fiery Sabat turned the
face of his camel westward and rode back into Persia to the lovely
city of Bokhara.

_Abdallah the Daring_

In Kabul there was an Armenian whose name we do not know: but he
owned a book printed in Arabic, a book that Abdallah could read. The
Armenian lent it to him. There were hardly any books in Arabic, so
Abdallah took this book and read it eagerly. As he read, he thought
that he had never in all his life heard of such wonderful things,
and he could feel in his very bones that they were true. He read four
short true stories in this book: they were what we call the Gospels
according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. As he read, Abdallah saw in
the stories Someone who was infinitely greater than Mohammed--One who
was so strong and gentle that He was always helping children and women
and people who were ill; so good that He always lived the very life
that God willed; and so brave that He died rather than give in to evil
men--our Lord Jesus Christ.

"I worship Him," said Abdallah in his heart. Then he did a very daring
thing. He knew that if he turned Christian it would be the duty of
Mohammedans to kill him. Why not keep quiet and say nothing about his
change of heart? But he could not. He decided that he must come out
in the open and confess the new Captain of his life. He was baptized a
Christian.

The Moslems were furious. To save his life Abdallah fled on his camel
westward to Bokhara. But the news that he had become a Christian flew
even faster than he himself rode. As he went along the streets of
Bokhara he saw his friend Sabat coming toward him. As a friend, Sabat
desired to save Abdallah; but as a Moslem, the cruel law of Mohammed
said that he must have him put to death. And Sabat was a fiery,
hot-tempered Moslem.

"I had no pity," Sabat told his friends afterward. "I delivered him up
to Morad Shah, the King."

So Abdallah was bound and carried before the Moslem judges. His friend
Sabat stood by watching, just as Saul had stood watching them stone
Stephen nearly eighteen centuries earlier.

"You shall be given your life and be set free," they said, "if you
will spit upon the Cross and renounce Christ and say, 'There is no God
but Allah.'"

"I refuse," said Abdallah.

A sword was brought forward and unsheathed. Abdallah's arm was
stretched out: the sword was lifted--it flashed--and Abdallah's hand,
cut clean off, fell on the ground, while the blood spurted from his
arm.

"Yo