caravan, shrieked and gesticulated,
hurrying the flocks of sheep off in noisy confusion, and urging the
herds of dromedaries on with their short, hooked sticks. It was indeed a
babel, in which Yusuf had no part; and he once more seized the
opportunity of looking at the precious parchment To his astonishment, he
perceived that it was addressed to "Mohammed, son of Abdallah, son of
Abdal Motalleb, Mecca," with the subscription, "From Sergius the Monk,
Bosra."

Here then, Yusuf had, in perfect innocence, been entrapped into reading
a communication addressed to some one else, and he smiled sarcastically
as he thought of the inquisitiveness of the little Jew who had taken the
liberty of "just peeping in."

It remained, now, for Yusuf to find the Jew and to put him again in
possession of his charge. He searched for him through the motley crowd,
but in vain; then, recollecting that the peddler's bundle had been left
behind, he sought Musa, to see if he had heard anything of the little
busybody.

Musa laughed heartily. "Remember you not that I said his trumpery would
be gone in the morning? I was no false prophet. The man is like a
weasel. When all sleep he finds his way in and helps himself to what he
will: when all wake, no Jew is to be seen; trumpery and all have gone,
no one knows whither."

So the priest found himself responsible for the delivery of the
manuscript to this Mohammed, of whom he had never hitherto heard; and,
knowing the contents, he was none the less ready to carry out the trust,
hoping to find in Mohammed some one who could tell him more of the same
wondrous story. He therefore placed the parchment very carefully within
the folds of his garment, bade farewell to Musa and his household, and
prepared to leave with the caravan, which had halted but a short time on
account of the remarkable coolness of the day.

"Peace be with you!" said the Sheikh; "and if you ever need a friend,
may it be Musa's lot to stand in good stead to you. I bid you good speed
on your journey. We have no fears for your safety now, besides the
safety of numbers, the holy month of Ramadhan[1] begins to-day, and even
the wildest of the Bedouin robbers usually refrain from taking life in
the holy months. Again, Peace be with you! And remember that the Bedouin
can be a friend."

Yusuf embraced the chieftain with gratitude, and took his place in the
train, which was already moving slowly down the wady.

As it often happens that in t