handise.

First thoughts with the youth had of course been of horror at the bare
idea of apostacy, and yet as he watched his Moorish hosts, he could not
but own to himself that he never had dreamt that to be among them would
be so like dwelling under the oak of Mamre, in the tents of Abraham. From
what he remembered of Partan Jeannie's reputation as a being only
tolerated and assisted by his mother, on account of her extreme misery
and destitution, he could believe that the ne'er-do-weel son, who must
have forsaken her before he himself was born, might have really been
raised in morality by association with the grave, faithful, and temperate
followers of Mohammed, rather than the scum of the port of Eyemouth.

For himself and the boy, what did slavery mean? He hoped to understand
better from Yusuf, and at any rate to persuade the man to become the
medium of communication with the outside world, beyond that 'dissociable
ocean,' over which his wistful gaze wandered. Then the ransom of the
little Chevalier de Bourke would be certain, and, if there were any
gratitude in the world, his own. But how long would this take, and what
might befall them in the meantime?

Ulysse all this time seemed perfectly happy with the small Moors, who all
romped together without distinction of rank, of master, slave or colour,
for Yusuf's little negro was freely received among them. At night,
however, Ulysse's old home self seemed to revive; he crept back to
Arthur, tired and weary, fretting for mother, sister, and home; and even
after he had fallen asleep, waking again to cry for Julienne. Poor
Arthur, he was a rough nurse, but pity kept him patient, and he was even
glad to see that the child had not forgotten his home.

Meantime, ever since the sunset prayer, there had been smoking of pipes
and drinking of coffee, and earnest discussion between the sheyk and the
merchant, and by and by Yusuf came and sat himself down by Arthur,
smiling a little at the young man's difficulty in disposing of those long
legs upon the ground.

'Ye'll have to learn this and other things, sir,' said he, as he crossed
his own under him, Eastern fashion; but his demeanour was on the whole
that of the fisher to the laird's son, and he evidently thought that he
had a grand proposal to make, for which Master Arthur ought to be
infinitely obliged.

He explained to Arthur that Sheyk Abou Ben Zegri had never had more than
two sons, and that both had been kille