 8. Abdullah ibn Muhammad, though a young man, was now the shake of a considerable tribe which had frequently done good service to the late Sultan Zahawa's father, and which had also borne a prominent part in the recent war. Abdul Karim, whom Al-Masta had murdered, had been the shake 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 Karim's death, he was chosen by acclamation. It chanced to that he was not married at the time when he took Al-Masta. 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 dour had been insignificant. Al-Masta therefore found that she was her husband's only wife. She would certainly have killed him as she had killed Abdul Karim, 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 Qalad'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 Najd, for it would not be lawful to attack them after that, since there was a treaty with the emir of Basra, allowing the pilgrims a safe and free passage towards Mecca, for which the emir paid yearly a sum of money to the Sultan of Najd. But Al-Mustah 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 over much 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 Al-Mustah sat within, close behind him, and told him tales of her own country, or of the life in the palace of Riyadh. 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 Riyadh, said Abdullah. For your qura and your snow-covered cosbeck and your tiffless with its warm springs and gardens I shall never see, but I have seen the courts of the palace from my youth, and the sultans kawa and the lattice windows of the harem from which you say that you saw me and loved me in the last days of summer. Al-Masta 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 Al-Masta, 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 sheriffs and sequins and tommens 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 Riyadh. 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 sheriffs. I do not even know the names of the different kinds, but there are turquoise's without number, of the maidan, and all good, so that you may ride 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 trang 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, a boss-woven of gold and silk and linen, and vests embroidered with pearls and shoes of which even the souls appear to be of gold. And there are great pieces of stuff, Indian silk and Persian velvet, and even satin from Stambul, woven by unbelievers with the help of devils. Then, too, in the palace of Riyadh, 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 chiseled in the same metal or carved out of ivory. I saw the treasure of Ha'il 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 Ha'il is to the treasure of Riyadh 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 Kaled, 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 Riyadh. 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 Riyadh. 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 Zahawa took out the jewels and stored them with their own. And as for me, I believe that Kaled made an end of the Sultan himself by means of poison in Durea, 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 Kaled is a brave man who gives everyone 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 Kaled whom you praise? asked Al-Masta. 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 Kaled ibn Muhammad or Kaled 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 Kaled holds his peace, they have doubtless their reasons. For it may be that there is a blood feud between the people of Kaled and some great person in Riyadh 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 al-Masta. But I heard of him in Basra. What did you hear in Basra? And how could you have heard of him there? I was in the emirs harem, being kept there to rest from the journey after they had brought me from the north. And there I heard of Kaled, 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 Kaled came suddenly to Riyadh and was married immediately to Zahawa, and on the next day he went out with us against Ha'il, which we took from the Shamar in three weeks' time from the day of our marching. Far over we found you there in the palace. How then could news of Kaled have reached Basra before you left that place? I had come to Ha'il but the day before you attacked the city, said al-Masta. But did I say that I had heard of him as already married to Zahawa? 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 al-Masta, for he is a Persian and a Shia 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 Zahawa. And now he has made a secret covenant to deliver over the kingdom of Nedged 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 anyone except under force? There is a reason for this, too, al-Masta answered, unabashed. For the king of the Persians, whom they call the Padishah, has an only daughter of great beauty and Caled is to receive her in marriage as the price of Nedged. Then he will by treachery destroy the Padishah's sons and will inherit Persia also, as he has inherited Nedged. And after that he will make war upon the Romans in Stambul 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 tomorrow we will leave this place. I will tell you a wonderful history which is quite true, answered al-Masta. 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 savory gum and chewed it, and al-Masta 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 loot 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-mayor from the Sultan's stables, the soldiers pursued him, and in order to escape impalement he fled. No one could catch him because the mayor 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 way-laid travelers, 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 Kaled, 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 Nedged there are men of good descent who have a better right to sit on the throne. Hear what followed, answered Amosda. This man is Mayel, 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 vouched saved 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 Amosda, for though he was only chief over four hundred tenths, she gave him a kingdom. Hear what followed. But I will call him Abdullah, if you please, though his name was Im Shket. 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 honor to them, so that they were attached to him. Undoubtedly, replied Al-Masta, 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 sheriffs, 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 Al-Masta 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 Al-Masta 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. Al-Masta, 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 Ismael 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 cold 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 Al-Masta. 