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 Hassan : a Fellah
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 A Romance of Palestine 
 
 By 
 
 Henry Gillman 
 
 Author of " Marked for Life," " The Ancient Men 
 of the Great Lakes," etc. 
 
 Boston 
 Little, Brown, and Company 
 
 1898
 
 Copyright, 1898, 
 BY HENRY GILLMAN. 
 
 rights reserved. 
 
 JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED 
 
 BY PERMISSION 
 TO 
 
 HE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE, LL.D. 
 THE SCHOLAR, THE STATESMAN, THE ORATOR.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 I SHALL wait till she returns," he said. "My 
 hope is as the first-fruits in harvest. My 
 heart is lifted up for joy because of her. Surely love 
 comes of its own accord ! How can a man help it? 
 Who shall say it nay?" And he settled himself with 
 a complacent air under the shelter of a great rock, in a 
 position from which he could watch his sheep while they 
 cropped the early and still meagre herbage of the hillside. 
 
 Below, in the hollow of the valley, was the principal 
 well of the village, to which the women, from long dis 
 tances, came to draw water; for the well was noted for 
 the abundance and purity of its supply of the precious 
 liquid. And the words which the stalwart young shep 
 herd had spoken to himself had reference to a childlike 
 girl who had just tripped by, with nicely-balanced kulleh, 
 or water-jar, on head, on her way to the ain, or fountain. 
 
 The young man, Hassan, his shepherd s crook in his 
 hand, sat partly in the shade of the rock, partly in the 
 clear penetrating blaze of the Palestine sun, and, except 
 that he was of unusually noble stature, was a perfect type 
 of the native fellah or peasant. 
 
 He had not quite completed his eighteenth year, and 
 was as handsome, after his kind, as he well could be. 
 The single scanty garment of the country, of coarse 
 white cotton, clung here and there to him, barely saving 
 him from the divine nudity of a Greek statue. On the 
 right side the polished round of the shoulder protruded; 
 and from there, downward, over the well-turned flank and 
 thigh, to the tip of the toe, the full sweep of his contour 
 was absolutely beyond criticism.
 
 2 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 It gladdened the heart to see so much perfection in a 
 man. 
 
 The almost uniform equality of the fine bronze of his 
 skin told of his habitual disregard of dress. His head, 
 for the time being without any other covering than its 
 thickly-clustering raven-black hair, was bent slightly 
 forward, the chin resting on his right hand. His dark 
 hazel eyes looked out confidently from under the pair 
 of strongly accentuated curves narrow black dashes 
 that formed his brows, and which seemed like marks 
 of attention inviting to the inspection of his beauty. 
 
 The dress, doubtless, was similar to that worn by 
 David as he kept the sheep of his father Jesse a dress 
 sanctioned by the usage of scores upon scores of genera 
 tions of the men of the country. To-day the unbreeched 
 peasant of Palestine, free of all constraint, immodestly 
 innocent of all shame in his state of semi-nudity, goes his 
 way in unconfined liberty of heart and limb, wearing the 
 vesture that Abraham wore, and with the motion and 
 action of a lord of creation. Habit and custom are 
 everything; and no offence is taken where none is 
 meant. 
 
 No raiment, to be dress at all, could certainly be less 
 conventional. But it had its advantages. It was suited 
 to the climate and the people, and its very simplicity 
 made it graceful, and permitted full and wholesome 
 ventilation of all parts of the body. Its longest sweep 
 reached little below the knee; and, as occasion required, 
 it could be tucked up and rendered much shorter. If 
 it had the stains of the outdoor life upon it, the odour 
 of the pasture also clung about it; and, as old Isaac 
 said, it had " the smell of a field which the Lord hath 
 blessed." 
 
 For cold weather, and morning and evening wear, was 
 the heavy brown and white striped abai, woven of camel s 
 or goat s hair. This was waterproof, and a perfect pro 
 tection from the storm ; and, wrapped in it, a man could 
 sleep comfortably out-of-doors all night. And peasants, 
 and especially shepherds, as the season demanded, also 
 often might be seen in a short coat or jacket formed of 
 sheepskin, the woolly side turned in or next the body.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 3 
 
 It was plain that Hassan s attention was more than 
 divided from the care of his sheep by his interest in the 
 young girl. He watched her every motion with appre 
 ciative glance and an earnest feeling that was not the 
 growth of a day. Frequently, on other occasions, had 
 he followed her with ardent gaze, and finding out the 
 hours at which she was wont to pass by, of late had 
 managed to pasture his sheep, at such times, near to 
 the way she went. 
 
 So far, he had not ventured to speak to her ; though, 
 more than once, he had made up his mind to the act. 
 
 Even a simple peasant has a peculiar reserve, shame- 
 facedness, or diffidence under such circumstances ; and 
 the habits and customs of the land, even in the country 
 parts, are not friendly to very familiar intercourse on the 
 part of the opposite sexes. 
 
 With the Moslem in cities, and among the Turks, of 
 course, nothing of the kind is ever permitted ; a man 
 not even being allowed to see his wife till the night of 
 the wedding, or the morning after their marriage. 
 
 That this last is the prevailing custom in the Orient, 
 is well known ; and how long it has kept a foothold 
 there is fully attested by the story of Jacob and Leah, 
 and the sharp practice of Laban on the wedding night. 
 But the peasant in his village has, under certain limits 
 and restraints, much greater freedom in this respect, and 
 from necessity ; the seclusion of women, as practised in 
 cities and towns, being out of the question in the country. 
 Neither do the women go with face veiled in the latter, 
 as they invariably do in the former. A common saying 
 with the men, who do not mince matters in expressing 
 themselves on the subject, is : " How does anybody 
 know whether the thing which is behind the curtain 
 be handsome or ugly?" which sufficiently explains 
 their position. 
 
 However, in the case of Hassan, the young shepherd, 
 there existed other reasons of restraining influence. 
 
 The girl resided in a village only a short distance from 
 his ; but between the two villages had existed, from time 
 immemorial, a blood-feud which, though it had had its 
 origin in a cause long since forgotten, still perpetuated
 
 4 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 itself in many dissentient customs and a general unfriendly 
 feeling between the communities. Intermarriage was 
 prohibited, and whenever, under some peculiar circum 
 stances, such an event took place, it was made the occa 
 sion to stir up, from the very depths, the old rancour and 
 its antiquated observances. 
 
 Of late years, it must be admitted, there had been, to a 
 certain extent, a relenting from the worst phases of the 
 senseless enmity. But that it should be altogether laid 
 aside was not to be thought of. There is a cruel ad 
 herence to custom in the Orient, which is scarcely to be 
 believed by those who never have resided there. 
 
 Hassan had not inaptly been called " the handsome 
 young giant." This grand young man, of noble form 
 and mien, physically a masterpiece, and in the full per 
 fection of his manhood while yet in his eighteenth year, 
 was a descendant of those tall Canaanites of the hill- 
 country, who, in the days of the Hebrew invasion of 
 the land, struck such terror into the hearts of the chil 
 dren of Israel. He was a son of Anak, though the fact 
 had been unknown to him and to those among whom 
 he dwelt, lost in the misty trackless past. 
 
 "Who can stand before the children of Anak? " It 
 had become a proverb more than three thousand years 
 ago. They were described as giants ; and the nomadic 
 Hebrews, though toughened from their forty years of 
 wandering in the wilderness, had wept cowardly tears 
 as they shuddered at the thought of encountering those 
 high and mighty men of the hills. 
 
 " The people is taller and greater than we," they 
 cried, and they wanted to turn back into Egypt. " We 
 have seen the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of 
 the giants : and we were in our own sight as grass 
 hoppers, and so we were in their sight." 
 
 It was a strange coincidence that an Englishman, a 
 traveller of note, who had met Hassan while yet a lad, 
 and was attracted by his tall stature and fine build, un 
 usual in one of his age, had called him " a son of 
 Anak " and given him the name of Talmai, with refer 
 ence to the individual of that name, who, at the time of 
 the visit of Caleb and the Spies, was a chief or prince
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 5 
 
 of the Anakim, living near Hebron, and nigh to the 
 Brook Eshcol, which was even then, as we know, cele 
 brated for the superior quality of its grapes, figs, and 
 pomegranates, as it is unto this day. 
 
 As in the case of many other usages, certain names 
 have a decided permanency among certain tribes of the 
 people of Palestine ; and the Englishman, aware of this, 
 and observing that Hassan smiled, saying he liked the 
 name well, for it had been his father s and his father s 
 father s name, made direct investigations. He found, 
 among other interesting facts, that Hassan and his 
 people were from the hill-country, not far from Hebron, 
 which stimulated further research, the result being 
 that he finally became fully persuaded in his own mind 
 that the lusty youth was a descendant of the Anakim. 
 
 True, the ancient record states, as he was aware, that 
 the Anakim were cut off utterly in the mountains of 
 Judah, on the incoming of the Israelites. But he con 
 sidered all such sweeping statements must be taken with 
 a grain of salt require qualification ; and Gaza, Gath, 
 and Ashdod are particularly excepted from the exter 
 mination. Now Gath, the City of Giants, was in the 
 hill-country, and nearly four hundred years after this 
 extermination was still the abode of the Philistines, and 
 sent out, to defy Israel, a notable giant in the person of 
 Goliath, whom David slew. Moreover, subsequently, 
 did not King David take as one of his many wives the 
 daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, who bore him his 
 handsome, faithless, but well-beloved son Absalom? 
 
 It, however, must be added that Hassan gave little 
 heed to anything of this, as connected with himself, re 
 garding the matter with almost sublime indifference. 
 
 As the girl, on her return from the ain, approached, 
 bearing on her shoulder the heavy water-jar, Hassan 
 arose and stood upright, filled with the determination 
 he had formed to speak to her. 
 
 It was an impulse he could no longer resist. Day 
 after day it had grown upon him ; and now, with the 
 fatalism of the East, he felt the time had come. Ad 
 vancing a few steps to meet her, he waited by the path 
 way where she must pass.
 
 6 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 He had resumed his head-covering, a tarboosh of some 
 what faded crimson with blue silk tassel, and surrpunded 
 with turban-like cloth of white, banded with stripes of a 
 dead-gold colour. 
 
 It was astonishing to one unaccustomed to it to see 
 the ease and rapidity with which he wound this cloth 
 into the turban shape around his head. A few deft 
 turns of the hand, and it was done, the end passed be 
 neath the folds securing all in place. 
 
 Standing thus, ready to receive her, his crook resting 
 against his sho-ulder, he must have presented a strong 
 likeness to the youth of fair countenance, afterwards 
 known as the shepherd-king, and the man after God s 
 own heart, the sweet singer of Israel, who so many 
 centuries ago had tended sheep on these very mountain 
 sides, and who was the result of more than one inter 
 marriage with the people of the land. 
 
 The fresh breeze, rushing through the valley and up 
 the slopes, no respecter of persons, and no aider and 
 abetter of prudery, at each gust, lightly swept aside his 
 loosely-hanging raiment, more fully revealing his per 
 fect form. He had thrust his feet into his sandal-like 
 slippers, as a protection from the sharp stones. How 
 large and lustrous his eyes looked ! How bright the red 
 of his full lips, beneath his dark mustache ! His crispy, 
 almost wiry hair, a characteristic of the -people, was now 
 concealed beneath his tarboosh, all but a luxuriantly 
 defiant tuft which ravishingly protruded in front. An 
 unusual glow lighted and warmed his olive cheek. 
 
