all known and loved the devoted mothers who bore us.
For mother love is man's first foretaste of God love, the full glory of
which we shall comprehend only when by death we are born into a higher
and more spacious sphere of existence."

There was another brief interval of silence, again unbroken by any
comment from the auditors. Then the hakeem continued in lighter tone:

"Now let me point my moral by telling you a story of a mother's supreme
devotion for her son.

* * * * *

"At one time I practised my profession in the capital city of a state
ruled over by a maharajah, who, although he had been a brave and
honourable man in his prime, had degenerated into a mere voluptuary,
spending his days in the companionship of nautch girls and disreputable
men, indulging constantly in immoderate potations of strong wine, and
given at times to the use of bhang, which does more than anything else
to dull the faculties and deaden the conscience of the unfortunate who
surrenders himself to its seductive spells. The inevitable results were
for him the premature loss of health and strength, and for his people
misrule, extortion and widespread unhappiness.

"It happened that, after several Hindu physicians had failed to restore
their royal master from a fainting spell, I, a Moslem, was summoned in
haste to the palace. I carried with me a small jar containing a certain
pungent liquid, which I applied to the nostrils of my patient, with the
result that he was straightway brought back from seeming death to
consciousness of his surroundings. I take no special credit for
effecting this recovery, but the maharajah himself deemed me to be a
veritable worker of miracles, and, dismissing all his other doctors,
kept me thenceforth constantly by his side. From the first I knew, by
his trembling limbs and enfeebled condition, that death had marked him
for its own; but I could, at least, prepare aromatic drinks to mitigate
his pains and saffron meats to drive out the evil spirits that possessed
him.

"Thus did it come about that I gained the confidence of the maharajah,
and when it happened that one of his favourite wives had fallen into a
decline, and had begged for the services of a physician, the honourable
trust of ministering to her needs was confided to me. My examination of
the invalid was in accordance with the usual restrictions. Accompanied
by the feeble old maharajah himself, I was conducted to an apa