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 Riyadh, which I described to you before I began the other story. This may be true, for I am very forgetful. But I dare say 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 Ismael 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. Ismael 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 whether 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 along with them in private. Before many weeks had passed, the skillful men of the tribe, who knew the signs, were aware that many other Bedouins were traveling in the same direction as themselves, though they could not be seen. But neither Abdullah's man nor Al-Masta herself could know that in three months the sheikhs of all the tribes, from Hassa to Harb, and from Ajvan to Al-Khura, had heard that Khaled the Sultan was a Persian robber and a Shia at heart, venerating Ali and execrating the true Sana, a man who in all probability drank wine in secret, and who was certainly plotting to deliver up all-nedged to the power of the Ajsem. 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 Shamar, 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 pretense of dividing them justly, but it was now well known that he had laden camels by stealth at Ha'il, and had sent them secretly to Riyadh, slaughtering with his own hand all those who had helped him. Little by little, too, the story came to Riyadh, and was told in a low voice by merchants in the Bazaar, 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 Kaled's name was spoken, yet the beggars with one accord declared that it was a lie. For Kaled was generous in almsgiving, and they said, if Kaled is overthrown and another sultan set up in his place, how do we know whether there will be boiled camels-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 Kaled 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 Kaled is a true man and a sauna 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 dirtschgraper 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 grew nearer and nearer to the city as is their want at that season. For many of the shakes 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 hajj was approaching, for Ramadan 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 and repeated from mouth to mouth in Riyadh, reached the palace at 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 to believe than the people of the city, for they shared in a measure in Khalid's right of possession and desired no change of master, so that for a long time neither Zihoa nor Khalid heard anything of what was commonly reported. Yet at last the old woman who had been Zihoa'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 highs of the chief evil speakers in the bazaar. 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 Zihoa left, 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 Khalid 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 Shia, and a Persian, having been a robber before you came here, and that you are plotting to deliver over Nijid to the Persians. Look to this Khalid, 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, Zihoa? Khalid 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 Khalid was troubled, for he saw that it would be a hard matter to explain, and that without explanation his safety might be endangered. Zihoa 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? said Khalid, 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, Zihoa answered. Am I more dear to you than so much gold, Zihoa? 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, Zihoa? Khalid 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 the riddle, Khalid. 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 Zihoa. 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 Khalid. 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, Khalid? 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 Khalid leaves, Zihua need not bear arms, said Khalid. 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 kawa, and had hung up their swords on the pegs, and partaken of a refreshment, Khalid sent the slaves away and spoke in a few words, as was his manner. Men of Riyadh are Ed and all Nijid, he said. I regret that more of you are not present here, but a great number of sheiks 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 Riyadh 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 Khalid, but perhaps Ali Hasan, or perhaps Ali Hussein, that I am Shia, a wine-biber 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 Nijid 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 Khalid, 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 Khalid sat in silence a long time, waiting for someone 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 calls that which entered at one ear to run out from the other as the rinsing of a water-skin. Good, answered Khalid. 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, Khalid said, and he questioned a third. Oh Khalid, 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 in 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 Shamar, 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 wounds, for we have seen there 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 butchers, 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 to one 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 Khalid, 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 Khalid, 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 qadi, celebrated for his wisdom and for his religious teaching in the chief mosque. I ask you, last of all, said Khalid, 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 Qadi, and let us see clearly. O Khalid, replied the Qadi, 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 are 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, Khalid 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 Qadi, but he would say nothing more. This is plain speaking, said Khalid, 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 Danang? Is there a man in Najid who has crossed the Red Desert? And if I say that my father was Mohamed ibn Abd, El Hamid ibn Abdel Latif, and so on to our father Ismail, upon whom be peace, shall anyone 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 Qadi. 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 Khalid 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. Khalid then left the kawa, and returned to Zihua in the harem. I have told them that these tales are lies, he said, but they do not believe me. He repeated to Zihua 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 Zihua. 