 Yes, he was an uncommonly handsome man, " fear 
 fully and wonderfully made," as the Scripture has it, 
 a noble representative descendant of the most ancient 
 people of the land, even the Canaanites, as they gen- 
 erically had been named from their country, which was 
 called Canaan. 
 
 There was not the least expression of shame or em 
 barrassment on the part of the young girl as the two 
 met. He saluted her with the easy, almost princely 
 manner of the Oriental, raising his hand with the usual 
 elegant gesture to his breast, lips, and forehead. 
 
 " Niharak-sai d Good morning," he said. "Will the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 7 
 
 damsel give me to drink? The water is spent in my bot 
 tle, and I am famished with thirst." 
 
 The lover spoke in his every word and action ; for, 
 except in the case of aged women, men are not expected 
 to salute members of the opposite sex. 
 
 " Thou art very welcome," she replied, and prepared 
 to lower the jar, in which act he assisted her. 
 
 It is considered almost inhuman to refuse any one a 
 draught of water. 
 
 Having stooped, and satisfied his thirst, he thanked 
 her, repeating rapidly, in a single sweep, the courteous 
 gesture of hand to breast, lips, and forehead. Their 
 eyes met. They were face to face. 
 
 This was what he had looked forward to, these many 
 days. And yet it came to him as a glad surprise. 
 
 How it warmed and quickened his blood ! A soft, yet 
 what might be considered a somewhat familiar smile, and 
 an expression of great satisfaction, parted his full lips, 
 revealing two dazzling rows of perfect, pearly teeth. 
 
 To this, ever so slight a response was elicited on her 
 part; and she prepared to replace the jar upon her 
 shoulder. But in this he gently interrupted her. 
 
 " I have somewhat to say to thee." 
 
 " Say on," she replied. 
 
 " Thou dost pass here very often." 
 
 " Every day." 
 
 " I have watched thee coming and going, and have 
 wanted to speak to thee, and ask thee to give me of the 
 water to quench my thirst; but I did not make bold to 
 detain thee." 
 
 " I have seen thee tending thy sheep," was her simple 
 response. 
 
 Her eyes were now cast down, very modestly; and 
 she partly concealed her face with her white headdress. 
 
 " Yes," he said, " I tend the sheep here. And and," 
 reverting to the former topic the subject at heart 
 " I see thee coming for water to the ain the fountain. 
 And and I should like to help thee." 
 
 " It is not necessary or fitting my lord should trouble 
 himself to do that." 
 
 " Oh, it is no trouble ! I should not mind doing it for
 
 8 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 thee, and much more than that, even if it were a 
 trouble." 
 
 At this her great luminous eyes turned on him a ques 
 tioning, penetrating glance ; but she said nothing. 
 
 " I have been inquiring about thee," he resumed ; 
 " and I have found that, like me, thou art an orphan 
 without father and mother." 
 
 " It is true. I am an orphan." 
 
 " We should be good friends, then," he said. " We 
 ought to be very kind to each other." 
 
 A hesitating, somewhat startled look crossed her face. 
 
 " I live at Malha," she simply answered. 
 
 " I know it." 
 
 "And thou at Bettir," she added, as though that 
 settled the question. 
 
 " Plenty of water at Bettir ; thou hast not to go far to 
 draw it," was his diplomatic and significant remark, in 
 tended to suggest certain possibilities, and divert her 
 attention. 
 
 How like a child she looked ; and in mere years she 
 was little better than a child. She was almost fifteen, 
 so that there was about three years difference in their 
 ages ; but in Palestine, where men marry in their early 
 teens, and women at a still earlier age, and where grand 
 mothers of little more than twenty may be found, to 
 all intents and purposes, he was a man and she a woman. 
 The Oriental is a precocious animal. 
 
 Meanwhile, she had replenished his porous water-bottle 
 from her jar, restoring to the former the wisp of straw 
 with which it was stopped a convenient but poor sub 
 stitute for cork. 
 
 His various little devices for detaining her were at 
 length exhausted. It was not well they should be seen 
 together. She began to show her anxiety to depart ; 
 and as she had quite a distance to traverse, and most of 
 it steep climbing, up the slopes of the rocky tell, he felt 
 it best not to delay her longer. 
 
 Yet, though he considered it hardly prudent, he could 
 not resist walking beside her for a short distance on 
 her return, after having restored her water-jar to her 
 shoulder.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 9 
 
 Though their hearts kindled within them as they talked 
 by the way, their words were few. 
 
 " Is it not well, Hilwe?" he asked proudly. " I care 
 not for the blood-feud. I have nothing to do with it. 
 And though all the rest of the people in the two villages 
 should be enemies, I am determined we shall be good 
 friends. Shall we not always be friends? " 
 
 Hilwe looked down, half afraid. 
 
 " Yea, yea. Shall it not be so? " he reiterated. " Shall 
 it not be well? " 
 
 To this her only reply was a smile lighting up every 
 feature. But it was answer enough for him. 
 
 They were now within the borders of the territory of 
 Malha. 
 
 He saw he must return. 
 
 With a full heart he said courteously : " Khaterak 
 By thy leave or pleasure," the customary expression 
 before taking departure. 
 
 Indeed, it was time for him to attend to his sheep, and 
 gather them together, for they had become widely scat 
 tered, as is wont for sheep without the shepherd. 
 
 " Thou hast a rough way to go, up the steep tell," he 
 said, glancing up the heights. 
 
 " Yea. But thou hast made it smooth," she replied. 
 
 As he turned away from her, softly fell from her lovely 
 lips that most beautiful expression in the Arabic the 
 good-bye or farewell : " Ma -es-salameh." This is liter 
 ally "With peace," and means, " Go in peace," or " Peace 
 abide with thee." He thought he had never heard it 
 sound so sweetly, yet so sadly. 
 
 " Allah yasellamak May Allah give thee peace," he 
 replied. " Rightly art thou named Hilwe. Thou art 
 indeed sweet." 
 
 This was in accordance with the Moslem custom, which 
 enjoins that in returning a good wish you must heighten 
 or increase it, or wish something better. 
 
 He more than once turned to look after her, as she 
 moved with even pace over the hilly way, steadily balanc 
 ing her water-jar. 
 
 " She is like a gazelle of the mountain," he murmured 
 to himself. " My soul yearns for her as the parched land
 
 io Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 for the rain. Allah be merciful to her, and bless 
 her." 
 
 And now he had to turn his attention to his truant 
 sheep. 
 
 They sorely needed his care, and were scattered widely 
 apart, in all directions, and where they ought not to 
 be. But as soon as he gave his peculiar cry or call, 
 every sheep raised its head, recognising his voice ; and, 
 going before them, he led them into fresh and green 
 pastures. 
 
 It was an actual realisation of the old psalm. It was 
 the putting into action the words of the Great Teacher 
 in describing the Good Shepherd : " The sheep hear his 
 voice : and he calleth his own sheep by name, and lead- 
 eth them out. . . . He goeth before them, and the sheep 
 follow him : for they know his voice." 
 
 And this beautiful sight is one which may be seen, to 
 this hour, any day in Palestine. A hundred memories 
 and gentle impulses are stirred as one sees the great flocks 
 of sheep, accompanied by their black and more briskly- 
 moving comrades, the goats, feeding up and down, 
 among the huge out-cropping rocks of the hillside, with 
 the alert, faithful shepherd caring for them, and leading 
 them " in the way they should go." 
 
 Hassan was wonderfully elated now, as he went before 
 his flock, playing on his reed pipe or nay, calling to the 
 sheep and guiding them. He soon had them all collected 
 and feeding together ; and, in the fulness of his soul, he 
 broke out into singing one of the weird minor-like strains 
 of Palestine, set in one of those crude, primitive scales of 
 indefinite tonality which we, long ago, have passed 
 beyond, and have left far behind. It was an archaic lyric, 
 without any beauty of melody to the unaccustomed ear, 
 yet full of untold pathos and heart-stirring associations 
 to the native. 
 
 Doos ya lei - lee, Doos ya
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 II 
 
 Doos ya lei - lee, Doos ya . . . le 
 
 - 1- 
 
 lee. Eshke mah - boo - bee fe - te - n - nee. 
 
 " Leap, O my joy ! Leap, O my joy ! " (repeated) 
 
 " Ardent desire oi my beloved hath involved me in earnest." 
 
 Everything seemed to stop to listen as he sang. 
 " Doos ya lellee ! Doos ya lellee ! " How seductively 
 the refrain rang out at the close of each stanza ! How 
 far the clear air carried the sound ! It was startling. 
 
 The hollows and rocky caverns echoed and re-echoed 
 the rude barbaric notes, as though they were familiar 
 accents, akin to them, to which they responded with 
 friendly utterance. The sheep, too, sympathising with 
 their master s happiness, which they well understood as 
 expressed in those impassioned resonant tones, fed all the 
 more contentedly; while Hassan walked like a king 
 among them, singing in deeper and louder outbursts, 
 and as if the music had stimulated him and exalted his 
 spirit to the most exhilarated pitch. 
 
 And thus he sang : 
 
 " By Allah, I am inflamed with intense love ! 
 The lover, surely, is not to be blamed : 
 How can he hold back his eager heart ? 
 How can he stay himself from loving ? 
 
 The black eyes have overthrown me. 
 
 The lips red as pomegranate have betrayed me. 
 
 From love of them I began to sing, 
 
 And the song hath increased my madness. 
 
 Unite me to my true love, one night, 
 
 And if the beloved of my heart come to me, 
 
 I will bring her to my mothers house, 
 
 I will make the cashmere shawl her canopy.
 
 12 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 The crew of reproachers leagued together 
 
 To debar me from my beloved. 
 
 By Allah, I will not relinquish my love, 
 
 Though with swords they should cut me in pieces ! 
 
 Up with me, O true love ! Let us delight ourselves 
 
 Under the shade of the jasmine : 
 
 We will pluck the peach from its mother, 
 
 While the reproachers are unconscious. 
 
 ye beautiful ones, fear God ! 
 
 And have mercy on the lover for the sake of God. 
 The love of the fair is ordained by Him : 
 Allah hath decreed it against me." 
 
 Then he changed to another and more plaintive native 
 melody. This was more positively minor than the for 
 mer, and abounded in that remarkable peculiarity of 
 Eastern music the division of tones into thirds 
 something unknown to European music, which has no 
 finer division than semitones. These Orientals, spite of 
 their archaic scales, have a nice discriminative ear. 
 
 Hilwe still heard him in the distance, and thrilled to 
 the sound, moving with gladdened step. She recognised 
 the well-known air the song of a bridegroom search 
 ing for his missing bride. 
 
 Perhaps it was the original, or, if not that, an echo of 
 Solomon s ancient " Love-Song," in its simple unaffected 
 declaration : 
 
 " In the night I arose and sought my beloved. 
 
 1 sought her whom my soul loveth 
 
 I sought my bride, but I found her not. 
 My life is wasted without her." 
 
 The strains, the very notes, belonged to the people 
 and the country. They were born of the environment, 
 were its outcome, its creation. 
 
 Besides those imperfect primitive scales of indefinite 
 tonality, already referred to, and other as strange peculi 
 arities of the music, there is no doubt that the language 
 itself, differing in many respects from pure Arabic, has 
 suggestive indications of similar import; and has pre 
 served and requires certain organs of vocalisation wanting 
 in the European. It seems impossible for the latter to
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 13 
 
 produce exactly some of the more characteristic sounds 
 of the Arabic, which seem a survival of prehistoric times, 
 and originally to have been derived from the lower ani 
 mals. It is significant that examples of onomatopoeia 
 are most numerous in primitive tongues. 
 
