ught to
any of the servants touching the Christian?"

"No, my lord; you gave me no instructions about it, and I thought it
better to wait until the morning, when I could ask you."

"You did well. We have determined to stain his skin, and at present he
will pass as a Nubian. This will avoid all questions and talk."

"But, my lord, they will wonder that he cannot speak their tongue."

"He must pass among them as a mute; but indeed he speaks Arabic as well
as we do, Muley."

The man uttered an exclamation of surprise.

"He had intended to conceal his knowledge," Ben Ibyn went on, "which
would have been politic; but when he found that my intentions were kind,
he told us that he knew our tongue, and now revealed his knowledge, as
he thought it would be dishonourable to listen to our talk, leaving us
under the impression that he could not understand us."

"Truly these Christians are strange men," Muley said. "This youth, who
has not yet grown the hair on his face, is nevertheless commander of a
war galley. He is ready to risk his life on behalf of a slave, and can
strike down men with his unarmed hand; he is as gentle in his manner as
a woman; and now it seems he can talk Arabic, and although it was in his
power to keep this secret he tells it rather than overhear words that
are not meant for his ear. Truly they are strange people, the Franks.
I will prepare some stain in the morning, my lord, and complete his
disguise before any of the others see him."

The next morning Muley told Gervaise that his master thought that it
would be safer and more convenient for him to pass as a dumb Nubian
slave. Gervaise thought the plan an excellent one; and he was soon
transformed, Muley shaving that part of the hair that would have shown
below the turban, and then staining him a deep brownish black, from the
waist upwards, together with his feet and his legs up to his knee, and
darkening his eyebrows, eyelashes, and moustache.

"Save that your lips lack the thickness, and your nose is straighter
than those of Nubians, no one would doubt but that you were one of that
race; and this is of little consequence, as many of them are of mixed
blood, and, though retaining their dark colour, have features that in
their outline resemble those of the Arabs. Now I will take you to Ben
Ibyn, so that he may judge whether any further change is required before
the servants and slaves see you."

"That is excellent," the merchant said, when he had