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 Khalid, looking at Zihua curiously, but if I were to tell you, you would not believe me, I think, any more than they would. Then Zihua looked at him in her turn, but he could not understand the language of her eyes. What is the 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 Khalid 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 genie, 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 talked with me. This is not true, said Khalid, and if I talked familiarly with Al-Masta, 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 Tihuah's curiosity was burning within her like a thirst, for although she had at first cared little to know of Khalid's former life, she was astonished at his persistency in keeping the secret now, seeing that the whole country was full of false rumors 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 Khalid 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, Tihuah, 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 genie of the heir, created from the beginning and destined to die at the second blast of the trumpet before the resurrection of the dead. At this, Tihuah 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 left. What is this idle tale of ifritz? she exclaimed, frighten children with it. This is what I foresaw in you, said Khalid. You cannot believe me. Of what use is it then to tell you my story? Tihuah answered nothing, for she was angry, supposing that Khalid was attempting to put her off with a foolish tale. She had heard indeed of genie and ifritz, and she was sure that they had existence, since they were expressly mentioned in the Quran, but she had never heard that any of them had taken the shape and manner of a man. She remembered also how Khalid 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 the robber, said Khalid. 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 Khalid 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 Khalid 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 Khalid had been a man like other men, and Zihua 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 someday examined, whereas the truth, being always coincident with the reality, can never be wholly refuted. Khalid 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 this belief 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 recognize 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 Azrael 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 traveled hither to Riyadh, 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 Zihua. 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, Khalid 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 a nafrit, or whatever it pleases you to call yourself. Assuredly this is too hard for me. And again Zihua 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 Khalid, for I fear neither the one nor the other, for I am strong, and if I am able to give out 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 Zihua thought this might be the speech of a desperate man, such as Ali Hasan the robber, as well as of Khalid 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. Khalid 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 imposter. 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 Khalid again called the chief men together in Hiskawa, and addressed them briefly. Men of Riyadh, he said, I am aware that there is a conspiracy to overthrow and destroy me, and I dare say 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 person nor a robber, nor yet a Shia. 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. End of Chapter 9, Recording by Marisol Qui. Chapter 10 of Kaled, A Tale of Arabia. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Joe De Noia, Somerset, New Jersey. Kaled, A Tale of Arabia by Francis Marion Crawford. Chapter 10. The Sheik 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 a pure blood of the desert on both sides, the other beggars jeered at him in the beginning, calling him ibn al-Sheik 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 a share with the rest for the common good, and something more. His companions learned also that his story was true, and his blood was as good as any, from Ashman to Al-Khara. For Bedouin of the same tribe as Abdullah, the husband of Al-Masta, 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 beggar saw from his having a mayor 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 Sheik, respectfully, and waited on him when he performed his ablutions, and he obtained over them supremacy as great as was Kaled'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 Quran. It was even said he was able to distinguish a good man from a bad by the sound of his trek, though some thought he only heard a jingling of coins in the girdle, and judging 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 amongst 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 Kaled had told Sahawa his story, many of the beggars were sitting in the eastern gate, by which the great road issues out of the city, towards Haasa. 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 sheik 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 the young beggar, who was a stranger, but had found his way to Riyadh without legs, no man knew how. As of Egypt, replied the sheik reprovingly. Do pilgrims ride at a full gout upon steeds of pure blood? But though your eyes are open, your ears are deaf, with a sleep of stupidity from which there is no awakening. That is a good horse, ridden by a light rider. Truly a man must age 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 this one was keen. O sheik, 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 body 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 sheik 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 mayor stood waiting before them. O my brother, at 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 sheik of the beggars. Allah will work quite 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 the orphans. I am also grateful for all you have done, and my gratitude shows 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 this city? Are there no strange rumors afloat aflate concerning Khaled, the sultan? In each man's soul there are two wells in the blind man. The one is the spring of truth, the other, the fountain of lies. You are wise and full of years, said the benwan, 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 sandstorm is darkening the eyes of the men of the desert. They are saying that Khaled is a shia, a persian, and a robber, and that he must be overthrown, and the man of our own people made king in his