tented; some of them, one Makan Agha in particular, a very popular fellow among them, attributed your disappearance and supposed death to their master's machinations, and plotted revenge. But what came of it, or whether anything was likely to come of it, I do not know.'

1

"Never fear,' I answered, laughing, 'Ak-Arslan Beg can take good care of himself; he knows. his men better than they think for. But what said the Emeer Daghfel? was he aware of anything?'

"Nothing,' replied Moharib; 'Sheykh Asa'ad very wisely kept all quiet, for fear of scandal; and neither the Emeer nor his men so much as guessed the truth. Besides the Sheybanees camped outside the walls, some way off in the gardens, and had little communication with the townsfolk; as to the Emeer, he lodged with his intended father-in-law, and there heard only what they chose to tell him. There was indeed some talk about the Jinnee; it served to put off the wedding.'

"God preserve her!' said I; 'she is as clever as she is brave, and as brave as she is beautiful. There is none like her on earth!'

"The wiles of women are indeed wonderful,'

answered the Bedouin; she is the miracle of her age. God keep her, and grant her desire, and yours, my brother. Who perseveres, attains.'

"I next asked from what quarter suspicion had first arisen regarding us; who was its

author.

666

Ak

"Some one of Rishwan Beg's household,' he answered, 'gave the alarm, the very day you arrived at Diar-Bekr. You had been watched the year before, Agha, though you were not aware of it. The Beg took up the matter, went to the kiosk; and,-you know the rest. Arslan was soon informed, and the Sheykh Asa'ad was taken into counsel. He refused to stir in the affair, but did not oppose. By the others your death was resolved on. May my father and mother be your ransom,' he added; 'God frustrated their designs.'

"And now brother,' said I, when he had finished, 'what is to be done next? Where are we to go? when shall I meet her again?'

"His reply unveiled to me the plan, formed originally at Diar-Bekr, and now to be executed in earnest. It was thus:

"Moharib's clansmen, the Benoo-Riah, were now the most part, with their aged chief, AbooZeyd, the Emeer Faris, encamped near Tell

I

'Afr, westward of Mosool. Thither we were next to go; and when we arrived, Moharib was to present me to the Emeer as an adopted brother, and one seeking protection and assistance from the tribe. I should, he said, be without doubt well received, and asked to explain the object I had in view. 'This,' continued Moharib, 'you must at once do, briefly and plainly, to the Emeer himself, during your very first meeting, while you are yet under the shadow of his tent, and your hand on the tent-pole. There would be no use your attempting to conceal anything from Aboo-Zeyd: he is shrewd and far-sighted, and nothing escapes him; but he is generous, and never refuses a suppliant. Besides, he will be the readier in this matter on account of an old grudge existing between us and Benoo-Sheyban, whom he will be glad to have an occasion of annoying.'

"We might have, he continued, to wait for some days at Tell-'Afr; after which, when all was ready, he and I, accompanied by a dozen or so of the more daring among the clan, would set out southwards by the shortest track, till we fell in with the Emeer Daghfel and his caravan,

A rising pasture-ground.

probably in the neighbourhood of Zobeyr, west of Basrah. Once met, we would, by force, stratagem, or both, find means to enter the caravan, and carry off with us the 'sought for -Moharib never designated Zahra' in my presence by her own name,-away to some secure region beyond danger of pursuit.

"Of this scheme Zahra' had herself, as I now learnt, been fully informed, and had consented to it; only the precise time and place of its fulfilment could not be fixed beforehand, amid the uncertainties both of their movements, and of our own. Thus far alone was certain, that the attempt must be made somewhere on the line of route between Rakka and the boundaries of Nejd; if once the latter was past, nothing could be done."

"And when you had compassed your wish, whither did you intend betaking yourself, Ahmed?” asked Tanţawee.

"I did not very well know myself," replied his friend. "Sometimes I thought of Damascus, and of a life there in trade or business of whatever sort; at other times I designed settling in the Hejaz or Yemen; or I might seek my fortunes. in Egypt; and this last, you see, I have in fact done, though not with the object or under the

circumstances that were then in my mind. But, if you will have the truth, my projects went in their definite shape hardly, or not at all, further than Zahra'; with her they began, with her they ended; from her to her was the measure of my thought."

"It would never have answered;" remarked Tanţawee, musingly. "Well for her, as for you; —your fate, wiser than yourself, interfered.”

'Of this comment Hermann took no notice; but continued

"Three days Moharib and his men remained at Ra's-el-'Eyn; their departure and mine was fixed for the fourth. Every trace of the feebleness left on me by my late illness was rapidly disappearing, and with the weakness of body, that of mind and will was fast leaving me also. But the calm, the contented rest of soul that I had, as for a short breathing-space enjoyed, vanished too; and in its stead my old restless, impetuous, longing self returned. Not at once; eager as I was to mount and follow on the track of her who was then, as ever, all to me; yet the first day's sun set on my renewed converse with the brother of my love; and I had no feelings but of joy, almost of satisfaction.