ther the lute nor the little that
remained in that Ksarah bottle, could bring us any solace.

We are told that Khalid took up his lute but once throughout the
voyage. And this when they were permitted one night to sleep on deck.
We are also informed that Khalid had a remarkable dream, which, to our
Scribe at least, is not meaningless. And who of us, thou silly Scribe,
did not in his boyhood tell his dreams to his mother, who would turn
them in her interpretation inside out? But Khalid, we are assured,
continued to cherish the belief, even in his riper days, that when you
dream you are in Jannat, for instance, you must be prepared to go
through Juhannam the following day. A method of interpretation as
ancient as Joseph, to be sure. But we quote the dream to show that
Khalid should not have followed the setting sun. He should have turned
his face toward the desert.

They slept on deck that night. They drank the wine of the Jesuits,
repeated, to the mellow strains of the lute, the song of the bulbuls,
intoned the verses of Al-Mutanabbi, and, wrapping themselves in their
rugs, fell asleep. But in the morning they were rudely jostled from
their dreams by a spurt from the hose of the sailors washing the deck.
Complaining not, they straggle down to their bunks to change their
clothes. And Khalid, as he is doing this, implores Shakib not to
mention to him any more that New-World paradise. "For I have dreamt
last night," he continues, "that, in the multicoloured robes of an
Arab amir, on a caparisoned dromedary, at the head of an immense
multitude of people, I was riding through the desert. Whereto and
wherefrom, I know not. But those who followed me seemed to know; for
they cried, 'Long have we waited for thee, now we shall enter in
peace.' And at every oasis we passed, the people came to the gate to
meet us, and, prostrating themselves before me, kissed the fringe of
my garment. Even the women would touch my boots and kiss their hands,
exclaiming, '_Allahu akbar!_' And the palm trees, billah! I could see
bending towards us that we might eat of their fruits, and the springs
seemed to flow with us into the desert that we might never thirst. Ay,
thus in triumph we marched from one camp to another, from one oasis to
the next, until we reached the City on the Hills of the Cedar Groves.
Outside the gate, we were met by the most beautiful of its tawny
women, and four of these surrounded my camel and took the reins from
my hand. I w