st and
the cloud in the East. Thou saidst but now that thy heart was with my
purpose. Shall the truth that I would practise here not find an island
in this sea--and shall it not be the soul of Nahoum Pasha?"

"Have I not given my word? Nay, then, I swear it by the tomb of my
brother, whom Death met in the highway, and because he loved the sun,
and the talk of men, and the ways of women, rashly smote him out of the
garden of life into the void. Even by his tomb I swear it."

"Hast thou, then, such malice against Death? These things cannot happen
save by the will of God."

"And by the hand of man. But I have no cause for revenge. Foorgat died
in his sleep like a child. Yet if it had been the hand of man, Prince
Kaid or any other, I would not have held my hand until I had a life for
his."

"Thou art a Christian, yet thou wouldst meet one wrong by another?"

"I am an Oriental." Then, with a sudden change of manner, he added: "But
thou hast a Christianity the like of which I have never seen. I will
learn of thee, Saadat, and thou shalt learn of me also many things which
I know. They will help thee to understand Egypt and the place where thou
wilt be set--if so be my life is saved, and by thy hand."

Mahommed entered, and came to David. "Where wilt thou sleep, Saadat?" he
asked.

"The pasha will sleep yonder," David replied, pointing to another room.
"I will sleep here." He laid a hand upon the couch where he sat.

Nahoum rose and, salaaming, followed Mahommed to the other room.

In a few moments the house was still, and remained so for hours. Just
before dawn the curtain of Nahoum's room was drawn aside, the Armenian
entered stealthily, and moved a step towards the couch where David lay.
Suddenly he was stopped by a sound. He glanced towards a corner near
David's feet. There sat Mahommed watching, a neboot of dom-wood across
his knees.

Their eyes remained fixed upon each other for a moment. Then Nahoum
passed back into his bedroom as stealthily as he had come.

Mahommed looked closely at David. He lay with an arm thrown over
his head, resting softly, a moisture on his forehead as on that of a
sleeping child.

"Saadat! Saadat!" said Mahommed softly to the sleeping figure, scarcely
above his breath, and then with his eyes upon the curtained room
opposite, began to whisper words from the Koran:

"In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful--"

CHAPTER XI. AGAINST THE HOUR OF MIDNIGHT

Achmet