asked in a low voice. 'What is it you would have?' But
+though she had already asked the question many times she found no
+answer, and none that he was able to give could enlighten her darkness.
+
+'It is the spark that kindles the flame,' Khaled said, and he pointed
+to the lights that hung in the room. 'Your beauty is like that of a
+cunningly designed lamp, inlaid with gold and silver and covered with
+rich ornament, which is seen by day. But there is no light within, and
+it is cold, though it be full of oil and the wick be ready.'
+
+Zehowah turned towards him somewhat impatiently.
+
+'And you are as one who would kindle the flame with words, having no
+torch,' she answered.
+
+'Have I not done deeds also?' asked Khaled. 'Or have I spoken much, that
+you should reproach me? Surely I have slain more of your enemies than I
+have spoken words to you to-night.'
+
+'But have I asked for an offering of blood, or a marriage dower of dead
+bodies?'
+
+Khaled was silent, for he was bitterly disappointed, and as his eyes
+fell upon the sword which hung on the wall, he felt that he could almost
+have taken it and made an end of Zehowah for very anger that she would
+not love him. Had he not gone out for her into the raging heat of
+summer, and borne the burden of a great war, and destroyed a nation and
+taken a city? Moreover, if neither words nor deeds could gain her love,
+what means remained to him to try?
+
+All through the night Khaled pondered, calling up all that he had seen
+in the world in former times, until he fell asleep at last, wearied in
+heart.
+
+Very early in the morning one of Zehowah's women came and stood by his
+bed and waked him. He could see that her face was pale in the dawn, her
+limbs trembled and her voice was uncertain.
+
+'Arise, my lord!' she said. 'A messenger has come from the army with
+evil news, and stands waiting in the court.'
+
+Khaled sprang up, and Zehowah awoke also.
+
+'What is this message?' he asked hastily.
+
+But the woman threw herself upon the floor and covered her face, as
+though begging forgiveness because she brought evil tidings.
+
+'Speak!' said Zehowah. 'What is it?'
+
+'Our lord the Sultan is dead!' cried the woman, and she broke out into
+weeping and crying and would say nothing more.
+
+But when Zehowah heard that her father was dead, she sat down upon the
+floor and beat her breast and tore her hair, and wailed and wept, while
+all the women of the harem came and gathered round her and joined in her
+mourning, so that the whole palace was filled with the noise of their
+lamentations.
+
+Khaled went out into the court and questioned the messenger, who told
+him that the Sultan had held a great feast in the evening in the gardens
+of Dereyiyah, having with him the woman Almasta and the other captive
+women, and being served by black slaves. But, suddenly, in the night,
+when most of the soldiers were already asleep, there had been a great
+cry, and the slaves and women had come running from the tent, crying
+that the Sultan was dead. This was true, and the Jewish physician who
+had gone out with his master declared that he had died from an access of
+humours to the head, brought on by a surfeit of sweetmeats, there being
+at the time an evil conjunction of Zoharah and Al Marech in square
+aspect to the moon and in the house of death.
+
+Khaled therefore mounted his bay mare and rode quickly out to Dereyiyah,
+where he found that the news was true, and the women were already
+preparing the Sultan's body for burial. Having ordered the mourning, and
+commanded the army to prepare for the return to the city, Khaled set out
+with the funeral procession; and when he reached the walls of Riad he
+turned to the left and passed round to the north-east side of the city
+where the burial-ground is situated. Here he laid the body of his
+father-in-law in the tomb which the latter had prepared for himself
+during his lifetime, and afterwards, dismissing the mourners, he went
+back into the city to the palace.
+
+After the days of mourning were accomplished, the will of the Sultan was
+made known, though indeed the people were well acquainted with it
+already. By his will Khaled succeeded to the sovereignty of the kingdom
+of Nejed and to all the riches and treasures which the Sultan had
+accumulated during his lifetime. But the people received the
+announcement with acclamations and much joy, followed by a great
+feasting, for which innumerable camels were slain. Khaled also called
+all the chief officers and courtiers to a banquet and addressed them in
+a few words, according to his manner.
+
+'Men of Nejed,' he said, 'it has pleased Allah to remove to the
+companionship of the faithful our master the Sultan, my revered
+father-in-law, upon whom be peace, and to set me up among you as King in
+his stead, being the husband of his only daughter, which you all know.
+As for the past, you know me; but if I have wronged any man let him
+declare it and I will make reparation. And if not, let none complain
+hereafter. But as for the future I will be a just ruler so long as I
+live, and will lead the men of Nejed to war, when there is war, and will
+divide the spoil fairly; and in peace I will not oppress the people with
+taxes nor change the just and good laws of the kingdom. And now the
+feast is prepared. Sit down cheerfully, and may Allah give us both the
+appetite to enjoy and the strength to digest all the good things which
+shall be set before us.'
+
+But Khaled himself ate sparingly, for his heart was heavy, and when they
+had feasted and drunk treng juice and heard music, he retired to the
+harem, where he found Zehowah sitting with Almasta, the Georgian woman,
+there being no other women present in the room. He was surprised when he
+saw Almasta, though he knew that the captive women had been lodged in
+the palace, the distribution of the spoil from the war having been put
+off by the mourning for the Sultan.
+
+When Almasta heard him enter, she looked up quickly and a bright colour
+rose in her face, as when the juice of a pomegranate is poured into
+milk, and disappeared again as the false dawn before morning, leaving no
+trace. Khaled sat down.
+
+'Is not this the woman of whom you spoke?' Zehowah asked. 'I knew her
+from the rest by her red hair.'
+
+'This is the woman. Your father would have taken her for his wife. But
+Allah has disposed otherwise.'
+
+'She is beautiful. She is worthy to be a king's wife,' said Zehowah.
+
+'The Sultan?' asked Almasta, for she hardly understood. Her face turned
+as white as bone bleached by the sun, and her fingers trembled, while
+her eyes were cast down.
+
+Zehowah looked at Khaled and laughed.
+
+'See how she trembles and turns pale before you,' she said. 'And a
+little while ago her face was red. You have found a torch wherewith to
+kindle this lamp, and a breath that can extinguish it.'
+
+'I do not know,' Khaled answered. But he looked attentively at Almasta
+and remained silent for some time. 'It is now necessary to divide the
+spoils of the war,' he said at last, 'and to bestow such of these women
+as you do not wish to keep upon the most deserving of the officers.'
+
+'My lord will surely take the fairest for himself, since she loves him,'
+said Zehowah, again laughing, but somewhat bitterly.
+
+'May my tongue be cloven and my eyes be put out, may my hands wither at
+the wrists and my feet fall from my ankles, if I ever take any wife but
+you,' said Khaled. 'Yallah! So be it.'
+
+When Zehowah heard him say this, even while Almasta's face was unveiled
+before him, she understood that he was greatly in earnest.
+
+'Let me keep her for my handmaid,' she said at last.
+
+'Is she mine that you need ask me? But it will be wiser to give her to
+Abdul Kerim, the sheikh of the horsemen. I have promised that the spoil
+should be fairly divided, and though few have seen this woman many have
+heard of her beauty. And besides, she would weary you, for she cannot
+talk in Arabian, nor does she seem quick to learn. Abdul Kerim has the
+first right, since Allah has removed your father, upon whom be peace.'
+
+'Your words are my laws,' answered Zehowah obediently. 'And, indeed, it
+may be that you are right, for I believe she can neither dance nor sing,
+nor play upon any musical instrument. She would certainly weary me after
+a time, as you say. Give her therefore to Abdul Kerim for his share.'
+
+They then made Almasta understand that she was to be given to the sheikh
+of the horsemen; but when she had understood she shook her head and
+smiled, though at first she said nothing, so that Khaled and Zehowah
+wondered whether she had comprehended what they had told her.
+
+'Do you understand what we have told you?' asked Zehowah, who was
+diverted by her ignorance of the Arabic language.
+
+'I understand.'
+
+'And are you not pleased that you are to be the wife of Abdul Kerim, who
+is a rich man and still young?'
+
+'I was to be the Sultan's wife,' said Almasta, with difficulty, looking
+at Khaled. 'You told me so.'
+
+'The Sultan is dead,' Khaled answered.
+
+'Who is the Sultan now?' she asked.
+
+'Khaled is the Sultan,' said Zehowah.
+
+'You said that I should be the Sultan's wife,' Almasta repeated.
+
+'Doubtless, I said so,' Khaled replied. 'But Allah has ordered it
+otherwise.'
+
+Almasta again smiled and shook her head.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+On the following day Khaled made a division of the spoils, and gave
+Almasta to Abdul Kerim, enjoining upon him to marry her, since he had
+but two wives and could do so lawfully. The sheikh of the horsemen was
+glad, for he had heard much of Almasta's beauty, and he loved fair
+women, being of a fierce temper and not more than forty years old. So he
+called his friends to the marriage feast that same day, and Zehowah sent
+Almasta in a litter to his harem, giving her also numerous rich garments
+by way of a dower, but which in fact were due to Abdul Kerim as his
+share of the booty. So the men feasted, with music, until the evening,
+when the bridegroom retired to the harem and the Kadi came and read the
+contract; after which Abdul Kerim sat down while Almasta was brought
+before him in various dresses, one after the other, as is customary.
+
+When the women were all gone away, Abdul Kerim began to talk to his
+wife, but she only laughed and said the few words she knew, not knowing
+what he said, and presently she began to sing to him in a low voice, in
+her own language. Her voice was very clear and quite different from that
+of the Arabian women whom Abdul had heard, and the tones vibrated with
+great passion and sweetness, so that he was enchanted and listened, as
+in a dream, while his head rested against Almasta's knee. She continued
+to sing in such a manner that his soul was transported with delight; and
+at last, as the sound soothed him, he fell into a gentle sleep.
+
+Almasta, still singing softly, loosened his vest, touching him so gently
+that he did not wake. She then drew out of one of the three tresses of
+her hair a fine steel needle, extremely long and sharp, having at one
+end a small wooden ball for a handle, and while she sang, she thrust it
+very quickly into his breast to its full length, so that it pierced his
+heart and he died instantly. But she continued to sing, lest any of the
+women should be listening from a distance. Presently she withdrew the
+needle so slowly that not a drop of blood followed it, and having made
+it pass thrice through the carpet she restored it to her hair, after
+which she fastened the dead man's vest again, so that nothing was
+disarranged. She sang on, after this for some time, and then after a
+short silence she sprang up from the couch, uttering loud screams and
+lamentations and beating her breast violently.
+
+The women of the harem came in quickly, and when they saw that their
+master was dead, they sat down with Almasta and wept with her, for as he
+lay dead there was no mark of any violence nor any sign whereby it could
+be told that he had not died naturally.
+
+When Khaled heard that Abdul Kerim was dead, he was much grieved at
+heart, for the man had been brave and had been often at his right hand
+in battle. But the news being brought to him at dawn when he awoke, he
+immediately sent the Jewish physician of the court to ascertain if
+possible the cause of the sudden death. The physician made careful
+examination of the body, and having purified himself returned to Khaled
+to give an account.
+
+'I have executed my lord's orders with scrupulous exactness,' he said,
+'and I find that without doubt the sheikh of the horsemen died suddenly
+by an access of humours to the heart, the sun being at that time in the
+Nadir, for he died about midnight, and being moreover in evil
+conjunction with the Dragon's Tail in the Heart of the Lion, and not yet
+far from the square aspect of Al Marech which caused the death of his
+majesty the late Sultan, upon whom be peace.'
+
+But Khaled was thoughtful, for he reflected that this was the second
+time that a man had died suddenly when he was about to be Almasta's
+husband, and he remembered, how she had attempted to kill the Sultan of
+Hail, and had ultimately brought about his death.
+
+'Have you examined the dead man as minutely as you have observed the
+stars?' he inquired. 'Is there no mark of violence upon him, nor of
+poison, nor of strangling?'
+
+'There is no mark. By Allah! I speak truth. My lord may see for himself,
+for the man is not yet buried.'
+
+'Am I a jackal, that I should sniff at dead bodies?' asked Khaled. 'Go
+in peace.'
+
+The physician withdrew, for he saw that Khaled was displeased, and he
+was himself as much surprised as any one by the death of Abdul Kerim, a
+man lean and strong, not given to surfeiting and in the prime of health.
+
+'Min Allah!' he said as he departed. 'We are in the hand of the Lord,
+who knoweth our rising up and our lying down. It is possible that if I
+had seen this man at the moment of death, or a little before, I might
+have discovered the nature of his disease, for I could have talked with
+him and questioned him.'
+
+But Khaled went in and talked with Zehowah. She was greatly astonished
+when she heard that Almasta's husband was dead, but she was satisfied
+with the answer of the Jewish physician, who enjoyed great reputation
+and was believed to be at that time the wisest man in Arabia.
+
+'Give her back to me, to be one of my women,' said she. 'It is not
+written that she should marry a man of Nejed, unless you will take her
+yourself.'
+
+But Khaled bent his brow angrily and his eyes glowed like the coals of a
+camp fire which is almost extinguished, when the night wind blows
+suddenly over the ashes.
+
+'I have spoken,' he said.
+
+'And I have heard,' she answered. 'Let there be an end. But give me this
+woman to divert me with her broken speech.'
+
+'I fear she will do you an injury of which you may not live,' said
+Khaled.
+
+'What injury can she do me?' asked Zehowah in astonishment, not
+understanding him.
+
+'She asked of your father the head of the Sultan of Hail, whom she
+hated. And your father gave it to her.'
+
+'Peace be upon him!' exclaimed Zehowah piously.
+
+'Upon him peace. And when he would have married her, he died suddenly at
+the feasting. And now this Abdul Kerim, who was to have been her
+husband, is dead also, without sign, in the night, as a man stung by a
+serpent in his sleep. These are strange doings.'
+
+'If you think she has done evil, let her be put to death,' said Zehowah.
+'But the physician found no mark upon Abdul Kerim. By the hand of Allah
+he was taken.'
+
+'Doubtless his fate was about his neck. But it is strange.'
+
+Zehowah looked at Khaled in silence, but presently she smiled and laid
+her hand upon his.
+
+'This woman loves you with her whole soul,' she said. 'You think that
+she has slain Abdul Kerim by secret arts, in the hope that she may marry
+you.'
+
+'And your father also.'
+
+Then they were both silent, and Zehowah covered her face, since she
+could not prevent tears from falling when she thought of her father,
+whom she had loved.
+
+'If this be so,' she said after a long time, 'let the woman die
+immediately.'
+
+'It is necessary to be just,' Khaled answered. 'I will put no one to
+death without witnesses, not even a captive woman, who is certainly an
+unbeliever at heart. Has any one seen her do these deeds, or does any
+one know by what means a man may be slain in his sleep, or at a feast,
+so that no mark is left upon his body? At Dereyiyah your father was
+alone with her in the inner part of the tent, and she was singing to him
+that he might sleep. For I have made inquiry. And when Abdul Kerim died
+he was also alone with her. I cannot understand these things. But you
+are a woman and subtle. It may be that you can see what is too dark for
+me.'
+
+'It may be. Therefore give her back to me, and I will lay a trap for
+her, so that she will betray herself if she has really done evil. And
+when we have convicted her by her own words she shall die.'
+
+'Are you not afraid, Zehowah?'
+
+'Can I change my destiny? If my hour is come, I shall die of a fever, or
+of a cold, whether she be with me or not. But if my years are not full,
+she cannot hurt me.'
+
+'This is undoubtedly true,' answered Khaled, who could find nothing to
+say. 'But I will first question the woman myself.'
+
+So he sent slaves with a litter to bring Almasta from the house of
+mourning to the palace, and when she was come he sent out all the other
+women and remained alone with her and Zehowah, making her sit down
+before him so that he could see her face. Her cheeks were pale, for she
+had not slept, having been occupied in weeping and lamentation during
+the whole night, and her eyes moved restlessly as those of a person
+distracted with grief.
+
+Khaled then drew his sword and laid it across his feet as he sat and
+looked fixedly at Almasta.
+
+'If you do not speak the truth,' he said, 'I will cut off your head with
+my own hand. Allah is witness.'
+
+When Almasta saw the drawn sword, her face grew whiter than before, and
+for some moments she seemed not able to breathe. But suddenly she began
+to beat her breast, and broke out into loud wailings, rocking herself to
+and fro as she sat on the carpet.
+
+'My husband is dead!' she cried. 'He was young; he was beautiful! He is
+dead! Wah! Wah! my husband is dead! Kill me too!'
+
+Khaled looked at Zehowah, but she said nothing, though she watched
+Almasta attentively. Then Khaled spoke to the woman again.
+
+'Make an end of lamenting for the present,' he said. 'It has pleased
+Allah to take your husband to the fellowship of the faithful. Peace be
+upon him. Tell us in what manner he died, and what words he spoke when
+he felt his end approaching, for he was my good friend and I wish to
+know all.'
+
+Almasta either did not understand or made a pretence of not
+understanding, but when she heard Khaled's words she ceased from wailing
+and sobbed silently, beating her breast from time to time.
+
+'How did he die?' Khaled asked in a stern voice.
+
+'He was asleep. He died,' replied Almasta in broken tones.
+
+'You will get no other answer,' said Zehowah. 'She cannot speak our
+tongue.'
+
+'Is there no woman among them all who can talk this woman's language?'
+asked Khaled with impatience, for he saw how useless it was to question
+her.
+
+'There is no one. I have inquired. Leave her with me, and if there is
+anything to be known, I will try to find it out.'
+
+So Khaled went away and Zehowah endeavoured to soothe Almasta and make
+her talk in her broken words. But the woman made as though she would not
+be comforted, and went and sat apart upon the stone floor where there
+was no carpet, rocking to and fro, and wailing in a low voice. Zehowah
+understood that whatever the truth might be Almasta was determined to
+express her sorrow in the customary way, and that it would be better to
+leave her alone.
+
+For seven days she sat thus apart, covering her head and mourning, and
+refusing to speak with any one, so that all the women supposed her to be
+indeed distracted with grief at the death of Abdul Kerim. And each day
+Khaled inquired of his wife whether she had yet learned anything, and
+received the same answer. But in the meantime he was occupied with his
+own thoughts, as well as with the affairs of the kingdom, though the
+latter were as nothing in his mind compared with the workings of his
+heart when he thought of Zehowah.
+
+It chanced one evening that Khaled was riding among the gardens without
+the city, attended only by a few horsemen, for he was simple in all his
+ways and liked little to have a great throng of attendants about him. So
+he rode alone, while the horsemen followed at a distance.
+
+'Was ever a man, or an angel, so placed in the world as I am placed?' he
+thought. 'How much better would it have been had I never seen Zehowah,
+and if I had never slain the Indian prince. For I should still have
+been with my fellows, the genii, from whom I am now cut off, and at
+least I should have lived until the day of the resurrection. But now my
+horse may stumble and fall, and my neck may be broken, and there is no
+hereafter. Or I may die in my sleep, or be killed in my sleep, and there
+will be no resurrection for me, nor any more life, anywhere in earth or
+heaven. For Zehowah will never love me. Was ever a man so placed? And I
+am ashamed to complain to her any more, for she is a good wife, obedient
+and careful of my wants, and beautiful as the moon at the full, rising
+amidst palm trees, besides being very wise and subtle. How can I
+complain? Has she not given me herself, whom I desired, and a great
+kingdom which, indeed, I did not desire, but which no man can despise as
+a gift? Yet I am burned up within, and my heart is melting as a piece of
+frankincense laid upon coals in an empty chamber, when no man cares for
+its sweet savour. Surely, I am the most wretched of mankind. Oh, that
+the angel who made garments for me of a ghada bush, and a bay mare of a
+locust, would come down and lay his hand upon Zehowah's breast and make
+a living heart of the stone which Allah has set in its place!'
+
+So he rode slowly on, reasoning as he had often reasoned before, and
+reaching the same conclusion in all his argument, which availed him
+nothing. But suddenly, as the sun went down, a new thought entered his
+mind and gave him a little hope.
+
+'The sun is gone down,' he said to himself. 'But Allah has not destroyed
+the sun. It will rise in the east to-morrow when the white cock crows in
+the first heaven. Many things have being, which the sight of man cannot
+see. It may be that although I see no signs of love in the heaven of
+Zehowah's eyes, yet love is already there and will before long rise as
+the sun and illuminate my darkness. For I am not subtle as the evil
+genii are, but I must see very clearly before I am able to distinguish.'
+
+He rode back into the city, planning how he might surprise Zehowah and
+obtain from her unawares some proof that she indeed loved him. To this
+end he entered the palace by a secret gate, covering his garments with
+his aba, and his head with the kefiyeh he wore, in order to disguise
+himself from the slaves and the soldiers whom he met on his way to the
+harem. He passed on towards Zehowah's apartment by an unlighted passage
+not generally used, and hid himself in a niche of the wall close to the
+open door, from which he could see all that happened, and hear what was
+said.
+
+Zehowah was seated in her accustomed place and Almasta was beside her.
+Khaled could watch their faces by the light of the hanging lamps, as the
+two women talked together.
+
+'You must put aside all mourning now,' Zehowah was saying. 'For I will
+find another husband for you.'
+
+'Another husband?' Almasta smiled and shook her head.
+
+'Yes, there are other goodly men in Riad, though Abdul Kerim was of the
+goodliest, as all say who knew him. He was the Sultan's friend, but he
+was more soldier than courtier. He deserved a better death.'
+
+'Abdul Kerim died in peace. He was asleep.' Almasta smiled still, but
+more sadly, and her eyes were cast down.
+
+'He died in peace,' Zehowah repeated, watching her narrowly. 'But it is
+better to die in battle by the enemy's hand. Such a man, falling in the
+front of the fight for the true faith, enters immediately into paradise,
+to dwell for ever under the perpetual shade of the tree Sedrat, and
+neither blackness nor shame shall cover his face. There the rivers flow
+with milk and with clarified honey, and he shall rest on a couch covered
+with thick silk embroidered with gold, and shall possess seventy
+beautiful virgins whose eyes are blacker than mine and their skin whiter
+than yours, having colour like rubies and pearls, and their voices like
+the song of nightingales in Ajjem, of which travellers tell. These are
+the rewards of the true believer as set forth in Al Koran by our
+prophet, upon whom peace. A man slain in battle for the faith enters
+directly into the possession of all this, but unbelievers shall be
+taken by the forelock and the heels and cast into hell, to drink boiling
+molten brass, as a thirsty camel drinks clear water.'
+
+Almasta understood very little of what Zehowah said, but she smiled,
+nevertheless, catching the meaning of some of the words.
+
+'The Sultan Khaled loves black eyes,' she said. 'He will go to
+paradise.'
+
+'Doubtless, he will quench his thirst in the incorruptible milk of
+heavenly rivers,' Zehowah replied. 'He is the chief of the brave, the
+light of the faith and the burning torch of righteousness. Otherwise
+Allah would not have chosen him to rule. But I spoke of Abdul Kerim.'
+
+'He died in peace,' said Almasta the second time, and again looking
+down.
+
+'I do not know how he died,' Zehowah answered, looking steadily at the
+woman's face. 'It was a great misfortune for you. Do you understand? I
+am very sorry for you. You would have been happy with Abdul Kerim.'
+
+'I mourn for him,' Almasta said, not raising her eyes.
+
+'It is natural and right. Doubtless you loved him as soon as you saw
+him.'
+
+Almasta glanced quickly at Zehowah, as though suspecting a hidden
+meaning in the words, and for a moment each of the women looked into
+the other's eyes, but Zehowah saw nothing. For a wise man has truly said
+that one may see into the depths of black eyes as into a deep well, but
+that blue eyes are like the sea of Oman in winter, sparkling in the sun
+as a plain of blue sand, but underneath more unfathomable than the
+desert.
+
+Almasta was too wise and deceitful to let the silence last. So when she
+had looked at Zehowah and understood, she smiled somewhat sorrowfully
+and spoke.
+
+'I could have loved him,' she said. 'I desire no husband now.'
+
+'That is not true,' Zehowah answered quickly. 'You wish to marry Khaled,
+and that is the reason why you killed Abdul Kerim.'
+
+Almasta started as a camel struck by a flight of locusts.
+
+'What is this lie?' she cried out with indignation. 'Who has told you
+this lie?' But her face was as grey as a stone, and her lips trembled.
+
+'You probably killed him by magic arts learned in your own country,'
+said Zehowah quietly. 'Do not be afraid. We are alone, and no one can
+hear us. Tell me how you killed him. Truly it was very skilful of you,
+since the physician, who is the wisest man in Arabia, could not tell how
+it was done.'
+
+But Almasta began to beat her breast and to make oaths and
+asseverations in her own language, which Zehowah could not understand.
+
+'If you will tell me how you did it, I will give you a rich gift,'
+Zehowah continued.
+
+But so much the more Almasta cried out, stretching her hands upwards and
+speaking incomprehensible words. So Zehowah waited until she became
+quiet again.
+
+'It may be that Khaled will marry you, if you will tell me your secret,'
+Zehowah said, after a time.
+
+Then Almasta's cheek burned and she bent down her eyes.
