his wives and sat up on the cot. Idris, Gebhr, and the two
Bedouins fell on their faces and afterwards knelt with hands crossed on
their breasts. The Greek beckoned to Stas to do the same, but the boy,
pretending not to see the gesture, only bowed and remained standing
erect. His face was pale, but his eyes shone strongly and from his
whole posture and head, haughtily upraised, from his tightly compressed
lips it could easily be seen that something had taken an ascendancy
over him, that uncertainty and fear had passed away, that he had
adopted an inflexible resolution from which he would not recede for
anything. The Greek evidently understood this, as great uneasiness was
reflected on his features. The Mahdi observed both children with a
fleeting glance, brightened his fat face with his customary smile,
after which he first addressed Idris and Gebhr:

"You came from the distant north," he said.

Idris struck the ground with his forehead.

"Yes, oh Mahdi! We belong to the tribe of Dongola; therefore we
abandoned our homes in Fayum in order to kneel at your blessed feet."

"I beheld you in the desert. That was a terrible journey but I sent an
angel to guard and shield you from death at the hands of the infidels.
You did not see this, but he watched over you."

"Thanks to thee, Redeemer."

"And you brought those children to Smain to exchange them for his own,
that the Turks imprisoned together with Fatma in Port Said."

"Thee we desired to serve."

"Whoever serves me serves his own salvation; therefore you have opened
for yourselves the path to paradise. Fatma is my relative. But verily I
say unto you that when we subjugate the whole of Egypt, then my
relative and her posterity will anyway regain liberty."

"And therefore do with these children whatever thou desirest--oh
blessed one."

The Mahdi closed his eyelids, after which he opened them, smiling
kindly, and nodded at Stas.

"Approach, boy."

Stas advanced a few paces with an energetic, as if soldierly, stride;
he bowed a second time after which he straightened as a chord and,
looking straight into the Mahdi's eyes, waited.

"Are you delighted that you came to me?" the Mahdi asked.

"No, prophet. We were abducted in spite of our wills from our parents."

This plain answer created a certain sensation upon the ruler accustomed
to flattery, and upon those present. Caliph Abdullahi frowned, the
Greek gnawed his mustache, and began to wring his hands. The