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diff --git a/34959.txt b/34959.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..337ae43 --- /dev/null +++ b/34959.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7676 @@ +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. + + _ATHENAEUM_--"Mr. Crawford has achieved another success." + +A ROMAN SINGER. + + _TIMES_--"A masterpiece of narrative.... In Mr. Crawford's + 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 + is almost entirely its own." + + 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 + undeniable." + +WITH THE IMMORTALS. + + _SPECTATOR_--"To do justice to Mr. Crawford's remarkable book + by extracts would be impossible.... It cannot fail to please + a reader who enjoys crisp, clear, vigorous writing, and + thoughts that are alike original and suggestive." + +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. + + * * * * * + +=MACMILLAN'S= + +=Three-and-Sixpenny= + +=Library= + +OF WORKS BY + +POPULAR AUTHORS + +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. 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