ay for Amzi, to whom he
often read and expounded passages of Scripture, without being able to
notice any apparent effect of his teaching.

It troubled him much that Amzi lent such a willing ear to Mohammed, and
to the few fanatics among the Hanifs who had now professed their belief
in this self-proclaimed prophet of Allah. It seemed marvelous that a man
of Amzi's wisdom and learning should be so carried away by such a flimsy
doctrine as that which Mohammed now began to proclaim. Amzi appeared to
have fallen under the spell which Mohammed seemed to cast over many of
those with whom he came in contact; and, though he acknowledged no
belief in the so-called prophet, neither did he profess disbelief in
him.

Yusuf's happiest hours were those spent in the little Jewish Christian
church, a poor, uncomfortable building, where an earnest handful of
Jews, who were nevertheless firm believers in the divinity of Christ,
met, often in secret, always in fear of the derisive Arabs, for prayer
and study of the Gospel. Among these, the wife of Nathan was never
absent.

Yusuf sought untiringly to solve the mystery of the gold cup.
Circumstantial evidence was certainly against Nathan. Awad, a rich
merchant of Mecca, had placed the cup near a window in his house, and
had forgotten to remove it ere retiring for the night. A short time
before dawn he had heard a noise and risen to see what it was. He had
gone outside just in time to see a figure passing hurriedly across a
small field near his house. Even then he had not thought of the cup. But
in the morning it was missed, and tracks were followed from the window
as far as the ruined house to which Nathan's family had gone in their
poverty. The house was searched, and the cup was found hidden in a heap
of rubbish in an unused apartment.

Nathan had just returned with little save the clothes he wore; it was
well known that his wife and children had been verging on starvation,
and the public, ever ready to judge, formed its own conclusion, and
turned with Nemesis eye upon the poor Jew.

No clue whatever remained, except a small carnelian, which Yusuf found
afterwards upon the floor, and which he took possession of at once. For
hours he would wander about, hoping to find some trace of the robber,
who, he firmly believed, had fancied himself followed by Awad, and had
hurriedly secreted the cup, trusting to return for it later, and to make
his escape in the meantime.

All this, however,