 Hassan had an unusually full deep voice for an Oriental. 
 For, with all their pronounced virility, these people fre 
 quently have a high, weak voice, almost falsetto, and 
 speak in a minor key. Close observers have said that 
 even the cries of the animals in the East are all in this 
 minor key. The natives themselves call the Arabic the 
 language of the camel, from its peculiar guttural tones. 
 It is curious to find fully-developed, stalwart men with 
 querulous, high-keyed, whining voices, and totally lack 
 ing the chest tones of the European, in whom they are 
 quick to notice the opposite characteristics and depth of 
 voice, which they sometimes, in ridicule, mimic, as gruff 
 and overbearing. 
 
 In this, and in a few other points, Hassan differed from 
 the ordinary fellaheen. But his greatest difference was 
 in what they themselves would call his more civilized 
 manners. Nor did they always intend this in a compli 
 mentary sense. 
 
 Hassan, on the present occasion, had other auditors, 
 unknown to him and out of sight three members of 
 that terrorising branch of the mounted police known as 
 zaptiehs, who had stopped at the well to water their 
 horses. One of the group, though the youngest, was 
 evidently an officer, for he wore the undress or fatigue 
 uniform of an aga or captain of zaptiehs, and his com 
 panions addressed him as Kiamil Aga. He was a sol 
 dierly, well-developed young man, with clean-cut limbs, 
 and regular features. Alas, those regular features are 
 too often a mask behind which hides much irregularity ! 
 
 The plaintive strains of the music touched a sympa 
 thetic chord in the breast of the aga, absorbing his atten 
 tion. While his mind was thus diverted, the women who 
 had drawn water and filled the stone trough for the 
 horses, silently and rapidly disappeared. 
 
 "Why, where are the women?" he cried, when he 
 turned and missed them.
 
 14 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " They have departed." 
 
 " How so? " 
 
 " They know thee, Aga." 
 
 At this familiar reply of one of the men, the aga, in 
 stead of being offended, burst out laughing. 
 
 " It is more likely they know thee," he presently 
 retorted. 
 
 The man, however, modestly declined the honour 
 attributed to him. 
 
 " But to whom are we indebted for the music ? " asked 
 the captain. 
 
 " Ah ! some fellah with his sheep, on the other side of 
 the hill." 
 
 " And is he sad or happy? " 
 
 " Oh, happy! Why, that is a love-song, Aga." 
 
 " A love-song ! And does the man satisfy his love in 
 that way? " 
 
 " Partly, Aga." 
 
 " Assad, thou knowest entirely too much for thine own 
 good. But, come ; to saddle ! Let us mount. The 
 horses have had all the water they want. We are due in 
 Jerusalem early to-day, remember, and have no time to 
 lose." 
 
 As they turned into a bend in the road, Hassan caught 
 sight of them. 
 
 " There go the zaptiehs," he said, as he stopped sing 
 ing. " I warrant they have been up to some mischief. 
 To expect pity from them is like begging a husband from 
 a widow." 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 IT now may be necessary to state that, when little 
 more than a mere boy, Hassan had once acted as 
 a muleteer to a party of English and American tourists 
 travelling through the Holy Land. One of these 
 strangers, the wife of an American gentleman, on 
 whom Hassan was especially deputed to wait, took so 
 overweening a fancy to the bright, handsome lad, who
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 15 
 
 had been so polite, attentive and kind to her through 
 out the journey, that, not satisfied with giving him a 
 generous present over and above his pay, she persuaded 
 her husband to make inquiries respecting him, with 
 the object of having him educated. 
 
 The result was that, for three or four years, Hassan 
 was sent to one of the schools kept by the missionaries 
 in Jerusalem. There was the less obstruction offered 
 to this, from the fact that, though a Moslem, he was 
 an orphan, and the pressure was not exerted which 
 otherwise would have been brought to bear upon him 
 through his parents, had he had such, by zealous and 
 fanatic Mohammedans, who usually look upon such 
 education as a species of proselytising; though it must 
 be confessed that, as to the effect produced, there is 
 little or nothing whatsoever to sustain any such opinion. 
 
 As is well known, the conversion of a Moslem to 
 Christianity is an almost unheard-of event. It is 
 nearly as rare as angel visits; far rarer than the appar 
 ent conversions from Judaism. Indeed, the convert 
 from Mohammedanism, if such there were, would not, 
 in all probability, be suffered to live many days after 
 the fact of his conversion became public. He would 
 be promptly dealt with by the fanatic Islamites. 
 
 Any one attempting to assert contrary to this in 
 Jerusalem would not only not be credited, but would 
 be laughed to scorn. 
 
 In Hassan s case, at least, not much change in a 
 religious sense was to be noticed. Perhaps it was 
 not to be expected. Indeed, it was stipulated he 
 should not be interfered with in his belief, and that 
 he should be allowed to keep the Mohammedan fasts 
 and feasts, such as the Ramadan, Bairam, etc. If 
 such was the shape of things with him within the walls 
 of the Christian school, it could scarcely be supposed 
 that after withdrawal from its influence he would be 
 found lapsing from the Moslem faith. 
 
 At the close of those three or four years of instruc 
 tion, the payments of his American friend ceasing, 
 Hassan was promptly dismissed from the school, and 
 relegated back into his former life.
 
 1 6 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 After a vain struggle to find employment in the 
 Holy City, he naturally fell back on Bettir, and resumed 
 his old life there. 
 
 He could now read and write as well as speak Arabic, 
 and had some knowledge of the French language, as 
 well as of the English branches in general, including 
 arithmetic. The sheik of the village found him use 
 ful in keeping for him the accounts of the tithes and 
 taxes, and Hassan s employment in this field gave him 
 a certain position of importance, though an unenviable 
 one, as it roused an inevitable jealousy and animosity 
 against him. His chief employment, however, was 
 his former one of keeping sheep; and he, perhaps too 
 easily, dropped back into it and his old ways, once more. 
 
 There was something inexpressibly fascinating and 
 natural to him in lying under the canopy of heaven, 
 day after day, watching and guarding his sheep. To 
 feel the fresh breezes laden with the smell of the 
 pasture sweep over him was in itself a delight. The 
 free, untrammelled life, in general unburdened with 
 very hard work, was suited to his temperament. 
 
 Even the simple change of dress back into the 
 loose easy-fitting raiment, was a grateful relief. In 
 the school he had been put into the European coat 
 and trousers, and in this attire he seemed quite another 
 individual. Almost in the flash of an eye he cast his 
 shell, and what a metamorphosis ! He was a different 
 animal, it seemed. But it was only the old Hassan, 
 again come to life. 
 
 The principal relief, however, was the emancipation 
 from the control of others and once more being, to 
 a great extent, under his own control. No man is 
 inherently or by inclination a slave ; and the life which 
 is subservient to the whims, caprices, and, in short, 
 the will of others, is, no matter what we may say, 
 more or less in slavery. 
 
 And now we have him, as we first beheld him, the 
 child of Nature; changed somewhat by his late mould 
 ing, it is true; yet, though quickened in his intellect 
 by the education and experience he had received among 
 those Christians and Europeans in Jerusalem, dropped
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 17 
 
 back completely into the life of the peasant, and, to 
 all outward appearances, in every respect a fellah of 
 Palestine. 
 
 In meeting Hassan, the young girl Hilwe had 
 naturally looked upon him. as her superior. This is 
 the invariable habit of the country, where even an old 
 woman will kiss the hand of a mere boy with rever 
 ence, addressing him as "my lord," simply because he 
 is a male and she a female. But successive meetings 
 gradually mitigated the constraint of this high respect ; 
 and Hilwe soon began to come in contact with Hassan 
 with but little of the reserve and shyness characteris 
 ing her first meeting with him. 
 
 It was Nature triumphing over custom and artificially- 
 cultured habit. Hilwe was too young, and of too free- 
 born a spirit to have accepted many of those cramping 
 institutions with ease or patience. And though she 
 lived in or among them, to a certain extent it might 
 be said that she was not of them. 
 
 Week after week, Hassan managed to pasture his 
 sheep at certain times each day near to the path she 
 would be obliged to pass. This, indeed, as we have 
 seen, he had done long before he had summoned cour 
 age and found opportunity to speak to her. 
 
 On the day succeeding that first meeting, Hilwe 
 expected that, on her return from the fountain, he 
 would again speak to her, and she was not disap 
 pointed. It cannot be denied it was with something 
 more than mere satisfaction she saw him, as she 
 approached, leave his sheep and draw near to the 
 pathway. 
 
 There were the inevitable salutations and good 
 wishes, followed by the request for water. 
 
 "Give me to drink." 
 
 This time the words were spoken by him in a more 
 confident accent, and with a certain air of familiarity 
 partly assumed for the occasion ; and were followed by 
 her more than willing compliance. 
 
 There was something wonderfully pleasing to her in 
 being able to satisfy the wants of this comely strong 
 young man of heroic build, her acknowledged superior,
 
 1 8 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 and that he should be dependent on her in anything 
 even to allay his thirst. 
 
 As he stooped and drank, she stood, respectfully 
 silent, watching him. She felt glad at heart for his 
 sake that the water was so sweet and cool. 
 
 Their looks were like a conversation ; and were more 
 than words. 
 
 He raised his head and thanked her, touching his 
 hand to his forehead in the usual indeed, never- 
 omitted graceful acknowledgment. 
 
 She lifted her eyes, at first timidly, then trustfully. 
 
 His glance shot through her with all the assured 
 dominance of the male; yet Hilwe did not lower her 
 gaze, but with native confidence let him look upon 
 her. 
 
 The woman naturally is made to comply or yield. 
 Every action of the man towards her requires this of 
 her. It is the result of a combination of facts, moral 
 and physical. But in the East all this is especially 
 accentuated. 
 
 "Taieeb Good. The water is cool," he said; 
 "and all the sweeter for coming from thy hand." 
 
 "I am well pleased thou findest it so," she replied. 
 
 "God the most merciful be praised for sending thee 
 to me. Surely, beautiful are the feet of those who 
 bring peace and comfort. " 
 
 He spoke with a pleasant warmth. Though he was 
 a man, rather because he was a man, he could not 
 help but feel the glad reactive influence of her great, 
 miraculous eyes, almost startling in their mysterious 
 beauty, as they held him with a fascination that he 
 could not resist that he did not wish to resist, and 
 which was the outgrowth of their mutual feeling. 
 
 As they two, Hassan and Hilwe, stood together on 
 the lonely hillside, it was impossible not to notice how 
 handsome they were. They seemed made for each 
 other; and they knew it. Love had told them. 
 
 The slopes were purple with thyme, in full flower, 
 sweetening the air; and all was so still around them 
 they could hear the low soft soughing of the wind 
 through the grass, like the pulse of Nature, and the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 19 
 
 buzz of the little brown, yellow-banded Syrian bee, as 
 it flew from blossom to blossom, probing each to its 
 depths for its ravished nectar which it carried off to 
 store in some rocky cavity near by. Except these 
 gentle murmurs and the occasional bleating of a sheep, 
 few other sounds reached them in that secluded place. 
 These two children of the land seemed to grow out of 
 the scene, and to belong peculiarly to it, like the 
 primeval man and woman in the unfilled wilderness, 
 the ancient Eden which they called a garden or para 
 dise, as well they might. 
 