stead. I have heard such a rumor. It is more than a rumor. The tribes are even now assembling towards Riyadh, 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 gada stuck in the sand, which will neither strike root nor bear leaves. When the sheik 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 bedwin, unmoved, and moreover, without danger to himself. Hear me first. Abdullah and his tribal encamp in the low hills in a few days, as usual, but somewhat earlier than in the other years, and a great number of other bedwins will be in the neighboring valleys at the same time. Then Abdullah will come into the city openly and go to his house with his wife and his 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 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 Zahawa and distribute much treasure among the guards and slaves, and before morning the city will be full of bedwins already to proclaim Abdullah Sultan, and you alone can prevent 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 a path of Abdullah and a thousand armed men. They would certainly laugh as I do. Maybe 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 bedwin 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 past before we came to Hael last summer, when I had an arrow in my right arm and a spear thrust at my side, certain dogs of Shamar's encompassed me, and darkness was already descending upon my eyes when Khaled wrote in like a whirlwind of sides and said four of them to Hael, 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 and wait for Abdullah yourself and slay him as he passes you in the dark? Is he not the sheik of my tribe? How then can I lay a hand on him? But I have thought of this during many nights of my tent, and you alone can do what is needed. Surely this is folly, said the sheik of the betters. You have met 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 cold and I am not thirsty, nor is the hot wind blowing at this time of the 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 an artist, but I cannot understand what I can do. We know that Khaled is forewarned, for there is not many days since he saw some of the chief men in Riyadh with the Qadi to the palace, and refused to tell him the name of his father, but said if they attacked him, he would kill as many of them as he could. I did not know this, answered the Bedwan, but the knowledge does not change my plan. Now hear me, you were the sheik of all the beggars in Riyadh. May Allah send you long life and much grain. They are an army, and you are a captain. Moreover, the beggars are Dallas attached to Khaled by his generosity, and all 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 honor and riches if he is made sultan. Halban is my advantage, also yours. And did not this Abdullah in the first place divorce with Agnami his second wife, who was my kin's woman, being the daughter of my father's sister, and as 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 sheik unjustly, for our sheik would be Abdullah Karim's son, that you accept Abdullah and promise 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 proffer. Hear me, for I speak wisdom. Abdullah will come to the city and go to his house, intending to prepare the way for evil, and he will walk about the streets as usual, without attendance, both because he knows that the people are mostly with him, and also in order not to attract notice. But Abdullah is the spring from which all this wickedness flows. He is the chief camel whom the others follow, the coal in the ashes where 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 could be easily done. What folly is this, asked the blind man, shaking his head, 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 and wait for him. For you will easily catch him in a narrow street, and two or three score where 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 has passed. And this way you will save Khaled in the kingdom, and when all is quiet you can deliver him up to be a laughingstock 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 Karim's son will immediately be made sheik of our tribe, so that Abdullah will not return to us. You are subtle, my brother said, to the sheik of the beggars, smiling and stroking his beard. This is a good plan, being very simple, and Khaled will be grateful to us and honor us beggars exceedingly. Said I not well that the jest was good. Surely he is better than I had thought, and more profitable. I have thought of it long in the nights of winter, both by the campfire and in my tent and on the march. But I have told no one, nor will tell anyone until all is done. But as soon as you have taken Abdullah and hidden him, let me know of it. To this end when we are camped 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 has 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 Riyadh, and must need show myself there to those who know me. So the Bedouin filled the blind beggar sack with barley and dates from his own supply, and embraced him and went into the city. But the sheik 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 sheik's ears were sharper than those of the other men, and he heard very clearly what was said. This Bedouin, said the hunchback, is a near relation of our sheik, and holds him in great veneration, coming frequently to see him from a considerable distance, and always bringing him a present of food. And you may see by his mayor and by his weapons that he is a person of consideration in this tribe, for our sheik 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 of 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 sheik has eyes in his ears, and in his fingers, and in his staff, though he is counted blind, but you cannot deceive him easily as you might suppose. The sheik 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 Gribble, all husband 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 sheik, 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. The answer did not altogether please the blind man, for it savored somewhat a flattery, but the other beggars approved of the speech, deeming that a show to submissive spirit and readiness to obey and respect their chief. Oh, you of Egypt cried the sheik called to him, come here and sit beside me, for I have heard what you said, and desire your company. The Gribble immediately began to crawl along the wall, dragging himself upon his hands and body, for he had no legs. He as obedient thought the blind man, though it cost him much labor to move. When the man was beside him, the sheik took an onion and a date from his wallet, and set them down upon the ground. Eat, he said, and give thanks. The Gribble 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 