Fidá, to his infinite relief, found himself left behind. He realized, indeed, that he was at the end of his endurance; and this fact made him bold. Going to Ragunáth’s place, he sat down and set to work upon the untouched food left there. Never had slave been so daring before; but, also, never before had a meal been so direfully needed. As he ate, he regarded the crowd below apprehensively; for he did not know what discovery might bring. But the great feast was nearly at an end. Half the company had gone straggling off to their beds. Of those that remained, few were in condition to observe anything; and, to his reassurance, Fidá presently perceived that slaves and servitors had begun to slip into empty places, and to begin their part of the meal. Among this number was Ahmed; and when presently the eyes of the two met, Fidá nodded slightly, and the other came running to the daïs, and stood before his master. “Sit here by me, and eat, Ahmed,” commanded the young man. “My lord! It is not fitting—” “Sit here. Am I not a slave also? There! Here is lamb roasted with cinnamon and stuffed with raisins and sugar. Excellent! Eat of it. And this is deer flesh. And here is sesame, and rice, and a duck fried in oil. They do not starve in Mandu; but I have seen no water in this room.” “I will fetch it!” and Ahmed darted away, to return presently with the prescribed liquid in a large, porous bottle. Fidá drank gratefully, and then the two ate in silence, while below them, minute by minute, the great hall grew quieter. The meal was almost finished, and Fidá was smiling at the contentment of his devoted little servitor, when suddenly a eunuch came running through the Rajah’s door, and, seeing Fidá seated tranquilly on the daïs, gave him a violent cuff on the head, crying out: “Dog! Leave thy gluttony and come to the King. He calls for his ‘cup-bearer’.—Faithful cup-bearer thou! Come!” At the blow, both Mohammedans leaped to their feet; and the Asra stared upon the eunuch, his face flaming with anger. Ahmed, indeed, would have thrown himself upon the man, but that Fidá fortunately regained his temper, and, restraining the lad’s arm, bent his head before the messenger, and with a slight smile at Ahmed’s outraged expression, followed his guide from the room. They passed through a hallway more richly furnished than any Fidá himself had ever seen; and then, crossing a corridor, turned down a narrow passage into the open doorway of the “theatre”—a large, irregular room, with a slightly elevated platform at one end, and the usual daïs at the other.