“ ‘Sir,’ he whispered hurriedly, ‘my request is not only impertinent but extraordinary. I know that you will not understand it. I can only implore Heaven for a miracle. My time is very short. I know not how far my pursuers may be. My life is dear to me and still dearer is my honour. The night is falling. Here is my opportunity, which, if I do not take, all is over with me.’
“He thereupon passed up to me a leather bag upon opening which I could see in the fading light a quantity of gold pieces, and he accompanied the gesture with so imploring a look as explained the vastness of his offer.
“Had I passed through any series of adventures less astonishing than those of the last day and night, I would not have listened for a moment to a first proposal. I would have attempted, as was indeed my duty, to raise his price, to obtain immediately some of his apparel as well as his purse; and if possible a written promise of further payment as well. For he was distraught with fear and men in that condition are easily squeezed. But the rate at which I had been living, the perpetual succession, first of unfortunate and then of fortunate accidents, showed the manifest finger of God in all that had so far favoured me since the morning, and strangely convinced me. Without another word I took the bag of gold and dismounted.
“The young man, with a new expression such as I had never yet seen upon anyone’s face, said not a word, no, not even of gratitude to his benefactor; turned the horse’s head down the main street of the town, wisely refraining from too rapid an exit lest his passage should be remembered, and went at no more than a sharp trot through the gate into the falling darkness without. The last I saw of him he appeared, a dark figure rapidly dwindling against the darkening sky, framed in the tiled horseshoe of the Bab-El-Soued. … But even as I gazed a troop of mounted horsemen thundered past me and passed through that same gate into the night.
“For my part I thought no more of him, but turned back to the centre of the town. There I was, with three times the price of my horse in my pocket, and thus with solid ground on which to stand for the future.
“My first care was to make an excellent meal, my next to discover a good lodging for the night. In both I was fortunate. But before reciting my last evening prayers I took the precaution of informing a passing patrol that I had had a horse stolen from me; for, in business, no opportunity should be neglected. I then recommended myself to the Divine protection and fell into a sweet repose.
“Next morning, after I had humbly and devoutly recited my early prayers, I thought I would, before proceeding to any lucrative task, divert myself a little so that I might later approach serious business with a more open mind.
“It is my custom, when I am in need of recreation from the cares of commerce, to frequent the criminal courts and to attend the sentences passed upon those brought before them, as well as to be a spectator of the ensuing executions. No pastime affords greater relief from the dull, everyday round of buying and selling; while the contrast between one’s own pleasant position and that of the pauper who is to be beheaded, adds a zest which I recommend to all men of affairs.
“I strolled, therefore, to the court in which I had heard that certain criminals were to be that morning briefly examined and presumably dispatched.
“Great was my surprise upon entering to find that I had come just in time to hear the last evidence given and sentence pronounced upon the same young man who had so imprudently bought my horse the night before! Did I say ‘imprudently’?—Well! The designs of Providence are hidden from us, and it is not for me to judge another! … While I pitied him, therefore, I had nothing to reproach myself with, for I had fulfilled in the most honourable fashion the only contract with which I was concerned in the matter. The pursuers had arrested him before he had left the city more than a mile. He stood accused of eating dates: a practice (you will remember) forbidden throughout all those dominions. He had been seen in the act by the Sultan’s officers a week before and his name and description had been sent round to every city. Indeed a troop was hot upon his trail at the moment he had come up the night before imploring for my mount. Sentence was pronounced, and the unfortunate young man was led out to execution.
“My natural love of such sights would have led me to follow him, when one more act of Heaven (I dare not ascribe the inspiration to my poor unaided soul) suddenly put an exceedingly valuable thought into my mind. I addressed the judge in a loud voice, complaining in the matter of my horse. At first he was disturbed and inclined to silence me, not understanding what plea I could have in this particular case; but I made bold to arrest his attention and told him that the evidence I had chanced to hear proved clearly that the horse on which the unfortunate young man had tried to escape was one stolen from me but a few hours before. This I was prepared to prove. The officers of the court were examined and admitted my description to be exact as to the horse, and, what was a clinching piece of evidence, as to the details of the saddle, the workmanship of which they had noted.
“I informed the judge further that I had ridden into the town the evening before. I was prepared