+
+'Will you tell me how to kill a man and leave no trace?' asked Zehowah,
+still pressing her. 'Look at this pearl. Is it not beautiful? See how
+well it looks upon your hair. It is as the leaf of a white rose upon a
+river of red gold. And on your neck--you cannot see it yourself--it is
+like the full moon hanging upon a milky cloud. Khaled would give you
+many pearls like this, if he married you. Will you not tell me?'
+
+'Whom do you wish to kill?' Almasta asked, very suddenly. But Zehowah
+was unmoved.
+
+'It may be that I have a private enemy,' she said. 'Perhaps there is one
+who disturbs me, against whom I plot in the night, but can find no way
+of ridding myself of him. A woman might give much to destroy such a
+one.'
+
+'Khaled will kill your enemies. He loves you. He will kill all whom you
+hate.'
+
+'You make progress. You speak our language better,' said Zehowah,
+laughing a little. 'You will soon be able to tell the Sultan that you
+love him, as well as I could myself.'
+
+'But you do not love him,' Almasta answered boldly.
+
+Zehowah bent her brows so that they met between her eyes as the grip of
+a bow. Then Khaled's heart leaped in his breast, for he saw that she was
+angry with the woman, and he supposed it was because she secretly loved
+him. But he held his breath lest even his breathing should betray him.
+
+'The portion of fools is fire,' said Zehowah, not deigning to give any
+other answer. For she was a king's daughter and Almasta a bought slave,
+though Khaled had taken her in war.
+
+'Be merciful!' exclaimed Almasta, in humble tones. 'I am your handmaid,
+and I speak Arabic badly.'
+
+'You speak with exceeding clearness when it pleases you.'
+
+'Indeed I cannot talk in your language, for it is not long since I came
+into Arabia.'
+
+'We will have you taught, for we will give you a husband who will teach
+you with sticks. There is a certain hunchback, having one eye and marked
+with the smallpox, whose fists are as the feet of an old camel. He will
+be a good husband for you and will teach you the Arabic language, and
+your skin shall be dissolved but your mind will be enlightened thereby.'
+
+'Be merciful! I desire no husband.'
+
+'It is good that a woman should marry, even though the bridegroom be a
+hunchback. But if you will tell me your secret I will give you a better
+husband and forgive you.'
+
+'There is no secret! I have killed no one!' cried Almasta. 'Who has told
+you the lie?'
+
+'And moreover,' continued Zehowah, not regarding her protestations,
+'there are other ways of learning secrets, besides by kindness; such,
+for instance, as sticks, and hot irons, and hunger and thirst in a
+prison where there are reptiles and poisonous spiders, besides many
+other things with which I have no doubt the slaves of the palace are
+acquainted. It is better that you should tell your secret and be happy.'
+
+'There is no secret,' Almasta repeated, and she would say nothing else,
+for she did not trust Zehowah and feared a cruel death if she told the
+truth.
+
+But Zehowah wearied of the contest at last, being by no means sure that
+the woman had really done any evil, and having no intention of using any
+violent means such as she had suggested. For she was as just as she was
+wise and would have no one suffer wrongly. Khaled, indeed, cared little
+for the pain of others, having seen much blood shed in war, and would
+have caused Almasta to be tortured if Zehowah had desired it. But she
+did not, preferring to wait and see whether she could not entrap the
+slave into a confession.
+
+Khaled now came out of his hiding-place into the room and advanced
+towards Zehowah, who remained sitting upon the carpet, while Almasta
+rose and made a respectful salutation. But neither of the women knew
+that he had been hidden in the niche. Zehowah did not seem surprised,
+but Almasta's face was white and her eyes were cast down, though indeed
+Khaled wished that it had been otherwise. He was encouraged, however, by
+what he had seen, for Zehowah had certainly been angry with Almasta on
+his account, and he dismissed the latter that he might be alone with his
+wife.
+
+'You are wise, Zehowah,' he said, 'and gifted with much insight, but you
+will learn nothing from this woman, though you talk with her a whole
+year. For she suspects you and is guarded in her speech and manner. I
+was standing by the doorway a long time. You did not see me, but I heard
+all that you said.'
+
+'Why did you hide yourself?' Zehowah asked, looking at him curiously.
+
+'In order to listen,' he answered. 'And I heard something and saw
+something which pleased me. For when she said that you did not love me,
+you were angry.'
+
+'Did that please you? You are more easily pleased than I had thought.
+Shall I bear such things from a slave? How is it her business whether I
+love or not?'
+
+'But you were angry,' Khaled repeated, vainly hoping that she would say
+more, yet not wishing to press her too far, lest she should say again
+that she did not love him.
+
+She, however, said nothing in reply, but busied herself in taking his
+kefiyeh from his head and his sword from his side that he might be at
+ease. He rested against the cushions and drank of the cool drink she
+offered him.
+
+'This woman, Almasta, is exceedingly beautiful,' he said at last. 'It
+would indeed be a pity that a slave of such value should go into the
+possession of another so that we could see her no more. It is best that
+you should keep her with you.'
+
+Zehowah laughed a little, as she sat down beside him and began to play
+with her beads.
+
+'This is what I have always said,' she answered. 'I will keep her with
+me.'
+
+'It is better so,' said Khaled.
+
+Then he remained silent in deep thought, having devised a new plan for
+gaining what he most desired. It seemed to him possible that Zehowah
+might be moved by jealousy, if by nothing else; for although he had
+sworn to her, and angrily, that he would never take Almasta for his
+wife, and though nothing could really have prevailed upon him to make
+him do so, yet it would be easy for him to talk to the woman and speak
+to her of her beauty, and appear to take delight in her singing, which
+was more melodious than that of a Persian nightingale. Since she would
+be now permanently established in his harem, nothing would be easier
+than for him to spend many hours in the woman's society. Being a
+simple-minded man the plan seemed to him subtle, and he determined to
+put it into execution without delay. He knew also that Almasta had loved
+him since the first day when she had been brought before him in the
+palace at Hail, and this would make it still more easy to rouse
+Zehowah's jealousy.
+
+Though she had herself advised him to marry Almasta, he did not believe
+that she was greatly in earnest, and he felt assured that if the
+possibility were presented before her, in such a way as to appear
+imminent, she would be deceived by the appearance.
+
+'It is better that she should remain here,' he said after a long time.
+'For we cannot put her to death without evidence of her guilt, and if we
+are obstinate in wishing to give her a husband, we do not know how many
+husbands she may destroy before she is satisfied. She is beautiful, and
+will be an ornament in your kahwah. Indeed I do not know why I sent her
+away just now, when I came in. Let us call her back, that she may sing
+to us some of her own songs.'
+
+Zehowah clapped her hands and Almasta immediately returned, for she had
+indeed been waiting outside the door, endeavouring to hear what was
+said, since she suspected that Khaled would speak of her and ask
+questions. She understood well enough, and often much better than she
+was willing to show, though she could as yet speak but few words of the
+Arabic language.
+
+'Sit at my feet,' said Khaled, 'and sing to me the songs of your own
+people.'
+
+Almasta took a musical instrument from the wall and sat down to sing.
+Her voice, indeed, was of enchanting sweetness, but as for the words of
+her songs, the seven wise men themselves could not have understood a
+syllable of them, seeing that they were neither Arabic nor Persian, nor
+even Greek. Nevertheless, Khaled made a pretence of being much pleased,
+resting his head against the cushions and closing his eyes as though the
+sound soothed him. As for Zehowah, she watched the woman with great
+curiosity, wondering whether it were possible that a creature so fair as
+Almasta could have done the evil deeds of which she was suspected, and
+planning how she might surprise her into a confession of guilt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+Not many days passed after this, before the women of the harem began to
+whisper among themselves in the passages and outer chambers.
+
+'See,' they said, 'how our master favours this foreign woman, who is in
+all probability a devil from the Persian mountains. Every day he will
+have her to sing to him, and to bring him drink, and to sit at his feet.
+And he has given her several bracelets of gold and a large ruby. Surely
+it will be better for us to flatter her and show her reverence, for if
+not she will before long give us sticks to eat, and we shall mourn our
+folly.'
+
+So they began to exhibit great respect for Almasta, giving her always
+the best seat amongst them and setting aside for her the best portions
+of the mutton, and the whitest of the rice, and the largest of the
+sweetmeats and the mellowest of the old sugar dates, so that Almasta
+fared sumptuously. But though she understood the reason why the women
+treated her so much more kindly than before, she was careful always to
+appear thankful and to speak softly to them, for she feared Zehowah, to
+whom they might speak of her, and who was very powerful with the Sultan.
+She was indeed secretly transported with joy, for she loved Khaled and
+she began to think that before long he would marry her. This was her
+only motive, also, for she was not otherwise ambitious, and though she
+afterwards did many evil deeds, she did them all out of love for him.
+
+Though Khaled was by no means soft-hearted, he could not but pity her
+sometimes, seeing how she was deceived by his kindness, while he was
+only making a pretence of preferring her in order to gain Zehowah's
+love. Often he sat long with closed eyes while she sang to him or played
+softly upon the barbat, and he tried to fancy that the voice and the
+presence were Zehowah's. But her strange language disturbed him, for
+there were sounds in it like the hissing of serpents and like choking,
+which caused him to start suddenly just when her voice was sweetest. For
+the Georgian tongue is barbarous and not like any human speech under the
+sun, resembling by turns the inarticulate warbling of birds, and the
+croaking of ravens, and the noises made by an angry cat. Nevertheless,
+Khaled always made a pretence of being pleased, though he enjoined upon
+Almasta to learn to sing in Arabic.
+
+'For Arabic,' he said to her, 'is the language of paradise, and is
+spoken by all beings among the blessed, from Adam, our father, who waits
+for the resurrection in the first heaven, to the birds that fly among
+the branches of the tree Sedrat, near the throne of Allah, singing
+perpetually the verses of Al Koran. The black-eyed virgins reserved for
+the faithful, also speak only in Arabic.'
+
+'Shall I be of the Hur al Oyun of whom you speak?' Almasta inquired.
+
+'How is it possible that you should be of the black-eyed ones, when your
+eyes are blue?' Khaled asked, laughing. 'And besides, are you not an
+unbeliever?'
+
+'I believe what you believe, and am learning your language. There is no
+Allah beside Allah.'
+
+'And Mohammed is Allah's prophet.'
+
+'And Mohammed is Allah's prophet,' Almasta repeated devoutly.
+
+'Good. And the six articles of belief are also necessary.'
+
+'Teach me,' said Almasta, laying the barbat upon the carpet and folding
+her hands.
+
+'You must believe first in Allah, and secondly in all the angels.
+Thirdly you must believe in Al Koran, fourthly in the prophets of Allah,
+fifthly in the resurrection of the dead and the last judgment, and
+lastly that your destiny is about your neck so that you cannot escape
+it.'
+
+'I believe in everything,' said Almasta, who understood nothing of these
+sacred matters. 'Shall I now be one of the Hur al Oyun?'
+
+'But you have blue eyes.'
+
+'When I know that I am dying, I will paint them black,' said Almasta,
+laughing sweetly.
+
+'The angels Monkar and Nakir will discover your deception,' said Khaled.
+'When you are dead and buried, these two angels, who are black, will
+enter your tomb. They are of extremely terrible appearance. Then they
+will make you sit upright in the grave and will examine you first as to
+your belief and then as to your deeds. You will then not be able to tell
+lies. If you truly believe and have done good, your soul will then be
+breathed out of your lips and will float in a state of rest over your
+grave until the last judgment. But if not, the black angels will beat
+your head with iron maces, and tear your soul from your body with a
+torment greater than that caused by tearing the flesh from the bones.'
+
+'I believe in everything,' Almasta said again, supposing that her assent
+would please him.
+
+'You find it an easy matter to believe what I tell you,' he said, for he
+could see that she would have received any other faith as readily. 'But
+it is not easy for a woman to enter paradise, and since it is your
+destiny to have blue eyes, they will not become black. The Hur al Oyun,
+however, are not mortal women and no mortal woman can ever be one of
+them, since they are especially prepared for the faithful. But a man's
+wives may enter paradise with him, in a glorified beauty which may not
+be inferior to that of the black-eyed ones. If, for instance, Abdul
+Kerim had lived and been your husband, you might, by faith and good
+works, have entered heaven with him as one of his wives.'
+
+Almasta looked long at Khaled, trying to see whether he still suspected
+her, and indeed he found it very hard to do so, for her look was clear
+and innocent as that of a young dove that is fed by a familiar hand.
+
+'I would like to enter paradise with you,' said Almasta, with an
+appearance of timidity. 'Is it not possible?'
+
+'It may be possible. But I doubt it,' Khaled answered, with gravity.
+
+In those days, while Khaled thus spent many hours with Almasta, Zehowah
+often remained for a long time in another part of the harem, either
+surrounded by her women, or sitting alone upon the balcony over the
+court, absorbed in watching the people who came and went. The slaves
+were surprised to see that Khaled seemed to prefer the society of the
+Georgian to that of his wife, but they dared say nothing to Zehowah and
+contented themselves with watching her face and endeavouring to find out
+whether she were displeased at what was happening, or really indifferent
+as she appeared to be.
+
+Almasta herself was distrustful, supposing that Khaled and Zehowah were
+in league together to entrap her into a self-accusation, and though her
+heart was transported with happiness while she was with Khaled, yet she
+did not forget to be cautious whenever any reference was made to Abdul
+Kerim's death. She also took the long needle out of her hair and hid it
+carefully in a corner, in a crevice between the pavement and the wall,
+lest it should at any time fall from its place and bring suspicion upon
+her.
+
+Khaled watched Zehowah as narrowly as the women did, to see whether any
+signs of jealousy showed themselves in her face, and sometimes they
+talked together of Almasta.
+
+'It is strange,' said Khaled, 'that Allah, being all powerful, should
+have provided matter for dissension on earth by creating one woman more
+beautiful than another, the one with blue eyes, the other with black,
+the one with red hair and the other with hair needing henna to brighten
+it. Are not all women the children of one mother?'
+
+'And are not all men her sons also?' asked Zehowah. 'It is strange that
+Allah, being all powerful, should have provided matter for sorrow by
+creating one man with a spirit easily satisfied, and the other with a
+soul tormented by discontent.'
+
+Khaled looked fixedly at his wife, and bent his brows. But in secret he
+was glad, for he supposed that she was beginning to be jealous. However,
+he made a pretence of being displeased.
+
+'Is man a rock that he should never change?' he asked. 'Or has he but
+one eye with which to see but one kind of beauty? Have I not two hands,
+two feet, two ears, two nostrils and two eyes?'
+
+'That is true,' Zehowah answered. 'But a man has only one heart with
+which to love, one voice with which to speak kind words, and one mouth
+with which to kiss the woman he has chosen. And if a man had two souls,
+they would rend him so that he would be mad.'
+
+At this Khaled laughed a little and would gladly have shown Zehowah that
+she was right. But he feared to be treated with indifference, if he
+yielded to her argument so soon, and he held his peace.
+
+'Nevertheless,' Zehowah continued, after a time, 'you are right and so
+am I. You said, indeed, not many days ago that your two hands should
+wither at the wrists if you took another wife, yet I advised you to do
+so; and now it is clear from what you say that you wish to marry
+Almasta. I am your handmaiden. Take her, therefore, and be contented,
+for she loves you.'
+
+But now Khaled was much disturbed as to what he should answer, for he
+had hoped that Zehowah would break out into jealous anger. He could not
+accept her advice, because of his oath and still more because of his
+love for her; yet he could not send away Almasta, since by so doing he
+would be giving over his last hope of obtaining Zehowah's love by
+rousing her jealousy.
+
+'Take her,' Zehowah repeated. 'The palace is wide and spacious. There is
+room for us both, and for two others also, if need be, according to
+divine law. Take her, and let there be contentment. Have you not said
+that she is more beautiful than I?'
+
+'No,' answered Khaled, 'I have not said so.'
+
+'You have thought it, which is much the same, for you said that her hair
+was red but that mine needed henna to brighten it. Marry her therefore,
+this very day. Send for the Kadi, and order a feast, and let it be done
+quickly.'
+
+'Is it nothing to you, whether I take her or not?' Khaled asked, seeking
+desperately for something to say.
+
+'Is it for me to set myself up against the holy law? Or did any one
+exact from you a promise that you would not take another wife? And if
+you rashly promised anything of your own free will, the promise is not
+binding seeing that there is no authority for it in Al Koran, and that
+no one desires you to keep it--neither I, nor Almasta.'
+
+Zehowah laughed at her own speech, and Khaled was too much disturbed to
+notice that the laugh was rather of scorn than of mirth.
+
+'How shall I take a woman who is perhaps a murderess?' he asked. 'Shall
+I take her who was perhaps the cause of your revered father's death? May
+Allah give him peace! Surely, the very thought is terrible to me, and I
+will not do it.'
+
+'Will you convict her without witnesses? And where is your witness? Did
+not the physician explain the reason of the death, and did he suspect
+that there was anything unnatural about it? But if you still think that
+she destroyed my father and Abdul Kerim--peace on them both--why do you
+make her sit all day long at your feet and sing to you in her barbarous
+language, which resembles the barking of jackals? And why do you command
+her to bring you drink and fan you when it is hot, and you sleep in the
+afternoon? This shows a forgiving and trustful disposition.'
+
+'This is an unanswerable argument,' thought Khaled, being very much
+perplexed. 'Can I answer that I do all this in order to see whether
+Zehowah is jealous? She would certainly laugh to herself and say in her
+heart that she has married a fool.'
+
+So he said nothing, but bent his brows again, and endeavoured to seem
+angry. But Zehowah took no notice of his face and continued to urge him
+to marry Almasta.
+
+'Have you ever seen such a woman?' she asked. 'Have you ever seen such
+eyes? Are they not like twin heavens of a deep blue, each having a
+shining sun in the midst? Is not her hair like seventy thousand pieces
+of gold poured out upon the carpet from a height? Her nose is a straight
+piece of pure ivory. Her lips are redder than pomegranates when they are
+ripe, and her cheeks are as smooth as silk. Moreover she is as white as
+milk, freshly taken from the camel, whereas my hands are of the colour
+of blanket-bread before it is baked.'
+
+'Your hands are much smaller than hers,' said Khaled, who could not
+suffer Zehowah to discredit her own beauty.
+
+'I do not know,' she answered, looking at her fingers. 'But they are
+less white. And Almasta is far more beautiful than I. You yourself said
+so.'
+
+'I never said so,' Khaled replied, more and more perplexed. 'There are
+two kinds of beauty. That is what I said. Allah has willed it. Almasta
+is a slave, and her hands are large. It is a pity, for she is like a
+mare that has many good points, but whose hoofs are overgrown through
+too much idleness in the stable. I say that there are two kinds of
+beauty. Yours is that of the free woman of a pure and beautiful race;
+hers is that of the slave accidentally born beautiful.'
+
+Zehowah gathered up her three long black tresses and laid them across
+her knees as she sat. Then she shook off her golden bracelets, one after
+the other, to the number of a score and heaped them upon the hair.
+
+'Which do you like best?' she asked. 'The black or the gold? The day or
+the night? Here you see them together and can judge fairly between
+them.'
+
+Khaled sought for a crafty answer and made a pretence of pondering the
+matter deeply.
+
+'After the night,' he said at last, 'the day is very bright and
+glorious. But when we have looked on it long, only the night can bring
+rest and peace.'
+
+He was pleased with himself when he had made this answer, supposing that
+Zehowah would find nothing to say. But he had only laid a new trap for
+himself.
+
+'That is quite true,' she answered, laughing. 'That is also the reason
+why Allah made the day and the night to follow each other in succession,
+lest men should grow weary of eternal light or eternal darkness. For the
+same reason also, since you have a wife whose hair is black, I counsel
+you to take a red-haired one. In this way you will obtain that variety
+which the taste of man craves.'
+
+'If I follow your advice, you will regret it,' said Khaled.
+
+'You think I shall be jealous, but you are mistaken. I am what I am. Can
+another woman make me more or less beautiful? Moreover, I shall always
+be first in the palace, though you take three other wives. The others
+will rise up when you come in, but I shall remain sitting. I shall
+always be the first wife.'
+
+'Undoubtedly, that is your right,' Khaled replied. 'Do you suppose that
+I wish to put any woman in your place?'
+
+Then Zehowah laughed, and laid her hand upon Khaled's arm.
+
+'How foolish men are!' she exclaimed. 'Do you think you can deceive me?
+Do you imagine, because I have answered you and talked with you to-day,
+and listened to your arguments, that I do not understand your heart? Oh,
+Khaled, this is true which you often say of yourself, that your wit is
+in your arm. If I were a warrior and stood before you with a sword in my
+hand, you could argue better, for you would cut off my head, and the
+argument would end suddenly. But Allah has not made you subtle, and
+words in your mouth are of no more avail than a sword would be in mine,
+for you entangle yourself in your own language, as I should wound myself
+if I tried to handle a weapon.'
+
+At this Khaled was much disconcerted, and he stroked his beard
+thoughtfully, looking away so as not to meet her eyes.
+
+'I do not know what you mean,' he said, at last. 'You certainly imagine
+something which has no existence.'
+
+'I imagine nothing, for I have seen the truth, ever since the first day
+when you desired to be alone with Almasta. You are only foolishly trying
+to make me jealous of her, in order that I may love you better.'
+
+When Khaled saw that she understood him, he was without any defence, for
+he had built a wall of sand for himself, like a child playing in the
+desert, which the first breath of wind causes to crumble, and the second
+blast leaves no trace of it behind.
+
+'And am I foolish, because I have done this thing?' he cried, not
+attempting to deny the truth. 'Am I a fool because I desire your love?
+But it is folly to speak of it, for you will reproach me and say that I
+am discontented, and will offer me another woman for my wife. Go. Leave
+me alone. If you do not love me, the sight of you is as vinegar poured
+into a fresh wound, and as salt rubbed into eyes that are sore with the
+sand. Go. Why do you stay? Do you not believe me? Do you wish me to kill
+you that I may have peace from you? It is a pity that you did not marry
+one of the hundred suitors who came before me, for you certainly loved
+one of them, since you cannot love me. You doubtless loved the Indian
+prince. Would you have him back? I can give you his bones, for I slew
+him with my own hands and buried him in the Red Desert, where his soul
+is sitting upon a heap of sand, waiting for the day of resurrection.'
+
+Then Zehowah was greatly astonished, for neither she nor any one else
+had ever known what had been the end of that suitor, and after waiting a
+long time, his people who had been with him had departed sorrowing to
+their own country, and she had heard no more of them.
+
+'What is this?' she asked in amazement. 'Why did you kill him? And how
+could you have done this thing unseen, since he was guarded by many
+attendants?'
+
+'I took him out of the palace in the night, when all were asleep, and
+then I killed him,' said Khaled, and Zehowah could get no other answer,
+for he would not confess that he had been one of the genii, lest she
+should not believe the truth, or else, believing, should be afraid of
+him in the future.
+
+'I will give you his bones,' he said, 'if you desire them, for I know
+where they are, and you certainly loved him, and are still mourning for
+him. If he could be alive, I would kill him again.'
+
+'I never loved him,' Zehowah answered, at last. 'How was it possible?
+But I would perhaps have married him, hoping to convert all his people
+to the true faith.'
+
+'As you have married me in the hope, or the assurance, of giving your
+people a just king.'
+
+'You are angry, Khaled. And, indeed, I could be angry, too, but with
+myself and not with you, as you are with me, though it be for the same
+reason. For I begin to see and understand why you are discontented, and
+indeed I will do what I can to satisfy you.'
+
+'You must love me, as I love you, if you would save me from
+destruction,' said Khaled.
+
+Though Zehowah could not comprehend the meaning of the words, she saw by
+his face that he was terribly moved, and she herself began to be more
+sorry for him.
+
+'Indeed, Khaled,' she said, 'I will try to love you from this hour. But
+it is a hard thing, because you cannot explain it, and it is not easy to
+learn what cannot be explained. Do you think that all women love their
+husbands in this way you mean? Am I unlike all the rest?'
+
+Khaled took her hand and held it, and looked into her eyes.
+
+'Love is the first mystery of the world,' he said. 'Death is the second.
+Between the two there is nothing but a weariness darkened with shadows
+and thick with mists. What is gold? A cinder that glows in the darkness
+for a moment and falls away to a cold ash in our hand when we have taken
+it. But love is a treasure which remains. What is renown? A cry uttered
+in the bazar by men whose minds are subject to change as their bodies
+are to death. But the voice of love is heard in paradise, singing beside
+the fountains Tasnim and Salsahil. What is power? A net with which to
+draw wealth and fame from the waters of life? To what end? We must die.
+Or is power a sword to kill our enemies? If their time is come they will
+die without the sword. Or is it a stick to purify the hides of fools?
+The fool will die also, like his master, and both will be forgotten. But
+they who love shall enter the seventh heaven together, according to the
+promise of Allah. Death is stronger than man or woman, but love is
+stronger than death, and all else is but a vision seen in the desert,
+having no reality.'
+
+'I will try to understand it, for I see that you are very unhappy,' said
+Zehowah.
