Mahdi,
however, did not cease to smile.

"But," he said, "you are at the fountain of truth. Do you want to drink
at that fountain?"

A moment of silence followed; so the Mahdi, thinking the boy did not
understand the question, repeated it more plainly.

"Do you desire to accept my doctrines?"

To this Stas imperceptibly made a sign of the holy cross with his hand
which he held at his breast, as though he was about to leap from a
sinking ship into a watery chaos.

"Prophet," he said, "your doctrines I do not know; therefore if I
accepted them, I would do it out of fear like a coward and a base man.
Are you anxious that your faith should be professed by cowards and base
people?"

And speaking thus he looked steadfastly in the eyes of the Mahdi. It
became so quiet that only the buzz of flies could be heard. But at the
same time something extraordinary had happened. The Mahdi became
confused, and for the nonce did not know what reply to make. The smile
vanished from his face, on which was reflected perplexity and
displeasure. He stretched out his hand, took hold of the gourd, filled
it with water and honey, and began to drink, but obviously only to gain
time and to conceal his confusion.

And the brave boy, a worthy descendant of the defenders of
Christianity, of the true blood of the victors at Khoczim and Vienna,
stood with upraised head, awaiting his doom. On his emaciated cheeks,
tanned by the desert winds, bloomed bright blushes, his eyes glittered,
and his body quivered with the thrill of ardor. "All others," he
soliloquized, "accepted his doctrines, but I have denied neither my
faith nor my soul." And fear before what might and was to follow at
that moment was subdued in his heart, and joy and pride overflowed it.

In the meantime the Mahdi replaced the gourd and asked:

"So, you reject my doctrines?"

"I am a Christian like my father."

"Whoever closes his eyes to the voice of God," said the Mahdi slowly in
a changed voice, "is only fuel for the flames."

At this the caliph Abdullahi, notorious for his ferocity and cruelty,
displayed his white teeth like a savage animal and spoke out:

"The speech of this boy is insolent; therefore punish him, lord, or
permit me to punish him."

"It has happened!" Stas thought.

But the Mahdi always desired that the fame of his mercy should spread
not only among the dervishes but over the whole world; therefore he
thought that a too severe sentence, particularly