‘And you serve a queen, Darkush?’ ‘Which is the reason I cannot give you a pass for the mountains, as I would have done, fifteen years ago, in the time of her father.’ ‘Are her commands, then, so strict?’ ‘That she should see neither Moslem nor Christian. She is at war with both, and will be for ever, for the quarrel between them is beyond the power of man to remove.’ ‘And what may it be?’ ‘That you can learn only in the mountains of the Ansarey,’ said Darkush, with a malignant smile. Baroni fell into a musing mood. After a few moments’ thought, he looked up, and said: ‘What you have told me, friend Darkush, is very interesting, and throws light on many things. This young prince, whom I serve, is a friend to your race, and knows well why you are at war both with Moslem and Christian, for he is so himself. But he is a man sparing of words, dark in thought, and terrible to deal with. Why he wishes to visit your people I dared not inquire, but now I guess, from what you have let fall, that he is an Ansarey himself. He has come from a far land merely to visit his race, a man who is a prince among the people, to whom piastres are as water. I doubt not he has much to say to your Queen: things might have happened that would have lengthened all our shadows; but never mind, what cannot be, cannot be: let us talk, then, of scammony.’ ‘You think he is one?’ said Darkush, in a lower tone, and looking very inquiringly. ‘I do,’ said Baroni. ‘And what do you mean by one?’ said Darkush. ‘That is exactly the secret which I never could penetrate.’ ‘I cannot give a pass to the mountains,’ said Darkush, ‘but the sympathy of friends is a river flowing in a fair garden. If this prince, whose words and thoughts are dark, should indeed be one---- Could I see him, Effendi?’ ‘It is a subject on which I dare not speak to him,’ said Baroni. ‘I hinted at his coming here: his brow was the brow of Eblis, his eye flashed like the red lightning of the Kamsin: it is impossible! What cannot be done, cannot be done. He must return to the land of his fathers, unseen by your Queen, of whom he is perhaps a brother; he will live, hating alike Moslem and Christian, but he will banish me for ever to islands of many demons.’ ‘The Queen shall know of these strange things,’ said Darkush, ‘and we will wait for her words.’ ‘Wait for the Mecca caravan!’ exclaimed Baroni. ‘You know not the child of storms, who is my master, and that is ever a reason why I think he must be one of you. For had he been softened by Christianity or civilised by the Koran----’ ‘Unripe figs for your Christianity and your Koran!’ exclaimed Darkush. ‘Do you know what we think of your Christianity and your Koran?’ ‘No,’ said Baroni, quietly. ‘Tell me.’ ‘You will learn in our mountains,’ said Darkush. ‘Then you mean to let me go there?’ ‘If the Queen permit you,’ said Darkush.