uda?'

"'And whither shall I go?' I asked.

"'My uncle, Son of the Sand, will give you over to the embassy
which rides to Jerusalem, or failing that, will take you to the
city, or failing that, will hide you in the mountains among his
own people. See, here is a letter that he must read; I place it
in your breast.'

"'And what of you, Masouda?' I asked again.

"'Of me? Oh! it is all planned, a plan that cannot fail,' she
answered. 'Fear not; I escape to-night--I have no time to tell
you how--and will join you in a day or two. Also, I think that
you will find Sir Godwin, who will bring you home to England.'

"'But Wulf? What of Wulf?' I asked again. 'He is doomed to die,
and I will not leave him.'

"'The living and the dead can keep no company,' she answered.
'Moreover, I have seen him, and all this is done by his most
urgent order. If you love him, he bids that you will obey.'"

"I never saw Masouda! I never spoke such words! I knew nothing of
this plot!" exclaimed Wulf, and the brethren looked at each other
with white faces.

"Speak on," said Godwin; "afterwards we can debate."

"Moreover," continued Rosamund, bowing her head, "Masouda added
these words, 'I think that Sir Wulf will escape his doom. If you
would see him again, obey his word, for unless you obey you can
never hope to look upon him living. Go, now, before we are both
discovered, which would mean your death and mine, who, if you go,
am safe.'"

"How knew she that I should escape?" asked Wulf.

"She did not know it. She only said she knew to force Rosamund
away," answered Godwin in the same strained voice. "And then?"

"And then--oh! having Wulf's express commands, then I went, like
one in a dream. I remember little of it. At the door we kissed
and parted weeping, and while the guard bowed before her, she
blessed me beneath her breath. A soldier stepped forward and
said, 'Follow me, daughter of Sinan,' and I followed him, none
taking any note, for at that hour, although perhaps you did not
see it in your prisons, a strange shadow passed across the sun, of
which all folk were afraid, thinking that it portended evil,
either to Saladin or Ascalon.*

[* The eclipse, which overshadowed Palestine and caused much
terror at Jerusalem on 4th September, 1187, the day of the
surrender of Ascalon. -Author]

"In the gloom we came to a place, where was an old Arab among
some trees, and with him two led horses. The soldier spoke to the
Arab, and I gave