nd that a pardon must have arrived for his youthful foe, and
this of course implied the condemnation of his own proceedings. All his
hopes were wrecked, for this meant that Omar still ruled and that the
attempt on the Khaliff's life had failed. Dismissal, punishment or death
must be his doom, when Amru should return. Still, he would not succumb
till the instrument of his ruin had preceded him to the grave. Taking
the Kadi by surprise he thrust him aside, and prepared to deal a fearful
blow that should fell Orion before he himself should fall. But the
captain of the body-guard, who had followed Othman, had watched his
movements: Swift as lightning he rose in his saddle and swung his
cimeter, which cut deep into the Vekeel's neck. With a hideous curse
Obada let his arm drop, and fell struggling for his last breath at the
feet of the newly united couple.

The populace afterwards declared that his blood was not red like that of
other men, but black like his skin and his soul. They had good cause to
curse his memory, for his villainy had reduced more than half Memphis to
ashes that day, and brought the city to beggary.

He had hired two venial wretches to set fire to the prison while the
festival was proceeding, with a view to suffocating Orion in his cell;
but the gang were detected and all the prisoners were released in time.
Thus the young man had been able to reach the scene of the ceremonial at
the head of his fellow-captives. The fire, however, had gained the upper
hand in the deserted town. It had spread from house to house along the
sun-scorched streets, and next day nothing remained of the city of the
Pyramids but the road along the shore, and a few wretched alleys.
The ancient Capital of the Pharaohs was reduced to a village, and the
houseless residents moved across to the eastern bank, to people as
Moslems the newly-founded town of Fostat, or sought a home on Christian
territory.

Among the houses that had escaped was that of Rufinus, and thither the
Kadi escorted Orion and Paula. It was to serve as their prison till the
return of Amru, and there they spent delightful days in the society of
their friends, and there Thomas was so happy as to clasp his children to
his heart once more, and bless them before he died.

A few minutes before the Kadi had reached the scene of the festival two
carrier pigeons had arrived, each bearing the Arab governor's commands
that the sacrifice of Paula was at any rate to be stopped