it is easy to
compound the matter for a sum of money, in return for which the dead
man's relatives regard his death as due to natural causes, and
forswear revenge. It is hard, I say, upon those men we met just now;
and especially upon the man who slew his brother--may Our Lord console
him!'

A few days later I was strolling in the town and happened to pass by
the public gaol. In the middle of the gate, behind some iron bars, a
wretched man stood shaking a tin can, in which some small coins
rattled, and calling on the passers-by for alms for the poor
prisoners. A little group of English tourists--a gentleman and two
fair ladies--came that way, led on by a resplendent dragoman. They
stared at the wild figure at the prison gate.

'You like to give a trifle to the brisoners?' inquired the guide.

'What are they in for?' asked the gentleman.

'Murders, I guess, mostly,' shrugged the dragoman.

'Certainly not,' replied the gentleman, with indignation.

I ventured to approach and tell him that they were not murderers in
our sense of the word, and that they depended for a bare subsistence
upon public charity. The only thanks I got were a cold stare from the
man, a fastidious grimace from the two ladies, and an 'Oh, indeed!'
so arrogant in tone that I retired discomfited. My ill-success may be
attributable to the fact that I was wearing a 'kufiyeh' and 'acal' and
so appeared to them as what is called a 'native.'

I myself have always, since that day, felt it my duty to give alms to
murderers in Eastern lands.

FOOTNOTES:

[7] _i.e._, Highwaymen.

CHAPTER XXVI

THE TREES ON THE LAND

My search for an estate provided us with an excuse for visiting all
sorts of out-of-the-way places, and scraping acquaintance with all
sorts of curious people. In some villages we were greeted with
unbounded glee; in others with a sullen, gruff endurance far from
welcome. But, though the flavour of reception varied, we were
everywhere received with some degree of hospitality, and shown what we
desired to see. Thus we surveyed a great variety of properties, none
of which fulfilled my chief requirements. I wanted both a house in
which I should not feel ashamed to live, and cultivable land enough to
yield a revenue; and the two together seemed impossible to find, at
least for the sum of money which was placed at my disposal.

One piece of land attracted us so much that we remained in the
adjacent village a full week, returning