s teeth and rode away.

Iskender remained where he was. The two Bedawis, departing, wished
good luck to him, but swore that, for their part, they had liefer feed
on prickly shrubs than serve so mad a master. He could hear Mahmud
objecting to go on without him, and the Frank commanding, threatening,
till with a shrug the muleteer gave way, and shouted: "Straight on!"
for Iskender's guidance. The clangour of the bells broke out anew.

Iskender waited till the little train was lost to sight, then followed
miserably. His love was very ill, there was no doubt, and needed
better tendance than Mahmud, with the best intentions, could afford
him. The muleteer could only, at the best, cook country food, while
cleanliness and comfort were unknown to him. He could not make a bed
or clean a riding-boot. Iskender clenched his teeth and swore it
should not be. At all risks his sick lord must be made comfortable.
So when, at sundown, he came in sight of the tent, he dismounted and
tethered his horse out of sight, then walked up boldly. Mahmud was at
the fire behind the wind screen.

"Welcome, O my eyes!" he whispered, giving place. "Allah knows I
cannot cook a Frankish supper; yet his Honour will not hear of thy
return. Now, praise to Allah, he is sound asleep, being tired from the
journey. Make no noise, however, for, if he found thee here, he might
well shoot thee. He is very mad indeed; may Allah heal him!"

Iskender stayed and cooked a tempting meal out of the provisions given
by the Arab sheykh. Then taking food and water for himself and his
horse, he returned to his hiding-place, where, in the shelter of a
rock, he spent that night.

In the dawn he listened for the sounds of starting, and heard the
mule-bells die away before he mounted. He had saved a piece of bread,
a date or two, on which he broke his fast at noon; and not long after
saw the tent shine forth, white in the yellow landscape, beside the
flat roofs of a village terracing a steep hillside. He recognised the
place as one of those where they had rested happily upon the outward
way. The sheykh received him in his house; his horse was cared for.
Towards sunset he approached the tent. Mahmud, from afar off,
signalled that the coast was clear.

"The Emir has wandered off among the rocks," he told Iskender. "There
is no cooking to be done this evening, he has no appetite except for
fruit and arac. His sickness tightens hold, it is well seen. Ente