by
their passing through the air so rapidly.

It was not until after an hour of this portentous motion, and when all
human pursuit was far, far behind, that the Hakim at length relaxed his
speed, and, slackening the pace of the horses into a hand-gallop, began,
in a voice as composed and even as if he had been walking for the last
hour, a descant upon the excellence of his coursers to the Scot, who,
breathless, half blind, half deaf, and altogether giddy; from the
rapidity of this singular ride, hardly comprehended the words which
flowed so freely from his companion.

"These horses," he said, "are of the breed called the Winged, equal in
speed to aught excepting the Borak of the Prophet. They are fed on the
golden barley of Yemen, mixed with spices and with a small portion of
dried sheep's flesh. Kings have given provinces to possess them, and
their age is active as their youth. Thou, Nazarene, art the first, save
a true believer, that ever had beneath his loins one of this noble
race, a gift of the Prophet himself to the blessed Ali, his kinsman and
lieutenant, well called the Lion of God. Time lays his touch so lightly
on these generous steeds, that the mare on which thou now sittest has
seen five times five years pass over her, yet retains her pristine speed
and vigour, only that in the career the support of a bridle, managed by
a hand more experienced than thine, hath now become necessary. May the
Prophet be blessed, who hath bestowed on the true believers the means of
advance and retreat, which causeth their iron-clothed enemies to be
worn out with their own ponderous weight! How the horses of yonder dog
Templars must have snorted and blown, when they had toiled fetlock-deep
in the desert for one-twentieth part of the space which these brave
steeds have left behind them, without one thick pant, or a drop of
moisture upon their sleek and velvet coats!"

The Scottish knight, who had now begun to recover his breath and powers
of attention, could not help acknowledging in his heart the advantage
possessed by these Eastern warriors in a race of animals, alike proper
for advance or retreat, and so admirably adapted to the level and sandy
deserts of Arabia and Syria. But he did not choose to augment the pride
of the Moslem by acquiescing in his proud claim of superiority, and
therefore suffered the conversation to drop, and, looking around him,
could now, at the more moderate pace at which they moved, distinguish
that