and forced him to speculate upon the qualities and
the character which still survived in these hereditary enemies of his
nation. It was not possible, he said to himself, that such men could
ever be really conquered. They might be driven from the capital of the
East by overwhelming force, but they would soon rally in greater numbers
on the Asian shore. They might be crushed for a moment, but they could
never be kept under, nor really dominated. Their religion might be
oppressed and condemned by the oppressor, but it was of the sort to gain
new strength at every fresh persecution. To slay such men was to sow
dragon's teeth and to reap a harvest of still more furious fanatics,
who, in their turn being destroyed, would multiply as the heads of the
Hydra beneath the blows of Heracles. The even rise and fall of those
long lines of stalwart Mussulmans seemed like the irrepressible tide of
an ocean, which if restrained, would soon break every barrier raised to
obstruct it. Paul sickened at the thought that these men were bowing
themselves upon the pavement from which their forefathers had washed the
dust of Christian feet in the blood of twenty thousand Christians, and
the sullen longing for vengeance rankled in his heart. At that moment he
wished he were a soldier, like his brother; he wished he could feel a
soldier's pride in the strong fellowship of the ranks, and a soldier's
hope of retaliation. He almost shuddered when he reflected that he and
his brother stood alone, two hated Russians, with that mighty,
rhythmically surging mass of enemies below. The bravest man might feel
his nerves a little shaken in such a place, at such an hour. Paul leaned
his chin upon his hand, and gazed intently down into the body of the
church. The armed kavass stood a few paces from him on his left, and
Alexander was leaning against a column on his right.

The kavass was a good Mussulman, and regarded the ceremony not only with
interest, but with a devotion akin to that of those who took part in it.
He also looked fixedly down, turning his eyes to the mihrab, and
listening attentively to the chanting of the Imam, of whose Arabic
recitation, however, he could not understand any more than Paul
himself. For a long time no one of the three spoke, nor indeed noticed
his companions.

"Shall we go to the other side of the gallery?" asked Paul, presently,
in a low voice, but without looking round. Alexander did not answer, but
the kavass moved, and u