f him, told him to prove his power by
'divining' what he had in a certain room, where, in fact, were his
grandchildren. Christ replied that he had no wish to prove his power,
and would not 'divine' (_divinar_). Mohamoud then vowed that if he
did not answer correctly, he should pay for it with his life. Christ
responded, 'You have two animals in there, different from anything else
in the world.' Mohamoud replied, 'No, you are wrong, and I will now
kill you.' Christ said, 'Look first, and see for yourself.' Mohamoud
opened the door, and out rushed two hogs, into which Christ had
changed his grandchildren.

"Moros are forbidden to tell this story to infidels, because it shows
that Christ outwitted the great prophet. When my informant sobered
up and realized what he had done, he hung around day after day,
beseeching me not to let any one know what he had done, from which
fact I inferred that _he thought_ he had told me the truth, and not
a fable invented for the occasion."

That first morning in Sulu, after having paid our respects to
the Sultana, we called upon the next greatest personage in town,
a Hadji but lately returned from his pilgrimage to Mecca. He was a
most intelligent man, with regular features, fine eyes, and a flowing
beard, impressively patriarchal. He was a priest as well as a Hadji,
and, we were told, had a mighty following among the faithful. Both he
and his wife were most hospitable in their manner and courteous in
their speech, she beaming toothlessly upon us throughout the call,
and as we left they pressed upon me a handful of rather rare shells
as a memento of the visit.

The small boy of the family, a youngster of seven or eight, stared
at us continually from the moment of our entrance into the house
until our exit, seeming especially taken with the young officer; so
much so, in fact, that on our leaving, he followed us to the door,
and there climbed upon a high seat, from which point of vantage he
seized the young man's hand, kissed it very reverently, and then
laid it against his forehead. This was all done so solemnly and with
such a calm dignity that even the youngster's entire lack of raiment
could not detract from its impressiveness or the significance of the
action. It was evident that he imagined the big, blond lieutenant
was a Serif, a direct descendant of Mohammed, or perhaps even a Habi,
which means a Serif who has been to Mecca, or a Hadji and Serif in one,
than whom none but the