any of my dainties,
contenting himself with stale bread, dried dates, and water. After this
meal we sat alone by the smouldering fire, the magnificent arch of the
heavens above us of that deep, rich blue with those gleaming, clear-cut
stars which can only be seen in that dry desert air. Our camp lay before
us, and no sound reached our ears save the dull murmur of the voices
of our companions and the occasional shrill cry of a jackal among the
sandhills around us. Face to face I sat with this strange man, the glow
of the fire beating upon his eager and imperious features and reflecting
from his passionate eyes. It was the strangest vigil, and one which will
never pass from my recollection. I have spoken with many wise and famous
men upon my travels, but never with one who left the impression of this
one.

"And yet much of his talk was unintelligible to me, though, as you are
aware, I speak Arabian like an Arab. It rose and fell in the strangest
way. Sometimes it was the babble of a child, sometimes the incoherent
raving of a fanatic, sometimes the lofty dreams of a prophet and
philosopher. There were times when his stories of demons, of miracles,
of dreams, and of omens, were such as an old woman might tell to please
the children of an evening. There were others when, as he talked with
shining face of his converse with angels, of the intentions of the
Creator, and the end of the universe, I felt as if I were in the
company of some one more than mortal, some one who was indeed the direct
messenger of the Most High.

"There were good reasons why he should treat me with such confidence. He
saw in me a messenger to Constantinople and to the Roman Empire. Even as
Saint Paul had brought Christianity to Europe, so he hoped that I might
carry his doctrines to my native city. Alas! be the doctrines what they
may, I fear that I am not the stuff of which Pauls are made. Yet he
strove with all his heart during that long Arabian night to bring me
over to his belief. He had with him a holy book, written, as he said,
from the dictation of an angel, which he carried in tablets of bone in
the nose-bag of a camel. Some chapters of this he read me; but, though
the precepts were usually good, the language seemed wild and fanciful.
There were times when I could scarce keep my countenance as I listened
to him. He planned out his future movements, and indeed, as he spoke,
it was hard to remember that he was only the wandering leader of an Ara