eness and luxury
and gorgeous dreams. But it is all wrong. The _Kaf_ he yearns for is
an austere thing. It is the austerity of the East that is its beauty
and its terror ... It always wants the same things at the back of its
head. The Turk and the Arab came out of big spaces, and they have the
desire of them in their bones. They settle down and stagnate, and by
the by they degenerate into that appalling subtlety which is their
ruling passion gone crooked. And then comes a new revelation and a
great simplifying. They want to live face to face with God without a
screen of ritual and images and priestcraft. They want to prune life
of its foolish fringes and get back to the noble bareness of the
desert. Remember, it is always the empty desert and the empty sky that
cast their spell over them--these, and the hot, strong, antiseptic
sunlight which burns up all rot and decay. It isn't inhuman. It's the
humanity of one part of the human race. It isn't ours, it isn't as
good as ours, but it's jolly good all the same. There are times when
it grips me so hard that I'm inclined to forswear the gods of my
fathers!

'Well, Greenmantle is the prophet of this great simplicity. He speaks
straight to the heart of Islam, and it's an honourable message. But for
our sins it's been twisted into part of that damned German propaganda.
His unworldliness has been used for a cunning political move, and his
creed of space and simplicity for the furtherance of the last word in
human degeneracy. My God, Dick, it's like seeing St Francis run by
Messalina.'

'The woman has been here tonight,' I said. 'She asked me what I stood
for, and I invented some infernal nonsense which she approved of. But
I can see one thing. She and her prophet may run for different stakes,
but it's the same course.'

Sandy started. 'She has been here!' he cried. 'Tell me, Dick, what do
you think of her?'

'I thought she was about two parts mad, but the third part was uncommon
like inspiration.'

'That's about right,' he said. 'I was wrong in comparing her to
Messalina. She's something a dashed sight more complicated. She runs
the prophet just because she shares his belief. Only what in him is
sane and fine, in her is mad and horrible. You see, Germany also wants
to simplify life.'

'I know,' I said. 'I told her that an hour ago, when I talked more rot
to the second than any normal man ever achieved. It will come between
me and my sleep for