candles. He gave one each to the newcomers,
leading the way to a low door in the rock. This was opened by an
individual in a long red coat of ceremony, carrying a heavy silver mace,
who gave Matthews the customary salutation of peace and bowed him into
an irregular court. An infinity of doors opened out of it--chiefly of
the stables, the old man said, pointing out a big white mule or two of
the famous breed of Bala Bala. Thence the visitor was led up a steep
stone stair to a terrace giving entrance upon a corridor and another,
narrower stone stair. From its prodigiously high steps he emerged into a
hall, carpeted with felt. At this point, the Lurs took off their shoes.
Matthews followed suit, being then ushered into what was evidently a
room of state. It contained no furniture, to be sure, save for the
handsome rugs on the floor. The room did not look bare, however, for its
lines were broken by a deep alcove, and by a continuous succession of
niches. Between and about the niches the walls were decorated with
plaster reliefs of flowers and arabesques. Matthews wondered if the
black hats were capable of that! But what chiefly caught his eye was the
terrace opening out of the room, and the stupendous view.

The terrace hung over a green chasm where the two converging gorges met
at the foot of the crag of Bala Bala. Matthews looked down as from the
prow of a ship into the tumbled country below him, through which a river
flashed sinuously toward the faraway haze of the plains. The sound of
water filling the still clear air, the brilliance of the morning light,
the wildness and remoteness of that mountain eyrie, so different from
anything he had yet seen, added a last strangeness to the impressions of
which the young man had been having so many.

"What a pity to spoil it with a railroad!" he could not help thinking,
as he leaned over the parapet of the terrace.

"Sahib!" suddenly whispered Abbas behind him.

Matthews turned, and saw in the doorway of the terrace a personage who
could be none other than his host. In place of the _kola_ of his people
this personage wore a great white turban, touched with gold. The loose
blue _aba_ enveloping his ample figure was also embroidered with gold.
Not the least striking detail of his appearance however, was his beard,
which had a pronounced tendency toward scarlet. His nails were likewise
reddened with henna, reminding Matthews that the hands belonging to the
nails were rumored to