eed us to some remote point in the
Caucasus, where we may abide the unravelling of this web securely, one
way or the other way. 'Tis my counsel, O Noorna.'

Then she, 'Abandon my betrothed? and betray him on the very stroke of the
Sword? and diminish him by a withdrawal of that faith in his right wrist
which strengtheneth it more than Karavejis and Veejravoosh wound round it
in coils?' And she leaned her head, and cried, 'Hark! hear'st thou?
there's shouting in the streets of Shiraz and of Shagpat! Shall we merit
the punishment of Shahpesh the Persian on Khipil the builder, while the
Event is mastering? I'll mark this interview between Baba Mustapha and
Shagpat; and do thou, O my father, rest here on this roof till the King's
guard of horsemen and soldiers of the law come hither for thee, and go
with them sedately, fearing nought, for I shall be by thee in the garb of
an old woman; and preserve thy composure in the presence of the King and
Shagpat exalted, and allow not the thing that happeneth let fly from thee
the shaft of speech, but remain a slackened bow till the strength of my
betrothed is testified, fearing nought, for fear is that which defeateth
men, and 'tis declared in a distich,--

"The strongest weapon one can see
In mortal hands is constancy."

And for us to flee now would rank us with that King described by the
poet:

"A king of Ind there was who fought a fight
From the first gleam of morn till fall of night;
But when the royal tent his generals sought,
Proclaiming victory, fled was he who fought.
Despair possessed them, till they chanced to spy
A Dervish that paced on with downward eye;
They questioned of the King; he answer'd slow,
'Ye fought but one, the King a double, foe."'

And, O my father, they interpreted of this that the King had been
vanquished, he that was victor, by the phantom army of his fears.'

Now, the Vizier cried, 'Be the will of Allah achieved and consummated!'
and he was silenced by her wisdom and urgency, and sat where he was,
diverting not the arch on his brow from its settled furrow. He was as one
that thirsteth, and whose eye hath marked a snake of swift poison by the
water, so thirsted he for the Event, yet hung with dread from advancing;
but Noorna bin Noorka busied herself about the roof, drawing circles to
witness the track of an enemy, and she clapped her hands and cried,
'Luloo!' and lo, a fair slave-girl that came t