ich he
habitually supported himself, were found a few miles distant from
Aleppo, near the roadside. There appeared no doubt that he, too, had
been murdered, but his corpse could not be discovered. Sir Philip Derval
had been a loving disciple of this Sage of Aleppo, to whom he assured me
he owed not only that knowledge of medicine which, by report, Sir
Philip possessed, but the insight into various truths of nature, on the
promulgation of which, it was evident, Sir Philip cherished the ambition
to found a philosophical celebrity for himself."

"Of what description were those truths of nature?" I asked, somewhat
sarcastically.

"Sir, I am unable to tell you, for Sir Philip did not inform me, nor
did I much care to ask; for what may be revered as truths in Asia are
usually despised as dreams in Europe. To return to my story: Sir
Philip had been in Aleppo a little time before the murder; had left the
Englishman under the care of Haroun. He returned to Aleppo on hearing
the tragic events I have related, and was busy in collecting such
evidence as could be gleaned, and instituting inquiries after our
missing countryman at the time I myself chanced to arrive in the city.
I assisted in his researches, but without avail. The assassins remained
undiscovered. I do not myself doubt that they were mere vulgar robbers.
Sir Philip had a darker suspicion of which he made no secret to me; but
as I confess that I thought the suspicion groundless, you will pardon
me if I do not repeat it. Whether since I left the East the Englishman's
remains have been discovered, I know not. Very probably; for I
understand that his heirs have got hold of what fortune he left,--less
than was generally supposed. But it was reported that he had buried
great treasures, a rumour, however absurd, not altogether inconsistent
with his character."

"What was his character?" asked Mrs. Poyntz.

"One of evil and sinister repute. He was regarded with terror by the
attendants who had accompanied him to Aleppo. But he had lived in a
very remote part of the East, little known to Europeans, and, from all I
could learn, had there established an extraordinary power, strengthened
by superstitious awe. He was said to have studied deeply that knowledge
which the philosophers of old called 'occult,' not, like the Sage
of Aleppo, for benevolent, but for malignant ends. He was accused of
conferring with evil spirits, and filling his barbaric court (for
he lived in a kind o