+
+She was silent after this, for Khaled's words were earnest and sank into
+her soul. Yet the more she tried to imagine what the passion in him
+could be like, the less she was able to understand it, for some of
+Khaled's actions had been foolish, but she supposed that there must
+have been some wisdom in them, having its foundation in the nature of
+love.
+
+'What he says is true,' she thought. 'I married him in order to give my
+people a just and brave king, and he is both brave and just. And I am
+certainly a good wife, for I should be dissolved in shame if another man
+were to see my face, and moreover I am careful of his wants, and I take
+his kefiyeh from his head with my own hands, and smooth the cushions for
+him and bring him food and drink when he desires it. Or have I withheld
+from him any of the treasures of the palace, or stood in the way of his
+taking another wife? Until to-day, I thought indeed that this talk of
+love meant but little, and that he spoke of it because he desired an
+excuse for marrying Almasta who loves him. But when I said at a venture
+that he wished to make me jealous, he confessed the truth. Now all the
+tales of love told by the old women are of young persons who have seen
+each other from a distance, but are hindered from marrying. And we are
+already married. Surely, it is very hard to understand.'
+
+After this Khaled never called Almasta to sit at his feet and sing to
+him, as he had done before, and Zehowah was constantly with him in her
+stead. At first Almasta supposed that Khaled only made a pretence of
+disregarding her, out of respect for his wife, but she soon perceived
+that he was indifferent and no longer noticed her. She then grew fierce
+and jealous, and her voice was not heard singing in the harem; but she
+went and took her needle again from the crevice in the pavement and hid
+it in her hair, and though Zehowah often called her, when Khaled was not
+in the house, she made as though she understood even less of the Arabic
+language than before and sat stupidly on the carpet, gazing at her
+hands. Zehowah wearied of her silence, for she understood the reason of
+it well enough.
+
+'I am tired of this woman,' she said to Khaled. 'Do you think I am
+jealous of her now?'
+
+Khaled smiled a little, but said nothing, only shaking his head.
+
+'I am tired of her,' Zehowah repeated. 'She sits before me like a sack
+of barley in a grainseller's shop, neither moving nor speaking.'
+
+'She is yours,' Khaled answered. 'Send her away. Or we will give her in
+marriage to one of the sheikhs who will take her away to the desert. In
+this way she will not be able even to visit you except when her husband
+comes into the city.'
+
+But they decided nothing at that time. Some days later Khaled was
+sitting alone upon a balcony, Zehowah having gone to the bath, when
+Almasta came suddenly before him and threw herself at his feet, beating
+her forehead and tearing her hair, though not indeed in a way to injure
+it.
+
+'What have I done?' she cried. 'Why is my lord displeased?'
+
+Khaled looked at her in surprise, but answered nothing at first.
+
+'Why are my lord's eyes like frozen pools by the Kura, and why is his
+forehead like Kasbek in a mist?'
+
+Khaled laughed a little at her words.
+
+'Kasbek is far from Riad,' he answered, 'and the waters of the Kura do
+not irrigate the Red Desert. I am not displeased. On the contrary, I
+will give you a husband and a sufficient dowry. Go in peace.'
+
+But Almasta remained where she was, weeping and beating her forehead.
+
+'Let me stay!' she cried. 'Let me stay, for I love you. I will eat the
+dust under your feet. Only let me stay.'
+
+'I think not,' Khaled answered. 'You weary Zehowah with your silence and
+your sullenness.'
+
+'Let me stay!' she repeated, over and over again.
+
+She was not making any pretence of grief, for the tears ran down
+abundantly and stained the red leather of Khaled's shoes. Though he was
+hard-hearted he was not altogether cruel, for a man who loves one woman
+greatly is somewhat softened towards all such as do not stand
+immediately in his way.
+
+'It is true,' he thought, 'that I have given this woman some occasion of
+hope, for I have treated her kindly during many days, and she has
+probably supposed that I would marry her. For she is less keen-sighted
+than Zehowah, and moreover she loves me.'
+
+'Do not drive me out!' cried Almasta. 'For I shall die if I cannot see
+your face. What have I done?'
+
+'You have indeed done nothing worthy of death, for I cannot prove that
+you killed Abdul Kerim. I will therefore give you a good husband and you
+shall be happy.'
+
+But Almasta would not go away, and embracing his knees she looked up
+into his face, imploring him to let her remain. Khaled could not but see
+that she was beautiful, for the mid-day light fell upon her white face
+and her red lips, and made shadows in her hair of the colour of mellow
+dates, and reflections as bright as gold when the burnisher is still in
+the goldsmith's hand. Though he cared nothing for Almasta and little for
+her sorrow, his eye was pleased and he smiled.
+
+Then he looked up and saw Zehowah standing before him, just as she had
+come from the bath, wrapped in loose garments of silk and gold. He gazed
+at her attentively for there was a distant gleam of light in her eyes
+and her cheeks were warm, though she stood in the shadow, so that he
+thought she had never been more beautiful, and he did not care to look
+at Almasta's face again.
+
+'Why is Almasta lamenting in this way?' Zehowah asked.
+
+'She desires to stay in the palace,' Khaled answered; 'but I have told
+her that she shall be married, and yet she wishes to stay.'
+
+'Let her be married quickly, then. Is she a free woman, that she should
+resist, or is she rich that she should refuse alms? Let her be married.'
+
+'There is a certain young man, cousin to Abdul Kerim, a Bedouin of pure
+descent. Let him take her, if he will, and let the marriage be
+celebrated to-morrow.'
+
+But Almasta shook her head, and her tears never ceased from flowing.
+
+'You will marry him,' said Khaled. 'And if any harm comes to him, I will
+cause you to be put to death before the second call to prayer on the
+following morning.'
+
+When Almasta heard this, her tears were suddenly dried and her lips
+closed tightly. She rose from the floor and retired to a distance within
+the room.
+
+On that day Khaled sent for the young man of whom he had spoken, whose
+name was Abdullah ibn Mohammed el Herir, and offered him Almasta for a
+wife. And he accepted her joyfully, for he had heard of her wonderful
+beauty, and was moreover much gratified by being given a woman whom the
+former Sultan would probably have married if he had lived. Khaled also
+gave him a grey mare as a wedding gift, and a handsome garment.
+
+The marriage was therefore celebrated in the customary manner, and no
+harm came to Abdullah. But as the autumn had now set in, he soon
+afterwards left the city, taking Almasta with him, to live in tents,
+after the manner of the Bedouins.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+Abdullah ibn Mohammed, though a young man, was now the sheikh of a
+considerable tribe which had frequently done good service to the late
+Sultan, Zehowah's father, and which had also borne a prominent part in
+the recent war. Abdul Kerim, whom Almasta had murdered, had been the
+sheikh during his lifetime, and if the claims of birth had been justly
+considered, his son, though a mere boy, should have succeeded him. But
+Abdullah had found it easy to usurp the chief place, and in the council
+which was held after Abdul Kerim's death he was chosen by acclamation.
+It chanced, too, that he was not married at the time when he took
+Almasta, for of two wives the one had died of a fever during the summer,
+and he had divorced the other on account of her unbearable temper,
+having been deceived in respect of this by her parents, who had assured
+him that she was as gentle as a dove and as submissive as a lamb. But
+she had turned out to be as quarrelsome as a wasp and as unmanageable as
+an untrained hawk, so he divorced her, and the more readily because she
+was not beautiful and her dower had been insignificant. Almasta
+therefore found that she was her husband's only wife.
+
+She would certainly have killed him, as she had killed Abdul Kerim, and,
+indeed, the late Sultan, in the hope of being taken back into the
+palace, but she was prevented by the fear of death, for she had seen
+that Khaled's threat was not empty and would be executed if harm came to
+Abdullah after his marriage. She accordingly set herself to please him,
+and first of all she learned to speak the Arabic language, in order that
+she might sing to him in his own tongue and tell him tales of distant
+countries, which she had learned in her own home.
+
+Abdullah passed the months of autumn and the early winter in the desert,
+moving about from place to place, as is the custom of the Bedouins, it
+being his intention to reach a northerly point of Ajman in the spring,
+in order to fall upon the Persian pilgrims and extort a ransom before
+they entered the territory of Nejed. For it would not be lawful to
+attack them after that, since there was a treaty with the Emir of
+Basrah, allowing the pilgrims a safe and free passage towards Mecca, for
+which the Emir paid yearly a sum of money to the Sultan of Nejed.
+
+But Almasta knew nothing of this, for she was wholly ignorant of the
+desert; and moreover Abdullah was a cautious man, who held that
+whatsoever is to be kept secret must not be uttered aloud, though there
+be no one within three days' journey to hear it.
+
+Abdullah treated her with great consideration, not obliging her to weary
+herself overmuch with cooking and other work of the tents. For he
+rejoiced in her beauty and in the sweetness of her voice, and his chief
+delight was to sit in the door of the tent at night, chewing
+frankincense, while Almasta sat within, close behind him, and told him
+tales of her own country, or of the life in the palace of Riad. The
+latter indeed was as strange to him as the former, and much more
+interesting.
+
+Now one evening they were alone together in this manner, and it was not
+yet very cold. But the stars shone brightly as though there would be a
+frost before morning, and the other tents were all closed and no one was
+near the coals which remained from the fire after baking the
+blanket-bread. One might hear the chewing of the camels in the dark and
+the tramping of a mare that moved slowly about, her hind feet being
+chained together.
+
+'Tell me more of the palace at Riad,' said Abdullah. 'For your Kura, and
+your snow-covered Kasbek, and your Tiflis with its warm springs and
+gardens, I shall never see. But I have seen the courts of the palace
+from my youth, and the Sultan's kahwah, and the latticed windows of the
+harem, from which you say that you saw me and loved me in the last days
+of summer.'
+
+Almasta had said this to please him, though it was not true. For she
+knew that men easily believe what flatters them, as women believe that
+what they desire must come to pass.
+
+'The palace is a wonderful palace,' said Almasta, 'and I will tell you
+of the treasures which are in it.'
+
+'That is what I wish to hear,' answered Abdullah, putting a piece of
+frankincense into his mouth and beginning to chew it. 'Tell me of the
+treasures, for it is said that they are great and of extraordinary
+value.'
+
+'The value of them cannot be calculated, O Abdullah, for if you had
+seventy thousand hands and on each hand seventy thousand fingers you
+could not count upon your fingers in a whole lifetime the gold sherifs
+and sequins and tomans which are hidden away there in bags. Beneath the
+court of strangers there is a great chamber built of stone in which the
+sacks of gold are kept, and they are piled up to the roof of the vault
+on all sides and in the middle, leaving only narrow passages between.'
+
+'If it is all gold, what is the use of the passages?' asked Abdullah.
+
+'I do not know, but they are there, and there is another room filled
+with silver in the same manner. There are also secret places underground
+in which jewels are kept in chests, rubies and pearls and Indian
+diamonds and emeralds, in such quantities that they would suffice to
+make necklaces of a thousand rows each for each of the mountains in my
+country. And we have many mountains, great ones, not such as the little
+hills you have seen, but several days' journey in height. For we say
+that when the Lord made the earth it was at first unsteady, and He set
+our mountains upon it, in the middle, to make it firm, and it has never
+moved since.'
+
+'I do not believe this,' said Abdullah. 'Tell me more about the jewels
+in Riad.'
+
+'There is no end of them. They are like the grains of sand in the
+desert, and no one of them is worth less than a thousand gold sherifs. I
+do not even know the names of the different kinds, but there are
+turquoises without number, of the Maidan, and all good, so that you may
+write upon them with a piece of gold as with a pen; and there are red
+stones as large as a dove's egg, red and fiery as the wine of Kachetia,
+and others, blue as the sky in winter, and yellow ones, and some with
+leaves of gold in them, like morsels of treng floating in the juice. But
+besides the gold and silver and precious stones there are thousands of
+rich garments which are kept in chests of fragrant wood, in upper
+chambers, abas woven of gold and silk and linen, and vests embroidered
+with pearls, and shoes of which even the soles appear to be of gold. And
+there are great pieces of stuff, Indian silk, and Persian velvet, and
+even satin from Stamboul, woven by unbelievers with the help of devils.
+Then too, in the palace of Riad, there are stored great quantities of
+precious weapons, most of them made in Syria, with many swords of Sham,
+which you say are the best, though I do not understand the matter, each
+having an inscription in letters of gold upon the blade, and the hilt
+most cunningly chiselled in the same metal, or carved out of ivory.'
+
+'I saw the treasure of Hail when we took it away after the war, and most
+of it was distributed among us, but there was nothing like this,' said
+Abdullah.
+
+'The treasure of Hail is to the treasure of Riad, as a small black fly
+walking upon the face of the sun,' answered Almasta. 'And yet there was
+wealth there also, and there was much which you never saw. For that
+Khaled, who is now Sultan, is crafty and avaricious, and he loaded many
+camels secretly by night, being helped by black slaves, all of whom he
+slew afterwards with his own hand lest they should tell the tale, and he
+then called camel-drivers and sent them away with the beasts to Riad.
+And he said to them: "These are certain loads of fine wheat and of
+mellow dates, for the Sultan's table, such as cannot be found in Riad."
+But he sent a letter to his father-in-law, who caused all the packs to
+be taken immediately to one of the secret chambers, where he and his
+daughter Zehowah took out the jewels and stored them with their own. And
+as for me, I believe that Khaled made an end of the Sultan himself by
+means of poison in Dereyiyah, for he rode away suddenly after they had
+met, as though his conscience smote him.'
+
+'What is this evil tale which you are telling me?' cried Abdullah.
+'Surely, it is a lie, for Khaled is a brave man who gives every one his
+due and deceives no one. And he is by no means subtle, for I have heard
+him in council, and he generally said only, "Smite," but sometimes he
+said "Strike," and that was all his eloquence. But whether he said the
+one or the other, he was generally the first to follow his own advice
+which, indeed, by the merciful dispensation of Allah, procured us the
+victory. But what is this tale which you have invented?'
+
+'And who is this Khaled whom you praise?' asked Almasta. 'And how can
+you know his craftiness as I know it, who have lived in the palace and
+braided his wife's hair, and brought him drink when he was thirsty? Is
+he a man of your tribe whose descent you can count upon your fingers,
+from him to his grandfather and to Ishmael and Abraham? Or is he a man
+of a tribe known to you, and whose generations you also know? Has any
+man called him Khaled ibn Mohammed, or Khaled ibn Abdullah? Or has he
+ever spoken of his father, who is probably now drinking boiling water,
+and the black angels are pounding his head with iron maces. Yet he says
+that he came from the desert. Then you, who are of the desert, do not
+know the desert, for you do not know whence he is. But there are those
+who do know, and he fears them, lest they should tell the truth and
+destroy him.'
+
+'These are idle tales,' said Abdullah. 'Is it probable that the Sultan
+would have bestowed his daughter and all the treasures you have
+described upon such a man without having made inquiries concerning his
+family? And if the Sultan said nothing to us about it, and if Khaled
+holds his peace, they have doubtless their reasons. For it may be that
+there is a blood feud between the people of Khaled and some great person
+in Riad, so that he would be in danger of his life if he revealed his
+father's name. Allah knows. It is not our business.'
+
+'O Abdullah, you are simple, and you believe all things!' cried Almasta.
+'But I heard of him in Basrah.'
+
+'What did you hear in Basrah? And how could you have heard of him
+there?'
+
+'I was in the Emir's harem, being kept there to rest from the journey
+after they had brought me from the north. And there I heard of Khaled,
+for the women talked of him, having been told tales about him by a
+merchant who was admitted to the palace.'
+
+'Now this is great folly,' answered Abdullah. 'For Khaled came suddenly
+to Riad, and was married immediately to Zehowah, and on the next day he
+went out with us against Hail, which we took from the Shammar in three
+weeks' time from the day of our marching. Moreover we found you there in
+the palace. How then could news of Khaled have reached Basrah before you
+left that place?'
+
+'I had come to Hail but the day before you attacked the city,' said
+Almasta. 'But did I say that I had heard of him as already married to
+Zehowah?'
+
+For she saw that she had run the risk of being found out in a lie, and
+she made haste to defend herself.
+
+'What did you hear of him?' asked Abdullah.
+
+'He was a notable fellow and a robber,' answered Almasta. 'For he is a
+Persian, and a Shiyah, who offers prayers to Ali in secret. But because
+he had done many outrageous deeds, a great price was set upon his head
+throughout Persia, so he fled into Arabia and by his boldness and craft
+he married Zehowah. And now he has made a secret covenant to deliver
+over the kingdom of Nejed to the Persians.'
+
+Then Abdullah laughed aloud.
+
+'Who shall deliver over the Bedouin to a white-faced people, who live on
+boiled chestnuts and ride astride of a camel? And when a man has got a
+kingdom, why should he give it up to any one, except under force?'
+
+'There is a reason for this, too,' Almasta answered unabashed. 'For the
+King of the Persians, whom they call the Padeshah, has an only daughter,
+of great beauty, and Khaled is to receive her in marriage as the price
+of Nejed. Then he will by treachery destroy the Padeshah's sons and will
+inherit Persia also, as he has inherited Nejed; and after that he will
+make war upon the Romans in Stamboul and will become the master of the
+whole world.'
+
+'This is a strange tale, and seems full of madness,' said Abdullah. 'I
+do not believe it. Tell me rather a story of your own country, and
+afterwards we will sleep, for to-morrow we will leave this place.'
+
+'I will tell you a wonderful history, which is quite true,' answered
+Almasta. 'Take this fresh piece of frankincense which I have prepared
+for you, and put it into your mouth, for you will then not interrupt me
+with questions while I am speaking.'
+
+So Abdullah took the savoury gum and chewed it, and Almasta told him the
+tale which here follows.
+
+'There is in the north, beyond Persia, a great and prosperous kingdom,
+lying between two seas, and resembling paradise for its wonderful
+beauty. All the hills are covered with trees of every description in
+which innumerable birds make their nests, all of a beautiful plumage and
+good for man to eat. And in these forests there are also great herds of
+animals, whose name I do not know in Arabic, having branching horns and
+kindred to the little beast which you call the cow of the desert, but
+far better to eat and as large as full-grown camels. A man who is hungry
+need only shoot an arrow at a venture, for the birds and animals are so
+numerous that he will certainly hit something. This kingdom is watered
+everywhere by rivers and streams abounding in fish, all good to eat and
+easily caught, and all the valleys are filled with vineyards of black
+and white grapes. But the people of this country are chiefly Christians.
+May Allah send them enlightenment! Now the King was an old man, who
+delighted in feasting and cared little for the affairs of the nation,
+preferring a lute to a sword, and a wine-cup to a shield, and the feet
+of dancing girls to the hoofs of war horses. He had no son to go out to
+war for him, but only one beautiful daughter.'
+
+'Like the Sultan of our country who died,' said Abdullah.
+
+'Very much. There were also other points of resemblance. Now there was a
+certain Tartar in the kingdom of Samarkand, called Ismail, who was a
+robber and had destroyed many caravans on the march, and had broken into
+many houses both in Samarkand and Tashkent, a notable evildoer. But
+having one day stolen a fleet mare from the Sultan's stables, the
+soldiers pursued him, and in order to escape impalement he fled. No one
+could catch him because the mare he had stolen was the fleetest in Great
+Tartary. So he rode westward through many countries, and by the shores
+of the inland sea, until he came to the kingdom which I have described.
+There he hid himself in the forest for some time and waylaid travellers,
+making them tell him all that they knew of the kingdom, and afterwards
+killing them. But when he had obtained all that he wanted, both rich
+garments and splendid weapons, and the necessary information, he left
+the forest and rode into the capital city. Then he went to the King and
+desired of him a private audience, which was granted. He said that he
+was the son of a powerful Christian prince, and had been taken captive
+by the Tartars, but had escaped, and he offered to make all Tartary
+subject to the King, if only he might marry his daughter. And whether by
+magic, or by eloquence, he succeeded, for the King was old and
+feeble-minded. But soon after the wedding, he poisoned his father-in-law
+and became king in his place, though there were many in the land who
+had a better right, being closely connected with the royal blood.'
+
+'This is the story of Khaled,' said Abdullah. 'I know the truth. Why do
+you weary me, trying to deceive me, and calling him a robber? But it is
+true that in Nejed there are men of good descent who have a better right
+to sit on the throne.'
+
+'Hear what followed,' answered Almasta. 'This man Ismail afterwards took
+captive a woman of the Tartars, who knew who he was, though he supposed
+her ignorant. And he gave her in marriage to the youngest and bravest of
+his captains, a man to whom Allah had vouchsafed the tongue of
+eloquence, and the teeth of strength, and the lips of discretion to
+close together and hide both at the proper season. The woman told her
+husband who Ismail was, and instructed him concerning the palace, its
+passages and secret places, and the treasures that were hidden there.
+And she told him also that Ismail had made a covenant with the Sultan of
+his own country, which would bring destruction upon the nation he now
+ruled. For she loved her husband on account of his youth and beauty, and
+she had embraced his faith and was ready to die for him.'
+
+'The husband's name was Abdullah,' said Abdullah. 'And he also loved his
+wife, who surpassed other women in beauty, as a bay mare surpasses
+pigs.'
+
+'He afterwards loved her still better,' answered Almasta, 'for though he
+was only chief over four hundred tents, she gave him a kingdom. Hear
+what followed. But I will call him Abdullah if you please, though his
+name was Mskhet.'
+
+'Allah is merciful! There are no such names in Arabia. This one is like
+the breaking of earthen vessels upon stones. Call him Abdullah.'
+
+'Abdullah therefore went to the wisest and most discreet of his kindred,
+and spoke to them of the great treasures which were hidden in the
+palace, and he pointed out to their obscured sight that all this wealth
+had been got by them and their fathers in war, and had been taken in
+tithes from the people, and was now in the possession of Ismail. And
+they talked among themselves and saw that this was indeed true. And at
+another time, he told them that Ismail was not really of their religion,
+but a hypocrite. And again a third time he told them the whole truth, so
+that their hearts burned when they knew that their King was but a robber
+who had been condemned to death. Though they were discreet men, the
+story was in some way told abroad among the soldiers, doubtless by the
+intervention of angels, so that all the people knew it, and were angry
+against Ismail and ready to break out against him so soon as a man could
+be found to lead them.'
+
+'But,' said Abdullah, 'this Ismail doubtless had a strong guard of
+soldiers about him, and had given gifts to his captains, and shown
+honour to them, so that they were attached to him.'
+
+'Undoubtedly,' replied Almasta, 'and but for his wife, Abdullah could
+not have succeeded. She advised him to go to his discreet kindred and
+friends and say to them, "See, if you will afterwards support me, I will
+go alone into the palace and will get the better of this Ismail, when he
+is asleep, and I will so do that the soldiers shall not oppose me. And
+afterwards, you will all enter together and the treasure shall be
+divided. But we will throw some of it to the people, lest they be
+disappointed." And so he did. For his wife knew the secret entrances to
+the palace and took him in with her by night, disguised as a woman. And
+they went together silently into the harem, and slew Ismail and bound
+his wife, and took the keys of the treasure chambers from under the
+pillow. After this they took from the gold as many bags as there were
+soldiers, and waked each man, giving him a sack of sherifs, and bidding
+him take as much more as he could find, for the King was dead. Then
+Abdullah's friends were admitted and they divided the treasure, and went
+abroad before it was day, calling upon the people that Ismail was dead
+and that a man of their own nation was King in his place, and scattering
+handfuls of gold into every house as they passed. And, behold, before
+the second call to prayer, Abdullah was King, and all the people came
+and did homage to him. And Abdullah himself was astonished when he saw
+how easy it had been, and loved his wife even better than before.'
+
+So Almasta finished her tale and there was silence for a time, while
+Abdullah sat still and gazed at the closed tents in the starlight, and
+listened to the distant chewing of the camels.
+
+'Give me some water,' he said at last. 'I am very thirsty.'
+
+She brought him drink from the skin, and soon afterwards he lay down to
+rest. But they said nothing more to each other that night of the story
+which Almasta had told.
+
+On the following day they journeyed fully eleven hours, to a place where
+there was much water, and in the evening, when the camels were chewing,
+and all the Bedouins had eaten and were resting in their tents, Abdullah
+sat again in his accustomed place.
+
+'Almasta, light of my darkness,' he said, 'I would gladly hear again
+something of the tale you told me last night, for I have not remembered
+it well, being overburdened with the cares of my people and the
+direction of the march. Surely you said that when the woman and her
+husband had killed Ismail they took the keys of the treasure chambers
+from under his pillow. Is it not so?'
+
+'They did so, Abdullah,'
+
+'And they immediately went and took the gold and gave it to the guards?
+But I have forgotten, for it is a matter of little importance, being but
+a tale.'
+
+'That is what they did,' answered Almasta.
+
+'But surely this is a fable. How could the woman know the way to the
+treasure chambers and find it in the dark? For you said also that these
+secret places were underground and therefore a great way from the
+harem.'
+
+'I did not say that, Abdullah, for the secret places underground are
+those in Riad, which I described to you before I began the other story.'