 But if Hassan felt those warm influences control 
 him, how much more so was this the case with Hilwe! 
 
 She had spoken truly when she had said to him, in 
 her simple language, " I have seen thee tending thy 
 sheep." 
 
 She had never passed below him, in the winding 
 path, that her eyes had not instinctively been attracted 
 by the well-favoured young shepherd, stretched at full 
 length upon the ground, or standing erect, straight as 
 an arrow, outlined against the sky, watching his flock 
 from some prominent crag. 
 
 It was only to be expected that his image should 
 leave its impression upon her. 
 
 And now they were alone together, face to face, 
 once more. 
 
 Something of the first shyness, it is true, still lin 
 gered with them, and held them in a certain reserve. 
 But behind this the warmer feelings gathered and 
 strengthened, as a stream gathers to a great body of 
 water and an overwhelming force behind the restrain 
 ing dam. 
 
 Hassan s clear hazel eyes swept with searching 
 glance the entire range of landscape. There was no 
 one in sight. This gave him courage. He stretched 
 out his hand to her, which she took, after having 
 enveloped hers in a part of her flowing raiment ; an old 
 custom, a mark of respect ; for with the Moslems, 
 punctilious etiquette says a woman is unclean, and 
 must not touch a man with her naked hand. 
 
 "Hilwe," he said, "I have been thinking of thee
 
 2O Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 ever since thou spakest to me yesterday. I have been 
 watching for thee. But I began to fear thou wast not 
 coming this morning." 
 
 "Yes; I am late. I have had much of which thou 
 knowest not to delay me. Fatima, my uncle s wife, 
 giveth me more and more to do each day." 
 
 She had drawn before her mouth some of her drapery 
 while speaking to him, a further mark of respect and 
 of modesty, and as is commonly the custom with 
 Mohammedan women when addressing men, even when 
 well acquainted with them. 
 
 " I wish thou wouldst let me go with thee, each 
 time, and help thee to draw the water." 
 
 He spoke with downcast eyes, in thoughtful mood, 
 knowing the prejudice. 
 
 "No, no; that must not be. It would not be proper; 
 and it would only make trouble. Besides, I do nt)t 
 mind it. It is nothing to me to draw the water. I 
 am accustomed to it." 
 
 Under the strength of his emotions all the grace of 
 the man awoke and projected itself from him. It was 
 an immeasurable power. Whether standing motion 
 less before her, or, in the energy of his feeling, uncon 
 sciously shifting his weight, first to one foot, then to 
 the other, or suddenly advancing a step or two upon 
 her, all was grace, the natural outcome of the beauty 
 that was in him, something which cannot be taught 
 by the fencing-master or drill-sergeant, and which no 
 instructor in deportment ever yet imparted. 
 
 This time, it was evident, Hilwe was in no hurry to 
 replace her water-jar and go her way. Standing oppo 
 site to this strong, genial young man, of such generous 
 proportions, who spoke to her so pleasantly, what 
 wonder if she was beguiled, moment after moment, 
 into delaying ? 
 
 "Fatima will scold anyway," she thought, "and if I 
 am a little late, what matters it? " 
 
 How she loved to hear him speak ! His voice stirred 
 her. But she must not let him perceive it. 
 
 " It is time I were returning " she said, to keep up 
 appearances.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 21 
 
 "Oh, wait a little longer!" he pleaded, stepping 
 between her and the water-jar, which she apparently 
 would have raised. 
 
 It did not require much persuasion from his lips to 
 detain her. Already she felt the power of his attrac 
 tion, and resigned herself submissively, for she longed 
 to be with him. She basked in his fervent presence as 
 the storm-drenched bird basks in the sunshine, rinding 
 there comfort and pleasure. 
 
 There are probably few if any people in whom the 
 differentiation of sex is more marked than it is in the 
 Syrian. If Hassan had one characteristic more pro 
 nounced than another, it was his masculine vitality. 
 In him his sex was intensified. He impressed you 
 with the superabundance of his manliness. He was 
 distinctively adorned with it, from the crown of his 
 head to the sole of his foot, and from his very centre 
 to his surface, all over. Life, virile life, seemed to 
 breathe out of him ray out of him in a surrounding 
 halo or aroma, like the aureola from a saint. There 
 was a freshness, a fulness, and a force of this sexual- 
 isation of the life-principle in him which made itself 
 felt on all who came in contact with him. In civilised 
 society he would have been called uncommonly pre 
 possessing, and a man to fall in love with at first 
 sight. 
 
 But now he was endowed with even a higher and 
 more enthralling charm. Love, the great beautifier, 
 had him in hand, and was leading him whither he 
 would, and making him all-glorious within and with 
 out, or as some, perhaps, would say making a great 
 fool of him. 
 
 The " showing off " of a man under the eyes of the 
 woman he loves is a phenomenon of the notable and 
 instructive kind. This " love display " is seen through 
 out the animal kingdom, in bird and reptile as well as 
 in beast, and man is no exception. It is, doubtless, to 
 some extent, an unconscious act, nature suggesting and 
 stimulating; and we behold the debonair grace, the 
 gallant posturising, the exquisite strut, and the sump 
 tuous apparelling, without the full recognition of the
 
 22 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 honest, amorous ardour of which they are the outcome 
 or exponents. There is nothing either wrong or un 
 natural in all this. It is God s gift. It is as simple 
 as breathing. 
 
 Within the last few weeks Hassan had undergone 
 this beautifying change. He had experienced this 
 wonderful awakening. 
 
 As, day after day, he beheld the young girl pass on 
 her errands, near by, the work was accomplished. 
 Her image was burnt in upon his soul; and he felt he 
 must possess her must have her for his own. In the 
 sudden expansion and glow that came upon him, he 
 was lifted up into a new existence. All obstacles and 
 impediments vanished in the presence of the one fact, 
 his imperious desire. 
 
 All her simple ways, her little doings and slightest 
 movements were known to him and studied by him, so 
 far as he could know and study them under the restrict 
 ing circumstances. 
 
 In polite life it would have been pronounced a case 
 of infatuation. 
 
 But, whatever might be said on the subject, whatever 
 criticism might be made on it by some who from their 
 higher civilisation look down on the emotions and acts 
 of those they might be pleased to consider a semi- 
 barbarous man and woman, it must certainly be admitted 
 there was nothing vulgar about it. Nature is never 
 vulgar. 
 
 " Hilwe, thou wouldst have no trouble drawing water 
 at Bettir." 
 
 Hassan spoke in a subdued tone and with a slight 
 hesitation. 
 
 Hilwe understood his meaning, but made no reply. 
 
 "There is abundance of water there, and near at 
 hand, " he continued, warming with his subject. " There 
 are living fountains of water bursting out of the rock ; 
 and gardens of delight, as fine as King Suleyman s at 
 Urtas, below the three great pools, the vast tanks 
 the wise king made to water his paradise, yes, and 
 finer, full of all manner of fruits and herbs. Beautiful 
 trees, such as walnut and mulberry, are plentiful ;
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 23 
 
 pomegranates, apricots, figs, almonds, peaches and 
 pears abound ; and there are many olive-groves and 
 vineyards. " 
 
 "I know it is a pleasant place; but " 
 
 A perplexed, almost troubled look crossed Hilwe s 
 face as she paused. 
 
 " How happy we should be there ! " he proceeded, as 
 if not noticing her anxious expression. " I would do 
 everything for thee everything to make thee com 
 fortable and contented." 
 
 In the monotony of the peasant life there is a same 
 ness in the topics and in the forms of conversation 
 which seems a necessary consequence of the simple 
 existence. 
 
 "Thou dost not speak, Hilwe. Thou needst not be 
 afraid of me. Dost thou not believe me ? Dost thou 
 think I would treat thee badly? " 
 
 " I am not afraid of thee ; I think not that thou 
 wouldst ill-treat me ; but I am ashamed to tell thee all. " 
 
 "What dost thou mean? " he asked, with some token 
 of impatience. 
 
 "The Thar the blood-feud," was her brief reply. 
 
 "The Thar. I care nothing for it, as I have told 
 thee already." 
 
 "But that is not all." 
 " Not all ? " he repeated. " What more can there be ? " 
 
 " Thou sayest thou dost not care for the Thar. But 
 they will make thee care. And" -after a moment s 
 silence she added, "there is worse than that. I do 
 not know how to tell thee." 
 
 " Nay, speak. Fear not," he pleaded. 
 
 "If I tell, it is bad; if I keep silence, it is equally 
 bad." 
 
 She hung her head and turned away her eyes from 
 his too ardent glance. He saw it was something 
 serious. 
 
 "Thou art ashamed to tell me," he said; "but that 
 ought not to be. Thou shouldst have no secrets from 
 me. Hold nothing back. Tell me all. Do not fear. 
 I shall not be hard on thee. And if they are evil tid 
 ings, and I must hear them, I would rather have them
 
 24 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 from thy lips than from another s. I can bear it 
 better." 
 
 "Thou art very kind," she began, "and I believe all 
 thou sayest; but what am I that thou shouldst care 
 about my troubles to take them to heart, or why should 
 I weary thee with my weeping? " 
 
 " Only show me the matter, and I will do all I can 
 to help thee, even though it take my life," he ex 
 claimed. "Show me thy whole heart." 
 
 She supported herself against a fragment of rock 
 that had broken away from the cliff, while her lips 
 parted slowly: 
 
 "My uncle has promised me to Abd-el-nour. " 
 
 She added not another word ; and it was not needed 
 for Hassan. 
 
 He was greatly moved. He was passionately angry. 
 
 "What, that miserable old wretch!" he cried. 
 "Cursed be his father and his father s father! Why, 
 the old ass has three wives already; why should he 
 want to take a fourth ? " 
 
 "The law allows it," she said. 
 
 " Ay, so it does ; but that does not make it right. " 
 
 " I overheard them speaking of it the other day, in 
 the Wady-el-Werd," she continued. "They did not 
 know I was so near them ; I was hidden from them by 
 a rose-bush, and I heard every sound. Abd-el-nour 
 told my Uncle Ismail he would soon have the amount 
 made up that he had promised him for me." 
 
 "Yes," interrupted Hassan, "he would buy thee as 
 he would buy a horse or an ox ; and, when he had thee, 
 would use thee as badly as a beast of burden, or 
 worse. " 
 
 "I know it," she said, with a dejected air. "Thou 
 speakest the truth." 
 
 " It would be worse with thee then than it is now. " 
 
 "Yes; it is indeed so." 
 
 "It is hard to believe hard to think thy uncle 
 Ismail would do this thing to thee. How could he 
 want to bring this evil upon thee?" 
 
 The young man s countenance had darkened, his 
 whole expression had changed in the last few minutes;
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 25 
 
 so that he looked like a different being, and Hilwe 
 feared to face him. 
 
 "It is true," she said. "He cares more for the 
 money than for me. I heard them talk of the bargain 
 as they stood together under the big olive-tree. 
 There, thou canst see the very spot from here, in the 
 hollow of the Wady. " And she pointed out the place, 
 as if it were an unquestionable confirmation of her 
 statement. 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 HASSAN turned mechanically toward the direction 
 indicated by Hilwe. 
 
 The Wady-el-Werd, or Valley of Roses, lay in many 
 a winding curve below, with its olive-groves, vineyards 
 and rose-gardens, the latter giving it its name, while 
 above towered the village of Malha, seated on its arid, 
 rocky acclivity. The agglomeration of houses on the 
 highest summit of the conical tell or hill gave the 
 crowded village the aspect of a fortification. Bare and 
 bleached, like a calcined bone, it gleamed, helplessly 
 exposed to the unmitigated glare of that merciless 
 Palestine sun, which is a burning as well as a shining 
 light. It was a relief to turn from the pinnacled vil 
 lage to the valley below, with its green pastures, its 
 roses and olive-groves, and long-reaching multiplied 
 shadows. 
 
