During the last week in November the Persian Na’ib, who had been little edified by his experiences in Nedjed, set off for Bagdad. In the meantime, Feysul had made great preparations toward collecting an army for the reduction of the city of ’Oneyzah (near Bereydah), which still held out gallantly. Troops were summoned from the eastern coast and the adjoining provinces, and Sa’ood, the second son of Feysul, was ordered to bring them together at the capital, when the command was to be given to Abdallah, the eldest son. Palgrave had then his only opportunity of seeing the old King of the Wahabees. “Sa’ood speedily arrived, and with him about two hundred horsemen; the rest of his men, more than two thousand, were mounted on camels. When they entered Ri’ad, Feysul, for the first and last time during our stay, gave a public audience at the palace gate. It was a scene for a painter. There sat the blind old tyrant, corpulent, decrepit, yet imposing, with his large, broad forehead, white beard, and thoughtful air, clad in all the simplicity of a Wahabee; the gold-hafted sword at his side his only ornament or distinction. Beside him the ministers, the officers of his court, and a crowd of the nobler and wealthier citizens. Abdallah, the heir to the throne, was alone absent. Up came Sa’ood with the bearing of a hussar officer, richly clad in cashmere shawls and a gold-wrought mantle, while man by man followed his red-dressed cavaliers, their spears over their shoulders, and their swords hanging down; a musket, too, was slung behind the saddle of each warrior; and the sharp dagger of Hareek glittered in every girdle. Next came the common soldiers on camels or dromedaries, some with spears only, some with spears and guns, till the wide square was filled with armed men and gazing spectators, as the whole troop drew up before the great autocrat, and Sa’ood alighted to bend and kiss his father’s hand. ‘God save Feysul! God give the victory to the armies of the Muslims!’ was shouted out on every side, and all faces kindled into the fierce smile of concentrated enthusiasm and conscious strength. Feysul arose from his seat and placed his son at his side; another moment, and they entered the castle together.” CHAPTER XV. PALGRAVE’S TRAVELS—HIS ESCAPE TO THE EASTERN COAST. “FOR a foreigner to enter Ri’ad is not always easy, but to get away from it is harder still; Reynard himself would have been justly shy of venturing on this royal cave. There exists in the capital of Nedjed two approved means of barring the exit against those on whom mistrust may have fallen. The first and readiest is that of which it has been emphatically said, _Stone-dead hath no fellow_. But should circumstances render the bonds of death inexpedient, the bonds of Hymen and a Ri’ad establishment may and occasionally do supply their office. By this latter proceeding, the more amiable of the two, Abdallah resolved to enchain us.