re of the
curb, permitted him slowly to walk on while his master appeared
still to be lost in thought. Once or twice he cast his eyes again
towards the city, and then again mused to himself, as though his
cares and thoughts lay there. So much was the rider absorbed within
himself that he did not observe two power Bedouin Arabs of the
desert, who had wandered to the outskirts of the city, and whose
longing eyes were bent, not on him, but upon the horse which he
rode. To the skillful eyes of these children of the desert he was
almost invaluable; every step betrayed his metal, while the clean
limb, nervous action, and distended nostrils told of the fleetness
that was in him!

You may trust an Arab often with gold or precious goods; the very
fact of the confidence, you accord to him makes him faithful. You
may trust your life in his hands, and the laws of hospitality shall
protect you; but trust him not with a fine horse--that will betray
him, though nothing else might do so. Born in the desert where they
are reared and loved so well, he imbibes from childhood a regard for
the full blooded barb, that falls little short of reverence; and
being once possessed of one, no money can part them. The two
Bedouins stealthily watched the Turk as he rode slowly along, and
were evidently only awaiting a favorable moment to attack and
overcome him.

By an ingenious movement they doubled a slight hillock that lay
between them and the woods of Belgrade, and as they came up on the
other side, placed themselves directly in the path of the horseman.
Still they were unobserved by him, and not until one had laid his
hand upon the bridle, and the other violent hands upon his garments,
did he arouse from the dreamy thoughts which had so completely
absorbed him. Thus taken at disadvantage, the horseman was forced
from the saddle before he could offer any resistance, but having
once reached the ground, and being fairly on his feet, his bright
blade glistened in the sun and flashed before the eyes of the Arab
robbers.

"Yield us the horse and go thy way!" said one of the assailants,
soothingly.

"By the Prophet, never!" shouted the Turk, setting upon them
fiercely as he spoke and wounding one severely at the very outset,
while he held the bridle of the horse.

The horseman was one used to the weapon he wielded, and the Arabs
saw that they had no easy enemy to conquer. He who held the horse
was forced to unloose the bridle to defend himself