is a white garment laid up. And thou deniest
thy name, with thy right hand on thy heart. Thou _art_ Ali, for on thy
white garment are five bloody finger-prints."

Ali writhed in his sleep, and covered with his hand that part of his
caftan which lay over his heart. And all the time the head never
disappeared from before his eyes and its lips never closed. Presently
it went on again.

"Listen, Ali! Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin! The hand which guided thee
in the performance of thy mighty deeds is also bringing thine actions
to an end, and thou shalt no longer be a hero whom the world admires,
but a robber whom it curses. Those whom thou lovedest will bless the
day of thy death, but thine enemies will weep over thee. Moreover, God
hath ordained that thou shalt be the ruin of thine own nation."

Ali tossed, sighing and groaning, upon his couch, and could not awake;
a world of crime lay upon his breast. He felt the earth shake beneath
him, and the sky above his head was dark with masses of black cloud,
and the thought of death was a terror to him.

The head went on speaking. "Two birds quitted thy rocky citadel at the
same hour, a white dove and a black crow. The white dove is Peace,
which has departed from thy towers; the black crow is Vengeance, which
will return in search of carcasses at the scent of thy ruin. The white
dove is thy damsel, the black crow is mine; and woe to thee from them
both!"

Ali, in the desperation of his rage, roared aloud in his sleep, and
his violent cry tore asunder the light fetters of sleep. He sprang
from his couch and opened wide his eyes--and lo! the severed head was
standing before him on the table.

The pasha looked about him in consternation; he was not sufficiently
master of himself at first to tell how much of all this was a dream
and how much reality. He still seemed to hear the terrible words which
had proceeded from those open lips, and his hand involuntarily
clutched at his breast as if he would have covered there the five
bloody finger-marks. Then the cut cord from which the key was missing
fell across his hand, and immediately his presence of mind returned.
Drawing his sword, he rushed towards the brazen door, and discovered
that the fugitives had had sufficient forethought to close the door
and leave the key in the lock outside, so that it could only be opened
by force. He turned back and rushed to the end of the dormitories.
Some of the odalisks were awakened by the sound