"And next day would come the poorer men who had laid nothing by, and
had made no bargain over hangings and sunsets; and they would ask for
a share of your land, and a camel and a foal each, and you would not
be able ever to see a sunset again but must wander about the world, and
your pretty wife with you to help you share everything with others.--Let
us abide by the old order, my Rustem, and may the Most High preserve you
your good heart, for you have but a foolish and crotchety head."

The big man bent over his master and gratefully kissed his arm; at this
moment the guide rejoined them, but with a long face for he had promised
more than he could perform. The Mukaukas George had set out--a quite
unheard of event--for an excursion on the river in his barge, with
his son and the ladies of the house just as he was hoping to secure an
audience for the Arab. Orion's return--the steward had explained--had
made the old man quite young again. Haschim must now wait till the
morrow, and he, the guide, would counsel him to pass the night in the
city at an inn kept by one Moschion, where he would be well cared for.

But the merchant preferred to remain where he was. He did not care
about the delay, more particularly as he wished to consult an Egyptian
physician with regard to an old standing complaint he suffered from,
and there was no more skilful or learned leech in the whole land, the
Egyptian guide assured him, than the famous Philip of Memphis. The
situation here, outside the town, was very pleasant, and from the
river's bank he might observe the comet which had been visible for some
nights past--a portent of evil no doubt. The natives of the city
had been paralysed with terror; that indeed was evident even here in
Nesptah's caravansary, for usually as the evening grew cool, the tables
and benches under the palms were crowded with guests; but who would care
to think of enjoyment in those days of dread?

So he remounted his ass to fetch the physician, while old Haschim,
leaning on the Masdakite's arm, betook himself to a bench by the river.
There he sat gazing thoughtfully at the starry sky, and his companion
dreamed of home and of buying a meadow, even without the price of the
gorgeous hanging, of building a house, and of choosing a pretty little
wife to manage it. Should she be fair or dark? He would rather she
should be fair.

But his castle in the air was shattered at this point, for an object was
approaching across t