e token and a love message for one of the women
dwelling there.

"Thus ran the fateful lines, written after the style of the famous
Persian poet, Omar the Tent-Maker, which I now read again on the paper
withdrawn from my girdle:

This ring, O idol mine, tells one is here
To bring thee joy, to kiss away the tear.
Keep in thy heart the ruby fire of love;
The hour of thy deliverance is near.

"And, after reading, I felt thankful that the message had not fallen
into the hands of the zemindar, else had the intriguer's identity been
quickly determined and his fate as quickly sealed.

"Yet the lines breathed the spirit of honourable love, and my heart was
stirred to aid my friend in his daring enterprise.

"Patiently during the afternoon I waited, cogitating the while, and
counting the chances. At last about an hour before sunset Abdul came to
me with his usual gay smile and happy greeting.

"He read trouble in my look, for straightway he asked of me:

"'What is wrong? What matters have gone amiss?'

"I motioned him to sit by my side, and then without more ado told him of
the evil turn that had befallen the dhobi, and showed him the quatrain
of verses.

"'These you wrote?' I questioned.

"'With my own hand,' he answered, gravely, but without excess of fear.

"'And the ring with the flaming red gems?'

"'Was her mother's own ring. Zuleika would know it in an instant.'

"'Zuleika--who is she?'

"'Listen, my brother, for fate points that to thee should I give my
fullest confidence. Zuleika is a maid of the Turkmans, betrothed to me.
But a year ago, when gathering flowers in our valley, she was stolen by
roving freebooters. And, true to my love, I have followed her here, to
the home of the zemindar, your master, who purchased her from the
marauders.'

"'How came you to know that she was here?'

"'Never mind. I am a man of resource and observation, and I tracked the
maid. Moreover, gold opens the gates of confidence, and of this I have
goodly store.' As he spoke, he touched a pouch that hung from his
girdle, 'For I am not, as I may have seemed to you, a mere dealer in
horses, but the son of a great chief in my own land.'

"He had drawn himself up proudly, and I bowed my head, in homage as well
as in acquiescence. For the news did not surprise me, and in a friend of
such noble bearing and high attainments I was well content to recognize
an overlord.

"More did he tell me--about a grass-cutter in the