“When ringlets of a thousand curls And ruby lips and teeth of pearls, And dark eyes flashing quick and bright, Like lightning on the brow of night— When charms like these their power display And steal the wildered heart away— Can man, dissembling, coldly seem Unmoved as by an idle dream? Kais[263] saw her beauty, and her grace The soft expression of her face; And as he gazed and gazed again Distraction stung his burning brain; No rest he found by day or night— She was forever in his sight.” But the wandering tribe to which the girl belonged folded their tents and slipped away to the solitudes of the mountains. They had left no trace of their going—no hint of where they might be found, and the luckless maid found herself far from her lover with no possible means of communicating with him, while the frantic boy was wandering through the wilds in the almost hopeless search for his love. “He sought her in rosy bower and silent glade, Where the palm trees flung refreshing shade; Through grove and frowning glen he lonely strayed, And with his griefs the rocks were vocal made.”[264] Alarmed by the condition of his son, the old chieftain gathered his men for an organized search, and at last they found the mountain stronghold of the tribe they sought. They were challenged by a stern voice beyond the rocky barriers, which demanded: “Come ye hither as friends or foes? Whatever may your errand be, That errand must be told to me; For none, unless a sanctioned friend, Can pass the line that I defend.” This challenge touched the chieftain’s pride, and he haughtily responded that he came in friendship, to propose the marriage of his son to the Arab maiden to whom he had taken a silly fancy. “With shame, Possess’d of power, and wealth, and fame, I to his silly humor bend, And humbly seek his fate to blend With one inferior. Need I tell My own high lineage known so well? If sympathy my heart incline, Or vengeance, still the means are mine. Treasure and arms can amply bear Me through the toils of desert war; But thou’rt the merchant pedler chief, And I the buyer; come, sell, be brief! If thou art wise, accept advice; Sell and receive a princely price!” The haughty tone of the applicant was little calculated to call forth a favorable response, and the proud father replied: