rses and mounted again. At another
call of Bara Miyan, three _imams_ came from among the horsemen. They
were dressed alike, in brilliant saffron _gandouras_, with embroidered
muslin turbans from under which hung _daliks_, or sacred plaits of
hair; and each carried a plain white cloth in his hand.

In complete silence they showed the Legionaries both sides of these
cloths, then spread them on the grass. In not more than two minutes,
a slight fluttering became visible. This increased and grew more
agitated. One by one, the _imams_ gathered up the cloths, opened them
and exhibited three bluish-black birds with vivid scarlet crests.

The Master nodded.

"It is an old trick," said he, indifferently. "I have seen hawks,
much larger, come from under smaller cloths even in the great _suk_
(market-place) at Cairo."

Bara Miyan made no answer. The _imams_ drew knives from their belts of
plaited goat-hide, and without more ado severed the birds' heads.

This the Legionaries saw with perfect distinctness. The blood on
the feathers was entirely visible. The bodies quivered. Calmly the
_imams_, with reddened hands, now cut wings and legs from the bodies.
They laid these dead fragments on the blood-stained cloths in front of
them.

"Let every Frank behold!" exclaimed the Olema. The Legionaries drew
near. The _imams_ gathered up the fragments in the cloths.

"Now," said the Master, "thine _imams_ will toss these cloths in the
air, and three whole birds will fly away. The cloths will fall to
earth, white as snow. Is that not thy magic?"

Bara Miyan glowered at him with evil eyes. Not yet had his
self-control been lost; but this mocking of the unbeliever had kindled
wrath. The Master, however, wise in the psychology of the Arab, only
laughed.

"This is very old magic," said he. "It is told of in the second
chapter of Al Koran, entitled 'The Cow;' only when Ibrahim did this
magic he used four birds. Well, Bara Miyan, command thine _imams_ to
do this ancient magic!"

The sharp click of a switch on the control-board sounded as the imams
picked up the little, red-dripping bundles. Silently they threw these
into the air and--all three dropped back to earth again, just as they
had risen.

A growl burst, involuntarily, from the Olema's corded throat. The
growl echoed through the massed horsemen. Bara Miyan's hand went to
the butt of his pistol, half glimpsed under his jacket. That hand
fell, numb.

"Look, O Sheik!" exclaimed th