to anyone who should bring them Mahomet alive or dead.

Divers accounts are given of the mode in which Mahomet made his escape
from the house after the faithful Ali had wrapped himself in his mantle
and taken his place upon the couch. The most miraculous account is, that
he opened the door silently, as the Koreishites stood before it, and,
scattering a handful of dust in the air, cast such blindness upon them
that he walked through the midst of them without being perceived. This,
it is added, is confirmed by the verse of the thirtieth chapter of the
_Koran_: "We have thrown blindness upon them, that they shall not see."
The most probable account is that he clambered over the wall in the rear
of the house, by the help of a servant, who bent his back for him to
step upon it.[50]

He repaired immediately to the house of Abu-Bekr, and they arranged for
instant flight. It was agreed that they should take refuge in a cave in
Mount Thor, about an hour's distance from Mecca, and wait there until
they could proceed safely to Medina; and in the mean time the children
of Abu-Bekr should secretly bring them food. They left Mecca while it
was yet dark, making their way on foot by the light of the stars, and
the day dawned as they found themselves at the foot of Mount Thor.
Scarce were they within the cave when they heard the sound of pursuit.
Abu-Bekr, though a brave man, quaked with fear.

"Our pursuers," said he, "are many, and we are but two."

"Nay," replied Mahomet, "there is a third; God is with us!"

And here the Moslem writers relate a miracle, dear to the minds of all
true believers. By the time, say they, that the Koreishites reached the
mouth of the cavern, an acacia-tree had sprung up before it, in the
spreading branches of which a pigeon had made its nest and laid its
eggs, and over the whole a spider had woven its web. When the
Koreishites beheld these signs of undisturbed quiet, they concluded that
no one could recently have entered the cavern; so they turned away, and
pursued their search in another direction.

Whether protected by miracle or not, the fugitives remained for three
days undiscovered in the cave, and Asama, the daughter of Abu-Bekr,
brought them food in the dusk of the evenings.

On the fourth day, when they presumed the ardor of pursuit had abated,
the fugitives ventured forth, and set out for Medina, on camels which a
servant of Abu-Bekr had brought in the night for them. Avoiding the main
road