+
+'This may be true, for I am very forgetful. But I daresay that the
+treasures in the city you described were also hidden in similar places.'
+
+'Since you speak of this, I remember that it was so. The glorious light
+of your intelligence penetrates the darkness of my memory and makes it
+clear. The places were exactly similar.'
+
+'How then could the woman, who only knew the harem, find her way in the
+dark, and lead her husband, to a part of the palace which she had never
+visited? This is a hard thing.'
+
+'It was not hard for her. She had seen Ismail open with his key a door
+in his sleeping chamber, and he had gone in and after some time had
+returned bearing sacks of gold pieces. Was this a hard thing? Or does a
+wise man make two doors to his treasure-house, the one for himself and
+the other for thieves? The one leading to his own chamber, for his own
+use, and the other opening upon the highway for the convenience of
+robbers? It is possible, but I think not. Ismail had but one door. He
+was not an Egyptian jackass.'
+
+'This is reasonable,' said Abdullah. 'And I am now satisfied. But my
+imagination was not at rest, for the story is a good one and deserves to
+be well told.'
+
+After this Abdullah wandered for a long time with the Bedouins who
+accompanied him, often changing his direction, so that they wondered
+whither he was leading them, and began to question him. But he answered
+that he had heard secretly of a great spoil to be taken, and that they
+should all have a share of it, and whenever they came upon Arabs of
+another tribe Abdullah invited the sheikh and the most notable men to
+his tent and entertained them sumptuously with camel's meat, afterwards
+talking long with them in private. Before many weeks had passed, the
+skilful men of the tribe, who knew the signs, were aware that many other
+Bedouins were travelling in the same direction as themselves, though
+they could not be seen.
+
+But neither Abdullah's men, nor Almasta herself, could know that in
+three months the sheikhs of all the tribes from Hasa to Harb, and from
+Ajman to El Kora, had heard that Khaled the Sultan was a Persian robber,
+and a Shiyah at heart, venerating Ali and execrating the true Sonna, a
+man who in all probability drank wine in secret, and who was certainly
+plotting to deliver up all Nejed to the power of the Ajjem. Some of them
+believed the tale readily enough, for all had asked whence Khaled was
+and none had got an answer. Could a man be of the desert, they asked,
+and yet not be known by name in any of the tribes, nor his father before
+him? Surely, there was a secret, they said, and he who will not tell the
+name of his father has a reason for changing his own. And as for his
+being brave and having fought well in the war with the Shammar, how
+could a man have been a robber if he were not brave, and why should he
+not fight manfully, since he had everything to gain and nothing to lose?
+As for the spoils, too, he had made a pretence of dividing them justly,
+but it was now well known that he had laden camels by stealth at Hail
+and had sent them secretly to Riad, slaughtering with his own hand all
+those who had helped him.
+
+Little by little, too, the story came to Riad and was told in a low
+voice by merchants in the bazar, and repeated by their wives among their
+acquaintance, and by the slaves in the market and among the beggars who
+begged by the doors of the great mosque but were fed daily from the
+palace. And though many persons of the better sort thought that the
+story might be true, and wagged their heads when Khaled's name was
+spoken, yet the beggars with one accord declared that it was a lie. For
+Khaled was generous in almsgiving, and they said, 'If Khaled is
+overthrown and another Sultan set up in his place, how do we know
+whether there will be boiled camel's meat from time to time as well as
+blanket-bread and a small measure of barley meal? And will the next
+Sultan scatter gold in the streets as Khaled did on the first day when
+he rode to the mosque? Truly these chatterers of Bedouins talk much of
+the treasure in the palace which will be divided, but they who talk most
+of gold, are they who most desire it, and we shall get none. Therefore
+we say it is a lie, and Khaled is a true man, and a Sonna like
+ourselves, not a swiller of wine nor a devourer of pigs. Allah show him
+mercy now and at the day of resurrection! The cock-sparrow is pluming
+his breast while the hunter is pulling the string of the snare.'
+
+Thus the beggars talked among themselves all day, reasoning after the
+manner of their kind. But they suffered other people to talk as they
+pleased, for one who desires alms must not exhibit a contradictory
+disposition, lest the rich man be offended and eat the melon together
+with the melon peels, and exclaim that the dirt-scraper has become a
+preacher. For the rich man's anger is at the edge of his nostrils and
+always ready.
+
+As the winter passed away and the spring began, the tribes of the desert
+drew nearer and nearer to the city, as is their wont at that season. For
+many of the sheikhs had houses in the city, in which they spent the hot
+months of the year, while their people were encamped in the low hill
+country not far off, where the heat is less fierce than in the plains
+and the deserts. And now also the season of the Haj was approaching, for
+Ramadhan was not far off, and the beggars congregated at the gates
+waiting for the first pilgrims, and expecting plentiful alms, which in
+due time they received, for in that year Abdullah did not molest the
+Persian pilgrimage, his mind being occupied with other matters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+The story which was thus repeated from mouth to mouth in Riad reached
+the palace at the last, and the guards told it to each other as they sat
+together under the shadow of the great wall, the cooks related it among
+themselves in the kitchen, and the black slaves gossiped about it in the
+corners of the courtyard, and the women slaves stood and listened while
+they talked and carried the tale into the harem. But the people of the
+palace were more slow to believe than the people of the city, for they
+shared in a measure in Khaled's right of possession, and desired no
+change of master, so that for a long time neither Zehowah nor Khaled
+heard anything of what was commonly reported. Yet at last the old woman
+who had been Zehowah's nurse told her the substance of the story, with
+many protestations of unbelief, and of anger against those who had
+invented the lie.
+
+'It is right that my lady and mistress should know these things,' she
+said, 'and when our lord the Sultan has been informed of them, he will
+doubtless cause his soldiers to go forth with sticks and purify the
+hides of the chief evil-speakers in the bazar. There is one especially,
+a merchant whose shop is opposite the door of the little mosque, who is
+continually bold in falsehood, being the same who sold me this garment
+for linen; but it afterwards turned out to be cotton and the gold
+threads are brass and have turned black. I pray Allah to be just as well
+as merciful.'
+
+At first Zehowah laughed, but soon afterwards her face became grave, and
+she bent her brows, for though the story was but a lie she saw how
+easily it would find credence. She therefore sent the old woman away
+with a gift and she herself went to Khaled, and sat down beside him and
+took his hand.
+
+'You have secret enemies,' she said, 'who are plotting against your
+life, and who have already begun to attack you by filling the air of the
+city with falsehoods which fly from house to house like flies in summer
+entering at the window and going out by the door. You must sift this
+matter, for it is worthy of attention.'
+
+'And what are these lies of which you speak?'
+
+'It is said openly in the city that you are a Shiyah and a Persian,
+having been a robber before you came here, and that you are plotting to
+deliver over Nejed to the Persians. Look to this, Khaled, for they say
+that you are no Bedouin since no one knows your descent nor the name of
+your father.'
+
+'Do you believe this of me, Zehowah?' Khaled asked.
+
+'Do I believe that the sun is black and the night as white as the sun?
+But it is true that I do not know your father's name.'
+
+Then Khaled was troubled, for he saw that it would be a hard matter to
+explain, and that without explanation his safety might be endangered.
+Zehowah sat still beside him, holding his hand and looking into his
+face, as though expecting an answer.
+
+'Have I done wisely in telling you?' she asked at last. 'You are
+troubled. I should have said nothing.'
+
+'You have done wisely,' he answered. 'For I will go and speak to them,
+and if they believe me, the matter is finished, but if not I have lost
+nothing.'
+
+'It will be well to give the chief men presents, and to distribute
+something among the people, for gifts are great persuaders of unbelief.'
+
+'Shall I give them presents because they have believed evil of me?'
+asked Khaled, laughing. 'Rather would I give you the treasures of the
+whole earth because you have not believed it.'
+
+'If I had the wealth of the whole world I would give it to them rather
+than that they should hurt a hair of your head,' Zehowah answered.
+
+'Am I more dear to you than so much gold, Zehowah?'
+
+'What is gold that it should be weighed in the balance with the life of
+a man? You are dearer to me than gold.'
+
+'Is this love, Zehowah?' Khaled asked, in a low voice.
+
+'I do not know whether it be love or not.'
+
+'The wing of night is lifted for a moment, and the false dawn is seen,
+and afterwards it is night again. But the true dawn will come by and by,
+when night folds her wings before the day.'
+
+'You speak in a riddle, Khaled.'
+
+'It is no matter. I will neither make a speech to the people, nor give
+them gifts. What is it to me? Let them chatter from the first call to
+prayer until the lights are put out in the evening. My fate is about my
+neck, and I cannot change it, any more than I can make you love me.
+Allah is great. I will wait and see what happens.'
+
+'Everything is undoubtedly in Allah's hand,' said Zehowah. 'But if a
+man, having meat set before him, will not raise his right hand to thrust
+it into the dish, he will die of hunger.'
+
+'And do you think that Allah does not know before whether the man will
+stretch out his hand or not?'
+
+'Undoubtedly Allah knows. And he also knows that if you will not sift
+this matter and stop the mouths of the liars, I will, though I am but a
+woman, for otherwise we may both perish.'
+
+'If they destroy me, yet they cannot take the kingdom from you, nor hurt
+you,' said Khaled. 'How then are you in danger? If I am slain you will
+then choose a husband, whose father's name is known to them. They will
+be satisfied and you will be no worse off than before and possibly
+better. This is truth. I will therefore wait for the end.'
+
+'Who has put these words into your mouth, Khaled? For the thought is not
+in your heart. Moreover, if the tribes should rise up and overthrow you,
+they would not spare me, for I would fight against them with my hands
+and they would kill me.'
+
+'Why should you fight for me, since you do not love me? But this is
+folly. No one ever heard of a woman taking arms and fighting.'
+
+'I have heard of such deeds. And if I had not heard of them, others
+should through me, for I would be the first to do them.'
+
+'I think that so long as Khaled lives, Zehowah need not bear arms,' said
+Khaled. 'I will therefore go and call the chief men together and speak
+to them.'
+
+And so he did. When the principal officers who had remained in the city
+during the winter season were assembled in the kahwah, and had hung up
+their swords on the pegs and partaken of a refreshment, Khaled sent the
+slaves away, and spoke in a few words as was his manner.
+
+'Men of Riad, Aared and all Nejed,' he said, 'I regret that more of you
+are not present here, but a great number of sheikhs are still in the
+desert, and it cannot be helped. I desire to tell you that I have heard
+of a tale concerning me which is circulated from mouth to ear throughout
+Riad and the whole kingdom. This tale is untrue, a lie such as no honest
+man repeats even to his own wife at home in the harem. For it is said
+that I am not called Khaled, but perhaps Ali Hassan, or perhaps Ali
+Hussein, that I am a Shiyah, a wine-bibber and an idolatrous one who
+prays for the intercession of Ali, besides being a Persian and a robber.
+It is also said that I plot to deliver over the kingdom of Nejed to the
+Persians, though how this could be done I do not know, seeing that the
+Persians are a meal-faced people of white jackals who do not know how to
+ride a camel. These are all lies. I swear by Allah.'
+
+When the men heard these words, they looked stealthily one at another,
+to see who would answer Khaled, for they had all heard the story and
+most of them were inclined to believe it. Peace is the mother of
+evil-speaking, as garbage breeds flies in a corner, which afterwards fly
+into clean houses and men ask whence they come. But none of the chief
+men found anything to say at first, so that Khaled sat in silence a long
+time, waiting for some one to speak. He therefore turned to the one
+nearest to him, and addressed him.
+
+'Have you heard this tale?' he inquired. 'And if you have heard it do
+you believe it?'
+
+'I think, indeed, that I have heard something of the kind,' answered the
+man. 'But it was as the chattering of an uncertain vision in a dream,
+which rings in the ears for a moment while it is yet dark in the
+morning, but is forgotten when the sun rises. By the instrumentality of
+a just mind Allah caused that which entered at one ear to run out from
+the other as the rinsing of a water-skin.'
+
+'Good,' answered Khaled. 'Yet it is not well to rinse the brains with
+falsehoods. And you?' he inquired, turning to the next. 'Have you heard
+it also?'
+
+'Just lord, I have heard,' replied this one. 'But if I have believed,
+may my head be shaved with a red-hot razor having a jagged edge.'
+
+'This is well,' Khaled said, and he questioned a third.
+
+'O Khaled!' cried the man. 'Is the milk sour, because the slave has
+imagined a lie saying, "I will say it is bad and then it will be given
+to me to drink"? Or is honey bitter because the cook has put salt in
+the sweetmeats? Or is it night because the woman has shut the door and
+the window, to keep out the sun?'
+
+The next also found an answer, having collected his thoughts while the
+others were speaking.
+
+'A certain man,' said he, 'kept sheep in Tabal Shammar, and the dog was
+with the sheep in the fold. Then two foxes came to the fold in the
+evening and one of them said to the man: "All dogs are wolves, for we
+have seen their like in the mountains, and your dog is also a wolf and
+will eat up your sheep. Make haste to kill him therefore and cast out
+his carcass." And to the sheep the other fox said: "How many sheep hang
+by the heels at the butcher's! And how many dogs live in sheepfolds!
+This is an evil world for innocent people." And the sheep were at first
+persuaded, but presently the dog ran out and caught one of the foxes and
+broke his neck, and the man threw a stone at the other and hit him, so
+that he also died. Then the sheep said one to another: "The foxes have
+suffered justly, for they were liars and robbers and the dog and our
+master have protected us against them, which they would not have done
+had they desired our destruction." And so are the people, O Khaled. For
+if you let the liars go unhurt the people will believe them, but if you
+destroy them the faith of the multitude will be turned again to you.'
+
+'This is a fable,' said Khaled, 'and it is not without truth. I am the
+sheep-dog and the people are the sheep. But in the name of Allah, which
+are the foxes?'
+
+Then he turned to another, an old man who was the Kadi, celebrated for
+his wisdom and for his religious teaching in the chief mosque.
+
+'I ask you last of all,' said Khaled, 'because you are the wisest, and
+when the wisest words are heard last they are most easily remembered.
+For we first put water into the lamp, and then oil to float upon the
+surface, and next the wick, and last of all we take a torch and light
+the lamp and the darkness disappears. Light our lamp, therefore, O Kadi,
+and let us see clearly.'
+
+'O Khaled,' replied the Kadi, 'I am old and have seen the world. You
+cannot destroy the tree by cutting off one or two of its branches. It is
+necessary to strike at the root. Now the root of this tree of lies which
+has grown up is this. Neither we nor the people know whence you are, nor
+what was your father's name, and though I for my part do not impiously
+ask whence Allah takes the good gifts which he gives to men, there are
+many who are not satisfied, and who will go about in jealousy to make
+trouble until their questioning is answered. If you ask counsel of me, I
+say, tell us here present of what tribe you are, for we believe you a
+pure Bedouin like the best of us, and tell us your father's name, and
+peace be upon him. We are men in authority and will speak to the people,
+and I will address them from the pulpit of the great mosque, and they
+will believe us. Then all will be ended, and the lies will be
+extinguished as the coals of an evening fire go out when the night frost
+descends upon the camp in winter. But if you will not tell us, yet I,
+for one, do not believe ill of you; and moreover you are lord, and we
+are vassals, so long as you are King and hold good and evil in your
+hand.'
+
+'So long as I am King,' Khaled repeated. 'And you think that if I do not
+tell my father's name, I shall not be where I am for a long time.'
+
+'Allah is wise, and knows,' answered the Kadi, but he would say nothing
+more.
+
+'This is plain speaking,' said Khaled, 'such as I like. But I might
+plainly take advantage of it. You desire to know my father's name and
+whence I come. Then is it not easy for me to say that I come from a
+distant part of the Great Dahna? Is there a man in Nejed who has crossed
+the Red Desert? And if I say that my father was Mohammed ibn Abd el
+Hamid ibn Abd el Latif, and so on to our father Ismail, upon whom be
+peace, shall any one deny that I speak truth? This is a very easy
+matter.'
+
+'So much the more will it be easy for us to satisfy the people,'
+answered the Kadi.
+
+'No doubt. I will think of what you have said. And now, I pray you,
+partake of another refreshment and go in peace.'
+
+At this all the chief men looked one at the other again, for they saw
+that Khaled would not tell them what they wished to know. And those of
+them who had doubted the story before now began to believe it. But they
+held their peace, and presently made their salutation and took their
+swords from the wall and departed.
+
+Khaled then left the kahwah and returned to Zehowah in the harem.
+
+'I have told them that these tales are lies,' he said, 'but they do not
+believe me.'
+
+He repeated to Zehowah all that had been said, and she listened
+attentively, for she began to understand that there was danger not far
+off.
+
+'And I told them,' he said at last, 'that it would be as easy for me to
+invent names, as for them to hear them. Then they looked sideways each
+at the other and kept silent.'
+
+'This is a foolish thing which you have done,' answered Zehowah. 'They
+will now all believe that your father was an evildoer and that you
+yourself are no better. Otherwise, they will say, why should he wish to
+conceal anything? You should have told them the truth, whatever it is.'
+
+'You also wish to know it, I see,' said Khaled, looking at Zehowah
+curiously. 'But if I were to tell you, you would not believe me, I
+think, any more than they would.'
+
+Then Zehowah looked at him in her turn, but he could not understand the
+language of her eyes.
+
+'What is this secret of yours?' she asked. 'I would indeed like to hear
+it, and if you swear to me that it is true, by Allah, I will believe
+you. For you are a very truthful man, and not subtle.'
+
+But Khaled was troubled at this. For he knew that she would find it hard
+to believe; and that if she did believe it, she would be terrified to
+think that she had married one of the genii, and if not, she would
+suspect him of a hidden purpose in telling her an empty fable, and he
+would then be further from her love than before. He held his peace,
+therefore, for some time, while she watched him, playing with her beads.
+In reality she was very curious to know the truth, though she had always
+been unwilling to ask it of him, seeing that she had married him as a
+stranger, of her own will and choice, without inquiry.
+
+'Is it just,' she asked at last, 'that the people should accuse you of
+evil deeds and fill the air of the city with falsehoods concerning you,
+so that the very slaves hear the guards repeating the lies to each
+other in the courtyard, and that I, who am your wife, should not know
+the truth? What have I done that you should not trust me? Or what have I
+said that you should regard me no more than a slave who sprinkles the
+floor and makes the fire, and while she is present in the room you hold
+your peace lest she should know your thoughts and betray them? Am I not
+your wife, and faithful? Have I not given you a kingdom and treasure
+beyond counting? Surely there were times when you talked more freely
+with that barbarian slave-woman, whose hair was red, than you ever talk
+with me.'
+
+'This is not true,' said Khaled. 'And if I talked familiarly with
+Almasta, you know the reason, for you yourself found it out, and called
+me simple for trying to deceive you. And now she is gone to the desert
+with her husband and there is no more question of her, or her red hair.
+But all the rest is true, and you have indeed given me a kingdom, which
+I am likely to lose and wealth which I do not desire, though you have
+not given me that which I covet more than gold or kingdoms, for I desire
+it indeed, and that is your love. Moreover if you have given me the
+rest, I have done something in return, for I have fought for your
+people, and shed my blood freely, and given you a nation captive,
+besides loving you and refusing to take another wife into my house. And
+this last is a matter of which some women would think more highly than
+you.'
+
+But Zehowah's curiosity was burning within her like a thirst, for
+although she had at first cared little to know of Khaled's former life,
+she was astonished at his persistency in keeping the secret now, seeing
+that the whole country was full of false rumours about him.
+
+'How can a man expect that a woman should love him, if he will not put
+his trust in her?' she asked.
+
+Then Khaled did not hesitate any longer, for he was never slow to do
+anything by which there seemed to be any hope of gaining her love. He
+therefore took her hand in his, and it trembled a little so that he was
+pleased, though indeed the unsteadiness came more from her anxiety to
+know the story he was about to tell, than from any love she felt at that
+moment.
+
+'You have sworn that you will believe me, Zehowah,' he said. 'But I
+forewarn you that there are hard things to understand. For the reason
+why I will not tell my father's name, nor the name of my tribe is a
+plain one, seeing that I was not born like other men, and have no father
+at all, and my brethren are not men but genii of the air, created from
+the beginning and destined to die at the second blast of the trumpet
+before the resurrection of the dead.'
+
+At this Zehowah started suddenly in fright and looked into his face,
+expecting to see that he had coals of fire for eyes and an appalling
+countenance. But when she saw that he was not changed and had the face
+of a man and the eyes of a man, she laughed.
+
+'What is this idle tale of Afrits?' she exclaimed. 'Frighten children
+with it.'
+
+'This is what I foresaw in you,' said Khaled. 'You cannot believe me. Of
+what use is it then to tell you my story?'
+
+Zehowah answered nothing, for she was angry, supposing that Khaled was
+attempting to put her off with a foolish tale. She had heard, indeed, of
+Genii and Afrits and she was sure that they had existence, since they
+were expressly mentioned in the Koran, but she had never heard that any
+of them had taken the shape and manner of a man. She remembered also how
+Khaled had always fought with his hands in war, like other men and been
+wounded, and she was sure that if his story were true he would have
+summoned whole legions of his fellows through the air to destroy the
+enemy.
+
+'You do not believe me,' he repeated somewhat bitterly. 'And if you do
+not believe me, how shall others do so?'
+
+'You ask me to believe too much. If you ask for my faith, you must offer
+me truths and not fables. It is true that I am curious, which is foolish
+and womanly. But if you do not wish to tell me your secret, I cannot
+force you to do so, nor have I any right to expect confidence. Let us
+therefore talk of other things, or else not talk at all, for though you
+will not satisfy me you cannot deceive me in this way.'
+
+'So you also believe that I am a Persian and a robber,' said Khaled. 'Is
+it not so?'
+
+'How can I tell what you are, if you will not tell me? Is your name
+written in your face that I may know it is indeed Khaled and not Ali
+Hassan as the people say? Or is the record of your deeds inscribed upon
+your forehead for me to read? You may be a Persian. I cannot tell.'
+
+Then Khaled bent his brows and turned his eyes away from her, for he was
+angry and disappointed, though indeed she knew in her heart that he was
+no Persian. But she let him suppose that she thought so, hoping perhaps
+to goad him into satisfying her curiosity.
+
+If Khaled had been a man like other men, as Zehowah supposed him to be,
+he would doubtless have invented a well-framed history such as she would
+have believed, at least for the present. But to him such a falsehood
+appeared useless, for he had seen the world during many ages and had
+observed that a lie is never really successful except by chance, seeing
+that no intelligence is profound enough to foresee the manner in which
+it will be some day examined, whereas the truth, being always coincident
+with the reality, can never be wholly refuted.
+
+Khaled therefore hesitated as to whether he should tell his story from
+the beginning, or hold his peace; but in the end he decided to speak,
+because it was intolerable to him to be thought an evildoer by her.
+
+'You make haste to disbelieve, before you have heard all,' he said at
+last. 'Hear me to the end. I have told you that I slew the Indian
+prince. That was before I became a man. You yourself could not
+understand how I was able to enter the palace and carry him away without
+being observed. But as I was at that time able to fly and to make both
+myself and him invisible, this need not surprise you. If you do not
+believe that I did it, let us order a litter to be brought for you, and
+I will take my mare and a sufficient number of attendants, and let us
+ride southwards into the Red Desert. There I will show you the man's
+bones. You will probably recognise them by the gold chain which he wore
+about his neck and by his ring. After that, when I had buried him, the
+messenger of Allah came to me, and because the man was an unbeliever,
+and had intended to embrace the faith outwardly, having evil in his
+heart, Allah did not destroy me immediately, but commanded that the
+angel Asrael should write my name in the book of life, that I might
+become a man. But Allah gave me no soul, promising only that if I could
+win your love, whose suitor I had killed, I should receive an immortal
+spirit, which should then be judged according to my deeds. This is
+truth. I swear it in the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate.
+Then an angel gave me garments such as men wear, and a sword, and a good
+mare, and I travelled hither to Riad, eating locusts for food. And
+though no man knew me, you married me at once, for it was the will of
+Allah, whose will shall also be done to the end. The rest you know. If,
+therefore, you will love me before I die, I shall receive a soul and it
+may be that I shall inherit paradise, for I am a true believer and have
+shed blood for the faith. But if you do not love me, when I die I shall
+perish as the flame of a lamp that is blown out at dawn. This is the
+truth.'
+
+He ceased from speaking and looked again at Zehowah. At first he
+supposed from her face that she believed him, and his heart was
+comforted, but presently she smiled, and he understood that she was not
+convinced. For the story had interested her greatly and she had almost
+forgotten not to believe it, but when she no longer heard his voice, it
+seemed too hard for her.
+
+'This is a strange tale,' she said, 'and it will probably not satisfy
+the people.'
+
+'I do not care whether they are satisfied or not,' Khaled answered. 'All
+I desire is to be believed by you, for I cannot bear that you should
+think me what I am not.'
