toiling over the glowing sands of Persia, a youth
whose life had hitherto been a long unbroken dream of domestic luxury
and innocent indulgence.

He travelled during the warm night or the early starlit morn. During the
day he rested: happy if he could recline by the side of some
charitable well, shaded by a palm-tree, or frighten a gazelle from its
resting-place among the rough bushes of some wild rocks. Were these
resources wanting, he threw himself upon the sand, and made an awning
with his staff and turban.

Three weeks had elapsed since he quitted the cavern of the Cabalist.
Hitherto he had met with no human being. The desert became less arid.
A scanty vegetation sprang up from a more genial soil; the ground broke
into gentle undulations; his senses were invigorated with the odour
of wild plants, and his sight refreshed by the glancing form of some
wandering bird, a pilgrim like himself, but more at ease.

Soon sprang up a grove of graceful palm-trees, with their tall thin
stems, and bending feathery crowns, languid and beautiful. Around, the
verdant sod gleamed like an emerald: silver streams, flowing from a
bubbling parent spring, wound their white forms within the bright green
turf. From the grove arose the softening song of doves, and showers of
gay and sparkling butterflies, borne on their tinted wings of shifting
light, danced without danger in the liquid air. A fair and fresh Oasis!

Alroy reposed in this delicious retreat for two days, feeding on the
living dates, and drinking of the fresh water. Fain would he have
lingered, nor indeed, until he rested, had he been sufficiently
conscious of his previous exertion. But the remembrance of his great
mission made him restless, and steeled him to the sufferings which yet
awaited him.

At the dawn of the second day of his journey from the Oasis he beheld to
his astonishment, faintly but distinctly traced on the far horizon, the
walls and turrets of an extensive city.[13] Animated by this unexpected
prospect, he continued his progress for several hours after sunrise. At
length, utterly exhausted, he sought refuge from the overpowering heat
beneath the cupola of the ruined tomb of some Moslem saint. At sunset
he continued his journey, and in the morning found himself within a few
miles of the city. He halted, and watched with anxiety for some evidence
of its inhabitants. None was visible. No crowds or cavalcades issued
from the gates. Not a single human being,