'Tell the Sultan,' said Khaled, 'that a man is here who has neither father nor mother nor any possessions beyond a swift mare, a keen sword and a strong hand, but who is come nevertheless to ask in marriage Zehowah, the Sultan's daughter.' The minister smiled and gazed at Khaled in silence for a moment, but when he had looked keenly at his face, he became grave. 'It may be,' he thought, 'that this is some great prince who comes thus simply as in a disguise, and it were best not to anger him.' 'I will deliver your message,' he answered aloud, 'though it is a strange one. It is customary for those who come to ask for a maiden in marriage to bring gifts--and to receive others in return,' he added. 'I neither bring gifts nor ask any,' said Khaled. 'Allah is great and will provide me with what I need.' 'I fear that he will not provide you with the Sultan's daughter for a wife,' said the minister as he went away, but Khaled did not hear the words, though he would have cared little if he had. Now it chanced that Zehowah was sitting in a balcony surrounded with lattice, over the courtyard, on that morning and she had seen Khaled enter, leading his mare by the bridle. But though she watched the stranger and his beast idly for some time she thought as little of the one as of the other, for her heart was not turned to love, and she knew nothing of horses. But her women thought differently and spoke loudly, praising the beauty of both. 'There is indeed a warrior able to fight in the front of our armies,' they said. 'Truly such a man must have been Khaled ibn Walad, the Sword of the Lord, in the days of the Prophet--upon whom peace.' By and by there was a cry that the Sultan was coming into the room, and the women rose and retired. The Sultan sat down upon the carpet by his daughter, in the balcony. 'Do you see that stranger, holding a beautiful mare by the bridle?' he asked. 'Yes, I see him,' answered Zehowah indifferently. 'He is come to ask you in marriage.' 'Another!' she exclaimed with a careless laugh. 'If it is the will of Allah I will marry him. If not, he will go away like the rest.' 'This man is not like the rest, my daughter. He is either a madman or some powerful prince in disguise.' 'Or both, perhaps,' laughed Zehowah. She laughed often, for although she was not inclined to love, she was of a gentle and merry temper. 'His message was a strange one,' said the Sultan. 'He says that he neither brings gifts nor asks them, that he has neither father nor mother, nor any possessions excepting a swift mare, a keen sword and a strong hand.'