+
+'What can I do? I cannot say to my intelligence, take this and reject
+that, any more than I can say to my heart, love or love not. It would
+indeed have been easier if you had said, "I am a certain Persian, a
+fugitive, protect me, for my enemies are upon me." I could perhaps give
+you protection if you require it, as you may. But you come to me with a
+monstrous tale, and you ask me to love, not a man, but a Jinn or an
+Afrit, or whatever it pleases you to call yourself. Assuredly this is
+too hard for me.'
+
+And again Zehowah smiled scornfully, for she was really beginning to
+think that he might be a Persian disguised as the people said.
+
+'I need no protection from man or woman,' said Khaled, 'for I fear
+neither the one nor the other. For I am strong, and if I am able to give
+out of charity I am also able to take by force. My fate is ever with me.
+I cannot escape it. But neither can others escape theirs. I will fight
+alone if need be, for if you will not love me I care little how I may
+end. Moreover, in battle, it is not good to stand in the way of a man
+who seeks death.'
+
+But Zehowah thought this might be the speech of a desperate man such as
+Ali Hassan, the robber, as well as of Khaled, the Jinn, and she was not
+convinced, though she no longer smiled. For she knew little of
+supernatural beings, and a devil might easily call himself a good
+spirit, so that she was convinced that she was married either to a demon
+or to a dangerous robber, and she could not even decide which of the two
+she would have preferred, for either was bad enough, and as for love
+there could no longer be any question of that.
+
+Khaled understood well enough and rose from his seat and went away,
+desiring to be alone. He knew that he was now surrounded by danger on
+every side and that he could not even look to his wife for comfort,
+since she also believed him to be an impostor.
+
+'Truly,' he said to himself, 'this is a task beyond accomplishment,
+which Allah has laid upon me. It is harder to get a woman's love than to
+win kingdoms, and it is easier to destroy a whole army with one stroke
+of a sword than to make a woman believe that which she does not desire.
+And now the end is at hand. For she will never love me and I shall
+certainly perish in this fight, being alone against so many. Allah
+assuredly did not intend me to run away, and moreover there is no reason
+left for remaining alive.'
+
+On that day Khaled again called the chief men together in his kahwah,
+and addressed them briefly.
+
+'Men of Riad,' he said, 'I am aware that there is a conspiracy to
+overthrow and destroy me, and I daresay that you yourselves are among
+the plotters. I will not tell you who I am, but I swear by Allah that I
+am neither a Persian nor a robber, nor yet a Shiyah. You will doubtless
+attack me unawares, but you will not find me sleeping. I will kill as
+many of you as I can, and afterwards I also shall undoubtedly be killed,
+for I am alone and you have many thousands on your side. Min Allah--it
+is in Allah's hands. Go in peace.'
+
+So they departed, shaking their heads, but saying nothing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+The Sheikh of the beggars was an old man, blind from his childhood, but
+otherwise strong and full of health, delighting in quarrels and swift to
+handle his staff. He had at first become a beggar, being still a young
+man, for his father and mother had died without making provision for
+him, and he had no brothers. As he boasted that he was of the pure blood
+of the desert on both sides, the other beggars jeered at him in the
+beginning, calling him Ibn el Sheikh in derision and sometimes stealing
+his food from him. But he beat them mightily, the just and the unjust
+together, since he could not see, and acquired great consideration
+amongst them, after which he behaved generously, giving his share with
+the rest for the common good, and something more. His companions learned
+also that his story was true and that his blood was as good as any from
+Ajman to El Kara, for a Bedouin of the same tribe as Abdullah, the
+husband of Almasta, came to see him not less than once every year, and
+called him brother and filled his sack with barley. This Bedouin was a
+person of consideration, also, as the beggars saw from his having a mare
+of his own, provided with a good saddle, and from his weapons. In the
+course of time therefore the blind man grew great in the eyes of his
+fellows, until they called him Sheikh respectfully, and waited on him
+when he performed his ablutions, and he obtained over them a supremacy
+as great as was Khaled's over the kingdom he governed. He was very wise
+also, acquainted with the interpretation of dreams, and able to recite
+various chapters of the Koran. It was even said that he was able to
+distinguish a good man from a bad by the sound of his tread, though some
+thought that he only heard the jingling of coins in the girdle, and
+judged by this, having a finer hearing than other men. At all events he
+was often aware that a person able to give alms was approaching, while
+his companions were talking among themselves and noticed nothing, though
+they had eyes to see, being mostly only cripples and lepers.
+
+On a certain day in the spring, when the sun was beginning to be hot and
+not long after Khaled had told Zehowah his story, many of the beggars
+were sitting in the eastern gate, by which the great road issues out of
+the city towards Hasa. They expected the coming of the first pilgrims
+every day, for the season was advancing. And now they sat talking
+together of the good prospects before them, and rejoicing that the
+winter was over so that they would not suffer any more from the cold.
+
+'There is a horseman on the road,' said the Sheikh of the beggars,
+interrupting the conversation. 'O you to whom Allah has preserved the
+light of day, look forth and tell me who the rider is.'
+
+'It is undoubtedly a pilgrim,' answered a young beggar, who was a
+stranger but had found his way to Riad without legs, no man knew how.
+
+'Ass of Egypt,' replied the Sheikh reprovingly, 'do pilgrims ride at a
+full gallop upon steeds of pure blood? But though your eyes are open
+your ears are deaf with the sleep of stupidity from which there is no
+awakening. That is a good horse, ridden by a light rider. Truly a man
+must itch to be called Haji who gallops thus on the road to Mecca.'
+
+Then the others looked, and at last one of them spoke, a hunchback
+having but one eye, but that one was keen.
+
+'O Sheikh,' he said, 'rejoice and praise Allah, for I think it is he
+whom you call your brother, who comes in from the desert to visit you.'
+
+'If that is the case, I will indeed give thanks,' answered the blind
+man, 'for there is little in my barley-sack, less in my wallet and
+nothing at all in my stomach. Allah is gracious and compassionate!'
+
+The hunchback's eye had not deceived him, and before long the Bedouin
+dismounted at the gate and looked about until he saw the Sheikh of the
+beggars, who indeed had already risen to welcome him. When they had
+embraced the Bedouin led the blind man along in the shadow of the
+eastern wall until they were so far from the rest that they might freely
+talk without being overheard. Then they sat down together, and the mare
+stood waiting before them.
+
+'O my brother,' the Bedouin began, 'was not my mother the adopted
+daughter of your uncle, upon whom be peace? And have I not called you
+brother and filled your barley-sack from time to time these many years?'
+
+'This is true,' answered the Sheikh of the beggars. 'Allah will requite
+you with seventy thousand days of unspeakable bliss for every grain of
+barley you have caused to pass my teeth. "Be constant in prayer and in
+giving alms," says the holy book, "and you shall find with Allah all the
+good which you have sent before you, for your souls." And it is also
+said, "Give alms to your kindred, and to the poor and to orphans." I am
+also grateful for all you have done, and my gratitude grows as a palm
+tree in the garden of my soul which is irrigated by your charity.'
+
+'It is well, my brother, it is well. I know the uprightness of your
+heart, and I have not ridden hither from the desert to count the
+treasure which may be in store for me in paradise. Allah knows the
+good, as well as the evil. I have come for another purpose. But tell me
+first, what is the news in the city? Are there no strange rumours afloat
+of late concerning Khaled the Sultan?'
+
+'In each man's soul there are two wells,' said the blind man. 'The one
+is the spring of truth, the other is the fountain of lies.'
+
+'You are wise and full of years,' said the Bedouin, 'and I understand
+your caution, for I also am not very young. But here we must speak
+plainly, for the time is short in which to act. A sand-storm has
+darkened the eyes of the men of the desert and they are saying that
+Khaled is a Shiyah, a Persian and a robber, and that he must be
+overthrown and a man of our own people made king in his stead.'
+
+'I have indeed heard such a rumour.'
+
+'It is more than a rumour. The tribes are even now assembling towards
+Riad, and before many days are past the end will come. Abdullah is the
+chief mover in this. But with your help, my brother, we will make his
+plotting empty and his scheming fruitless as a twig of ghada stuck into
+the sand, which will neither strike root nor bear leaves.'
+
+When the Sheikh of the beggars heard that he was expected to give help
+in frustrating Abdullah's plans he was troubled and much astonished.
+
+'Shall the blind sheep go out and fight the lion?' he inquired
+tremulously.
+
+'Even so,' replied the Bedouin unmoved, 'and, moreover, without danger
+to himself. Hear me first. Abdullah and his tribe will encamp in the low
+hills, in a few days, as usual, but somewhat earlier than in other
+years, and a great number of other Bedouins will be in the neighbouring
+valleys at the same time. Then Abdullah will come into the city openly
+and go to his house with his wife and slaves, and during several days he
+will receive the visits of his friends and return them, and go to the
+palace and salute Khaled, as though nothing were about to happen. But in
+the meantime he will make everything ready, for it is his intention to
+go into the palace at night, disguised in a woman's garment, with his
+wife, and they will slay Khaled in his sleep, and bind Zehowah, and
+distribute much treasure among the guards and slaves, and before morning
+the city will be full of Bedouins all ready to proclaim Abdullah Sultan.
+And you alone can prevent all this.'
+
+But the blind man laughed in his beard.
+
+'This is a good jest!' he cried. 'You have sought out a valiant warrior
+to stand between the Sultan and death! I am blind and old, and a beggar,
+and you would have me stand in the path of Abdullah and a thousand armed
+men. They would certainly laugh, as I do. Let me take with me a few
+lepers and the Egyptian jackass without legs, who has flown among us
+lately like a locust out of the clear air. Verily, their strength shall
+avail against the lances of the desert.'
+
+'This is no jest, my brother,' answered the Bedouin, gravely. 'Neither
+I, nor a hundred armed horsemen with me could do what you will do
+unhurt. But I will save Khaled. For in the battle of the pass before we
+came to Hail last summer when I had an arrow in my right arm and a spear
+thrust in my side, certain dogs of Shammars encompassed me, and darkness
+was already descending upon my eyes when Khaled rode in like a whirlwind
+of scythes, and sent four of them to hell, where they are now drinking
+molten brass like thirsty camels. Then I swore by Allah that I would
+defend him in the hour of need.'
+
+'Why do you not then lie in wait for Abdullah yourself and slay him as
+he passes you in the dark?'
+
+'Is he not the sheikh of my tribe? How then can I lay a hand on him? But
+I have thought of this during many nights in my tent, and you alone can
+do what is needed.'
+
+'Surely this is folly,' said the Sheikh of the beggars. 'You have met a
+hot wind in the desert and your mind is unsettled by it. I pray you come
+with me into the city to my dwelling, and take some refreshment, or at
+least let me send to the well for a drink of water.'
+
+'My head is cool and I am not thirsty, nor is the hot wind blowing at
+this time of year. Hear me. I will tell you how to save Khaled from
+destruction, and you shall receive more gold than you have dreamed of,
+and a house, and rich garments, and a young wife of a good family to
+comfort your old age. For the deed is easy and safe, but the reward will
+be great, and you alone can do the one and earn the other.'
+
+'I perceive,' said the blind man, 'that you are indeed in earnest, but I
+cannot understand what I can do. We know that Khaled is forewarned, for
+it is not many days since he summoned the chief men in Riad, with the
+Kadi, to the palace, and refused to tell them the name of his father,
+but said that if they attacked him he would kill as many of them as he
+could.'
+
+'I did not know this,' answered the Bedouin. 'But the knowledge does not
+change my plan. Now hear me. You are the Sheikh of all the beggars in
+Riad--may Allah send you long life and much gain--they are an army and
+you are a captain. Moreover the beggars are doubtless attached to Khaled
+by his generosity, and all of you say in your hearts that under Abdullah
+there may be more sticks and less barley for you.'
+
+'This is true. But then, my brother, it is otherwise with you, for you
+are of Abdullah's tribe and will have honour and riches if he is made
+Sultan. How then is my advantage also yours?'
+
+'And did not this Abdullah in the first place divorce with ignominy his
+second wife, who is my kinswoman, being the daughter of my father's
+sister? And has he restored the dowry as the law commands? Truly his new
+wife is even now sitting upon my cousin's carpet. And secondly Abdullah
+made himself sheikh unjustly, for our sheikh should be Abdul Kerim's
+son.'
+
+'Yet you accepted Abdullah and promised him allegiance.'
+
+'Does the camel say to his driver: "I do not like to carry a load of
+barley, I would rather bear a basket of dates"? "Eat what you please in
+your tent, but dress as other men," says the proverb. Hear me, for I
+speak wisdom. Abdullah will come into the city and go to his house,
+intending to prepare the way for evil. And he will walk about the
+streets as usual, without attendants, both because he knows that the
+people are mostly with him, and also in order not to attract notice. Now
+Abdullah is the spring from which all this wickedness flows, he is the
+chief camel whom the others follow, the coal in the ashes by which the
+fire is kept alive, the head without which the body cannot live. Dry up
+the spring, therefore, let the chief camel fall into a pit suddenly,
+extinguish the coal, strike off the head. Let them ask in the morning:
+"Where is he?" And let him not be found anywhere. Then the people will
+be amazed and will not know what to do, having no leader. This is for
+you to do, and it can easily be done.'
+
+'What folly is this?' asked the blind man, shaking his head. 'And how
+can I do what you wish?'
+
+'It is very easy, for I know that you and your companions are as one
+man, living together for the common good. Go to the beggars therefore
+and tell them what I have told you, and be not afraid, for they will not
+betray you. And when Abdullah walks about the city alone lie in wait for
+him, for you will easily catch him in a narrow street, and two or three
+score of you can run after him begging for alms, until he is surrounded
+on all sides. Then fall upon him, and bind him, and take him secretly to
+one of your dwellings and keep him there, so that none find him, until
+the storm is past. In this way you will save Khaled and the kingdom, and
+when all is quiet you can deliver him up to be a laughing-stock at the
+palace and to all who believed in him. For there is nothing to fear, and
+I, for my part, am sure that Abdul Kerim's son will immediately be made
+sheikh of our tribe so that Abdullah will not return to us.'
+
+'You are subtle, my brother,' said the Sheikh of the beggars, smiling
+and stroking his beard. 'This is a good plan, being very simple, and
+Khaled will be grateful to us, and honour us beggars exceedingly. Said I
+not well that the jest was good? Surely it is better than I had thought,
+and more profitable.'
+
+'I have thought of it long in the nights of winter, both by the camp
+fire and in my tent and on the march. But I have told no one, nor will
+tell any one until all is done. But so soon as you have taken Abdullah
+and hidden him, let me know of it. To this end, when we are encamped
+outside the city I will come every evening to prayers in the great
+mosque and afterwards will wait for you near the door. As soon as I know
+that Abdullah is out of finding I will spread the report that he is
+lost, and before long all our tribe will give up the search, being
+indeed glad to get rid of him. And the rest is in the hand of Allah. I
+have done what I can, you must now do your share.'
+
+'By Allah! You shall not complain of me,' answered the blind man, 'nor
+of my people, for the jest is surpassingly good, and shall be well
+carried out.'
+
+'I will therefore go into the city, where I have business,' said the
+Bedouin. 'For I gave a reason for coming alone to Riad, and must needs
+show myself there to those who know me.'
+
+So the Bedouin filled the blind beggar's sack with barley and dates from
+his own supply and embraced him and went into the city, but the Sheikh
+of the beggars remained sitting in the same place for some time, at a
+distance from the rest, in an attitude of inward contemplation, though
+he was in reality listening to what the hunchback was telling the new
+cripple from Egypt. The Sheikh's ears were sharper than those of other
+men and he heard very clearly what was said.
+
+'This Bedouin,' said the hunchback, 'is a near relation of our Sheikh,
+and holds him in great veneration, coming frequently to see him even
+from a considerable distance, and always bringing him a present of food.
+And you may see by his mare and by his weapons that he is a person of
+consideration in his tribe. For our Sheikh is not a negro, nor the son
+of a Syrian camel-driver, but an Arab of the best blood in the desert,
+and wise enough to sit in the council in the Sultan's palace. You, who
+are but lately arrived, being transported into our midst by the mercy of
+Allah, must learn all these things, and you will also find out that our
+Sheikh has eyes in his ears, and in his fingers and in his staff, though
+he is counted blind, and you cannot deceive him easily as you might
+suppose.'
+
+The Sheikh of the beggars was pleased when he heard this and listened
+attentively to hear the answer made by the Egyptian, whom he did not yet
+trust because he was a newcomer and a stranger.
+
+'Truly,' replied the cripple, 'Allah has been merciful and
+compassionate to me, for he has brought me into the society of the wise
+and the good, which is better than much feasting in the company of the
+ignorant and the ill-mannered. And as for the Sheikh, he is evidently a
+very holy man, to whom eyes are not in any way necessary, his inward
+sight being constantly fixed upon heavenly things.'
+
+This answer did not altogether please the blind man, for it savoured
+somewhat of flattery. But the other beggars approved of the speech,
+deeming that it showed a submissive spirit, and readiness to obey and
+respect their chief.
+
+'O you of Egypt!' cried the Sheikh, calling to him. 'Come here and sit
+beside me, for I have heard what you said and desire your company.'
+
+The cripple immediately began to crawl along by the wall, dragging
+himself upon his hands and body, for he had no legs.
+
+'He is obedient,' thought the blind man, 'though it costs him much
+labour to move.'
+
+When the man was beside him, the Sheikh took an onion and a date from
+his wallet and set them down upon the ground.
+
+'Eat,' he said, 'and give thanks.'
+
+The cripple thanked him and taking the food, began to eat the onion.
+
+'You have taken the onion in your right hand and the date in your
+left,' said the Sheikh. 'And you are eating the onion first.'
+
+'This is true,' answered the Egyptian. 'I see that my lord has indeed
+eyes in his fingers.'
+
+'I have,' said the Sheikh. 'But that is not all, for this is an
+allegory. All men like to eat the onion first and the date afterwards,
+for though the onion be ever so sweet and tender, its taste is bitter
+when a man has eaten sugar-dates before it. But you have begun by giving
+us the mellow fruit of flattery, and when you give us the wholesome
+vegetable of truth it will be too sharp for our palates. Ponder this in
+your heart, chew it as the camel does her cud, and the well-digested
+food of wisdom shall nourish your understanding.'
+
+The cripple listened in astonishment at the depth of the Sheikh's
+thought, and he would have spoken out his admiration, but it is not
+possible to eat an onion and to be eloquent at the same time. The blind
+man knew this and continued to give him instruction.
+
+'The onion has saved you,' he said, 'for your mouth being full you could
+say nothing flattering, and now you will think before you speak.
+Consider how I have treated you. Have I at once rendered thanks to Allah
+for sending into our midst a young man whose gifts of eloquence are at
+least equal to those of the Kadi himself? I have said nothing so
+foolish. I have called you an ass of Egypt and otherwise rebuked you,
+for the good of your understanding, though I begin to think that you are
+indeed a very estimable young man, and it is possible that your wit may
+ripen in our society. But now I perceive by my hearing that you are
+eating the date. I pray you now, eat another onion after it.'
+
+'I cannot,' answered the cripple, 'for my lips are puckered at the
+thought of it.'
+
+'Neither is truth sweet after flattery,' said the Sheikh, who then began
+to eat the other onion himself.
+
+'I will endeavour to profit by your precepts, my lord,' replied the
+Egyptian.
+
+'Allah will then certainly enlighten you, my son. Remember also another
+thing. We are ourselves here a community, distinct from the citizens of
+Riad, and what we do, we do for the common good. Remember therefore to
+share what you receive with the rest, as they will share what they have
+with you, and take part with them in whatsoever is done by common
+consent. In this way it will be well with you and you shall grow fat;
+but if you are against us you will find evil in every man's hand, for
+since it has pleased Allah to give you no legs, you cannot possibly run
+away.'
+
+Having said this much the Sheikh of the beggars was silent. But
+afterwards on the same day he gathered about him the strongest of his
+companions, being mostly men who had the use of both arms and both
+legs, though some of them were lepers and some had but one eye, and some
+were deaf and dumb, according to the affliction which it had pleased
+Allah to send upon each. These were the most trusty and faithful of his
+people, and to them he communicated openly what the Bedouin had proposed
+to him in secret. All of them approved the plan, for they greatly feared
+the overthrow of Khaled.
+
+'But,' said one, 'we cannot keep this Abdullah for ever, and we can
+surely not kill him, for we should bring upon ourselves a grievous
+punishment.'
+
+'Allah forbid that we should shed blood,' replied the Sheikh. 'But when
+Abdul Kerim's son is made Sheikh of the tribe, Abdullah will probably
+not wish to go back to his people. Moreover it shall be for Khaled to
+judge what shall be done to the man, and he will probably cut off his
+head. But in the meantime it is necessary to choose amongst us spies,
+two for each gate of the city, to the number of twenty-two men, to watch
+for Abdullah. For we do not know when he will come, and of the two spies
+who see him enter, both must follow him and see whither he goes, and
+then the one will immediately inform all the rest while the other waits
+for him. From the time he enters the city he will not be able to go
+anywhere without our knowledge, and we shall certainly catch him one day
+towards dusk in some narrow street of the city.'
+
+The beggars saw that this plan was wise and safe for themselves, and
+they did as the Sheikh advised, posting men at all the gates to wait for
+Abdullah. He was, indeed, not far distant, and before many days he rode
+into the city towards evening, attended by a few slaves and two
+Bedouins, his wife Almasta riding in the midst of them upon a camel. His
+face was not hidden and the two beggars who were watching recognised him
+immediately. They both followed him, until he entered his own house, and
+then the one sat down in the street to watch until he should come out,
+asking alms of those who accompanied him, until they also went in, with
+the beasts. But the other made haste to find the Sheikh and to inform
+him that Abdullah had come and was now in his own dwelling.
+
+'It is well,' said the blind man. 'The cat is now asleep, and dreams of
+mice, but he shall wake in the midst of dogs. Abdullah will not leave
+his house to-night, for it is late, and though he is not afraid in the
+daytime, he will not go out much at night, lest a secret messenger from
+Khaled, bearing evil in his hand, should meet him by the way. But
+to-morrow before dawn, some of us will wait in the neighbourhood of his
+house, and two or three score of others feigning to be all blind, as I
+am, must always be near at hand, watching us. We will then begin to
+importune him for alms, flattering him with fine language, as though we
+knew his plans. And this we will do continually, when he is abroad,
+until one day to escape from us he will turn quickly into a narrow
+street, supposing that we cannot see him. For he will not wish to be
+pursued by our cries in the bazar lest he be obliged for shame to give
+something to each. Then those who can see will open their eyes and we
+will catch him in the lane, and bind rags over his head so that he
+cannot cry out, and lead him away to my dwelling by the Yemamah gate.
+And if any meet us by the way and inquire whom we are taking with us, we
+will say that he is one of ourselves, who is an epileptic and has fallen
+down in a fit, and that we are taking him to the farrier's by the gate,
+to be burned with red-hot irons for his recovery, as the physicians
+recommend in such cases. Surely we have now foreseen most things, but if
+we have forgotten anything, Allah will doubtless provide.'
+
+All the beggars in council approved this plan, for they saw that it
+could be easily carried out, if they could only catch Abdullah in a
+lonely street at the hour of prayer when few persons are passing.
+
+But Abdullah himself was ignorant of the evil in store for him, and
+feared nothing, having been secretly informed that most of the better
+sort of people were ready to support him if he would strike the blow;
+for they suspected Khaled of being a traitor, especially since he had
+last addressed the chief men and refused to tell the name of his father.
+Abdullah therefore came and went openly in the city.
+
+In the meantime, however, Khaled was informed of his presence and was
+warned of the danger. The aged Kadi came secretly by night to the palace
+and desired to be received by the Sultan in order to communicate to him
+news of great importance, as he said. Khaled immediately received him,
+and the Kadi proceeded to give a full account of Abdullah's designs; but
+the Sultan expressed no astonishment.
+
+'Let him do what he will,' he answered, 'for I care little and, after
+all, what must be will be.'
+
+'But I beseech you to consider,' said the Kadi, 'that by acting promptly
+you could easily quell this revolution, in which I, by Allah, have no
+part and will have none. For though many persons may just now desire
+your overthrow, because they expect to get a share of the treasure in
+the confusion, yet few are disposed to accept such a man as Abdullah ibn
+Mohammed el Herir in your place. Even his own tribe are not all faithful
+to him, and I am credibly informed that many look upon him as an
+intruder, and would prefer the son of Abdul Kerim for sheikh, as would
+be just, if the rights of birth were considered. And it would be an easy
+matter to remove this Abdullah. I implore you to think of the matter.'
+
+'Would this not be a murder?' asked Khaled, looking curiously at the
+venerable preacher.
+
+'Allah is merciful and forgiving,' replied the old man, looking down and
+stroking his beard. 'And moreover, if you suffer Abdullah to go about a
+few days longer he will certainly destroy you, whereas it is an easy
+matter to give him a cup of such good drink as will save him from thirst
+ever afterwards, and you would obtain quiet and the kingdom would be at
+peace.'
+
+'They shall not find me sleeping,' said Khaled, 'and so that I may only
+slay a score of them first, I care not how soon I perish.'
