t seemed a certain and probably a cruel death; and if he
felt thus, what was my own case, who left not only my friend, but also
my son, in the hands of savage heathens?

Maqueda's face was not visible because of the thin spangled veil that
she wore, but there was something about her attitude suggestive of shame
and of despair. The droop of the head and even her back showed this, as
I, who rode a little behind and on side of her, could see. I think, too,
that she was anxious about Orme, for she turned toward him several times
as though studying his condition. Also I am sure that she was indignant
with Joshua and others of her officers, for when they spoke to her
she would not answer or take the slightest notice of them beyond
straightening herself in the saddle. As for the Prince himself, his
temper seemed to be much ruffled, although apparently he had overcome
the hurt to his back which prevented him from accepting the Sultan's
challenge, for at a difficult spot in the road he dismounted and ran
along actively enough. At any rate, when his subordinates addressed him
he only answered them with muttered oaths, and his attitude towards us
Englishmen, especially Quick, was not amiable. Indeed, if looks could
have killed us I am sure that we should all have been dead before ever
we reached the Gate of Mur.

This so-called gate was the upper mouth of the pass whence first we
saw, lying beneath us, the vast, mountain-ringed plain beyond. It was
a beautiful sight in the sunshine. Almost at our feet, half-hidden
in palms and other trees, lay the flat-roofed town itself, a place of
considerable extent, as every house of any consequence seemed to be
set in a garden, since here there was no need for cramping walls and
defensive works. Beyond it to the northward, farther than the eye could
reach, stretching down a gentle slope to the far-off shores of the
great lake of glistening water, were cultivated fields, and amongst them
villas and, here and there, hamlets.

Whatever might be the faults of the Abati, evidently they were skilled
husbandsmen, such as their reputed forefathers, the old inhabitants of
Judaea, must have been before them, for of that strain presumably some
trace was still present in their veins. However far he may have drifted
from such pursuits, originally the Jew was a tiller of the soil, and
here, where many of his other characteristics had evaporated under
pressure of circumstances--notably the fierce courage