 It was the only home or place of abode Hilwe had 
 ever known. Here she went in and out in the monoto 
 nous round of her simple daily life, cognisant of next 
 to nothing of the great outside world, save what she 
 might have learned when, in an occasional visit, she 
 accompanied some of the older women, conveying the 
 produce of their fields to the market in Jerusalem. 
 
 At such times the men, the lords of creation, might 
 be seen riding their donkeys, while the women tramped 
 on foot over the rocky, weary way with their heavy loads.
 
 26 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Perhaps it was grapes they carried ; and picturesque 
 enough they looked with the tall baskets on their 
 heads, filled with the golden or purple clusters, and 
 wreathed on top with the long trailing branches and 
 soft green leaves of the vine. Or the load might be of 
 apricots, almonds, figs or olives, or the crimson-flushed 
 globes of the pomegranate, the royal fruit with spiked 
 crown. 
 
 In the season of roses, the burden consisted of great 
 sacks and crates of the fragrant blossoms, principally 
 to be made into rose-water for sprinkling the pilgrims 
 and objects of piety at the sacred shrines in the Holy 
 City, or the guests at weddings and other festive 
 occasions. 
 
 The roses in their natural state were largely sold 
 in the market or to the hotels; and considerable 
 quantities were bought by the convents and other 
 religious establishments. But there were few of the 
 old families of Jerusalem that did not know how to 
 manufacture rose-water, and that did not, each year, 
 put up a goodly supply, drenching their favoured guests 
 with it, and using it lavishly in various ways. The 
 monks of the great Armenian Convent had, indeed, 
 obtained a high reputation for making a peculiar and 
 superior description of the sweet water. 
 
 So there was a large demand, and a high price was 
 paid for this product of the Valley of Roses; and the 
 rose harvest was always looked forward to with much 
 interest and anxiety by the people of Malha. Even 
 the rose-gardens along the shore of the Mediterranean 
 at Tyre and Sidon had, not infrequently, to be drawn 
 on to eke out and satisfy the demand for the supply of 
 the queenly flower, which in the valleys around Jeru 
 salem was of the most intensely odourous species, 
 resembling the damask and Provence roses. 
 
 At the time of blossoming, the fenced fields were 
 closely watched and guarded all day, and even during 
 the night, to prevent depredation and theft. And early 
 each morning the luxuriant blooms were cut with much 
 rejoicing, and immediately conveyed to market. 
 
 All along the winding road groups of women might
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 27 
 
 be seen bearing on their heads the fragrant burdens 
 destined for the ancient city; and Hilwe was only too 
 glad to be able to escape from the galling routine of 
 her wearisome daily tasks, and join the hurrying troop. 
 
 She was light of foot, and bore her share of the 
 work well and with spirit; and there was much to 
 relieve the tedium of the way, the stimulus of the 
 company being in itself a pleasure. 
 
 Then there were the wonderful sights of the city 
 and its varied life. Visitors from all quarters of the 
 globe might be seen thronging the narrow streets. 
 What a revelation it was to her to watch them ! while 
 the bazaars, to her untutored mind, seemed a vision 
 from another world. 
 
 It is true the loads borne over this long distance, 
 from Malha to Jerusalem, were not always of as agree 
 able a kind as those mentioned. Often they were of 
 wood, the roots of the olive or oak grubbed out of 
 the ground, and forming with charcoal, brought in in 
 sacks or paniers, the principal fuel of the land. At 
 the proper season they consisted of great bundles of 
 grass. Or most frequently, they were water from the 
 fountain, carried in goat-skins, for the supply of the 
 wealthier families of the Holy City. 
 
 This water has a great reputation for its salubrious 
 properties; and as Jerusalem, in itself, is otherwise 
 almost totally dependent on the rain which falls dur 
 ing the "rainy season," and is stored for many months 
 in underground cisterns, which rain-water, getting 
 low and doubtless full of extraneous matter towards the 
 autumn, is, more or less, dangerous to health, all 
 those who can afford it procure water from some out 
 side source, such as from the well at Malha, or from 
 Ain Karim, whose water is held in even higher repute, 
 as being from the birthplace of Saint John the Baptist. 
 
 More than once on such occasions Hassan had 
 formed one of a company coming in from Bettir. And 
 though he had kept apart with the men of his village, 
 Hilwe had overheard the women, as they walked to 
 gether, commend him for his good looks. Indeed, 
 they did not hesitate, in what might be considered
 
 28 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 rather broad language, to express their opinion of him, 
 pronouncing him of shapely build, comely, and well- 
 favoured above the common, and, in short, a man to be 
 desired. 
 
 And now, as he stood beside her on the hillside, his 
 gaze directed to the spot she had indicated in the 
 Valley of Roses, it all appeared like a dream to 
 Hilwe. 
 
 "The impossible has come to pass," she said. 
 
 He who had seemed so far off from her so unap 
 proachable, was now so near, speaking such kind 
 words as might make any woman proud and happy. 
 
 And yet there was a horrible dread overhanging it 
 all. Yes, it was like a nightmare, from which she 
 feared she would wake and find him gone, and lost to 
 her forever. 
 
 She wanted to tell him everything that had been 
 said in that fateful conversation she had overheard ; 
 but when she saw the peculiar expression of his face, 
 she feared to speak to him. Even when he turned to 
 her once more, she cast her eyes down, and covered 
 her mouth with her robe. 
 
 "Hilwe, it is best I should know it," at last he said 
 with a great effort. " It is best to tell me every word. 
 What did they say? What did thy uncle Ismail and 
 Abd-el-nour say, under the great olive-tree? " 
 
 The sound of his voice went through her like fine 
 melancholy music as he spoke, deep and low, in a sub 
 dued but manly tone. She could have died to save 
 him the pain. She could have done anything for him 
 then. Her shame or shyness was forgotten. 
 
 "They spoke of the coming harvest," she began, 
 "and the crop of roses, which they said would be abun 
 dant and fine. And Abd-el-nour said the barley- 
 harvest would be early and good. And then he counted 
 what everything would bring in to him, the lentils, 
 the barley, wheat, olives, grapes, and all." 
 
 She hesitated for a moment, then continued. 
 
 " He said, with what he already had laid up, that by 
 the time the doura was ripe and garnered he would 
 have enough to make up the amount he had promised
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 29 
 
 my uncle for me. I was greatly frightened, and I held 
 my breath and did not dare to move, fearing they would 
 hear or see me. I crouched down behind the rose 
 bush, as I told thee, and I had to listen to everything 
 they said. I thought they would never go, and that 
 they would find me and drag me out. And there I lay 
 like one half dead, until they went away. And I heard 
 them still talking as they went up towards Malha; 
 and I am sure it was about that." 
 
 A frightful look of concentrated rage gathered in the 
 young man s face, as Hilwe proceeded in her state 
 ment. But, with Oriental self-control, he gave no 
 other outward evidence of his feelings. Though he 
 seemed to be at the utmost limit of his endurance, he 
 did not permit himself to speak. The inward shock 
 and struggle had something of the speechless agony of 
 the ferine creature in them. 
 
 "That is all. I have told thee all," she said, as if 
 to elicit some reply. 
 
 Still he remained as one who is dumb. 
 
 "Thou dost not speak. Thou sayest not one word," 
 exclaimed Hilwe. 
 
 Receiving no response, at last she ventured to look 
 up at him. 
 
 " Why is thy countenance fallen ? " she asked. 
 
 He made no reply. 
 
 " Thou art angry with me ; thou hatest me ! " she 
 cried. 
 
 "No, no," he said. "How could that be? It is 
 because I love thee that I feel so. " And he stretched 
 out his arms towards her. 
 
 Yet in the first brunt of his blind despair it is prob 
 able he included her and all the world in his dumb 
 hate. But this was only for a moment. 
 
 As he spoke, his impulse was to clasp her in his 
 arms, to press her to his aching heart, poor fellow ! 
 
 But this is forbidden and dangerous work; and just 
 then came the murmur of a soft silvery chime from 
 over the hill, and she instinctively drew away from 
 him. 
 
 They had heard and recognised the sound simulta-
 
 30 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 neously. That peculiar intermittent tinkling could 
 have but one source, as they knew quite well. It was 
 the melodious ring of the camels bells, softened by 
 the distance, and which had reached them before the 
 caravan appeared in sight. 
 
 It plainly was a large company; and the beasts of 
 burden were heavily laden with merchandise. 
 
 The cries of the camel-drivers by this time were 
 heard. 
 
 Through vistas in the great shouldering masses of 
 rock which outcropped from the greensward, at length 
 might be seen the train of camels with their curved 
 necks and malignantly insolent expression, as they 
 strode by, into a more distant road, leading into the 
 highway. 
 
 "They are not coming near us. They are going 
 another way," said Hassan, to reassure Hilwe; while 
 the caravan passed too far off to notice them. 
 
 "It is well," she said, relieved, when all had gone 
 by. 
 
 And now he came very close to her while he spoke. 
 
 " I am determined to see thine uncle Ismail and the 
 sheik," he said. "I am not going to sit still and 
 suffer this great shame, this evil thing, to come to 
 pass." 
 
 He lifted up his voice in a proud and confident tone. 
 
 She kept her eyes bent down, and was silent. 
 
 "I am determined," he repeated. 
 
 And yet no one knew better than they did the almost 
 hopeless character of the case. The prejudices, cus 
 toms and hates of generations presented obstacles well- 
 nigh insurmountable. The superstitious habits of a 
 semi-barbarous people are not easily overcome; and it 
 was these Hassan had undertaken to conquer. 
 
 Even now, as they fondly supposed themselves so 
 secure from observation, a malign eye was watching 
 them. 
 
 Hassan, knowing too well the dangerous ground he 
 stood on, and the risk they ran in being seen together 
 under such circumstances, had more than once swept 
 with sentinel gaze the approaches. He appreciated
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 31 
 
 fully the uneasiness manifested by Hilwe, and felt he 
 was responsible, and must guard and protect her from 
 any evil consequences which might ensue should their 
 meeting be detected, having in the first place taken 
 due precaution against being surprised. 
 
 These fellaheen are savage in their punishment of 
 any infringement of their immemorial usages. They 
 seldom overlook their being tampered with, though, 
 at the same time, it is true that some of the most 
 serious offences and crimes among them, including 
 even murder, can, with proper management, be com 
 pounded for, not seldom on a money basis. 
 
 Still more often the infliction of a sort of retaliation 
 is resorted to, something on the old principle of "an 
 eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," not even 
 stopping short of "a life for a life." The methods of 
 procedure in such cases are not unfrequently of the 
 most extraordinary and brutal character, and scarcely 
 to be believed by those living under a civilised 
 government. 
 
 It was therefore not without some trepidation, at 
 least on the part of Hilwe, that, in the midst of 
 Hassan s more ardent demonstrations, they suddenly 
 heard the noise of an approaching footstep among the 
 loose rocks and stones not far behind them. At first 
 Hassan was inclined to think the sound might have 
 been made by a straying sheep, or some loitering 
 member of the caravan which had passed. But he was 
 soon undeceived. 
 
 "It is Kadra, " gasped Hilwe. 
 