+
+'This is indeed a new kind of madness!' exclaimed the Kadi. 'I cannot
+understand it. But I have done what I could, and I can do nothing more.'
+
+'Nor is there anything more to be done,' said Khaled. 'But I thank you,
+for it is clear that you have spoken from a good intention.'
+
+So the Kadi went away again, and Khaled returned to Zehowah, caring not
+at all whether he lived or died. But Zehowah began to watch him
+narrowly.
+
+'If this man were a Persian, an enemy and a traitor,' she thought, 'he
+would now begin to take measures for his own safety, seeing that he is
+threatened on every side. Yet he does not lift a hand to defend himself.
+This can proceed only from one of two causes. Either he is a Jinn, as
+he has told me, and they cannot kill him, and so he does not fear them;
+or else he desires death, out of a sort of madness which has grown up in
+him through this love of which he is always speaking.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+In these days many of the Bedouin tribes came near the city and encamped
+in great numbers within half a day's journey and less. Abdullah was
+exceedingly busy with his preparations, and spent much time in talking
+with other sheikhs, hardly making any concealment of his movements or
+plans. For by this time it seemed clear to him that the greater part of
+the people were with him, and every one spoke of the coming overthrow of
+Khaled as an open matter. Khaled himself, too, was reported to be in
+fear of his life, and he was no longer seen in the streets as formerly,
+nor in the courts of the palace, nor even every day in the hall, but
+remained shut up in the harem, and none saw him except the women and a
+few slaves. Men said aloud that he was in great fear and distress, and
+as this story gained credence, so Abdullah's importance increased, since
+it was he who had brought such terror upon Khaled. All this was open
+talk in the bazar, but Abdullah was himself somewhat suspicious,
+supposing that Khaled must have a plan in reserve for defending his
+possession of the throne. Abdullah, however, kept secret the manner in
+which he intended to enter the palace, though he promised his adherents
+to open to them the gates of the castle, and the doors of the treasure
+chambers on a certain day, which he named, at the time of the first call
+to prayer in the morning, warning all those who were with him to come
+together in the great square before that hour in order to be ready to
+help him, if necessary, and to overwhelm the guards of the palace if
+they should make any resistance. But he did not know that the man of his
+tribe who was kinsman to the chief of the beggars had overheard his talk
+with his wife.
+
+Meanwhile the beggars seemed to be multiplied exceedingly in Riad, for
+whenever Abdullah went out of his house they came upon him, sometimes by
+twos and threes and sometimes in scores, pressing close to him and
+begging alms. They also cried out a great deal, praising his generosity
+and praying for blessings upon him.
+
+'Behold the sheikh of sheikhs!' they exclaimed. 'He bears gold in his
+right hand and silver in his left. Yallah! Send him a long life and
+prosperity, for he loves the poor and his name is the Alms-giver. He is
+not El Herir but Er Rahman and his heart over-flows with mercy as his
+purse does with small coins. Come, O brothers, and taste of his
+charity, which is a perpetual spring of good water beside a palm tree
+full of sugar-dates! Ya Abdullah, Servant of Allah, we love you! You are
+our father and mother. Your kefiyeh is the banner which goes before our
+pilgrimage. Come, O brothers, and taste of his charity.'
+
+Abdullah was not dissatisfied with these words, and the beggars said
+much more to the same effect, which he regarded as signs of his
+popularity, so that he opened his purse from time to time and threw
+handfuls of money into the crowd, not counting the cost since he
+expected to be master of all the treasure in Riad within a few days. But
+the beggars were disappointed, for they had hoped that he would turn out
+to be avaricious, and endeavour to elude them by walking through narrow
+and lonely streets, where they might catch him. So they pressed more and
+more upon him every day, trying to exhaust his patience and his charity.
+In this however they failed, not understanding that the vanity of such a
+man is inexhaustible and knows no price. Abdullah, too, chose rather to
+be abroad during the daytime than in the evening or the early morning,
+for he desired to be seen by the multitude and spoken of as he went
+through the market-place. Yet on the last evening of all he fell into
+the hands of the Sheikh of the beggars, and evil befell him.
+
+The hour of prayer was passed and it was almost the time when lights are
+extinguished. Then Abdullah took his sword under his aba, and also a
+good knife, which he had proved in battle, and which in his hand would
+pierce a coat of mail as though it were silk. Almasta, his wife, also
+made a bundle of woman's clothing and carried it in her arms. For they
+intended to go to a lonely place by the city wall, that Abdullah might
+there put on female garments, before entering the palace. He feared,
+indeed, lest if it were afterwards known by what disguise he had
+accomplished his purpose, he might receive some name in derision, from
+which he should never escape so long as he lived. Yet he had no choice
+but to dress as a woman, since he could not otherwise by any means have
+gone into the harem.
+
+As he came out of his house, accompanied only by Almasta he was seen at
+once by the two beggars who were always on the watch. And then, wishing
+to warn their companions, of whom many were lying asleep upon doorsteps
+in the same street and in others close by, these two made haste to get
+up, pretending to be lame and making a great clatter with their staves,
+as they limped after Abdullah. Then he, who loved to exercise charity in
+the market-place, but not in the dark where none could applaud him, made
+a pretence of not seeing the poor men, and went swiftly on with Almasta
+running by his side. But as he walked fast, the two beggars although
+apparently lame increased their speed with his, and their clatter also.
+
+'Does a sound man need a horse to escape from cripples?' asked Abdullah.
+And he turned quickly into a narrow lane.
+
+'It will be wiser to scatter a few coins to them,' said Almasta. 'They
+will then stop and search for them in the dark. For these men are very
+importunate and will certainly hinder us.'
+
+But Abdullah was confident in his legs as a strong man and only walked
+the faster, so that Almasta could with great difficulty keep beside him.
+Then they heard the beggars running after them in the dark and calling
+upon them.
+
+'O Abdullah!' they cried. 'The light of your charitable countenance goes
+before us like a lantern, and illuminates the whole street! Be merciful
+and give us a small coin, and Allah will reward you!'
+
+Then Abdullah stopped in the darkest part of the narrow lane, seeing
+that they had recognised him, and conceiving that it would be a reproach
+for a sheikh of pure blood to run from beggars; and he feared also that
+it would be remembered against him on the morrow. He therefore made a
+pretence of being diverted, and laughed.
+
+'Surely,' he said, 'the lame men of Riad could outrun in a race the
+sound men of any other city. And, by Allah, I have little money with me,
+for I was going to a friend's house to receive a sum due to me for
+certain mares; yet I will give you what I have, and I pray you, go in
+peace.'
+
+Thereupon he sought in his wallet for something to give them, and while
+he was seeking they began to praise him after their manner.
+
+'See this Abdullah!' they said. 'He is the father of the poor and
+distressed, and is ever ready to divide all he has with us. Yallah!
+Bless him exceedingly! Yallah! Increase his family!'
+
+But when Abdullah had found the money and was putting it into their
+hands, he was suddenly aware that instead of two beggars there were now
+ten or more, and these again multiplied in an extraordinary manner, so
+that he felt himself hemmed in on every side in a close press.
+
+'O Allah!' he exclaimed. 'Thou art witness that unless these small coins
+are multiplied a hundredfold, as the basket of dates by the Prophet at
+the trench before Medina, I shall have nothing to give these worthy
+persons.'
+
+By this time the blind Sheikh of the beggars was present, and he pushed
+forward, pretending to rebuke his companions.
+
+'O you greedy ones!' he cried. 'How often have I told you not to be so
+importunate? Yet you crowd upon him like wasps upon a date, presuming
+upon the goodness of his heart, and when there is no more room you crowd
+upon each other. Forgive them, O Abdullah!' he said, addressing him
+directly, 'for they have the appetites of jackals together with the
+understanding of little children. They would thrust into the dish a hand
+as small as a crow's foot and withdraw it looking as big as a camel's
+hoof. Their manners are also----'
+
+'My friend,' said Abdullah, 'I have given what I can. Let me therefore
+pass on, for my business is of importance, yet the throng is so great
+that I cannot move a step. To-morrow I will distribute much alms to you
+all.'
+
+'The radiance of your merciful countenance is enough for us,' replied
+the Sheikh of the beggars, 'and even I who am blind am comforted by its
+rays as by those of the sun in spring, and my hunger is appeased by the
+honey of your incomparable eloquence----'
+
+'My friend,' said Abdullah, interrupting him again, 'I pray you to let
+me go forward now, for I have a very important matter in hand, though it
+is with difficulty that I tear myself away from your society and I would
+willingly listen much longer to the words of the wise.'
+
+Then the blind man turned to the other beggars, and his hearing told him
+that by this time there were at least threescore in the street.
+
+'Come, my brothers!' he cried. 'Let us accompany our benefactor to the
+house of his friend, and afterwards we will wait for him and see that he
+reaches his own dwelling in safety. Surely it is not fitting that a
+sheikh of such great consideration should go about the streets at night
+without so much as an attendant carrying a lantern. Let us go with him.'
+
+Now these last words were the signal agreed upon, and even as Abdullah
+began to protest that he desired no such honourable escort as the
+beggars offered him, one came from behind and suddenly drew a thick
+barley-sack over his head, so that his voice was heard no more, and he
+was dragged down by the throat, while the one-eyed hunchback caught him
+by the legs and bound his feet and four others laid hold of his hands
+and tied them firmly behind him. Nor had Almasta time to utter a single
+cry before she was bound hand and foot with her head in a sack, like her
+husband. Then at a signal the beggars took up the two as though they had
+been bales packed ready for a camel's back, and carried them away
+swiftly into the darkness, towards the eastern gate where the blind man
+lived in a ruined house together with three or four of his most trusted
+companions. He also sent a messenger to his relation, the Bedouin, as
+had been agreed. It was already quite dark in the streets and the few
+persons who met the beggars did not see what they were carrying, nor ask
+questions of them, merely supposing that they had lingered long in the
+public square after evening prayers and were now returning in a body to
+their own quarter.
+
+The blind man's house was built of three rooms and a wall, standing in a
+square around a small court. But only one of the rooms had a roof of its
+own, though there was a sort of cellar under the floor of one of the
+others which served at once as a lodging for beggars in winter, as a
+storehouse for food when there was any in supply and as a place of
+deposit for the ancient iron chest in which the common fund of money was
+kept. To this vault the Sheikh of the beggars made his companions bring
+the two prisoners, and having set them on the floor, side by side, he
+proceeded to hold a council, in which the captives themselves had no
+part, since their heads were tied up in dusty barley-sacks and they
+could not speak so as to be heard.
+
+'O my brothers!' said the blind man. 'Allah has delivered the enemies of
+the kingdom into our hand, and it is necessary to decide what we will do
+with them. Let the oldest and the wisest give their opinions first, and
+after them the others, even to the youngest, and last of all I will
+speak, and let us see whether we can agree.'
+
+'Let us kill the man and bury him, and then cast lots among us for the
+woman,' said one.
+
+'No,' said the next, a man who had twice made the pilgrimage, and was
+much respected, 'we cannot do this, for the man is a true believer, and
+evil will befall us if we shed his blood. Let us rather keep him here,
+and purify his hide every day with our staves, until Khaled is in no
+more danger, and then we will take him to the palace and deliver him
+up.'
+
+'It is to be feared,' said the Sheikh of the beggars, 'that the man
+might chance to die of this sort of purification, though indeed it be
+very wholesome for him, and I am not altogether against it.'
+
+'Let us make him our slave,' said a third who had himself been the slave
+of a poor man who had died without heirs. 'The fellow is strong. Let us
+buy millstones and make him grind barley for us in this cellar. In this
+way he will not eat our food for nothing.'
+
+After this many others gave advice of the same kind. But while they were
+talking there was a great clattering and noise upon the stone steps
+which led down into the cellar, and a man fell over the last step and
+rolled over and over into the very midst of the council, railing and
+lamenting.
+
+'It is that ass of Egypt,' said the Sheikh of the beggars. 'I know him
+by the clattering of the wooden hoofs he wears on his hands, and also by
+his braying. Let him also give his opinion when he is recovered from his
+fall.'
+
+'It is strange and marvellous,' said one, 'that he who has no legs
+should suffer so many falls, being, by the will of Allah, always upon
+the earth. For when we first saw him we found him fainting upon the
+ground, having fallen from the wall of a garden, though no man could
+tell how he had climbed upon it.'
+
+'I had been transported to the top of the wall as in a dream,' replied
+the cripple, 'for there were dates in that garden. But having eaten too
+greedily of them I fell asleep on the top and I dreamed that my body was
+torn by hyaenas; and waking suddenly I fell down. For the dates were yet
+green.'
+
+'This may or may not be true,' said the blind man. 'For you are an
+Egyptian. Let us, however, hear what you have to advise in the matter of
+Abdullah and his wife, whom we have taken prisoners.'
+
+'I fear that you mock me, O my lord,' answered the man. 'But if I am
+mocked, I will advise that this Abdullah be also made a sport of, for us
+first, and for the people of Riad afterwards.'
+
+'Tell us how this may be done, for a good jest is better than salt for
+roasting, and the sheep lie here bound before us.'
+
+'Take this man, then,' said the cripple, 'and uncover his face, and hold
+him fast. Then let one of us get the razor and shave off all his beard
+and his eyebrows, and the hair of his head even to the nape of his neck.
+Then if he came suddenly before her who bore him and cried, "Mother,"
+she would cover her face and answer, "Begone, thou ostrich's egg!" For
+she would not know him. And to-morrow we will take his excellent clothes
+from him and put them upon our Sheikh. But we will dress Abdullah in
+rags such as would not serve to wipe the mud from a slave's shoes in the
+time of the subsiding waters, and we will tie his hands under his
+arm-pits and put a halter over his head and lead him about the city.
+Then he will cry out against us to the people, saying that he is
+Abdullah, but we will also cry out in answer: "See this madman, who
+believes himself to be a sheikh of Bedouins though Allah has given him
+no beard! O people of Riad, you may know that the spring is come, by the
+braying of this ass."'
+
+'Yet I see now that there may be wisdom in brayings,' said the Sheikh of
+the beggars, 'though Balaam ibn Beor shut his ears against it, and was
+punished for his cursing so that his tongue hung down to his breast, all
+his days, like that of a thirsty dog. This is good counsel, for in this
+way we shall not shed the man's blood, nor render ourselves guilty of
+his death; but I think we shall earn a great reward from Khaled, and his
+kingdom will be saved in laughter.'
+
+During all this time Abdullah had not moved, knowing that he was in the
+power of many enemies and beyond all reach of help, but when he heard
+the decision of the Sheikh of the beggars he was filled with shame and
+rolled himself from side to side upon the floor, as though trying to
+escape from the bonds that held him. Almasta, for her part, lay quietly
+where they had put her, for she saw that all chance of success was gone
+and was pondering how she might take advantage of what happened, to save
+herself.
+
+Then the beggars laid hold of Abdullah and held him, while others took
+the sack from his head. He was indeed half smothered with dust, so that
+at first he could not speak aloud, but coughed and sneezed like a dog
+that has thrust its nose into a dust-heap to find the bone which is
+hidden underneath. But presently he recovered his breath and began to
+rail at them and curse them. To this they paid no attention, but brought
+the oil lamp near him, and one began to rub soap upon his face and head
+while another got the razor with which the beggars shaved their heads
+and began to whet it upon his leathern girdle.
+
+'Do not waste the precious stones of your eloquence upon a barber,'
+said the Sheikh of the beggars, 'but reserve your breath and the rich
+treasures of your speech until you are brought as a plucked bird before
+the people of Riad. Moreover we only wish to shave off your beard, but
+if you are restless some of your hide will certainly be removed also,
+whereby you will be hurt and it will be still harder for your friends to
+recognise you to-morrow. It is also useless to shout and scream as
+though you were driving camels, for you are in the cellar of my house
+which is at a good distance from other habitations, on the borders of
+the city.'
+
+So Abdullah saw that there was no escape, and that his fate was about
+his neck, and he sat still as they had placed him, while the one-eyed
+hunchback shaved off his beard and the hair on his upper lip and his
+eyebrows, and the lock at the back of his head.
+
+When this was done the blind man put out his hand and felt Abdullah's
+face.
+
+'Surely,' he said, 'this is not a man's head, but the round end of a
+walking-staff, rubbed smooth by much use.'
+
+They also tied his hands under his arm-pits and put upon him a ragged
+shirt with sleeves so that he seemed to have lost both arms at the
+elbow.
+
+'This is very well done,' said the hunchback turning his head from side
+to side in order to see all with his one eye. 'But what shall we do
+with the woman? Let us cast lots for her, and he who wins her shall
+marry her, and we will hold the feast immediately, for we have not yet
+supped and there is some of the camel's meat which we received to-day at
+the palace.'
+
+'O my brothers,' answered the Sheikh of the beggars, 'let us do nothing
+unlawful in our haste. For this woman is certainly one of Abdullah's
+wives, as you may see by her clothes, and unless he divorces her none of
+us can take her for ourselves, seeing that she is the wife of a
+believer. Take the sack from her head, however, and if she deafens us
+with her screaming we can put it on again. But you must by no means put
+her to shame by taking the veil from her face, for she may be an honest
+wife, though her husband be a dog. If she has done well, we shall find
+it out, and no harm will have come to her; but if she is a sharer in
+this fellow's plans, her punishment will be grievous, since she will be
+the wife of an outcast, having neither beard nor eyebrows and rejected
+by all men.'
+
+Some of the beggars murmured at this, but most of them praised their
+Sheikh's wisdom, and would indeed have feared greatly to break the holy
+law, being chiefly devout men who prayed daily in the mosque and
+listened to the Khotbah on Friday. They therefore placed Almasta in one
+corner of the cellar and Abdullah in another, so that the two could not
+converse together, and then they took out such food as they had and
+began to eat their supper, laughing and talking over the jest and
+anticipating the reward which awaited them for saving Khaled.
+
+In the meanwhile the night was advancing and many of Abdullah's friends
+left their houses secretly and gathered in the neighbourhood of the
+palace to wait for the first signal from within. By threes and by twos
+and singly they came out of their dwellings, looking to the right and
+left to see whether they were not the first, as men do who are not sure
+of being in the right. All had their swords with them, and some their
+bows also, and some few carried their spears, and they made no secret of
+their bearing weapons; but under each man's aba was concealed the
+largest barley-sack he could find in his house, and concerning this no
+one of the multitude said anything to his neighbour, for each hoped to
+get a greater share than the others of the gold and precious stones from
+the fabulous treasure stored in the palace. Then most of these men sat
+down to wait, as vultures do before the camel is quite dead. But not
+long after the middle of the night they were joined by a great throng of
+Bedouins from Abdullah's tribe. These had been admitted into the city by
+the watchman according to the agreement, and passed up the great street
+from the Hasa gate, in a close body, not speaking and making but little
+noise with their feet as they walked; yet all of them together could be
+heard from a distance, because they were so many, and the sound was like
+the night wind among the branches of dry palm trees. After them, other
+Bedouins came in from camps both near and far, some of them having made
+half a day's journey since sunset; and they surrounded the palace on all
+sides, and filled the great street, and the street which passes by the
+mosque towards the Dereyiyah gate and all the other approaches to the
+open square, sitting down wherever there was room, or leaning against
+the closed shops of the bazar, or standing up in a thick crowd when they
+were too closely pressed to be at ease. They talked together from time
+to time in low tones, but when their voices rose above a whisper some
+man in authority hushed them saying that the hour was not yet come.
+
+'By this time Abdullah has slain Khaled,' said some, 'and the daughter
+of the old Sultan is a prisoner.'
+
+'And by this time,' said others, 'Abdullah is surely unlocking the
+treasure chamber and filling a barley-sack with pearls and rubies. It is
+certain that he who slays the lion deserves his bride, but we hope that
+something will be left for us.'
+
+'Hush!' said the voice of one moving in the darkness. 'Be patient. It is
+not yet time.'
+
+Then, for a space, a deep silence fell on the speakers and they crouched
+in their places watching the high black walls of the palace and marking
+the motion of the stars by the highest point of the tower. Before long
+whispered words were heard again.
+
+'It would have been more just if Abdullah had opened the gate to us as
+soon as he had slain Khaled, for then we could have seen what he took.
+But now, who shall tell us what share of the riches he is hiding away in
+the more secret vaults?'
+
+'This is true,' answered others. 'And besides, what need have we of
+Abdullah to help us into the palace? Surely we could have broken down
+the gates and slain the guards and Khaled himself without Abdullah's
+help. Yet we, for our part, would not shed the blood of a man who has
+always dealt very generously with us, nor do we believe the story of the
+camels laden secretly in Hail. However, what is ordained will take
+place, and we shall undoubtedly receive plentiful gold merely for
+sitting here to watch the stars through the night.'
+
+'The story of the camels is not true,' said a certain man, speaking
+alone. 'For I was of the drivers sent with them, and being hungry, we
+opened one of the bales on the way. By Allah! There was nothing but
+wheat in it, and it was white and good; but there was nothing else, not
+so much as a few small coins----'
+
+Then there was the sound of a blow, and the man who was speaking was
+struck on the mouth, so that his speech was interrupted.
+
+'Peace and be silent!' said a voice. 'They who speak lies will receive
+no share with the rest when the time comes.'
+
+But the man who had been struck was the strongest of all his tribe,
+though he who had struck him did not know it. And the man caught his
+assailant by the waist in the dark, and wrestled with him violently,
+being very angry, and broke his forearm and his collar-bone and several
+of his ribs, and when he had done with him, he threw him over his
+shoulder so that he fell fainting and moaning three paces away.
+
+'O you who strike honest men on the mouth in the dark, you have been
+over-rash!' he cried. 'Go home and hide yourself lest I recognise you
+and break such bones as you have still whole!'
+
+'This is well done,' said one of the bystanders in a loud voice. 'For
+the story of the camels laden secretly with treasure is a lie. I also
+was with the drivers and ate of the wheat. Nor do I believe that Khaled
+is a robber and a Persian.'
+
+'We do not believe it!' cried a score of Bedouins together. 'And if we
+have come here, it is to get our share like other men, since they tell
+us that Khaled is dead. But now we believe that Abdullah has shut
+himself into the palace and means to keep all for himself, and is
+cheating us.'
+
+These men were none of them of Abdullah's tribe, but as the voices grew
+louder, Abdullah's kinsmen came up, and endeavoured to quiet the growing
+tumult. The crowd had parted a little and the strong man stood alone in
+the midst.
+
+'We pray you to be patient,' said Abdullah's men, 'for the time is at
+hand and the false dawn has already passed, though you have not seen it,
+so that before long it will be day. Then the gates will be opened and
+you shall all go in.'
+
+'We have no need of your sheikh to open gates for us,' said the strong
+man, in a voice that could be heard very far through the crowd. 'And
+moreover it will be better for you not to strike any more of us, or, by
+Allah, we will not only break your bones but shed your blood.'
+
+At this there was a sullen cry and men sprang to their feet and laid
+their hands upon their weapons. But a youth who had come up with
+Abdullah's kinsmen, though not one of them, bent very low over the man
+who had been thrown down and then spoke out with a loud and laughing
+voice.
+
+'Truly they say that crows lead people to the carcases of dogs!' he
+said. 'This fellow is of the family which murdered my father, upon whom
+may Allah send peace! Nor will I exceed the bounds of moderation and
+justice.'
+
+Thereupon the young man drew out his knife and immediately killed his
+father's enemy as he lay upon the ground, and then he withdrew quickly
+into the dark crowd so that none knew him. But though there was only the
+light of the stars and the multitude was great, many had seen the deed
+and each man stood closer by his neighbour and grasped his weapon to be
+in readiness. The kinsmen of Abdullah saw that they were separated from
+their own tribe and drew back, warning the others to keep the peace and
+be silent, lest they should be cut off from their share of the spoil.
+But their voices trembled with fears for their own safety, and they were
+answered by scornful shouts and jeers.
+
+'The young man says well that you are crows,' cried the angry men, 'for
+you wish to keep the carcase for yourselves. Come and take it if you are
+able!'
+
+Now indeed the quarrel which had been begun by the blow struck in the
+dark spread suddenly to great dimensions, for the words spoken were
+caught up as grains of sand by the wind and blown into all men's ears.
+Many were ready enough to believe that Abdullah cared only for
+enriching himself and his tribe, and many more who had been persuaded to
+the enterprise by the hope of gain turned again to their faith in Khaled
+as the dream of gold disappeared from their eyes. Yet Abdullah's tribe
+was numerous, and it was easy to see that if the dissension grew into a
+strife of arms the fight would be long and fierce on both sides.
+
+Then certain of those who were against Abdullah raised the cry that he
+had slain Khaled and escaped with the treasure by a secret passage
+leading under the walls of the city, which passage was spoken of in old
+tales, though no one knew where to find it. But the multitude believed
+and pressed forward in a strong body and began to beat against the
+iron-bound gate of the palace with great stones and pieces of wood.
