ase, for he himself had in his possession a document which amply
proved that Paula, Orion's beloved, had been the instigator of the crime
which had cost the lives of twelve of the true believers.--The girl
herself had been taken into custody yesterday. He would cross-examine
her himself, too, in spite of all the Kadis in the world; for though
Othman might choose to let any number of Moslems be murdered by these
dogs of Christians he, Obada, would not overlook it; and if he did, by
tomorrow morning the thousand Egyptians who were digging the canal would
have killed with their shovels the three Moslems who kept guard over
them.

At this, Othman assured the Vekeel that he was no less anxious to punish
the miscreants, but that he must first make sure of their identity,
and that, in accordance with the law, justly and without fear of man or
blind hatred, with due caution and justice. He, as judge, was no less
averse to letting off the guilty than he was to punishing the innocent;
so the enquiry must be allowed to proceed quietly. If Obada wished to
examine Paula he, the Kadi, had no objection; to preside over the court
and to direct the trial was his business, and that he would not abdicate
even for the Khaliff himself so long as Omar thought him worthy to hold
his office.

To all this Obada had no choice but to agree, though with an ill-grace;
and as the Vekeel wished to see Orion, the young man was called in. The
huge negro looked at him from head to foot like a slave he proposed
to buy; and, when Othman went to the door and so could not see him, he
could not resist the malicious impulse: he glanced significantly at the
prisoner, and drew his forefinger sharply and quickly across his
black throat as though to divide the head from the trunk. Then he
contemptuously turned his back on the youth.

CHAPTER XVI.

In the course of the afternoon the Vekeel rode across to the prison in
Memphis. He expected to find the bishop there, but instead he was met
with the news that Plotinus was dead of the pestilence.

This was a malignant stroke of fate; for with the bishop perished the
witness who could have betrayed to him the scheme plotted for the rescue
of the nuns.--But no! The patriarch, too, no doubt, knew all.

Still, of what use was that at this moment? He had no time to lose, and
Benjamin could hardly be expected to return within three weeks.

Obada had met Paula's father in the battle-field by Damascus, and it had