rab does _not_ steal, he merely
carries out the order of Allah, who, when Abraham turned his son
Ishmael from his door, gave unto the boy the open plains and deserts as
a heritage, permitting him to take and make use of whatever he could
find therein.

"And as it is written that every hand was turned against Ishmael, so
his descendants turn their hand against the descendants of those who
persecuted the son of Abraham; but amongst their own tribe, or to those
who ask of their hospitality, you will find the greatest honesty.

"In a camp everything is left unguarded, and nothing goes astray. If
you, clothed in fine linen and arrayed in jewels, were to enter the
tent of some half-starving Arab, and ask of him hospitality, he would
share his last few coffee beans with you, and give you his couch, if by
chance he was possessed of such a luxury, and speed you on your way the
morrow, and believe me, you would not find a ribbon missing from your
attire, even though you had left him without the wherewith to make his
beloved coffee."

The girl laughed, for she really cared not a rap either way, and was
only arguing for the sake of drawing the man out, having found argument
the best and simplest method of breaking through the Eastern reserve,
up against which she had more than once found herself during the last
few days.

"Well! I call that splitting hairs. I really can't say I see that the
persecution of Ishmael makes stealing different from stealing; to my
mind, taking sugar from a bowl that is not yours, and diamonds that are
not yours from a safe, are one and the same thing, as both ornamental
and necessary booty belong to someone else."

"And yet," replied the Eastern, "in the West a man who cheats at cards
is damned everlastingly, but a nation is acclaimed who takes the land
with all its wealth from some wretched, half-educated native; takes it
by force of arms or diplomacy, which, nine times out of ten, means
trickery. Yes! Acclaimed with such adjectives as valiant, strong,
beneficent, applauded to the skies, whilst reams are written anent the
glorious, victorious campaign. Victorious! Allah! When the nation
goes out with artillery and unlimited forces to meet a handful of men,
whose strength lies in a spear, and pride in some dozen flintlocks,
which have been sold to the benighted heathen for solid gold or shining
lengths of purest ivory.

"Besides, the Arab requires 'what he gains,' as is his way of
express