d years and back, and find one's bed still warm on returning?'

"'Canst thou play chess?' then asked Mulai Abd el Kader.

"'Of course I can,' said the monk, surprised.

"'Then, wilt thou play with me?'

"'Certainly not,' replied the monk, indignantly. 'Dost thou think me a
fool, to come here to discuss the science of religion, and to be put
off with a game of chess?'

"'Then thou acknowledgest thyself beaten; thou hast said thou couldst
play chess, yet thou darest not measure thy skill at it with me. Thy
refusal proves thy lie.'

"'Nay, then, since thou takest it that way, I will consent to a match,
but under protest.'

"So the board was brought, and the players seated themselves. Move,
move, move, went the pieces; kings and queens, elephants, rooks, and
knights, with the soldiers everywhere. One by one they disappeared, as
the fight grew fast and furious. But Mulai Abd el Kader had another
object in view than the routing of his antagonist at a game of chess.
By the exercise of his superhuman power he transported the monk to
'the empty third' [of the world], while his image remained before him
at the board, to all appearances still absorbed in the contest.

"Meanwhile the monk could not tell where he was, but being oppressed
with a sense of severe thirst, rose from where he sat, and made for a
rising ground near by, whence he hoped to be able to descry some signs
of vegetation, which should denote the presence of water. Giddy and
tired out, he approached the top, when what was his joy to see a city
surrounded by palms but a short way off! With a cry of delight he
quickened his steps and approached the gate. As he did so, a party of
seven men in gorgeous apparel of wool and silk came out of the gate,
each with a staff in his hand.

"On meeting him they offered him the salutation of the Faithful, but
he did not return it. 'Who mayest _thou_ be,' they asked, 'who dost
not wish peace to the Resigned?' [Muslimeen]. 'My Lords,' he made
answer, 'I am a monk of the Nazarenes, I merely seek water to quench
my thirst.'

"'But he who comes here must resign himself [to Mohammedanism] or
suffer the consequences. Testify that 'There is no god but God, and
Mohammed is His Messenger!' 'Never,' he replied; and immediately they
threw him on the ground and flogged him with their staves till he
cried for mercy. 'Stop!' he implored. 'I will testify.' No sooner had
he done so than they ceased their blows, and raising him up gave