an anxious time as the force
divided and made its appointed way so as to come upon the city from three
sides. Mahomet watched his armies from the rear in a kind of paralysis of
thought, which overtakes men of action who have provided for every
contingency and now can do nothing but wait. Khalid alone encountered
opposition, but his skill and the force behind him soon drove the Meccans
back within their narrow streets, and there separated them into small
companies, robbing them of all concerted action, and rendering them an
easy prey to his oncoming soldiery. Mahomet drew breath once more, and
seeing all was well and that the other entries had been peacefully
effected, directed his tent to be pitched to the north of the city.

It was, in fact, a bloodless revolution. Mahomet, the outcast, the
despised, was now lord of the whole splendid city that stretched before
his eyes. He had seen what few men are vouchsafed, the material
fulfilment of his year-long dreams, and knew it was by his own tireless
energy and overmastering faith that they had been wrought upon the soil
of his native land.

His first act was to worship at the Kaaba, but before completing the
whole ancestral rites he destroyed the idols that polluted the sanctuary.
Then he commanded Bilal to summon the Faithful to prayer from the summit
of the Kaaba, and when the concourse of Believers crowded to the
precincts of that sacred place he knew that this occupation of Mecca
would be written among the triumphant deeds of the world.

His victory was not stained by any relentless vengeance. Strength is
always the harbinger of mercy. Only four people were put to death,
according to tradition, two women-singers who had continued their
insulting poems even after his occupation of the city, and two renegades
from Islam. About ten or twelve were proscribed, but of these several
were afterwards pardoned. Even Hind, the savage slayer of Hamza,
submitted, and received her pardon at Mahomet's hands. An order was
promulgated forbidding bloodshed, and the orderly settlement of Believers
among the Meccan population embarked upon. Only one commander violated
the peace. Khalid, sent to convert the Jadzima just outside the city,
found them recalcitrant and took ruthless vengeance. He slew them most
barbarously, and returned to Mecca expecting rewards. But Mahomet knew
well the value of mercy, and he was not by nature vindictive towards the
weak and inoffensive. He could punish wi