ad been
beaten by some Muslim boys and called an idol-maker; and, traversing a
Christian hamlet among the gardens, had been reviled and pelted by its
Orthodox inhabitants. For company he had been obliged to consort with
English-speaking touts and dragomans, who welcomed his proficiency in
the foreign tongue; and these he hated, for they mocked his art. The
one exception was Elias Abdul Messih. Elias could read Arabic fluently
(a feat beyond Iskender, who had been schooled in English), and from
trips to Beyrut and the towns of Egypt had brought back any number of
miraculous romances, which he read and read again until they turned his
brain. Impersonating the chief characters, he dwelt in a world of
magical adventure, and spoke from thence to ears that understood not.
For this he was named the Liar and the Boaster, and, though well liked,
derided. He had taken a fancy to Iskender, and often sat beside the
artist while he sketched.

His talk revealed new worlds to the pupil of the English missionaries,
who hitherto had looked to England as the realm of romantic
ambition--the land where, by simply entering holy orders, a poor son of
the Arabs could attain to wealth and luxury. Now, for the first time,
he was shown the wonders of the East. Elias, in his tales, despised
the Christians, his own folk, anathematised the Jews, and praised the
Muslims, till Iskender longed to embrace the doctrine of Muhammad, and
become a freeman of the land of old romance. But when he said as much,
Elias shook his head. It was known that every Muslim would be damned
eternally.

Moved by the example of this friend, Iskender's brain conceived wild
dreams of greatness, enabling him in imagination to enslave the wicked
missionaries and carry off his blushing love amid applause. He told
Elias that his father, Yacub, had left a treasure buried in the ground,
which he would dig up some day, and astound mankind; and Elias accepted
the statement as quite probable. But such fancies were of no real
comfort to Iskender, being rendered feverish by his sense of wrong. He
had known no solace till this day at noon, when the English youth from
the hotel had smiled on him. Now, once again, he looked to England as
of old--to England where great honours were conferred on painters.

With a final dab at the sky, he held his picture off from him, to mark
the effect. In love with the figure of a camel belonging to the camp,
which was chewing the cud sup