+Abdullah's men came on fiercely to prevent them, but were opposed by
+many, and as the wing of night was lifted and the dawn drank the stars,
+the wide square was filled with the clashing of arms and the noise of a
+terrible tumult.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+At the time when the beggars were carrying away Abdullah and his wife,
+Khaled was sitting in his accustomed place, silent and heavy at heart,
+and Zehowah played softly to him upon a barbat and sang a sad song in a
+low voice. For she saw that gloominess had overcome him and she feared
+to disturb his mood, though she would gladly have made him smile if she
+had been able.
+
+A black slave of Khaled's whom he had treated with great kindness had
+secretly told him that there was a plan to enter the palace with evil
+during that night, for the fellow had spied upon those who knew and had
+overheard what he now told his master. He had also asked whether he
+should not warn the guards of the palace, in order that a strict watch
+should be kept, but Khaled had bidden him be silent.
+
+'Either the guards are conspiring with the rest,' said Khaled, 'and will
+be the first to attack me, or they are ignorant of the plan; and if so
+how can they withstand so great a multitude? I will abide by my own
+fate, and no man shall lose his life for my sake unless he desires to do
+so.'
+
+But he privately put on a coat of mail under his aba, and when he sat
+down in the harem to await the end he would not let Zehowah take his
+sword, but laid it upon his feet and sat upright against the wall,
+looking towards the door.
+
+'Since I have no soul,' he said to himself, 'this is probably the end of
+all things. But there is no reason why I should not kill as many of
+these murderers as possible.'
+
+He was gloomy and desponding, however, since he saw that his hour was at
+hand, and that Zehowah was no nearer to loving him than before. He
+watched her fingers as she played upon the instrument, and he listened
+to the soft notes of her voice.
+
+'It is a strange thing,' he thought, 'and I believe that she is not able
+to love, any more than my sword upon my feet, which is good and true and
+beautiful, and ever ready to my hand, but is itself cold, having no
+feeling in it.'
+
+Still Zehowah sang and Khaled heard her song, listening watchfully for a
+man's tread upon the threshold and looking to see a man's face and the
+light of steel in the shadow beyond the lamps.
+
+'The night is long,' he said at last, aloud.
+
+'It is not yet midnight,' Zehowah answered. 'But you are tired. Will you
+not go to rest?'
+
+'I shall rest to-morrow,' said Khaled. 'To-night I will sit here and
+look at you, if you will sing to me.'
+
+Zehowah gazed into his eyes, wondering a little at his exceeding
+sadness. Then she bowed her head and struck the strings of the
+instrument to a new measure more melancholy than the last, and sang an
+old song of many verses, with a weeping refrain.
+
+'Are you also heavy at heart to-night?' Khaled asked, when he had
+listened to the end.
+
+'It is not easy to kindle a lamp when the rain is falling heavily,'
+Zehowah said. 'Your sadness has taken hold of me, like the chill of a
+fever. I cannot laugh to-night.'
+
+'And yet you have a good cause, for they say that to-night the earth is
+to be delivered of a great malefactor, a certain Persian, whose name is
+perhaps Hassan, a notorious robber.'
+
+Khaled turned away his head, smiling bitterly, for he desired not to see
+the satisfaction which would come into her face.
+
+'This is a poor jest,' she answered in a low voice, and the barbat
+rolled from her knees to the carpet beside her.
+
+'I mean no jesting, for I do not desire to disappoint you, since you
+will naturally be glad to be freed from me. But I am glad if you are
+willing to sing to me, for this night is very long.'
+
+'Do you think that I believe this of you?' asked Zehowah, after some
+time.
+
+'You believed it yesterday, you believe it to-day, and you will believe
+it to-morrow when you are free to make choice of some other man--whom
+you will doubtless love.'
+
+'Yet I know that it is not true,' she said suddenly.
+
+'It is too late,' Khaled answered. 'The more I love you, the more I see
+how little faith you have in me--and the less faith can I put in you.
+Will you sing to me again?'
+
+'This is very cruel and bitter.' Zehowah sighed and looked at him.
+
+'Will you sing to me again, Zehowah?' he repeated. 'I like your sad
+music.'
+
+Then she took up the barbat from the carpet, but though she struck a
+chord she could not go on and her hand lay idle upon the strings, and
+her voice was still.
+
+'You are perhaps tired,' said Khaled after some time. 'Then lay aside
+the instrument and sleep.' He composed himself in his seat, his sword
+being ready and his eyes towards the door.
+
+But Zehowah shook her head as though awaking from a dream, her fingers
+ran swiftly over the strings and gentle tones came from her lips. Khaled
+listened thoughtfully to the song and the words soothed him, but before
+she had reached the end, she stopped suddenly.
+
+'Why do you not finish it?' he asked.
+
+'If you have told me truth,' she answered, 'this is no time for singing
+and music. But if not, why should I labour to amuse you, as though I
+were a slave? I will call one of the women who has a sweet voice and a
+good memory. She will sing you a kasid which will last till morning.'
+
+'You are wrong,' said Khaled. 'There is no reason in what you say.'
+
+But he reflected upon her nature, while he spoke.
+
+'Surely,' he thought, 'there is nothing in the world so contradictory as
+a woman. I ask of her a song and she is silent. I bid her rest,
+supposing her to be weary, and she sings to me. If I tell her that I
+hate her she will perhaps answer that she loves me. Min Allah! Let us
+see.'
+
+'You inspire hatred in me,' he said aloud, after a few moments.
+
+At this Zehowah was very much astonished, and she again let the barbat
+fall from her knees.
+
+'You wished me to believe that you loved me, and this not long since,'
+she answered.
+
+'It may be so. I did not know you then.'
+
+He looked towards the door as though he would say nothing further.
+Zehowah sighed, not understanding him yet being wounded in that
+sensitive tissue of the heart which divides the outer desert of pride
+from the inner garden of love, belonging to neither but separating the
+two as a veil. And when there is a rent in that veil, pride looks on
+love and scoffs bitterly, and love looks on pride and weeps tears of
+fire.
+
+'I am sorry that you hate me,' she said, but the words were bitter in
+her mouth as a draught from a spring into which the enemy have cast
+wormwood, that none may drink of it.
+
+'Allah is great!' thought Khaled. 'This is already an advantage.'
+
+Then Zehowah took up the barbat and began to sing a careless song not
+like any which Khaled had ever heard. This is the song--
+
+  'The fisherman of Oman tied the halter under his arms,
+  The sky was as blue as the sea in winter.
+  The fisherman dived into the deep waters
+  As a ray of light shoots through a sapphire of price.
+  The sea was as blue as the sky, for it was winter.
+  Among the rocks below the water it was dark and cold
+  Though the sky above was as blue as a fine sapphire.
+  The fisherman saw a rough shell lying there in the dark between two
+      crabs,
+  "In that shell there must be a large pearl," he said.
+  But when he would have taken it the crabs ran together and fastened
+      upon his hand.
+  His heart was bursting in his ribs for lack of breath
+  And he thought of the sky above, as blue as the sea in winter.
+  So he pulled the halter and was taken half-fainting into the boat.
+  The crabs held his hand but he struck them off,
+  And his heart beat merrily as he breathed the wind
+  Blowing over the sea as blue as the sky in winter.
+  "There are no pearls in this ocean," he said to his companions,
+  "But there are crabs if any one cares to dive."
+  One of them saw the shell caught between the legs of the crabs,
+  He opened it and found a pearl of the value of a kingdom.
+  "The pearl is mine, but you may eat the crabs," he said to the
+      fisherman,
+  "Since you say there are no pearls in this ocean,
+  Which is as blue as the sky in winter."
+  Then the fisherman smote him and tried to take the pearl,
+  But as they strove it fell into the deep water and sank,
+  Where the sea was as blue as the sky in winter.
+  "I will drown you with a heavy weight," said the fisherman, "for you
+      have robbed me of my fortune."
+  "I have not robbed you, O brother, for the pearl is again where you
+      found it,
+  In the sea which is as blue as the sky in winter."
+  Then the fisherman dived again many times in vain
+  Till the drums of his ears were broken and his heart was dissolved for
+      lack of breath.
+  But the pearl is still there, at the bottom of the sea,
+  And the sea is as blue as the sky in winter.
+  This is the kasid of the fisherman of Oman
+  Which Zehowah Bint ul Mahomed el Hamid
+  Has made and sung for her lord, Khaled the Sultan.
+  May Allah send him long life and many such hearts
+  As the one which fell into the ocean
+  When the sky was as blue as the sea in winter.'
+
+'This is a new song,' said Khaled, when she had finished.
+
+'Is it? I made it many months ago,' Zehowah answered. 'Does it please
+you?'
+
+'It is not very melodious, nor do I think there is much truth in the
+matter of it. But I thank you, for it has served to pass the time.'
+
+Zehowah laughed a little scornfully.
+
+'I daresay you would prefer the song of a Persian nightingale,' she
+said. 'Nevertheless my song is full of truth, though you cannot see it.
+There are many who seek for things of great value and do not know when
+they have found them because a crab has bitten their hands.'
+
+'Verily,' thought Khaled, 'this is indeed the spirit of contradiction.'
+
+But he was silent for a time, not wishing that she should think him
+easily moved. In the meantime Zehowah played softly upon the little
+instrument and Khaled watched her, wondering whether she were not
+playing upon the strings of his heart, for her own pleasure, as
+skilfully as her fingers ran upon the chords of the barbat. Many words
+rose to his lips then, and he wished that he also had the science of
+music that he might sing sweetly to her. Then he laughed aloud at his
+own imagination, which was indeed that of a foolish youth.
+
+'The lion roaring for a sweetmeat,' he thought, 'and the sword-hand
+aching to scratch little tunes upon a lute!'
+
+Zehowah turned suddenly when he laughed, and ceased from playing.
+
+'I am glad that you are merry,' she said. 'I like laughter better than
+reproaches and prefer it to gloomy forebodings of evil when none is at
+hand.'
+
+Khaled's face grew dark, and he looked again towards the door.
+
+'If you will stay with me, you shall see that evil is not far off,' he
+answered, for she had reminded him of what he was expecting, and he knew
+that it was no jesting matter. 'But you shall please yourself in this as
+in all other matters, though it were better for you to go now and shut
+yourself up in an inner room and wait for the end. The night is
+advancing, and all will soon be over.'
+
+'Hear me, Khaled,' said Zehowah, speaking earnestly. 'If you bid me go,
+I will go, or if you desire me to stay, I will remain with you. But if
+you are indeed in danger, as you say, let us call up the guards and the
+watchmen who sleep in the palace, that they may stand by you with their
+swords and help you to fight if there is to be strife.'
+
+'I will have no treacherous fellows about me,' Khaled answered, 'and
+there are none here whom I can trust. My hour is coming and I will
+fight this fight alone. But if you were such as I once hoped, I would
+say: "Remain with me, so long as you are safe." Now, since Allah has
+willed it thus, I say to you: "Go and seek safety where you can find
+it." Go, therefore, Zehowah, and leave me alone, for I need no one
+beside me, and you least of all.'
+
+He turned away his head, lest she should see his face, and with his hand
+made a gesture bidding her to leave him. She rose from her seat softly
+and hung the barbat upon the wall with the other musical instruments,
+looking over her shoulder to see whether he would call her back. But he
+neither moved nor spoke, being resolved to venture all upon this trial,
+for he knew that if she loved him even but a little, she would not leave
+him alone in the extremity of danger.
+
+Then she went towards the door of the room, turning her head to look at
+him as she passed near him.
+
+'Farewell,' she said. But he did not answer nor show that he heard her
+voice.
+
+As she lifted the curtain to go out, she lingered and gazed at him. He
+sat motionless upon the carpet, upright against the wall, his sword
+lying across his feet, his hands hidden under his sleeves, looking
+towards her indeed but not seeming to see her.
+
+'There can be no real danger,' she thought. 'Could any man sit thus,
+expecting death, and refusing to let any one stand by him to fight with
+him? Surely, he is playing with me, and setting a trap for me. But he
+shall not catch me.'
+
+She turned to go and the curtain was falling behind her when the night
+wind from the open passage brought a sound to her ears from a far
+distance. She started and listened, as camels do when they hear the
+first moving of the hot wind. There were no voices in the noise, which
+was low and dull, like the breathing of a great multitude and the soft
+moving of feet, and altogether it was as the slow rising and falling
+back of the sea upon the shores of Oman, when the great summer storm is
+coming from the south-west.
+
+Zehowah stood still a moment and drank in every murmur that reached her
+from without. Then her face grew white and her lips trembled when she
+thought of Khaled sitting alone on the other side of the curtain, with
+his sword upon his feet, waiting for the end. She lifted the hanging a
+little and looked at him again. He saw her, but made no sign. Even as
+she looked, the distant murmur grew louder and she fancied that he moved
+his head as though he heard it. Then she entered the room and came and
+stood before him.
+
+'There is a great multitude in the square before the palace,' she said.
+
+'I know it,' he answered, calmly looking up to her face. 'It needed not
+that you should tell me.'
+
+'Will you not let me stay with you now?' asked Zehowah.
+
+'Why should you stay here?' he asked with a pretence of indifference.
+'Of what use are you to me? Take this sword. Can you strike with it?
+Your wrist is feeble. Or take a bow from the weapons on the wall. Can
+you draw the string? Your strength is sufficient for the lute, and your
+skill for scratching the strings of the barbat. Go and save yourself. I
+am alone and every man's hand is against me.'
+
+Zehowah stood still in the room and hesitated, looking into his eyes for
+something which she all at once desired with a hot thirst. At last she
+spoke in an uncertain voice.
+
+'Yet you said not long since that if I were such as you once hoped, you
+would bid me remain.'
+
+'I do not care,' he answered. 'Yet for your own sake, I advise you to go
+away.'
+
+'For my own sake!' she repeated, trying to speak scornfully, and turning
+to go a second time.
+
+But she did not reach the door. She stood still before the weapons which
+hung upon the wall, and paused a moment and then took a sword from its
+place. Khaled watched her. She grasped the hilt as well as she could
+and swung the weapon in the air once with all her might. Then she
+uttered a little cry of pain, for she had twisted her wrist. The sword
+fell to the floor.
+
+'He is right,' she said in a low tone, speaking aloud to herself. 'I am
+weak and can be of no use to him.'
+
+She went on once more towards the door, slowly, her head bent down, then
+stopped and then looked back again. She feared that she might see a
+smile on his face, but his eyes were grave and calm. Then he saw her
+turn and lean against the wall as though she were suddenly weak. She hid
+her face, and there was silence for a moment, and after that a low sound
+of weeping filled the still room.
+
+'Why do you shed tears?' Khaled asked presently. 'There is no danger for
+you, I think. If you will go and shut yourself in the inner rooms you
+will be safe.'
+
+She turned fiercely and their eyes met.
+
+'What do I care for myself?' she cried. 'Among so many deaths there is
+surely one for me!'
+
+Even as she spoke Khaled felt a cool breath upon his forehead, stirring
+the stillness. He knew that it came from the beating of an angel's
+wings. All his body trembled, his head fell forward a little and his
+eyes closed.
+
+'This is death,' he thought, 'and my fate has come. A little longer,
+and she would have loved me.' But he did not speak aloud.
+
+Again Zehowah's face was turned towards the wall, and still the sound of
+her weeping filled the air, not subsiding and dying away, but rather
+increasing with every moment.
+
+'Life is not yet gone,' said Khaled in his heart. 'There is yet hope.'
+For he no longer felt the cold breath on his forehead, and the trembling
+had ceased for a moment.
+
+He tried to speak aloud, but his lips could not form words nor his
+throat utter sounds, and he was amazed at his weakness. A great despair
+came upon him and his eyes were darkened so that he could not see the
+lights.
+
+'If only I could speak to her now, she might love me yet!' he thought.
+
+The distant murmur from without was louder now and reached the room, and
+he heard it. He tried with all his might to raise his hand, to lift his
+head, to speak a single word.
+
+'It may be that this is the nature of death,' he thought again, 'and I
+am already dead.'
+
+The noise from the multitude came louder and louder. Zehowah heard it
+and her breath was caught in her throat. She looked up and saw that the
+high window of the chamber was no longer quite dark. The day was
+dawning. Then pressing her bosom with her hands she looked again at
+Khaled. His head was bent upon his breast and he was so still that she
+thought he had fallen asleep. A cry broke from her lips.
+
+'He cares not!' she exclaimed. 'What is it to him, whether I go, or
+stay?'
+
+Again Khaled felt the cool breeze in the room, fanning his forehead, and
+once more his limbs trembled. Then he felt that his strength was
+returning and that he could move. He raised his head and looked at
+Zehowah, and just then there was a distant crashing roar, as the
+Bedouins began to strike upon the gates.
+
+'It is time,' he said, and taking his sword in his hand he rose from his
+seat.
+
+Zehowah came towards him with outstretched hands, wet cheeks and burning
+eyes. She stood before him as though to bar the way, and hinder him from
+going out.
+
+'What is it to you, whether I go, or stay?' he asked, repeating her own
+words.
+
+'What is it? By Allah, it is all my life--I will not let you go!' And
+she took hold of his wrists with her weak woman's hands, and tried to
+thrust him back.
+
+'Go, Zehowah,' he answered, gently pressing her from him. 'Go now, and
+let me meet them alone, knowing that you are safe. For though this be
+pity which you feel, I know it is nothing more.'
+
+He would have passed by her, but still she held him and kept before him.
+
+'You shall not go!' she cried. 'I will prevent you with my body. Pity,
+you say? Oh, Khaled! Is pity fierce? Is pity strong? Does pity burn like
+fire? You shall not go, I say!'
+
+Then her hands grew cold upon his wrists, her cheeks burned and in her
+eyes there was a deep and gleaming light. All this Khaled felt and saw,
+while he heard the raging of the multitude without. His sight grew again
+uncertain. A third time the cool breath blew in his face.
+
+'Yet it cannot be love,' he said uncertainly. Yet she heard him.
+
+'Not love? Khaled, Khaled--my life, my breath, my soul--breath of my
+life, life of my spirit--oh, Khaled, you have never loved as I love you
+now!'
+
+Her hands let go his wrists and clasped about his neck, and her face was
+hidden upon his shoulder while her breath came and went like the gusts
+of the burning storm in summer.
+
+But as he held her, Khaled looked up and saw that the Angel of Allah was
+before him, having a smiling countenance and bearing in his hand a
+bright flame like the crescent moon.
+
+'It is well done, O Khaled,' said the Angel, 'and this is thy reward.
+Allah sends thee this to be thy own and to live after thy body, saying
+that thou hast well earned it, for love such as thou hast got now is a
+rare thing, not common with women and least of all with wives of kings.
+And now Allah alone knows what thy fate is to be, but thou shalt be
+judged at the end like other men, according to thy deeds, be they good
+or evil. And so receive thy soul and do with it as thou wilt.'
+
+The Angel then held out the flame which was like the crescent moon and
+it immediately took shape and became the brighter image of Khaled
+himself, endowed with immortality, and the knowledge of its own good and
+evil. And when Khaled had looked at it fixedly for a moment, being
+overcome with joy, the vision of himself disappeared, and he was aware
+that it had entered his own body and taken up its life within him.
+
+'Return thanks to Allah, and go thy way to the end,' said the Angel, who
+then unfolded his wings and departed to paradise whence he had come.
+
+But Khaled clasped Zehowah tightly in his arms, and looking upwards
+repeated the first chapter of the Koran and also the one hundred and
+tenth chapter, which is entitled, Assistance. When he had performed
+these inward devotions he turned his gaze upon Zehowah and kissed her.
+
+'Praise be to Allah,' he said, 'for this and all blessings. But now let
+us defend ourselves if we can, my beloved, for I think my enemies are at
+hand.'
+
+And so he would have stooped to take up his sword which had fallen upon
+the floor. But still Zehowah held him and would not let him go.
+
+'Not yet, Khaled!' she cried. 'Not yet, soul of my soul! The gates are
+very strong, and will withstand this battering for some time.'
+
+'Would you have him whom you love sit still in the net until the hunters
+come to catch him?' he asked in a tender voice.
+
+'You said you would wait here,' she pleaded. 'If we must die, let us die
+here--our life will be a little longer so.'
+
+'Did I say so? I thought you did not love me then, and I would have
+slain a few only, for my own sake, that my blood might not be unavenged.
+But now I will slay them all, for your sake, and the bodies of the dead
+shall be a rampart for you.'
+
+'Oh, do not go!' she cried again. 'I know a secret passage from the
+palace, that leads out by the wall of the city--come quickly, there is
+yet time, and we shall escape--for Allah will protect us. Surely, when I
+was fainting in your arms I heard an angel's voice--and surely the angel
+is yet with us, and will lighten the way as we go.'
+
+'The Angel was indeed here, for he brought me the soul that was
+promised, if you loved me. And now all is changed, for if we live, we
+get the victory and if we die we shall inherit paradise.'
+
+And Zehowah looked into his eyes and saw the living soul flaming within,
+and she believed him.
+
+'If you had always been as you are now, I should have always loved you,'
+she said softly, and stooping down she took up his sword and drew it out
+and put it into his hand. 'I tried to wield one when you were not
+looking,' she said, 'but it hurt my wrist. Come, Khaled--let us go
+together.'
+
+Then he kissed her once more, and she kissed him, and putting one arm
+about her, he led her swiftly out by the passage towards the great gate.
+It was now broad dawn and the light was coming in by the narrow windows.
+
+Zehowah clung to Khaled closely, for the noise of the thundering blows
+was terrible and deafening, and the multitude without were shouting to
+each other and calling upon Abdullah to come out, for they supposed him
+to be in the palace. But the guards and soldiers within had all hidden
+themselves though they were awake, for there was no one to command them
+nor to lead them, and they dared not open the gate lest they themselves
+should be slain in the first rush of the crowd.
+
+Then Khaled and Zehowah paused for a moment near the gate.
+
+'It is better that you should go back, my beloved,' said Khaled. 'Hear
+what a multitude of angry men are waiting outside.'
+
+'I will not leave you--neither in life nor in death,' she answered.
+
+'Let it be so, then,' said Khaled, 'and I will do my best. For a hundred
+men could not stop the way before me now, and I think that of five
+hundred I could slay many.'
+
+So he went up to the gate, and Zehowah stood a little behind him so as
+to be free of the first sweep of his sword.
+
+'Abdullah!' cried some of the crowd without, while battering at the
+iron-bound doors. 'Abdullah, thou son of Mohammed and father of lies,
+come out to us, or we will go to thee!'
+
+'Abdullah, thou thief, thou Persian, thou cheat, come out, and may
+boiling water be thy portion!'
+
+'Stand back from the gate, and I will open it to you!' cried Khaled in a
+voice that might have been heard across the Red Desert as far as the
+shores of the great ocean.
+
+'I, Khaled, will open,' he cried again.
+
+Then there was a great silence and the people fell back a little.
+
+Khaled drew the bolts and unfastened the locks, and opened the gates
+inward and stood forth alone in the morning light, his sword in his hand
+and his soul burning in his eyes.
+
+'Khaled!' cried the first who saw him, and the cry was taken up.
+
+The shout was great, and full of joy and shook the earth. For the
+multitude had grown hot in anger against Abdullah, while they battered
+at the gates, supposing that he had slain Khaled. But he himself could
+not at first distinguish whether they were angry or glad.
+
+'If any man wishes to take my life,' he cried, 'let him come and take
+it.'
+
+And the sword they all knew in battle, began to make a storm of
+lightning about his head in the morning sun.
+
+Then the strong man who had wrestled and thrown the other before dawn,
+stood out alone and spoke in a loud voice.
+
+'We will have no Sultan but Khaled!' he cried. 'Give us Abdullah that we
+may make trappings for our camels from his skin.'
+
+Then Khaled sheathed his sword and came forward from under the gate, and
+Zehowah stood veiled beside him.
+
+'Where is this Abdullah?' he asked. 'Find him if you can, for I would
+like to speak with him.'
+
+Then there was silence for a space. But by this time Abdullah's men had
+fled, for they had already been forced back in the crowding, and so soon
+as they saw Khaled standing unhurt under the palace gate, they turned
+quickly and ran for their lives to escape from the city, seeing that all
+was lost.
+
+'Where is Abdullah?' Khaled asked again.
+
+And a voice from afar off answered, as though heralding the coming of a
+great personage.
+
+'Behold Abdullah, the Sultan of Nejed!' it cried.
+
+Then the multitude turned angrily, grasping swords and spears and
+breathing curses. But the murmur broke suddenly into a shout of laughter
+louder even than the cry for Khaled had been. For a great procession had
+entered the square and the people made way for it as it advanced towards
+the palace.
+
+First came a score of lepers, singing in hideous voices and dancing in
+the early sun, filthy and loathsome to behold. And then came all manner
+of cripples, laughing and chattering, with coloured rags fastened to
+their staves, an army of distorted apes.
+
+Then, walking alone and feeling his way with his staff came the Sheikh
+of the beggars. And in one hand he held the end of a halter, which was
+fastened about Abdullah's head and neck and between his teeth, so that
+he could not cry out. And the blind man chanted a kasid which he had
+composed in the night in honour of Abdullah ibn Mohammed el Herir, the
+victorious Sultan of Nejed.
