ebrew
left me, with scant ceremony, in possession of a manuscript which must
be given to him."

"Aye, well do I know him," said Amzi. "Mohammed, the son of Abdallah the
handsome, and grandson of Abdal Motalleb, who was the son of Haschem of
the tribe of the Koreish--a tribe which has long held a position among
the highest of Mecca, and has, for ages past, had the guardianship of
the Caaba itself. Mohammed himself is a man of sagacity and honor in all
his dealings. He is married to Cadijah, a wealthy widow, whose business
he has long carried on with scrupulous fairness. He, too, is one of the
few who, in Mecca, have ceased to believe in idols, and would fain see
the Caaba purged of its images."

"There are some, then, who cast aside such beliefs?"

"Yes, the Hanifs (ascetics), who utterly reject polytheism. Waraka, a
cousin of the wife of Mohammed, is one of the chief of these; and
Mohammed himself has, for several years, been accustomed to retire to
the cave of Hira for meditation and prayer. It is said that he has
preached and taught for some time in the city, but only to his immediate
friends and relatives. Well, here we are at last,"--as a pretentious
stone building was reached. "Amzi the benevolent bids Yusuf the Persian
priest welcome."

Amzi led the priest into a house furnished with no small degree of
Oriental splendor.

"Right to the carven cedarn doors,
Flung inward over spangled floors,
Broad-based flights of marble stairs
Ran up with golden balustrade,
After the fashion of the time."

A meal of Oriental dishes, dried fruit and sweetmeats was prepared; and,
when the coolness of evening had come, the two friends proceeded to the
temple.

Entering by a western gate, they found the great quadrangle crowded with
men, women and children, some standing in groups, with sanctimonious
air, at prayers, while others walked or ran about the Caaba, which
loomed huge and somber beneath the solemn light of the stars. A few
solitary torches--for at that time the slender pillars with their
myriads of lamps had not been erected--lit up the scene with a weird,
wavering glare, and threw deep shadows across the white, sanded ground.

A curious crowd it seemed. The wild enthusiasm that marked the conduct
of the followers of Mohammed at a later day was absent, yet every motion
of the motley crowd proclaimed the veneration with which the place
inspired the impressionable and excitable Arabs.

Here st