“Of a truth, that has he, by Allah,” said Hassan, who had ended his whispered conference. “He brought light to the city where we dwell. He is lord of the jân. They have had no master like him since the death of Suleyman the Wise. When his daughter fell ill, and all help failed, it was by advice of a jinni, his slave, that he brought her hither, to this city, to the house of a Frank physician, where she now lies. Signs, say you? I assure you, by Allah, he is lord of them all! He knows the language of beasts, and on our way hither made use of that knowledge to restore to a certain poor fellâh his camel, which had been long lost. The fellâh, his name Zeyd ebn Abbâs, is still with us. If thou wilt, thou canst speak with him and hear the wondrous story from his own lips.” “Is it truth thou speakest?” asked one of the soldiers, with a shrug aside to his mate. “By Allah, it is truth! All these are witnesses with me. Ask one of them. Ask any man acquainted with his holiness!” They sat a-row in the wide archway, brushed by the raiment of the throng without, hearing snatches of conversation, shouts, laughter, and the ceaseless shuffle of feet along the stones; while at their backs was darkness, save for one red gleam of fire, which the ample form of the taverner kept eclipsing as it revolved in his avocations about the brazier. “Allah knows I should count it an honor to behold that saint of yours,” said one of the soldiers at length, in a manner of resolution. “And I also,” agreed the other in the same tone of belated conviction. “That is easy. If Allah will, we shall find him without difficulty.” “Let us go, then!” “Slowly, slowly, O my two dear ones!” Hassan’s face turned cunning in the mold of thought. “Is our business settled quite? No, I think not so. We have not yet appointed an hour for the transaction. Let it be after to-morrow, toward the fifth hour of night. What say you?” The soldiers shook their heads. “No,” said each, upon reflection. “After to-morrow is the great feast of the Nazarenes—of half of them, that is to say; for the two halves quarrel so that they cannot even keep festival upon the same day.... It is the busiest of the year for us. We shall stop their fighting in the church; and after that, it is likely, we shall be called upon to keep order in the streets of the city. It is work enough for one day. Let our business stand over till the night beyond.”