nish Such-and-Such. And the Old Man would put sleep on him and a
knife in his hand, and when he woke he would be outside the Castle of
Alamoot. And he would start on his mission. And when he came back he
would be readmitted to paradise. And if he didn't come back, there
were others to take his place.

The Old Man of the Mountain always kept one hundred and one assassins
and four hundred and four women to tend them.

Now when the caravan of the Polos had come to rest for the day, the Old
Man of the Mountain put out white, not black magic, and he drew Marco
Polo to the castle as a magnet draws a needle. And Marco Polo galloped
up to the Castle in the waning moon, and the Old Man looked down on him
from the battlements and stroked his long white beard.

"Do you know me, Marco Polo?"

"I know you and I have no fear of you, Old Man of the Mountain."

"And why have you no fear of me, Marco Polo?"

"Because the cross of the Lord Jesus is between me and harm. Because it
protects me night and day."

"I know Eesa ben-Miriam," said the Old Man. "He was a great prophet.
But whether he would have protected you from me, we will differ about
that. I've often thought of you, Marco Polo, and you coming this way.
I could have used you in my work of keeping the kings and chieftains of
the world in fear and subjection."

"Then why am n't I in your garden, Old Man of the Mountain?"

"The four most beautiful women in the world are in my garden. There is
a tall, black-haired woman, and she is fairer and more adroit than
Lilith, who was before Eve; and there is a tall, blond woman, and she
is like a queen; and there is a slim, copper-colored woman, and she is
like an idol in a shrine; and there is a little brown-haired woman, and
she is like a child. But none of those women could make you believe
you were in paradise while there's a face in your heart. Not the cross
of the Lord Jesus is between you and me, but the face of little Golden
Bells of China."

"But I am not going to China to woo Golden Bells, Old Man of the
Mountain. I am going to convert the men of Cathay."

The Old Man of the Mountain laughed and stroked his beard.

"You had a sermon from Gregory before you came away. Did he tell you
you were to convert the men of Cathay?"

"He did not."

"Ali, Gregory's a sound man. He knew you can't make saints in a day.
Why, child, I've seen the beginning of the world, and I've seen the end
of it. I've seen the begi