“Know, O renowned hakìm, that my daughter, who is here with us, lies sick unto death. And it was told me in the place where I dwell, how thou canst heal where all others despair of healing. Wherefore I journeyed hither under escort of these kind companions, bringing the girl my daughter, and certain gifts for thy acceptance, and also a sum of money, that peradventure thou mightst take pity on my daughter and condescend to employ thy skill upon her. O my son, hear the prayer of an old man whose heart is sad, and I will requite thee to the utmost of my means, and Allah, who is more than all of us, will give to thee at the Last Day.” “Where is the girl?” asked the Frank; and the abruptness with which he put the question, deigning no preliminary compliment, caused the bystanders to say among themselves: “See how rude he is! He must be conscious of very great ability to be thus short with the revered Shems-ud-dìn.” The physician stooped beside the litter. “O girl, give me thy hand,” he said; causing Zeyd and the Circassians to exclaim the more, saying: “Surely he is a very great physician.” “Let see thy face.” At that Alia uttered a faint scream, and a growl of disapproval came from the four critics. But Shems-ud-dìn said simply: “Let it be. She is not yet a woman complete, and Allah knows her face at present is not such as to excite desire. Be not afraid, O my dear,” he added in a soothing tone to the sufferer. “For thy health’s sake, this sacrifice is required of thee.” One glance at the unveiled brow sufficed the foreigner. He rose again quickly and, turning to the sheykh, shrugged his shoulders with an upward look. “How far have you carried her in this manner?” “Four days or five, O khawâjah.” For comment the Frank gave another shrug. His face was troubled. The stare of so many eager eyes appeared to irk him. “She is very near to death,” he said at length, half to himself. “Allah alone can cure her now.” Whereupon the listeners whispered: “He knows his trade, this heathen! He makes her case out the worst possible, in order that his skill in curing her may appear the more considerable. Yet is he not totally without religion, for he ascribes the chief power to Allah.” “O sheykh,” pursued the Frank, when he had withdrawn beyond earshot of the occupants of the litter, “what can I do? Am I God that thou bringest to me a dying girl, and sayest, ‘Heal her’?” Then Shems-ud-dìn adjured him by the love of Allah, by all things sacred, to have mercy upon Alia, and not to turn away his face from affliction. He said: “If thou refusest, unto whom, under Allah, can I look for succor? We can but return whence we came, and my girl will die miserably by the roadside, for her strength fails her.”