 Turning quickly in the direction of Hilwe s gaze, 
 Hassan beheld the intruder, who now was rapidly com 
 ing towards them. 
 
 The young people had instantly sprung apart ; and 
 Hassan at once began assisting Hilwe to replace the 
 water-jar upon her head. This he had succeeded in 
 doing just as Kadra reached them. 
 
 Before them stood, in the dark-blue dress of the 
 country, dyed of the native indigo, an old woman 
 old at least in appearance, if not in years, with some 
 what of a hag-like aspect. She had a beak-shaped
 
 32 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 nose, and her black eyes had a sharp unpleasant glare, 
 that one had rather not encounter, for they seemed to 
 look through and through the unhappy individual who 
 came under their inspection. 
 
 Over her forehead and around her head, beneath the 
 flowing white drapery or veil which covered it, she 
 wore several rows of the silver Turkish coin known as 
 the bishlik, which had been rendered convex, and 
 perforated and linked together for the purpose. Her 
 face was further embellished by a plentiful tatooing of 
 a bluish colour. Not only were stars, circles and dots, 
 as well as other figures distributed over her cheeks, 
 forehead and chin, as well as around her eyes, but even 
 the tip of her nose was not neglected, being ornamented, 
 if so it may be called, with three significant clusters of 
 dots. Her hands and arms were a pictorial wonder 
 with similar adornment, only that, in compliance 
 with the religion, nothing that has life was there or 
 elsewhere represented upon her. 
 
 In truth, Kadra s ugliness was almost phenomenal, 
 and only seemed intensified by these artificial attempts 
 to improve her looks. "The husband of an ugly 
 woman should be blind," say the natives, with their 
 unconquerable love of beauty. It may be added, she 
 was the gossip and scandalmonger of the village, 
 whose presence was dreaded by all, men and women, 
 and old and young alike. Some said she possessed 
 the " evil eye " ; and this added to the fear she inspired, 
 and gave her a certain influence. 
 
 "Fatima has been asking for thee," she said, with 
 a malicious grimace, as she came up, and addressing 
 Hilwe, who was hastening to take her departure. 
 
 "I am going," replied the girl, after saluting her. 
 
 " I thirsted and asked the damsel for a little water, 
 and she gave me to drink," explained Hassan, with an 
 ease and coolness worthy of a prince of the blood 
 royal. 
 
 "Thou wast long enough about it to satisfy a legion 
 of soldiers," retorted Kadra. 
 
 " Why sayest thou thus ? " 
 
 "I saw thee from the hill."
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 33 
 
 "Thou hadst naught to see," answered the young 
 man, disdainfully. 
 
 "Had I not, indeed?" 
 
 "Thou sawest me quench my thirst." 
 
 "Ah, I perceive the noble young man chooses to be 
 playful ! I tell thee I saw thy doings. I saw thee and 
 Hilwe." 
 
 It was true she had seen them from the hill, and 
 had gone around another way, determined to -steal upon 
 them unawares, and overhear their conversation. And 
 had not a loosened stone rolled down and given the 
 alarm, she would have succeeded in her purpose. As 
 it was, her suspicions were sufficiently aroused in the 
 matter; and she came to the conclusion that she knew 
 quite enough to condemn them, though she had not 
 heard a word of what they had said. 
 
 As for Hassan and Hilwe, they knew but too well 
 it would be next to a miracle for Kadra to refrain 
 from giving, with the most exaggerated colouring, the 
 account of what she had seen. They were almost sure 
 it would be told in Malha that evening. Their only 
 consolation was that Kadra, from her repeated slanders 
 and evil-speaking, had earned such distrust and dislike 
 on all sides, that her story would not be believed, but 
 would be set down to her maliciousness. Indeed, her 
 name had become, with her neighbors, the synonym 
 for falsehood; so that, were any improbable statement 
 made, it was common to hear the remark, " Oh, that is 
 a Kadra ! " 
 
 A consciousness of this feeling, no doubt, influenced 
 the woman when, after having stood her ground till 
 Hilwe had departed, she resumed her journey to the 
 fountain. With the most selfish calculation, the invet 
 erate old gossip argued with herself the pros and cons 
 of the affair. At first she had thought what a delicious 
 piece of scandal it would make in the village; then 
 considered how, at best, she would gain nothing by 
 revealing the facts, even could she get them to be be 
 lieved; while by keeping them secret she could control 
 Hassan and Hilwe, and, perhaps, levy tribute on them; 
 or, at least, get a good backsheesh from Hassan.
 
 34 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Before she set out on her return trip, she had come 
 to the conclusion to act on this latter assumption. At 
 least she would try its effect. And now, with her 
 filled water-jar, she went somewhat out of her way to 
 reach the place to where Hassan meanwhile had moved 
 with his sheep. 
 
 Little did he think he should see her to talk with 
 her so soon again. True, at first he had half inclined 
 to appeal to her covetousness, and bribe her to be 
 silent. But the more he thought of it, the less use 
 there seemed to him to be in taking such a course. At 
 most it could only avail to bridge over the time till he 
 had opportunity to see the sheik and the uncle of 
 Hilwe. Yet, under certain circumstances, even that 
 might prove of importance. 
 
 " Surely, this grief of mine of being in love is in 
 addition to my other griefs," said Hassan, in the 
 quaint language of the country. 
 
 She found the young man stretched at full length 
 upon the ground, his shepherd s crook cast aside, and 
 he seeming in anything but a happy frame of mind. 
 In his trouble Hassan looked more interesting and 
 handsomer than ever; and, woman as she was, perhaps 
 this was not without its effect upon her. Yet he did 
 not appear to notice her. 
 
 As she lowered the jar from her shoulder, Hassan 
 retained his recumbent posture, languidly turning his 
 eyes on her, but not attempting to assist her. He felt 
 there was something sinister in her thus approaching 
 him, and he did not know how to take it. 
 
 With her peculiar disposition, she could not bear to 
 lose the opportunity of mocking him. 
 
 "Ah, if it were only Hilwe," she exclaimed, "how 
 soon he would run to help her! But the well-made 
 handsome young man lets the old woman groan under 
 the burden without lifting a finger to assist her." 
 
 In spite of his dejection, the humour of her words 
 had the intended effect, and drew a smile from Hassan. 
 But still he did not move or speak. 
 
 She was emboldened to carry the joke further ; and, 
 coming nearer, she offered him some of the water.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 35 
 
 "Art thou not thirsty? Dost thou not want to 
 drink?" she asked in a satirical accent. "But I 
 plainly perceive the water thou thirstest for is of an 
 entirely different kind. " And lowering her voice, she 
 whispered distinctly, "Stolen waters are sweet, and 
 bread eaten in secret is pleasant." 
 
 Hassan s eyes remained fixed on her; still he did 
 not reply, nor did he move; but lay stretched out 
 before her, in his original posture. And fascinating 
 enough he looked to turn the head and capture the 
 heart of any woman, young or old. 
 
 "Hassan, my son," she said, speaking in an earnest 
 tone, while she set aside the water, and drew still 
 nearer to him, " I have it in my power, as is well 
 known to thee, to do thee much evil or a great good. 
 Which shall it be? It is for thee to decide. Thou 
 shouldst not have spoken to the young girl. In that 
 thou didst a grievous wrong. As thou didst dare 
 venture thy affections on a woman of Malha, thou 
 shouldst have gone, according to our custom, to some 
 old woman to speak for thee. Why didst thou not 
 come to me? I would have been thy go-between, 
 thankless and dangerous work as it is like to be." 
 
 Still there was no reply. 
 
 His silence was exasperating, and she would have 
 left him, in anger; but his great unearthly-looking 
 eyes, like the eyes of some spirit, held her, as the 
 serpent holds the charmed bird. Spell-bound, and 
 half-magnetised, she felt something ominous must 
 happen perhaps something fatal at least he must 
 move or speak, or she must scream out or go 
 wild. 
 
 " Speak, Hassan ; I beseech of thee, speak to me ! 
 Merciful goodness ! is he dying or dead that he doth 
 not speak or move ? " 
 
 Then came an uncontrollable impulse to touch him. 
 She laid her hand upon his arm his naked chest. 
 It was a great relief. He was warm, he was alive. 
 Thank Allah! What a thrill went through her from 
 the glowing flesh ! 
 
 Just then a fine sheep, in tolerable condition, came
 
 36 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 up to them, nibbling the grass. Its long fawn-coloured 
 ears drooped gracefully; and its enormous tail, the 
 tid-bit of the natives, was looped up, to prevent it 
 trailing on the ground. The sight recalled to Kadra s 
 mind her original purpose at least, to obtain from 
 Hassan a good backsheesh, a valuable present. 
 
 "That is a fine fat sheep," she said. "The gracious 
 and comely young man Hassan would find it to his 
 advantage to give it to Kadra Kadra, who has it in 
 her power to do him much evil." 
 
 She placed her hand upon the imperial-like, pointed 
 beard which covered his chin, taking hold of it, and 
 stroking it gently, to emphasise her request, as is the 
 custom, meaning there must be no denial. And most 
 native persons consider that a petition so presented 
 must not be refused, if it is possible, within reasonable 
 limits, to grant it. 
 
 "Will not my lord favourably consider my request? " 
 she asked. 
 
 Suddenly, without the least warning, he threw his 
 head forward, and caught her hand in his mouth, with 
 a snap like that of a wild animal, biting sharply into 
 the flesh with his bright, milk-white teeth. 
 
 A loud yell burst from her lips, and she flung her 
 self backward in an agony of pain and terror; but prob 
 ably suffering more from the latter than the former. 
 
 "Thou hast bitten me to the bone," she screamed. 
 
 "What does all this mean?" said Hassan, affecting 
 great astonishment, and at length sitting up, and finally 
 standing erect. 
 
 "Thou hast bitten me badly," she repeated, nursing 
 her hand. 
 
 It was evident he had formed his purpose, and was 
 carrying it out. 
 
 " What art thou talking about ? Thy words are as 
 those of the foolish woman. What art thou trying to 
 say?" 
 
 "I have already told thee, " she answered bitterly. 
 "Thinkest thou I am blind, and did not see thee with 
 the damsel?" 
 
 "Because I, a man of Bettir, when perishing with
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 37 
 
 thirst, ask a damsel from Malha for a draught of water, 
 and she stops and gives me to drink, dost thou suppose 
 I am such an one as to imagine that she favours me in 
 the least degree, any more than I favour her, or that I 
 have found grace in her sight, any more than she has 
 in mine? and that with the Thar the immemorial 
 blood-feud staring us in the face either of us could 
 have the most remote idea of my choosing her to be my 
 wife? " 
 
 He felt he must deceive Kadra to the utmost, to 
 protect Hilwe from her tongue. 
 
 For a moment Kadra, taken aback by this sudden 
 and most unexpected outburst, was struck dumb ; and, 
 a wonderful fact with her, had nothing to say. 
 
 "A woman of thy judgment ought to know better," 
 continued Hassan, scornfully. " I really thought better 
 of thee. Wouldst thou have me measure the moon ? Or 
 why should I pull down a mosque for a brick? What 
 is one woman more than another to me? " 
 
 "But I saw thee and Hilwe both together; and what 
 could I think?" returned Kadra, at last finding words. 
 "And what madest thou bite me?" she asked, still 
 pressing her hand. 
 
 " Bite thee ! " exclaimed Hassan, in an amazed tone. 
 
 " Yes, verily." 
 