to the sheik, and you are eating the onion first. That is true, answered the Egyptian. I see that my lord has indeed eyes in his fingers. I have said the sheik, 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 Gribble listened in astonishment at the depth of the sheik'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 can say nothing flattering, and now you will think before you speak. Consider how I have treated you. Have I had once rendered thanks to Allah for sending into our midst a young man whose gift of eloquence are at least equal to those of the Qadi 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 esteemed young man, and it is possible that your wit may ripen in our society. But now I perceive from my hearing that you are eating the date. I pray you now, eat another onion after it. I cannot answer the Gribble from my lips are puckered at the thought of it. Neither is truth sweet after flattery, said the sheik, who then began to eat the other onion himself. I will endeavor 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 Riyadh, 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 may 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 sheik of the beggars was silent. But afterwards on the same day he gathered about him the strongest of the companions, being mostly men who had the use of both arms and both legs. Though some of them were lepers, and some have a one eye, and some were deaf and dumb, according to the affliction in 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 forever, 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 sheik. But when Abdul Karim's son is made sheik 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 22 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 whether 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 toward dusk in some narrow street of the city. The beggar saw that this plan was wise and safe for themselves, and they did as a sheik 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 toward evening, attended by a few slaves and two Bedouins, his wife Al-Masta riding in the midst of them upon a camel. His face was not hidden, and the two beggars who were watching recognized him immediately. They both followed him until he entered his own house, and then the one sat down in the street to watch him 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 sheik and to inform him that the 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 tonight for it is late, and though he is not afraid in the daytime he will not go out much at night, lest the secret messenger from Khaled, bearing evil in his hand, should meet him by the way. But tomorrow, before dawn, some of us will wait in the neighborhood 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 while 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 bazaar, lest he is 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 into my dwelling by the Yamama 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 farriers 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 and council approved this plan, but they saw that it could be easily carried out, if they can 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 Kaled of being a traitor, especially since he had last addressed the chief men, and refused to tell him the name of his father. Abdullah therefore came, and went openly in the city. In the meantime however, Kaled was informed of his presence and was warned of the danger. The agent Qadi came secretly by night to the palace, and desired to be received by the Sultan in order to communicate him news of great importance, as he said. Kaled immediately received him, and the Qadi 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 Qadi, 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 and the confusion, yet few are disposed to accept such a man as Abdullah ibn Muhammad El Harir 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 Karim for Sheik, 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 murder, asked Kaled, 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 Kaled, and so that I may only slay a scour of them first, I care not how soon I perish. This is indeed a new kind of madness, exclaimed the Qadi, 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 Kaled, but I thank you for it is clear that you have spoken from a good intention. So the Qadi went away, and Kaled returned to Zahawa, caring not at all whether he lived or died. But Zahawa 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, but 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 had 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 he has grown up in him through his love of which he is always speaking. End of chapter 10. Chapter 11 of Kaled, A Tale of Arabia. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Joe DeNoya, Somerset, New Jersey. Kaled, A Tale of Arabia by Francis Marion Crawford. Chapter 11. 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 the other sheiks, 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 everyone spoke of the coming overthrow of Kaled as an open matter. Kaled 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 Kaled. All this was open talk and a bizarre, but Abdullah was himself somewhat suspicious, supposing that Kaled must have a plan and 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 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 had not known the demand of his tribe who was kinsmen to the chief of the beggars had overheard his talk with his wife. Meanwhile, the beggars seemed to be multiplied exceedingly in Riyadh, 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 sheik of sheiks, they exclaimed. He bears gold in his right hand, and silver in his left. Yalla, sent him a long life in prosperity, for he loves the poor, and his name is the almsgiver. He is not El Harir, but El Rahman, and his heart overflows 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. Yalla Abdullah, servant of Allah, we love you. You are our father and mother. Your kafia is a 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 and riyadh within a few days. But the beggars were disappointed, for they had hoped that he would turn out to be avaricious, and that they were to allude 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 having went through the marketplace. Yet on the last evening of all, he fell into the hands of the sheik of the beggars, and evil befell him. The hour of prayer was passed, and it was almost a time when lights are extinguished. Then Abdullah took his sword under his abba, 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. Al-Masta, his wife, also made a bundle of women's clothing and charity 