+
+'Upon whom may Allah send much boiling water,' sang the Sheikh of the
+beggars after each stave.
+
+And Abdullah, his head and face shaven as bald as an ostrich's egg, was
+bent by the weight he carried, for upon his shoulders rode the cripple
+whom they called the Ass of Egypt, clapping the wooden shoes he used on
+his hands, like cymbals to accompany the song of the blind man. And last
+of all came a veiled woman, walking sadly, for she could not escape,
+being surrounded and driven on by many scores of beggars, all dancing
+and shouting and crying out mock praises of the Sultan Abdullah and his
+wife.
+
+But as the procession moved on the laughter increased a hundredfold,
+until all men's eyes were blind with mirth, and their breasts were
+bursting and aching with so much merriment.
+
+At last the Sheikh of the beggars stood before Khaled holding the
+halter. And here he made a deep obeisance, pulling the halter so that
+Abdullah nearly fell to the ground.
+
+'In the name of the beggars,' he said, 'I present to your high majesty
+the Sultan of Nejed, Abdullah ibn Mohammed, and his chief minister the
+Ass of Egypt, and moreover the sultan's wife. May it please your high
+majesty to reward the beggars with a few small coins and a little
+barley, for having brought his high majesty, the new sultan, safely to
+the gate of the palace and to the steps of the throne.'
+
+Thereupon all the beggars, the lepers, the cripples, the blind men and
+those of weak understanding fell down together at Khaled's feet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This is the story of Khaled the believing genius, which he caused to be
+written down in letters of gold by the most accomplished scribe in
+Nejed, that all men might remember it. But of what afterwards occurred
+there is nothing told in the scribe's manuscript. It is recounted,
+however, in the commentaries of one Abd ul Latif that Khaled did not
+cause Abdullah to be beheaded, nor in any way hurt, save that he was
+driven out of the city with his wife, where certain Bedouins affirmed
+that he lived for many years with her in great destitution. But it is
+well known that after this Zehowah bore Khaled many strong sons, whose
+children and children's children reigned gloriously for many generations
+in Nejed. And Khaled and Zehowah died full of years on the same day, and
+lie buried together in a garden without the Hasa gate, and the pilgrims
+from Ajman and the east visit their tombs even to the present time.
+
+_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh_.
+
+
+
+
+MESSRS. MACMILLAN AND CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
+
+
+POPULAR NOVELS BY MR. MARION CRAWFORD. Crown 8vo. Cloth. 3s. 6d. each.
+
+MR. ISAACS: A Tale of Modern India.
+
+    _DAILY NEWS_--"The best novel that has ever laid its scene in
+    our Indian dominions."
+
+    _ATHENAEUM_--"A work of unusual ability."
+
+DR. CLAUDIUS. A True Story.
+
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+
+A ROMAN SINGER.
+
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+    skilful hands it is unlike any other romance in English
+    literature."
+
+ZOROASTER.
+
+    _GUARDIAN_--"An instance of the highest and noblest form of
+    novel.... Alike in the originality of its conception and the
+    power with which it is wrought out, it stands on a level that
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+
+  MARZIO'S CRUCIFIX.
+  A TALE OF A LONELY PARISH.
+
+    _GUARDIAN_--"The tale is written with all Mr. Crawford's
+    skill."
+
+    _SATURDAY REVIEW_--"Unlike most novels, goes on improving up
+    to the end."
+
+PAUL PATOFF.
+
+    _ATHENAEUM_--"The originality of the story, the charm of the
+    description, and the brilliancy of the narrative are
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+
+WITH THE IMMORTALS.
+
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+
+GREIFENSTEIN.
+
+    _SATURDAY REVIEW_--"With the exception of 'Saracinesca,' his
+    most consistent work, Mr. Crawford has not written anything
+    so good as his last novel 'Greifenstein.'"
+
+    _ACADEMY_--"During the whole of his literary career Mr.
+    Marion Crawford has produced nothing quite so powerful as one
+    or two of the situations in 'Greifenstein.'"
+
+SANT' ILARIO.
+
+    _ATHENAEUM_--"The plot is skilfully concocted, and the
+    interest is sustained to the end. The various events,
+    romantic, and even sensational, follow naturally and neatly,
+    and the whole is a very clever piece of work."
+
+    _SCOTSMAN_--"The book is full of passages of remarkable
+    power. A reader will find it hard to decide whether this is
+    not the best of Mr. Crawford's novels."
+
+A CIGARETTE-MAKER'S ROMANCE.
+
+    _OXFORD MAGAZINE_--"The idea of the story is original, the
+    characters well drawn, and the interest sustained to the very
+    last page. That Mr. Crawford, having a good story to tell,
+    should tell it well, was only to be expected."
+
+    _GLOBE_--"We are inclined to think this the best of Mr.
+    Marion Crawford's stories.... His art is here at its best,
+    and those who read his book will feel grateful to him for its
+    keen humanity."
+
+
+NOVELS BY ROLF BOLDREWOOD.
+
+New and Uniform Edition. Crown 8vo. Cloth. 3s. 6d. each.
+
+=ROBBERY UNDER ARMS.=
+
+    A STORY OF LIFE AND ADVENTURE IN THE BUSH AND IN THE
+    GOLD-FIELDS OF AUSTRALIA.
+
+    =GUARDIAN=--"A singularly spirited and stirring tale of
+    Australian life, chiefly in the remoter settlements....
+    Altogether it is a capital story, full of wild adventure and
+    startling incidents, and told with a genuine simplicity and
+    quiet appearance of truth, as if the writer were really
+    drawing upon his memory rather than his imagination."
+
+    =SPECTATOR=--"We have nothing but praise for this story. Of
+    adventure of the most stirring kind there is, as we have
+    said, abundance. But there is more than this. The characters
+    are drawn with great skill. Every one of the gang of
+    bushrangers is strongly individualised. This is a book of no
+    common literary force."
+
+    =WORLD=--"An uncommonly good thing.... The book, in short,
+    has the natural touch, both of place and person, on every
+    page."
+
+    =MORNING POST=--"As a picture of the earlier days of our
+    Australian Colonies, and as an absorbing story, 'Robbery
+    under Arms' has few equals."
+
+    =GRAPHIC=--"That Mr. Boldrewood knows his subject through and
+    through is as certain as his picture of the breaking-out of
+    the first gold fever in Australia is the best ever written."
+
+=THE SQUATTER'S DREAM.=
+
+=THE MINER'S RIGHT.=
+
+    A TALE OF THE AUSTRALIAN GOLD-FIELDS.
+
+    =WORLD=--"Full of good passages, passages abounding in
+    vivacity, in the colour and play of life.... The pith of the
+    book lies in its singularly fresh and vivid pictures of the
+    humours of the gold-fields,--tragic humours enough they are,
+    too, here and again...."
+
+    =MANCHESTER EXAMINER=--"The characters are sketched with real
+    life and picturesqueness. The book is lively and readable
+    from first to last."
+
+=A COLONIAL REFORMER.=
+
+    =ATHENAEUM=--"A series of natural and entertaining pictures of
+    Australian life, which are, above all things, readable."
+
+    =GLASGOW HERALD=--"One of the most interesting books about
+    Australia we have ever read."
+
+    =SATURDAY REVIEW=--"Mr. Boldrewood can tell what he knows
+    with great point and vigour, and there is no better reading
+    than the adventurous parts of his books."
+
+=A SYDNEY-SIDE SAXON.=
+
+    =GLASGOW HERALD=--"The interest never flags, and altogether
+    'A Sydney-Side Saxon' is a really refreshing book."
+
+    =ANTI-JACOBIN=--"Thoroughly well worth reading.... A clever
+    book, admirably written.... Brisk in incident, truthful and
+    life-like in character.... Beyond and above all it has that
+    stimulating hygienic quality, that cheerful, unconscious
+    healthfulness, which makes a story like 'Robinson Crusoe,' or
+    'The Vicar of Wakefield,' so unspeakably refreshing after a
+    course of even good contemporary fiction."
+
+=NEVERMORE.=
+
+    =ACADEMY=--"Is perhaps the best story of the Rolf Boldrewood
+    Series. Must be allowed to be one of the best works of the
+    period."
+
+MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
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+=MACMILLAN'S=
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+=Library=
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+OF WORKS BY
+
+POPULAR AUTHORS
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+In crown 8vo, cloth extra.
+
+
+[Illustration: MR. F. MARION CRAWFORD.]
+
+
+_Recent Additions to the Series:_
+
+=Historical Characters.= By Sir HENRY LYTTON BULWER (Lord DALLING).
+
+=Curiosities of Natural History.= In 4 vols. By FRANK BUCKLAND.
+
+=The Dewy Morn:= A Novel. By RICHARD JEFFERIES.
+
+=The Ingoldsby Legends.= With 50 Illustrations by CRUIKSHANK, LEECH,
+    TENNIEL, etc.
+
+=Consequences:= A Novel. By EGERTON CASTLE.
+
+=Thirlby Hall.= By W. E. NORRIS.
+
+=A Bachelor's Blunder.= By W. E. NORRIS.
+
+=Breezie Langton.= By HAWLEY SMART.
+
+=The Three Clerks.= By ANTHONY TROLLOPE.
+
+=Fickle Fortune.= By E. WERNER.
+
+=Success, and How He Won It.= By E. WERNER.
+
+=Private Life of Marie Antoinette.= By MADAME CAMPAN.
+
+=The Life of Oliver Cromwell.= By M. GUIZOT.
+
+=Mary Queen of Scots.= By M. MIGNET.
+
+=Memories of Father Healy of Little Bray.=
+
+=Autobiography and Reminiscences.= By W. P. FRITH, R.A.
+
+=The Recollections of Marshall Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum.=
+
+
+_A complete List of the Series will be found on the following pages._
+
+
+[Illustration: ROLF BOLDREWOOD.]
+
+
+_ANONYMOUS._
+
+  Hogan, M.P.
+  Tim.
+  The New Antigone.
+  Flitters, Tatters, and the Counsellor.
+
+
+_By ROLF BOLDREWOOD._
+
+  Robbery Under Arms.
+  The Squatter's Dream.
+  A Colonial Reformer.
+  The Miner's Right.
+  A Sidney-Side Saxon.
+  Nevermore.
+  A Modern Buccaneer.
+  The Sealskin Coat.
+  Old Melbourne Memories.
+  My Run Home.
+  The Crooked Stick.
+  Plain Living.
+
+
+_By ROSA N. CAREY._
+
+  Nellie's Memories.
+  Wee Wifie.
+  Barbara Heathcote's Trial.
+  Robert Ord's Atonement.
+  Wooed and Married.
+  Heriot's Choice.
+  Queenie's Whim.
+  Mary St. John.
+  Not Like Other Girls.
+  For Lilias.
+  Uncle Max.
+  Only the Governess.
+  Lover or Friend?
+  Basil Lyndhurst.
+  Sir Godfrey's Grand-daughters.
+  The Old Old Story.
+  Mistress of Brae Farm.
+  Mrs. Romney, and But Men Must Work.
+
+
+_By Mrs. CRAIK._
+
+(The Author of "JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.")
+
+  Olive.
+  The Ogilvies.
+  Agatha's Husband.
+  Head of the Family.
+  Two Marriages.
+  The Laurel Bush.
+  About Money, and other Things.
+  My Mother and I.
+  Miss Tommy: A Mediaeval Romance.
+  King Arthur: not a Love Story.
+  Concerning Men, and other Papers.
+
+
+_By F. MARION CRAWFORD._
+
+  Mr. Isaacs.
+  Dr. Claudius.
+  A Roman Singer.
+  Zoroaster.
+  Marzio's Crucifix.
+  A Tale of a Lonely Parish.
+  Paul Patoff.
+  With the Immortals.
+  Greifenstein.
+  Sant' Ilario.
+  A Cigarette-Maker's Romance.
+  Khaled.
+  The Three Fates.
+  The Witch of Prague.
+  Children of the King.
+  Marion Darche.
+  Pietro Ghisleri.
+  Katharine Lauderdale.
+  Don Orsino.
+  The Ralstons.
+  Casa Braccio.
+  Adam Johnstone's Son.
+  A Rose of Yesterday.
+  Taquisara.
+
+
+_By Sir H. CUNNINGHAM._
+
+  The Heriots.
+  Wheat and Tares.
+  The Coeruleans.
+
+
+_By CHARLES DICKENS._
+
+  The Pickwick Papers.
+  Oliver Twist.
+  Nicholas Nickleby.
+  Martin Chuzzlewit.
+  The Old Curiosity Shop.
+  Barnaby Rudge.
+  Dombey and Son.
+  Christmas Books.
+  Sketches by Boz.
+  David Copperfield.
+  American Notes and Pictures from Italy.
+  The Letters of Charles Dickens.
+  Bleak House.
+  Little Dorrit.
+
+
+[Illustration: MISS ROSA N. CAREY.]
+
+
+'ENGLISH MEN OF LETTERS.'
+
+Re-issue in 13 vols.
+
+  Vol. I. Chaucer, Spenser, Dryden.
+      II. Milton, Goldsmith, Cowper.
+     III. Byron, Shelley, Keats.
+      IV. Wordsworth, Southey, Landor.
+       V. Lamb, Addison, Swift.
+      VI. Scott, Burn, Coleridge.
+     VII. Hume, Locke, Burke.
+    VIII. Defoe, Sterne, Hawthorne.
+      IX. Fielding, Thackeray, Dickens.
+       X. Gibbon, Carlyle, Macaulay.
+      XI. Sidney, De Quincey, Sheridan.
+     XII. Pope, Johnson, Gray.
+    XIII. Bacon, Bunyan, Bentley.
+
+
+_By DEAN FARRAR._
+
+  Seekers after God.
+  Eternal Hope.
+  The Fall of Man.
+  The Witness of History to Christ.
+  The Silence and Voices of God.
+  In the Days of thy Youth.
+  Saintly Workers.
+  Ephphatha.
+  Mercy and Judgment.
+  Sermons and Addresses.
+
+
+_By BRET HARTE._
+
+  Cressy.
+  The Heritage of Dedlow Marsh.
+  A First Family of Tasajara.
+
+
+_By THOMAS HUGHES._
+
+  Tom Brown's School Days.
+  Tom Brown at Oxford.
+  The Scouring of the White Horse, and the Ashen Faggot.
+
+
+_By HENRY JAMES._
+
+  A London Life.
+  The Aspen Papers, etc.
+  The Tragic Muse.
+
+
+_By ANNIE KEARY._
+
+  Castle Daly.
+  A York and a Lancaster Rose.
+  Oldbury.
+  A Doubting Heart.
+  Janet's Home.
+  Nations round Israel.
+
+
+_By CHARLES KINGSLEY._
+
+  Westward Ho!
+  Hypatia.
+  Yeast.
+  Alton Locke.
+  Two Years Ago.
+  Hereward the Wake.
+  Poems.
+  The Heroes.
+  The Water Babies.
+  Madam How and Lady Why.
+  At Last.
+  Prose Idylls.
+  Plays and Puritans, etc.
+  The Roman and the Teuton.
+  Sanitary and Social Lectures and Essays.
+  Historical Lectures and Essays.
+  Scientific Lectures and Essays.
+  Literary and General Lectures.
+  The Hermits.
+  Glaucus: or the Wonders of The Seashore.
+  Village and Town and Country Sermons.
+  The Water of Life, and other Sermons.
+  Sermons on National Subjects, and the King of the Earth.
+  Sermons for the Times.
+  Good News of God.
+  The Gospel of the Pentateuch, and David.
+  Discipline, and other Sermons.
+  Westminster Sermons.
+  All Saints' Day, and other Sermons.
+
+
+_By FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE._
+
+  Sermons Preached in Lincoln's Inn Chapel. In 6 vols.
+  Christmas Day, and other Sermons.
+  Theological Essays.
+  Prophets and Kings.
+  Patriarchs and Lawgivers.
+  The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven.
+  Gospel of St. John.
+  Epistles of St. John.
+  Friendship of Books.
+  Prayer Book and Lord's Prayer.
+  The Doctrine of Sacrifice.
+  Acts of the Apostles.
+
+
+_By D. CHRISTIE MURRAY._
+
+  Aunt Rachel.
+  He Fell among Thieves. D. C. MURRAY and H. HERMANN.
+  John Vale's Guardian.
+  Schwartz.
+  The Weaker Vessel.
+
+
+_By Mrs. OLIPHANT._
+
+  A Beleaguered City.
+  Joyce.
+  Neighbours on the Green.
+  Kirsteen.
+  Hester.
+  Sir Tom.
+  A Country Gentleman and his Family.
+  The Curate in Charge.
+  The Second Son.
+  He that Will Not when He May.
+  The Railway Man and his Children.
+  The Marriage of Elinor.
+  The Heir-Presumptive and the Heir-Apparent.
+  A Son of the Soil.
+  The Wizard's Son.
+  Young Musgrave.
+  Lady William.
+
+
+[Illustration: MISS C. M. YONGE.]
+
+
+_By Mrs. PARR._
+
+  Adam and Eve.
+  Loyalty George.
+  Dorothy Fox.
+  Robin.
+
+
+_By J. H. SHORTHOUSE._
+
+  John Inglesant.
+  Sir Percival.
+  The Little Schoolmaster Mark.
+  The Countess Eve.
+  A Teacher of the Violin.
+  Blanche, Lady Falaise.
+
+
+_By J. TIMBS._
+
+  Lives of Statesmen.
+  Lives of Painters.
+  Doctors and Patients.
+  Wits and Humourists. 2 vols.
+
+
+_By MONTAGU WILLIAMS._
+
+  Leaves of a Life.
+  Later Leaves.
+  Round London.
+
+
+_By CHARLOTTE M. YONGE._
+
+  The Heir of Redclyffe.
+  Heartsease.
+  Hopes and Fears.
+  Dynevor Terrace.
+  The Daisy Chain.
+  The Trial: More Links of the Daisy Chain.
+  Pillars of the House. Vol. I.
+  Pillars of the House. Vol. II.
+  The Young Stepmother.
+  The Clever Woman of the Family.
+  The Three Brides.
+  My Young Alcides.
+  The Caged Lion.
+  Stray Pearls.
+  The Dove in the Eagle's Nest.
+  The Chaplet of Pearls.
+  Lady Hester, and the Danvers Papers.
+  Magnum Bonum.
+  Love and Life.
+  Unknown to History.
+  The Armourer's 'Prentices.
+  The Two Sides of the Shield.
+  Scenes and Characters.
+  Nuttie's Father.
+  Chantry House.
+  A Modern Telemachus.
+  Bye-Words.
+  More Bye-Words.
+  Beechcroft at Rockstone.
+  A Reputed Changeling.
+  The Little Duke.
+  The Lances of Lynwood.
+  The Prince and the Page.
+  P's and Q's, and Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe.
+  Two Penniless Princesses.
+  That Stick.
+  Grisly Grisell.
+  An Old Woman's Outlook.
+  The Long Vacation.
+  The Release.
+  Pilgrimage of the Ben Beriah.
+  Henrietta's Wish.
+  The Two Guardians.
+
+
+_By_ VARIOUS WRITERS.
+
+  CANON ATKINSON.--=The Last of the Giant Killers.=
+
+  SIR S. W. BAKER.--=True Tales for my Grandsons.=
+
+  R. H. D. BARHAM.--=Life of Rev. R. H. Barham.=--=Life of Theodore
+      Hook.=
+
+  R. BLENNERHASSETT AND L. SLEEMAN.--=Adventures in Mashonaland.=
+
+  SIR HENRY LYTTON BULWER (LORD DALLING).--=Historical Characters.=
+
+  HUGH CONWAY.--=Living or Dead?=--=A Family Affair.=
+
+  SIR MORTIMER DURAND, K.C.I.E.--=Helen Treveryan.=
+
+  LANOE FALCONER.--=Cecilia de Noel.=
+
+  ARCHIBALD FORBES.--=Barracks, Bivouacs, and Battles.=--=Souvenirs of
+      Some Continents.=
+
+  W. FORBES-MITCHELL.--=Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny, 1857-59.=
+
+  W. W. FOWLER.--=A Year with the Birds.=
+
+  REV. J. GILMORE.--=Storm Warriors.=
+
+  HENRY KINGSLEY.--=Tales of Old Travel.=
+
+  AMY LEVY.--=Reuben Sachs.=
+
+  S. R. LYSAGHT.--=The Marplot.=
+
+  LORD LYTTON.--=The Ring of Amasis.=
+
+  M. M'LENNAN.--=Muckle Jock, and other Stories of Peasant Life.=
+
+  LUCAS MALET.--=Mrs. Lorimer.=
+
+  GUSTAVE MASSON.--=A French Dictionary.=
+
+  A. B. MITFORD.--=Tales of Old Japan.=
+
+  MARY R. MITFORD.--=Recollections of a Literary Life.=
+
+  MAJOR G. PARRY.--=The Story of Dick.=
+
+  E. C. PRICE.--=In the Lion's Mouth.=
+
+  W. C. RHOADES.--=John Trevennick.=
+
+  W. CLARK RUSSELL.--=Marooned.=--=A Strange Elopement.=
+
+  THE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE.--Vol. I. =Comedies.= Vol. II. =Histories.=
+  Vol. III. =Tragedies.= 3 vols.
+
+  MARCHESA THEODOLI.--=Under Pressure.=
+
+  "TIMES!"--=Biographies of Eminent Persons.= In 6 vols.--=Annual
+      Summaries.= In 2 vols.
+
+  MRS. HUMPHRY WARD.--=Miss Bretherton.=
+
+  C. WHITEHEAD.--=Richard Savage.=
+
+
+[Illustration: SIR WALTER SCOTT.]
+
+
+_Now Ready._ Crown 8vo, tastefully bound in Green Cloth, Gilt, in which
+binding any of the Novels may be bought separately, price 3_s._ 6_d._
+each. Also in Special Cloth Binding, Flat Backs, Gilt Tops, supplied in
+Sets only of 24 Volumes, price L4 4_s._
+
+
+The Illustrated Border Edition OF THE Waverley Novels
+
+  Edited with Introductory Essays and Notes to each Novel
+  (supplementing those of the Author) by ANDREW LANG. With 250
+  Original Illustrations from Drawings and Paintings specially
+  executed by eminent Artists.
+
+
+List of the Volumes.
+
+  1. Waverley.
+  2. Guy Mannering.
+  3. The Antiquary.
+  4. Rob Roy.
+  5. Old Mortality.
+  6. The Heart of Midlothian.
+  7. A Legend of Montrose, and The Black Dwarf.
+  8. The Bride of Lammermoor.
+  9. Ivanhoe.
+  10. The Monastery.
+  11. The Abbot.
+  12. Kenilworth.
+  13. The Pirate.
+  14. The Fortunes of Nigel.
+  15. Peveril of the Peak.
+  16. Quentin Durward.
+  17. St. Ronan's Well.
+  18. Redgauntlet.
+  19. The Betrothed, and the Talisman.
+  20. Woodstock.
+  21. The Fair Maid of Perth.
+  22. Anne of Geierstein.
+  23. Count Robert of Paris, and The Surgeon's Daughter.
+  24. Castle Dangerous, Chronicles of the Canongate, etc.
+
+
+Some of the Artists contributing to the "Border Edition."
+
+  Sir J. E. Millais, Bart, P.R.A.
+  Lockhart Bogle.
+  Gordon Browne.
+  D. Y. Cameron.
+  Frank Dadd, R.I.
+  R. de Los Rios.
+  Herbert Dicksee.
+  M. L. Gow, R.I.
+  W. B. Hole, R.S.A.
+  John Pettie, R.A.
+  Sir James De Linton, P.R.I.
+  Ad Lalauze.
+  J. E. Lauder, R.S.A.
+  W. Hatherell, R.I.
+  Sam Bough, R.S.A.
+  W. E. Lockhart, R.S.A.
+  R. W. Macbeth, A.R.A.
+  H. Macbeth-Raeburn.
+  J. Macwhirter, A.R.A., R.S.A.
+  W. Q. Orchardson, R.A.
+  James Orrock, R.I.
+  Walter Paget.
+  Sir George Reid, P.R.S.A.
+  Frank Short.
+  W. Strang.
+  Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A., P.R.S.A.
+  Arthur Hopkins, A.R.W.S.
+  R. Herdman, R.S.A.
+  D. Herdman.
+  Hugh Cameron, R.S.A.
+
+=MACMILLAN & CO., Limited, LONDON=
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+
+Minor punctuation corrections have been made without comment.
+
+On p. 155 the word "Sham" has a macron (straight line) above the "a" in
+the original text which has been removed in this e-text.
+
+A Table of Contents has been created by the transcriber to aid reader
+navigation in this e-text.
+
+
+Word Variations:
+
+  "carcase(s)" (2) (Br. sp.) and "carcass" (1)
+
+  "Khaled ibn Walid" (1) and "Khaled ibn Walad" (1) (both referred to as
+      "the Sword of the Lord")
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Khaled, A Tale of Arabia, by F. Marion Crawford
+
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