hough, of course, upon a small scale.

At the gate of the palace we halted, and Joshua, riding up, asked
Maqueda sulkily whether he should conduct "the Gentiles," for that was
his polite description of us, to the lodging for pilgrims in the western
town.

"No, my uncle," answered Maqueda; "these foreign lords will be housed in
the guest-wing of the palace."

"In the guest-wing of the palace? It is not usual," gobbled Joshua,
swelling himself out like a great turkey cock. "Remember, O niece, that
you are still unmarried. I do not yet dwell in the palace to protect
you."

"So I found out in the plain yonder," she replied; "still, I managed
to protect myself. Now, I pray you, no words. I think it necessary that
these my guests should be where their goods already are, in the safest
place in Mur. You, my uncle, as you told us, are badly hurt, by which
accident you were prevented from accepting the challenge of the Sultan
of the Fung. Go, then, and rest; I will send the court physician to
you at once. Good-night, my uncle; when you are recovered we will meet
again, for we have much that we must discuss. Nay, nay, you are most
kind, but I will not detain you another minute. Seek your bed, my uncle,
and forget not to thank God for your escape from many perils."

At this polite mockery Joshua turned perfectly pale with rage, like the
turkey cock when his wattles fade from scarlet into white. Before he
could make any answer, however, Maqueda had vanished under the archway,
so his only resource was to curse us, and especially Quick, who had
caused him to fall from his horse. Unfortunately the Sergeant understood
quite enough Arabic to be aware of the tenor of his remarks, which he
resented and returned:

"Shut it, Porpoise," he said, "and keep your eyes where Nature put 'em,
or they'll fall out."

"What says the Gentile?" spluttered Joshua, whereon Orme, waking up from
one of his fits of lethargy, replied in Arabic:

"He says that he prays you, O Prince of princes, to close your noble
mouth and to keep your high-bred eyes within their sockets lest you
should lose them"; at which words those who were listening broke into
a fit of laughter, for one redeeming characteristic among the Abati was
that they had a sense of humour.

After this I do not quite know what happened for Orme showed signs of
fainting, and I had to attend to him. When I looked round again the
gates were shut and we were being conducted toward the guest-