ere
well grounded; for the questioning was noised at Khalid's door, and
the fire crackled under the roof within. The father commands; the
mother begs; the father objurgates, threatens, curses his son's faith;
and the mother, prostrating herself before the Virgin, weeps, and
prays, and beats her breast. Alas, and my Khalid? he goes out on the
terrace to search in the Nursery for his favourite Plant. No, he does
not find it; brambles are there and noxious weeds galore. The thorny,
bitter reality he must now face, and, by reason of his lack of
savoir-faire, be ultimately out-faced by it. For the upshot of the
many quarrels he had with his father, the prayers and tears of the
mother not availing, was nothing more or less than banishment. You
will either go to Church like myself, or get out of this house: this
the ultimatum of Abu-Khalid. And needless to say which alternative the
son chose.

"I still remember how agitated he was when he came to tell me of the
fatal breach. His words, which drew tears from my eyes, I remember
too. 'Homeless I am again,' said he, 'but not friendless. For besides
Allah, I have you.--Oh, this straitness of the chest is going to kill
me. I feel that my windpipe is getting narrower every day. At least,
my father is doing his mighty best to make things so hard and
strait.--Yes, I would have come now to bid you farewell, were it not
that I still have in this town some important business. In the which I
ask your help. You know what it is. I have often spoken to you about
my cousin Najma, the one star in my sky. And now, I would know what is
its significance to me. No, I can not leave Baalbek, I can not do
anything, until that star unfolds the night or the dawn of my destiny.
And you Shakib--'

"Of course, I promised to do what I could for him. I offered him such
cheer and comfort as my home could boast of, which he would not
accept. He would have only my terrace roof on which to build a booth
of pine boughs, and spread in it a few straw mats and cushions. But I
was disappointed in my calculations; for in having him thus near me
again, I had hoped to prevail upon him for his own good to temper his
behaviour, to conform a little, to concede somewhat, while he is among
his people. But virtually he did not put up with me. He ate outside;
he spent his days I know not where; and when he did come to his booth,
it was late in the night. I was informed later that one of the
goatherds saw him sleeping in th