h!"

"Balak! Balak! Balak!"

But presently the wild throng fell into order and silence. The gate of
the Kasbah was thrown open, and a line of soldiers came out, headed by
the Kaid of Tetuan, and moved on towards the city wall. The rabble were
thrust back, the soldiers were drawn up in lines on either side of the
street, and the Kaid, Ben Aboo himself, took a position by the western
gate.

By this time there was commotion on the town walls among the townsmen
who had gathered there. The Sultan's army was drawing near, a confused
and disorderly mass of human beings moving on from the plain. As they
came up to the walls, the people who were standing on the house-roofs
could see them, and as they were ordered away to encamp by the river,
none could help but hear their shouts and oaths.

When the motley and noisy concourse had been driven off to their
camping-ground, the gates of the town were thrown wide, for the Sultan
himself was at hand.

First came two soldiers afoot, and then followed five artillerymen, with
their small pieces packed on mules. Next came mounted standard-bearers
four deep, some in red, some in blue, and some in green. Then came the
outrunners and the spearmen, and then the Sultan's six led horses. And
then at length with the great red umbrella of royalty held over him,
came the Sultan himself, the elderly sensualist, with his dusky cheeks,
his rheumy eyes, his thick lips, and his heavy nostrils. The fat Father
of Islam was mounted that day on a snow-white stallion, bedecked in
gorgeous trappings. Its bridle was of green silk, embroidered in gold.
Solomon's seal was stamped on its headgear, and the tooth of a boar--a
safeguard against the evil eye--was suspended from its neck. Its saddle
was of orange damask, with girths of stout silk, and its stirrups were
of chased silver. The Sultan's own trappings were of the colour of
his horse. His kaftan was of white cloth, with an embroidered leathern
girdle; his turban was of white cotton, and his kisa was also white and
transparent.

As he passed under the archway of the town's gate the cannon of the
Kasbah boomed forth a salute, Ben Aboo dismounted and kissed his
stirrup, and the crowds in the streets burst upon him with blessings.

"God bless our Lord!"

"Sultan Abd er-Rahman!"

"God prolong the life of our Lord!"

He seemed hardly to hear them. Once his hand touched his breast when the
Kaid approached him. After that he looked neither to the righ