Wherefore, as might well be expected, the _Mira_ is wont to take precautions; and keeps his potential successors rather studiously at arm's length. But the heir (in this case his nephew)[60] had this time taken precautions also; and had escaped across the Russian frontier, there to watch and bide his time. In the summer which followed our visit he stole back again from his exile; and fortune favoured his enterprise, for the _Mira_ fell by his hand. So now there is another _Mira_, the legitimate ruler of all the Yezidis; and no one will question his authority--until the end of his reign. All unsuspicious of the coming tragedy we bade farewell to Ali Beg at the door of his _diwan khana_; having duly tasted of his hospitality, and assured each other of our mutual good will. One of his _Leichtach_ escorted us to a point about a mile from the castle, and thence we soon gained the pathway by which we were to return to Mosul. We finished this nefarious excursion by lodging in a Yezidi village; for the whole stage was rather too far to be accomplished in a single day. And the normal state of relations between "True Believers" and "Devil Worshippers" was disclosed to us rather instructively when we began inquiring for bread. Our host denied categorically that there was so much as a crumb in the village--until (with a good deal of trouble) we convinced him that we proposed to pay! Apparently it is quite unusual for anyone to pay anything to a Yezidi. It is a "work of supererogation" and consequently of the nature of sin. The sight of our money produced lots of things; but our sulky host was quite spoiled by it. He proceeded to take offence with us because we did not invite him to dine![61] Thus Yezidis would seem by nature to be as wicked as workhouse orphans, and no doubt a little barbarity is essential to keep them in hand. The fruit of our three days' transgression was revealed to us a little later, when we found that two of our followers (Moslems too, to make the crime more heinous) had been obviously indulging in _raki_[62] to celebrate their return to Mosul. "It is all your fault _Effendim_" they pleaded when we began to scold them. "It was you who betrayed our innocence into the abode of _Sheitan_. And lo, this thing has befallen us. We have touched pitch and are defiled." CHAPTER VI THE SKIRTS OF THE MOUNTAINS (RABBAN HORMIZD, BAVIAN, AND AKRA) One may go to Aleppo by train, and by carriage one may get on to Mosul; but he who would penetrate further must adopt more primitive means. Nothing that runs upon wheels can enter the Kurdistan highlands. And the "heir of all the ages," travelling there in A.D. 1900, finds himself no better off than his forerunners of B.C. 1100, whose Great King recorded amazedly on slabs of imperishable granite the fact that "I, Tiglath-Pileser, was obliged to go on foot!"