ad no choice but to keep trying. The cardinal was
his gateway to the papal court.

"Think of the reward," Daoud urged. "Part of the wealth I have brought
with me is already yours. If the pope sends the Tartars away without an
agreement, my sultan will give to you with both hands."

Ugolini looked tormented. "But the peril--"

Daoud had been certain that money would not be enough to enlist
Ugolini's cooperation. Baibars already had been generous with him.

_Bribes alone will not move this man._

As he searched his brain for another approach, his eyes explored the
room. The skull, the powders, the brass instruments. Ugolini was a
student of many strange things, things verging on magic. Were these not
odd interests for a Christian prelate? He knew Greek, which was rare for
a Latin Christian. He had spoken of heresy before. Was he not, in his
willingness to correspond with Baibars, a heretic of a kind? And perhaps
in these studies of his as well.

_I must remind him that he sympathizes with us._

"My master sent me to you because he knows you are a friend to Islam."

Ugolini raised a cautioning hand. "Mind you, I am a Christian."

"I do not doubt it," said Daoud.

"Not a very good Christian," Ugolini went on, sighing and looking off
into space. "God grant that I make a good confession before I breathe my
last. But I am also of the south of Italy, and in my youth I lived side
by side with Muslims. I had Muslim teachers, wise men. From them I
learned about philosophy, medicine, astrology, alchemy. I learned how
much there is to know that I may never know."

Daoud felt his eager heart beat more rapidly. Ugolini was speaking just
as he wanted.

"God help me, I yearn so for more worldly knowledge," Ugolini went on.
"That was why I studied for the priesthood, so I could go to the
University of Napoli. But what one can learn at a Christian university
is not enough. I want to know what you Saracens know. And so I long for
peace between Christendom and Islam."

Daoud felt excitement surge through his arms and legs. He was
exhilarated, as when in battle he sensed his opponent was weakening.

He pressed his point. "You will never possess the knowledge you long for
if the Tartars destroy it. Think what was lost when they leveled
Baghdad. Think what will be lost if they destroy Cairo, Thebes,
Alexandria."

"Oh, God!" Ugolini cried, waving hands bent like claws. "There is so
much I could learn in Egypt. If only this stu