ssed himself even to the Sheikh, before whom all were
more or less reserved.

The Persian was, for the present, the chief object of the little Jew's
curiosity, and as soon as the meal was over he hastened to form his
acquaintance.

Sitting down before the priest, and poising his head on one side, he
observed:

"You are bound for the south, stranger?"

"Even so," said Yusuf, gravely.

"Whither?"

"I seek for the city of the great temple."

"Phut! The Caaba!" exclaimed the Jew, with contempt. "Right well I know
it, and a fool's game they make of it, with their running, and bowing,
and kissing a bit of stone in the wall as though 'twere the dearest
friend on earth!"

"But they worship--"

"A statue of our father Abraham, and one of Ishmael, principally. A
precious set of idolaters they all are, to be sure!"

Yusuf's heart sank. Was it only for this that he had come his long and
weary way, had braved the heat of day and the untold dangers of night?
In searching for that pure essence, the spiritual, that he craved, had
he left the idolatrous leaven at home only to come to another form of it
in Mecca?

"But then," he thought, "this foolish Jew knows not whereof he speaks:
one with the empty brain and the loose tongue of this wanderer has not
probed the depths of divine truth."

"You cannot be going to Mecca as a pilgrim?" hazarded the little man.
"The Magians and the Sabaeans worship the stars, do they not?"

"Alas, yes!" said the priest. "They have fallen away from the ancient
belief. They worship even the stars themselves, and have set up images
to them, no longer perceiving the Great Invisible, the Infinite, who can
be approached only through the mediation of the spirits who inhabit the
starry orbs."

"Methinks you will find little better in Mecca. What are you going there
for?" asked the Jew abruptly.

"I seek Truth," replied the priest quietly.

"Truth!" repeated the Jew. "Aye, aye, the Persian traveler seeks truth;
Abraham, the Jew, seeks myrrh, aloes, sweet perfumes of Yemen, silks of
India, and purple of Tyre. Aye, so it is, and I think Abraham's
commodity is the more obtainable and the more practical of the two. Yet
they do say there are Jews who have sought for truth likewise; and they
tell of apostles who gave up their trade and fisheries to go on a like
quest after a leader whom many Jews will not accept."

"Who were the apostles?"

"Oh, Jews, of course."

"Where may I find them?"

"Al