lost the only opportunity I can remember having had of ascertaining what
Ayesha _really_ believed, and what her "philosophy" was.

"Well, my Holly," she continued, "and so those people of mine have found
a prophet, a false prophet thou sayest, for he is not thine own, and,
indeed, I doubt it not. Yet in my day was it otherwise, for then we
Arabs had many gods. Allat there was, and Saba, the Host of Heaven, Al
Uzza, and Manah the stony one, for whom the blood of victims flowed,
and Wadd and Sawa, and Yaghuth the Lion of the dwellers in Yaman, and
Yaeuk the Horse of Morad, and Nasr the Eagle of Hamyar; ay, and many
more. Oh, the folly of it all, the shame and the pitiful folly! Yet when
I rose in wisdom and spoke thereof, surely they would have slain me in
the name of their outraged gods. Well, so hath it ever been;--but, my
Holly, art thou weary of me already, that thou dost sit so silent? Or
dost thou fear lest I should teach thee my philosophy?--for know I have
a philosophy. What would a teacher be without her own philosophy? and
if thou dost vex me overmuch beware! for I will have thee learn it, and
thou shalt be my disciple, and we twain will found a faith that shall
swallow up all others. Faithless man! And but half an hour since thou
wast upon thy knees--the posture does not suit thee, Holly--swearing
that thou didst love me. What shall we do?--Nay, I have it. I will come
and see this youth, the Lion, as the old man Billali calls him, who came
with thee, and who is so sick. The fever must have run its course by
now, and if he is about to die I will recover him. Fear not, my Holly, I
shall use no magic. Have I not told thee that there is no such thing as
magic, though there is such a thing as understanding and applying the
forces which are in Nature? Go now, and presently, when I have made the
drug ready, I will follow thee."[*]

[*] Ayesha was a great chemist, indeed chemistry appears to
have been her only amusement and occupation. She had one of
the caves fitted up as a laboratory, and, although her
appliances were necessarily rude, the results that she
attained were, as will become clear in the course of this
narrative, sufficiently surprising.--L. H. H.

Accordingly I went, only to find Job and Ustane in a great state of
grief, declaring that Leo was in the throes of death, and that they had
been searching for me everywhere. I rushed to the couch, and glanced at
him: clearly he wa