 " What meanest thou ? " 
 
 " I came to thee as a friend, and thou hast bitten me. 
 Can anything be worse than that? Thou didst act 
 like a wild beast, and as if thou wast demented." 
 
 He took her hand in his, and examined it closely, as 
 if it were difficult to see the hurt. 
 
 "As to the hand, it may not be well before thou art 
 a third time married," he answered with a laugh, 
 applying a proverb of the country, with an allusion 
 well understood by Kadra, who already had had two 
 matrimonial experiences. " Of course a woman of thy 
 worth and good looks will have no difficulty in speedily 
 getting a third husband." 
 
 A self-satisfied smile on Kadra s lips showed that 
 the words had their intended result. She drew herself 
 up, and again came near Hassan.
 
 38 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " Praise be to Allah, I am not so bad-looking. Nor 
 am I as old as I look. Am I ? " 
 
 " Far from it," was his terse reply. 
 
 " But thou knowest, in spite of what thou sayest, 
 Hassan, thy mind is set on the damsel. Love and 
 musk do not remain concealed. I could be of good 
 help to thee; or do thee much evil. And there is 
 that sheep. Dost thou not think thou wouldst find it 
 profitable to give it to me?" 
 
 " As to the daughter of her people, what can she be 
 to me, as already I have told thee? Neither of us is 
 so foolish as to try for what is out of our reach. But 
 so far as the sheep is concerned, that is different. I 
 can refuse thee nothing thou askest of me, Kadra. 
 The sheep is thine. Only leave it with me for a few 
 days longer, and it will be in better condition to give 
 it to thee. Meanwhile, say nothing as to what thou 
 hast seen. There is naught in it. And why make 
 more mischief? The blood-feud is bad enough." 
 
 He felt the postponement in giving her the sheep 
 would help to keep her on her best behaviour. 
 
 "Blessed mayest thou be, and thy children s chil 
 dren ! " exclaimed Kadra. " I knew, all the time, that 
 thy heart was in the right place." And she kissed 
 Hassan s hand for respect and gratitude. " I shall do 
 as thou sayest," she added. "And I shall speak sweet 
 words for thee," bowing low. "My lord s eyes have 
 looked graciously upon his handmaid. It shall be 
 according to thy word." 
 
 She had accomplished her purpose, after all. She 
 had obtained a good backsheesh. The sheep was hers ; 
 and she had already planned in her mind the feast she 
 would have with it, calling in all her neighbours and 
 friends. It should be stuffed with rice, butter, spices, 
 and pine seeds in galore, and should be baked entire, 
 and served in a lordly dish. 
 
 "But I must be going," she said, adjusting the 
 water-jar on her shoulder, in which Hassan this time 
 assisted her, and to whom she was profuse in her 
 thanks. 
 
 "Thou art as straight as any young woman," he said.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 39 
 
 "Good-bye, and the blessing of Allah be upon thee," 
 was her smiling reply. 
 
 "Peace be with thee," said Hassan. " Go in peace." 
 
 "Ma -es-salameh." 
 
 She trotted off, with a well-satisfied air, chuckling to 
 herself at the success of her stratagem. 
 
 Hassan stood motionless and silent, looking after her 
 with thoughtful countenance till she was out of earshot. 
 
 "She is a daughter of Eva and of Delilah," at last 
 he broke out. " I have no confidence in her. She is 
 a dangerous woman, such as our Prophet to whom be 
 praise has warned us of in the Koran. Verily, she 
 is even the brawling woman of whom Suleyman the 
 Wise spake in his Proverbs. Yet though I trust her 
 not, nor value her fair words, a bribe may bind her, 
 and the promised backsheesh may hold her." 
 
 The innocent sheep, unconscious of its impending 
 doom, had drawn nearer and nearer, till, at last, it 
 cropped the herbage at Hassan s very feet. 
 
 "Yes," he said, with sadness, addressing the dumb 
 animal, "thou art hers. I have given my word. A 
 promise is a promise; and thou wilt have to go to 
 her. " 
 
 He turned aside to put on his abai. 
 
 "But, after all, it is for Hilwe," he said, a smile 
 relaxing his lips. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE Spoliates were an old titled Neapolitan family, 
 now much decayed, and reduced from their 
 former high estate; but still, with the native pride of 
 position and birth, keeping up appearances to the best 
 of their ability. Though so long resident in Naples, 
 they had come originally from Venice, and the family 
 traditions had it that they were descended from one of 
 the Doges. In both Naples and Venice the family 
 had been possessed of great wealth. They were vessel
 
 40 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 owners and merchant princes in the days of Venetian 
 splendour and glory, now long departed, apparently 
 forever; and the paltry remnant of their grand sea- 
 ventures and reduced fleet was now managed with 
 declining fortune by Giovanni Spollato and his nephew 
 Leone, the last of their race. 
 
 The old man, who, as well as his nephew, bore 
 the title of count, had fondly hoped that in Leone 
 the honours and dignities as well as the wealth of the 
 Spollatos would be revived. He would not confess, 
 even to himself, that their fortunes were gradually 
 growing worse, and to the last he kept a brave front 
 to the world, so that it was generally believed he was 
 much better off than in reality he was. Any little 
 temporary improvement in their affairs was dwelt on 
 by him, and given undue prominence, to the exclusion 
 of their misadventures. 
 
 True, some years ago, on the death of his wife, 
 which had shortly succeeded the death of his son, an 
 only child, in his affliction he had put down their 
 carriage as an unnecessary piece of extravagance, sell 
 ing the horses. The carriage itself he could not quite 
 make up his mind to part with; and it still lay in the 
 coach-house, with all its equipments, the coat-of-arms 
 of the Spollatos, surmounted with coronet, on its panels. 
 He argued, one could always hire a pair of horses, and 
 the world be none the wiser as to their ownership. 
 But the carriage was very seldom used by either him 
 self or his nephew; though it seemed to give the old 
 man peculiar comfort to think it was there, ready for 
 use. 
 
 There is no doubt that whatever feelings the uncle 
 might naturally have toward his nephew were intensified 
 by the fact that in Leone was now centred all the 
 future of the family, even its very perpetuation. Pride, 
 therefore, was a pronounced factor in the affection of 
 the old man for the younger. And as Leone entered 
 the room, this morning, the presence of the good-look 
 ing young fellow with his graceful, dignified move 
 ments sent a thrill of happiness to his uncle s heart. 
 
 The greetings over, and breakfast being served,
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 41 
 
 Count Spoliate, as they took their seats, returned to 
 the examination of a pile of letters which had arrived 
 by the last mail, and had been placed on the table. 
 The occupation enlivened without interrupting his 
 breakfast. 
 
 "You were out late last night, Leone," he said, look 
 ing up from his employment with a pleasant glance. 
 
 Leone bowed his head, while he simply assented to 
 the remark. 
 
 " I waited up for you till I became so sleepy I 
 had to go to bed. You were at the opera, I suppose." 
 And, without waiting for reply, the uncle continued, 
 "What was the piece? Let me see. Ah, Donizetti s 
 Lucia di Lammermoor ! I always liked it always 
 liked Donizetti s music with its effective changes and 
 surprises. Was the performance good? " 
 
 Now, a few nights before, it had happened that 
 Leone was present at a rendition of this opera. He 
 therefore could speak with knowledge on the subject 
 that is, as to the character of the performers. 
 
 " Signorina Tantorini is, as you know, considered to 
 have a very fine voice," he said. " I like her greatly; 
 and she is well supported. You will see what the 
 paper says." 
 
 Leone, in the midst of the questioning, had dropped 
 his fork and seized the morning paper, and, looking up 
 the theatrical notices, he placed before his uncle the 
 rather brief comments with which the Italian journals 
 usually satisfy themselves and their readers in this 
 department. 
 
 " Highly artistic performance. Exquisite render 
 ing of the arias, and refined perception of the different 
 parts, " read his uncle. "I wish I had gone with 
 you," he added, with a burst of enthusiasm. 
 
 A faint self-conscious smile played about Leone s 
 mouth for an instant as he considered where the reali 
 sation of that wish would have taken his uncle, who 
 presently continued : " But I am getting too old for 
 this night-work. It does not any longer agree with 
 me to be out so late. It s all well enough for you 
 young people."
 
 42 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 There was no absolute desire on Leone s part to 
 deceive his uncle; neither for personal reasons was 
 there exactly any necessity that he should do so. 
 Only it would certainly have been inconvenient and 
 unusual, in short, "not the thing," to have given the 
 facts in the case. Had his uncle known the truth in 
 the matter, he would probably have felt little surprise, 
 and would have satisfied himself by administering to 
 Leone a mild rebuke qualified by a joke or a laugh. 
 There is nothing straitlaced in the Italian character. 
 
 "But I am neglecting to hand you your letters, 
 Leone," said his uncle, passing to his nephew three or 
 four notes which he had selected from the pile before 
 him. 
 
 Leone seized them with avidity, glad to cover what 
 ever embarrassment be might have felt, by quickly 
 breaking the seals of the notes, and devouring the 
 contents with his breakfast. They seemed to be 
 mostly invitations to parties; for Leone was much 
 sought after, even among the best families. 
 
 His uncle, similarly occupied with his correspon 
 dence, gave vent, from time to time, after his manner, 
 to various comments on the letters he had received, 
 sometimes reading aloud brief extracts from them. At 
 last he opened one, the contents of which seemed to 
 agitate him. He glanced through it rapidly; and 
 then, with contracted brows and compressed lips, sat 
 silently pondering what he had read, while be kept 
 smoothing out the creases of the paper. 
 
 " Leone, you will, I am sure, do me the credit of my 
 having always spared your feelings, at least on one 
 subject," at length he said. "Though while sparing 
 yours, I have also, no doubt, spared my own." 
 
 He paused for a moment, as if not knowing how to 
 continue the subject to which this awkward brace of 
 sentences was seemingly but the introduction; while 
 Leone bowed his head, and briefly acknowledged in 
 advance the truth of the statements, though wondering 
 as to what was to come. 
 
 " You have always been too kind to me in every 
 way," he said.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 43 
 
 The old man still held the letter in his hand, and 
 his eyes were bent on it as he resumed in a distinct but 
 suppressed tone of voice. It seemed as if he did not 
 care to trust himself to speak loud. 
 
 "This letter is from Jerusalem, from your mother s 
 brother your uncle Anselmo, " he said, turning to 
 the signature at the foot of the letter, as though it was 
 necessary to assist his memory, but in reality to avoid 
 looking, while he spoke, at Leone. " It seems he feels 
 the weight of his accumulating years; his health is 
 poor; and before the end of his days, which he fancies 
 is not far off, he longs to see the only child of his 
 deceased sister. In short, he has some special com 
 munication to make to you, and begs you will visit him 
 in the Holy City." 
 
 " And you you do not approve of this. " 
 
 " It appears to me you should have something to 
 say in the matter, Leone. Indeed I want you to do 
 exactly as you wish." 
 
 " My wishes are yours, Uncle Giovanni. I shall be 
 guided by you in everything. You know very well it 
 will be far from pleasant for me to undertake such a 
 journey. How can I care very much to meet Uncle 
 Anselmo, whom I really never knew? To say truth, 
 I shrink from the meeting from all association with 
 him and his people. How could it be otherwise? " 
 
 The young man s face was a study as he spoke. It 
 glowed with a certain touch of indignation, and as if 
 something rose up within him in protest against him 
 self, against his very flesh and blood. The crimson 
 flush burned through the olive cheek. 
 