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 and derision, from which he could 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 this house, accompanied only by Al-Masta, 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 staffs, as they limped after Abdullah. Then he, who lived to exercise charity in the marketplace, but not in the dark where none could applaud him, made a pretense of not seeing the poor man, and went swiftly on with Al-Masta 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 turned quickly into a narrow lane. There will be wiser to scatter a few coins to them, said Al-Masta. They will then stop and search for them in the dark, for these men are very impotent, and will certainly hinder us. But Abdullah was confident in his legs as a strong man, and only walked the faster, so that Al-Masta could, with great difficulty, keep beside him. Then they heard the beggars running after them in the dark, and calling upon them. Oh, Abdullah, they cried, delighted 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 recognized him, and conceived that it would be reproachful for a sheik, 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 pretense of being diverted, and laughed. Surely, he said, the lame men of Riyadh could outrun and erase 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 his sum due to me for certain mares. You know, 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, increase his family. Born 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 extraordinary manner, so that he felt himself hemmed in on every side in a closed 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 sheik of the beggars was present, and he pushed forward, pretending to rebuke his companions. O you greedy ones, he cried, how often I have told you not to be so impotent, 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 will give 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. Tomorrow I will distribute much alms to you all. The radiance of your merciful countenance is enough for us, replied the sheik of the beggars, and even I who am blind, comforted by its rays, as by those of the sun and 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 very important matter at 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 three score in the streets. 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 sheik of such great consideration should go up at the streets at night without so much as an attendant carrying a lantern. Let us go with him. Now these last workers with a signal agreed upon, and even as Abdullah began to protest that he desired no such honorable 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. Nur had almas the 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 bails packed ready for the camel's back, and carried them swiftly into the darkness, toward 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 asked 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 a place of deposit for the ancient iron chest to which the common fund of money was kept. To this vault, the sheik 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 captains themselves had no part, since their heads were tied up into dusty barley sacks, and they could not speak so as to be heard. Oh my brothers, said the blind man, Allah has delivered the enemies of the kingdom into our hand, and 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's kill the man and bury him, and 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 staffs, until Colette is in no more danger, then we'll take him to the palace and deliver him up. It is to be feared, said the sheik of the beggars, that the man might change to die of this sort of purification, though indeed it is very wholesome for him, and I am not altogether against it. Let us make him our slave, said the third, who had himself been a slave of a poor man, who had died without heirs. The fellow was strong. Let us buy millstones and make him grind barley for us in this cellar, and 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 the 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's that sheik of the beggars, I know him by the clattering of the wooden hooves he wears on his hands, and also by his brain. Let him also give his opinion when he is recovered from his fall. It is strange and marvelous, 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 the garden, though no man could tell how he had climbed upon it. I had been transported to the top of the walls in a dream, or by the cripple, for there were dates in that garden, but having eaten too brutally of them, I fell asleep on the top, and I dreamed that my body was torn by hyenas, and waiting suddenly I fell down, for the dates were yet green. This may or may not be true, said the blind man, but 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 prisoner. I fear that you mock me, O Lord, answer 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 Riyadh 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, now ostrich egg, for she would not know him. And tomorrow we will take his excellent clothes from him and put them on Arshik, but we will dress Abdullah in rags such as would not serve to wipe the mud from the slave's shoes in the time of the subsiding waters. And we will tie his hands under his armpits 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 and answer, See this bad man who believes himself to be the sheik of Bedouins, though Allah has given him no beard. O people of Riyadh, you may know that the spring has come, by the bragging of this has. Yet I see now that there may be wisdom in bragging to the sheik of the beggars. The Balaam Ibn Bior shut his eyes 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 Kaled, and his kingdom will be saved and laughter. During all this time, Abdullah was not moved, knowing that he was in the power of many enemies and beyond all range of help. But when he heard the decision of the sheik of the beggars, he was filled with shame and rolled himself from side to side upon the floor, as to trying to escape from the bonds that held him. Al-Masta, for her part, laid quietly where they had put her, for he saw that all chance of success was gone, and was pondering how she might take advantage of what had happened to save herself. Then the beggars laid hold of Abdullah and held him, while others took a 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 had thrust his nose into a dust heap to find the bone which was 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 facing head, while another got the razor with which the beggars shaved their heads, and began to wett it upon the leather girdle. Do not waste the precious stones of your elegance upon the barbers of the sheik of the beggars, but reserve your breath, and the rich treasures of your speech, until you are brought as a plucked bird for the people of Riyadh. 