nian protege--'I will
either save this youth or lose him,' thought I, 'and never was there
a better opportunity than the present. He shall go to Hamamlu: if
he brings me the intelligence we want, nothing can prevent me from
procuring both his pardon and his wife for him--if he proves a traitor,
I get rid of him, and demand a reward from the serdar, for restoring his
fugitive slave.'

I called him to me, and proposed the undertaking. Quicker than thought,
he seized all the different bearings of the question, and without
hesitation accepted of my proposal. He girt himself afresh, he tucked
the skirts of his coats into his girdle, putting his cap on one side,
and slinging his long gun at his back, he darted down the mountain's
side, and we very soon lost him amid the sloping woods.

'_Ruft ke ruft._ He is gone and doubly gone,' said the young delikhan;
'we shall never see him again.'

'And why should he not return?' said I. 'Have we not got a hostage?
Armenian though he is, he will not leave his wife.'

'Yes,' said the youth, 'he is an Armenian; but he is also an Isauvi (a
Christian). The Russians too are Isauvis; and we all know, that when
these infidels get together, they will rather die than return to the
sons of Islam. No; were he the chaste Joseph himself, and his wife
Zuleikha in person, I will bet this horse,' pointing to the beast under
him, 'that we see him no more.'

'Do not coin false words, my little gentleman!' said a sturdy old
cavalier, whose sunburnt face was harrowed by a thousand wrinkles, and
shaded by a shaggy beard, mustachios, and eyebrows:--'why, without any
use, do you eat dirt? The horse is the Shah's, not yours: and do you
pretend to make the _bahs_ (bets) upon it?'

'The Shah's property is mine, and mine is my own,' retorted the youth.

I and my party kept up this sort of desultory talk for a little while
before we thought of settling ourselves, when, seeing a spot where
there was much grass, we made for it, and dismounted from our horses.
We dispersed ourselves here and there, each making a temporary
establishment of horse-cloths and cloaks spread upon the ground, whilst
our steeds, picketed among the grass, fed at pleasure. I announced my
intention of passing the night here in case Yusuf did not appear before
its close; and preparatory to this, two of our best marauders set off
in quest of a sheep, fowls, or anything they could get for our evening's
meal. After an hour's absence, they r