“And, alas, so they had! or at least as many as the king of that region could command. …
“For this was the explanation. …”
Here the old man’s eyes grew dim with tears, his voice faltered, and in spite of his present riches he broke down at the recollection of his past ill-fortune.
“Oh, my dear nephews,” he said in broken accents, “hardly will you believe the magnitude of my misfortune! For it turned out, as I eagerly questioned the people of the place, that a war having broken out against their king on account of the Date Prohibition of which I have told you, that ruthless monarch had ordered them to collect as best they might so many thousands of camels to be present within the walls by noon of that day, or suffer massacre. If the full tale were not present every man, woman, and child would be killed. For he had been suddenly alarmed by this declaration of war and caught with an insufficient provision of sumpter beasts. His Emirs had advised him that his salvation lay in seizing without payment every beast for leagues around.
“In proportion as my soul sank so did the hearts of the townsmen rise, to see the number gradually fulfilled. By noon all was well for them—but very ill for me! The officers of the king arrived, the beasts were counted and set apart, with not an ounce of copper to pay for any one of them! All seized! And my poor herd, alone and in that vast multitude, suffered the fate of all the rest, and, what was worse, every one of my slaves—all were taken off to serve as drivers.
“There in a far land, alone, I stood, with not a gold piece left in my pouch and not a head of cattle to my name; once more quite destitute.
“I spent the remainder of that day debating whether to hang myself on a beam or throw myself from a minaret. The arguments in favour of either course were so evenly balanced that the sun set before I could decide between them, and even at sunset there appeared, through the Mercy of Allah, a new relief.”
“There did?” said the second of the nephews eagerly, but before his uncle could reply the intolerable noise of the muezzin was heard and the boys, rising at the signal, bowed low to their uncle and were gone.
X
Al-Hisān, or “The Horse”
When the nephews of Mahmoud once again attended their uncle at the hour of public executions he gazed at them in his benevolent fashion, again stroking his long beard, the better to expose the jewels upon his fingers, and continued the tale of his fortunes.
“You left me, my dear children, at the end of my last recital in a very deplorable condition. You will remember that through the superior business ability of a merchant renowned for his organizing power, grasp of detail, sense of affairs, etc., etc., etc., I had been reduced in property to a few camels and their attendants, and that even this poor remainder of my fortune I had lost through a miscalculation of the camel market on the eve of war.
“Your filial affection will also recall the bitter mood in which I hesitated whether to precipitate myself from a minaret or to hang myself from a beam.
“Advantages and disadvantages appeared equally balanced between these two courses; and though my long training in commerce had led me to make rapid decisions (as being the most certain way of forestalling competitors), yet I confess that in this debate I stood uncertain for nearly half an hour.
“It was well I did so; for in that half-hour was manifested in a triumphant manner the Mercy of Allah to them that fear Him.
“As I stood there, among strangers, without one single coin left in the world and utterly devoid of credit, with no knowledge even of how I should get food upon the following day, I heard cries and a confusion of horses’ hoofs, and saw galloping down the street towards me a very finely-bred grey horse, with flowing mane and a loose bridle. It bore a noble saddle of Indian workmanship, but no rider; while, some hundreds yards behind, impotently ran and gesticulated a corpulent man who, from his dress, seemed of some wealth and consequence. My first instinct was to catch the runaway like any beggar and restore him to his master in hope of some small reward; a few pence that might buy me food that evening and lodging for one night.
“But the beneficent Creator soon put other thoughts into the mind of his servant. I had caught the horse indeed. Its panting owner had slackened his pace and was coming towards me in a more dignified manner—when it struck me that the animal (which was restive) could be better controlled were I in the saddle.
“I am, my dear nephews, as I have told you three times, no horseman. My more habitual steed is the donkey and though I have, since my attainment to high rank, taken part in ceremonial processions, and even in the hunting to which His Majesty so kindly invites me, yet I must confess to you that whenever I have to ride now I take care to be provided with an animal not only trained in the most exact manner, but also previously soothed with drugs.
“I had, however, taken to the saddle when necessity drove me, as you have seen. And on this occasion, although the
