e of carving visible--all showing that the
Turk's quarry was the ruined Roman city, which offered an almost
inexhaustible supply.

These little estates were either just above the river, perched on one
side, or so arranged that the stream ran right through the grounds,
rippling amongst velvety grass lawns, overshadowed by great walnuts,
with mulberry and plum trees in abundance.

"Hi, stop a moment," cried Mr Burne, as they reached one beautiful
clump of trees, quite a grove, whose leaves were waving in the soft
mountain-breeze.

"What have you found?" said the professor, as Lawrence hurried up.

"That, sir, that," cried Mr Burne. "See these trees."

"Yes," said the professor, "a magnificent clump of planes--what a huge
size!"

"Exactly," said the old lawyer. "Now, do you see what that proves?"

"What--the presence of those trees?"

"Yes, sir," said the old lawyer dogmatically. "They show, sir, that the
Turk is a much-abused man. People say that he never advances, but you
see he does."

"How?" said the professor, "by being too lazy to quarry stone or marble
in these mountains, where they abound, and building his house out of the
edifices raised by better men?"

"No, sir; by following our example, importing from us, and planting
walnut-trees and these magnificent planes all about his place. Look at
these! Why, I could almost fancy myself in Gray's Inn Gardens."

"My dear Burne, are you serious?"

"Serious, sir? Never more so in my life. They are beautiful."

"Yes, they are very beautiful," said the professor drily. "But I always
thought that these trees were the natives of this country, and that
instead of the Turks imitating us, we had seen the beauty of these
trees, and transplanted some of them when young to our own land."

"Absurd!" said the old lawyer dictatorially, and he was about to say
more when Yussuf stopped at a rough kind of inclosure, where a Turk was
seated upon the grass beneath a shady tree smoking thoughtfully, and
apparently paying no heed to the new-comers.

"The horses are here," he said; and upon being spoken to, the Turk rose,
laid aside his pipe, and bowed.

It was not a long business, for Yussuf and the owner of the horses were
compatriots, but Lawrence stared at the animals in dismay when he
followed his companions into the inclosure. He had pictured to himself
so many lovely flowing-maned creatures of Arab descent, large-eyed, wide
of nostril, and with arched necks,