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 recognize you tomorrow. It is also useless to shout out and scream as though you were driving camels, for you were 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 placed him, while the one-night hunchback shaved off his beard and the hair on his upper lip and his eyebrows, and a lock at the back of his head. When this was done, the blind man put out his hand to feel 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 armpits, and put about him a ragged shirt with sleeves, so they seemed to have lost both arms to 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, for he who wins her shall marry her, and we will hold the feast immediately, for we have not yet subbed, and there are some of the camels meat which we received today at the palace. Oh, my brother's answered the sheik 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 defends us with her screaming, we can put it on again. But you must by no means put her to shame by taking a veil from her face, for she be an honest wife, though her husband be a dog. If she has done well, we shall find it out, and no harm will come to her. But if she is a sharer in his 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 to this, but some of them praised their sheik'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 katba on Friday. They therefore placed al-Masta in one corner of the cellar and Abdullah in another, so that the two could not converse together. Many 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 neighborhood 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 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. While under each man's abba was concealed the largest barley sack he could find in his house, and concerning this, no one of the multitude said anything to his neighbor, 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 camels quite dead. But not long after the middle of the night, they were joined by a great throng of bedwinds from Abdullah's tribe. These had been admitted into the city by the watchmen according to the agreement, and passed up the great street from the house of 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 there were so many, and the sound was like the night wind among the branches of dry palm trees. After them other bedwinds came in from camps both near and far, some of them having made a half day's journey since sunset, and they surrounded the palace on all sides and filled the great gate, and the street which passed by the mosque towards the Derya gate, and all the other approaches to the open square, sitting down wherever there was room, or standing up in the 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 of the authority hushed them, saying that the hour was time to come. By this time, Abdullah has slain Kaled, said some, and a daughter of the old sultan is a prisoner. And by this time, said others, Abdullah is surely unlocking the treasure chamber and filling up 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. Hushed said to 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 with 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 Kaled, 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 Kaled 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 laid in secret in Hell. 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 stories of the camels is not true as to the certain man speaking alone, for I was one of the drivers sent with them, and being hungry, we opened one of the bails 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 a 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, that who speaks 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 collarbone as several of his ribs, and when he had done with him, he threw him over his shoulders so that he fell fainting and moaning three pieces away. O you who strike honest men on the mouth in the dark, you have been over-rashed, he cried. Go home and hide yourself lest I recognize 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 camel's laden secret with treasure is a lie. I also was with the drivers and ate of the wheat, nor do I believe the Kled is a robber and a persian. We do not believe it cried a score if bed was together, and if we had come together, it is to get our share like other men, since they tell us that Kled is dead. But now we believe that Abdullah has shut himself into the palace and needs 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 the devoured to quiet the growing tumble. The ground had parted a little and a 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 cheeks to open gates for us, said a strong man, and a voice that could be heard very far through the crowd. And moreover, it will be better if you do not strike any more of us, or by a law, we will not only break your bones, but shed your blood. At this there was a solemn cry, and men sprang to their feet and laid their hands upon their weapons, but a youth who had come 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 said a crow's leap people to the carcasses of dogs, he said. This fellow is of the family which murdered my father, upon whom may Allah send peace. Nor will I cede 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 neighbor, and grasped his weapon to be in readiness. The kingsmen of Abdullah saw that they were separated from their own tribe and drew back, warning the others to keep the peace and peace silent, lest they should cut off their share of the spoil. But their voices trembled with fears of their own safety, and they were answered by scornful shouts and jeers. The young man says well that you are crows, cried the angry man, for you wish to keep the carcass for yourselves. Come and take it if you are able. Now indeed the quarrel which had 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 the men's ears. Many were ready enough to believe that Abdullah had cared only for enriching himself and his tribe, and many more who had been persuaded to the enterprise by the hopes of gain turned again to the faith in Khaled as the dream of gold disappeared from their eyes. Yet Abdullah's tribe were numerous, and it was easy to see that if the dissensions grew into a strife of arms, the fight would be long and fierce on both sides. Then certain of those that were against Abdullah raised the cry that he had slain Khaled and escaped with the treasure by 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 ironbound geeks 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 great tumult. End of chapter 11