 " It was so unfortunate, Leone, so unfortunate. Poor 
 Francesco, my father never forgave him for the mar 
 riage; and, much as I loved my brother, I dared not 
 plead for him. Indeed my father would not have his 
 name mentioned in his presence. I have never talked 
 to you much about the circumstances; they were too 
 painful to me; and I felt it would be happier for you 
 to be ignorant of them. I would have kept you igno 
 rant. But fate has ordained otherwise." 
 
 " Uncle Giovanni, I think it best that you should
 
 44 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 tell me all. I know the worst, I suppose ; and I can 
 bear what further you have to say. We are alone 
 together; it is only right that I should know all." 
 
 Leone turned to his uncle with a look the latter 
 could hardly face. 
 
 " It seems only yesterday when it all happened, when 
 Francesco when your father left for Venice. He had 
 greatly displeased your grandfather by his dissipations 
 and neglect of business. He had the family failing, 
 too much admiration for women, and, I suppose, in 
 herited it. When I think of it now, it appears to me 
 it is highly improbable that he was a whit worse than 
 half the young men I see around me. But there is a 
 way of doing a thing. It is that makes all the differ 
 ence. And if one has those failings, he should have 
 sufficient discretion to be governed in them by common 
 prudence, and not to let them interfere with his busi 
 ness or his reputation, you know." 
 
 "Yes, yes," assented Leone, who had arisen and 
 begun to pace the room in some agitation ; but pres 
 ently returned and resumed his seat. 
 
 "The world can forgive much folly in a man if he 
 only has sense enough to know where to stop," con 
 tinued his uncle. "There must be a certain limit to 
 it all. He must not transgress against the accepted 
 principles or the prejudices of society. 
 
 " But to resume. The agent for our house in Venice 
 had become involved in certain difficulties ; your 
 grandfather, whose health had then begun to fail, 
 could not spare me to go and attend to the matters 
 there, and so sent Francesco, with many charges as to 
 what he should do in the case; giving him to under 
 stand that in this he had one more and last opportunity 
 of redeeming his character. But if, in Naples, under 
 his father s eye, Francesco failed to restrain himself, 
 it is not to be supposed that away, in Venice, he 
 would be any better. Certain it is that he totally 
 mismanaged the business he was sent on, neglecting 
 it for his pleasures, to your grandfather s great indig 
 nation. It really seemed as if Francesco had gone 
 from bad to worse. His excesses ended in a severe
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 45 
 
 illness. No doubt, his life was at one time in extreme 
 danger. During this he was paid every attention by a 
 highly respectable Hebrew family, merchants who had 
 long been resident in Venice, and with whom our 
 house had for many years had some dealings. Noth 
 ing could exceed their kindness. They even took your 
 father into their home to nurse him. The family, 
 known as the Jacobini, which was doubtless a corrup 
 tion of the original Hebrew name, consisted of the 
 father, already advanced in years, and a son and 
 daughter. The son, Anselmo, a perfect contrast to 
 poor Francesco, was his father s right hand in his 
 business. The daughter, remarkable for her beauty, 
 and named Rachele, was " 
 
 "My mother," said Leone, completing the sentence. 
 
 "Yes, your mother," assented his uncle. 
 
 "I never knew her. She is little more than a name 
 to me," said Leone, with a sigh, and eagerly leaning 
 towards his uncle. 
 
 " Yes ; she died while you were a mere infant. You 
 could not remember her. I only saw her once. She 
 was certainly uncommonly handsome, and had scarcely 
 a trace of her Jewish blood about her. Two such good- 
 looking young people brought into such intimate rela 
 tions, one of them as fascinating as your father, the 
 other his patient, lovely nurse, it was not difficult to 
 see the result. They were, in short, madly in love 
 with each other, after the first week or so, and, in 
 spite of the religious prejudices of the Jacobini family, 
 the young lady, who was the spoiled pet of her father 
 and brother, carried her point, and as soon as Francesco 
 was convalescent the marriage was solemnised." 
 
 "And did Grandfather Spollato have nothing to 
 say?" asked Leone. 
 
 " He had been kept quite ignorant of affairs till 
 toward the close, when a friendly warning reached 
 him. He stormed, of course. But his decided oppo 
 sition and veto were treated with little regard or 
 respect by Francesco, who did not consider it neces 
 sary to inform the Jacobini family of his father s 
 prohibition."
 
 46 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " Oh, how could my father do it ? " exclaimed Leone, 
 moving his chair away, and burying his face in his 
 hands. " It almost makes me hate myself to think 
 of it." 
 
 "Do not talk so, Leone," said his uncle. "You must 
 not take it so to heart. It would not be right. You 
 must not imagine that these were of the common sort 
 of Jew. The Jacobinis had made more than one inter 
 marriage with some of our better class of Italian 
 families, and in the more remote past this had occurred 
 doubtless repeatedly. They bore little or no trace of 
 the ancient people in their appearance. At any rate, 
 in the case of your mother, I may say, you never would 
 have imagined her being of Hebrew descent. True, 
 taken together with the loss of our Venetian business, 
 which our father always had great pride in, as being 
 the origin of our house, and which disaster was largely 
 due to Francesco s mismanagement, it preyed so on the 
 old man s mind, it affected his health and shortened 
 his days. He, too, had planned a distinguished matri 
 monial alliance for Francesco. I have often heard 
 your grandfather say it broke his heart." 
 
 "No wonder," said Leone, who had been moving 
 his chair farther and farther from his uncle, and now, 
 with an indescribable look of chagrin on his handsome 
 face, sprang up, and walked rapidly to the other end of 
 the room. 
 
 " Calm yourself, I beseech of you, Leone. I surely 
 did not tell you this to pain you, but because you 
 requested it, and we both considered it necessary," 
 said his uncle, as he arose and followed him. 
 
 Leone hung his head with an expression of shame 
 and grief. 
 
 "Some of the best families of Castile have an infu 
 sion of Moorish or Jewish blood," resumed his uncle. 
 "You have heard of the King of Spain who decreed 
 that every man in Spain who had any Hebrew blood in 
 his veins should wear a yellow hat. The decree was 
 absolute, including from the highest to the lowest in 
 the land. The next day the court chamberlain entered 
 the king s presence bearing three yellow hats. The
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 47 
 
 king, annoyed, asked him why he brought them there, 
 and who they were meant for. One is for your Maj 
 esty, was the reply, another for the Prime Minister, 
 and the third is for myself. You see, Leone, what a 
 foolish thing such prejudice is." 
 
 "Ah!" exclaimed Leone, sorrowfully, "I have read 
 Spanish history, where it states that the wealth of the 
 Jews furnished an obvious resource for repairing, by 
 marriage, the decayed fortunes of the nobility, and that 
 there was scarcely a family of rank in the land whose 
 blood had not been contaminated, at some period or 
 other, by mixture with the ma/a sangre bad blood, as 
 it came afterwards to be termed of the house of 
 Judah ; an ignominious stain, which no time has been 
 deemed sufficient wholly to purge away." 
 
 Leone s face grew dark as he proceeded. 
 
 "These are the words of an American historian," 
 he resumed, "the citizen of a republic, remember; and 
 he further speaks of the anxiety shown by the modern 
 Spaniard to prove that the sangre azul, blue blood, 
 flows through his veins, uncontaminated by any Moorish 
 or Jewish taint." 
 
 " He simply describes the Spanish prejudice on the 
 subject, Leone." 
 
 "Yes, and manifests his own prejudice." 
 
 " I can hardly think that," said the old count. 
 
 Then, as he saw the grieved look in his nephew s 
 dark eyes, he threw his arms around him and embraced 
 him, again and again, exclaiming, " Oh, Leone, do not 
 feel so! Have I ever treated you unkindly? Have I 
 not always loved you as my son ? " 
 
 " You have been far too good to me always, as I have 
 told you," replied the young man. " I have not deserved 
 half your kindness. I am unworthy of it. And now I 
 feel I am like a debased coin a degraded Spoliate, 
 that ought not to pass current." 
 
 "Don t, don t!" cried his uncle. "You are every 
 inch of you a Spollato every inch of you, I say ! " and 
 he warmly pressed Leone to him repeatedly. He had 
 never since his nephew was a little boy shown so much 
 love and passionate fondness for him.
 
 48 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 It was impossible for a man of Leone Spollato s 
 impulses not to respond to such feeling demonstra 
 tions. He was deeply moved at the kind entreaties 
 and assurances of one whom he had learned to respect 
 and love from his youngest years who was to him a 
 father in every sense but the one he was not the 
 author of his being. The two men stood locked in 
 each other s arms for several minutes without speaking, 
 the noble face of the elder looking like the grand coun 
 tenance of some great doge or emperor, all its best 
 points brought out and accentuated by his affection for 
 his nephew, and the fear lest that nephew should be 
 unduly wounded by what had been said. 
 
 As they stood so close together, the likeness between 
 them seemed stronger than ever. It was also common 
 to more than one of the family portraits that hung 
 round the room. There was one, especially, a remark 
 able portrait of a Venetian ancestor, which had been 
 ascribed to Titian, in which the likeness was almost 
 startling. 
 
 " When your father came here, a widower, with you, 
 on the death of our father," continued the uncle, 
 "every one noticed how like me you were, though you 
 were such a little fellow. No one outside of the 
 family knew anything of the peculiar circumstances of 
 the marriage, and so it has remained to this day. 
 Who would dream you had a drop of Jewish blood in 
 your veins? Not one. Ever since your father s early 
 death, you have been as my own son ; and after the 
 loss of my Giovanini, you have been doubly my son." 
 
 The old count s voice trembled, and tears gathered 
 in his eyes as he spoke. He pressed Leone closer to 
 him, as if he feared some cruel fate were about to 
 deprive him of him. 
 
 "Promise me," he added, "that you will not let this 
 dwell on your mind to trouble you." 
 
 " I do promise, dear uncle ; I shall not let it trouble 
 me, so far as I can help it," answered Leone. "I will 
 do anything you require of me." 
 
 "And now, Leone," said his uncle, reverting to 
 the original subject, "as to this visit to Jerusalem, I
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 49 
 
 really do not see how you can avoid it. Your uncle 
 Anselmo is peculiarly urgent, and, apart from the 
 claims of common humanity, his communication may 
 be of great importance to you. From what he says, he 
 seems so to consider it." 
 
 Though Leone said little or nothing, his attitude 
 was far from encouraging. It evidently was politic 
 not to press the subject any further at present; at 
 least so his uncle thought. 
 
 "Well, well, let us say no more about it," he said. 
 "You will, meanwhile, think over it. There can be 
 no immediate haste required, I suppose. The old man, 
 in spite of all his forebodings, is, no doubt, far enough 
 off yet from being in articulo mortis. And now, Leone, 
 remember your promise. You must not worry over 
 anything I have told you. It would, indeed, be ridicu 
 lous to do so. And, for the matter of that, what family, 
 including even royalty itself, is without blot or stain 
 of some sort? Why, I remember hearing my father 
 say that, in the olden time, they had a joke about our 
 name, and used to declare it was originally Spogliato 
 from spoglia, spoil, booty, having reference to the 
 origin of our wealth and rise, through our sea-ventures, 
 in the early Venetian days, when, no doubt, as in the 
 case of many another noble family, the doings too often 
 partook of a plundering and almost piratical character. 
 The world has improved since that time." 
 
 And so his uncle ran on, trying to make light of 
 what had been a sore matter to himself, and which he 
 saw Leone took so bitterly to heart. 
 
 The truth was, as has been shown, that the affairs 
 of the family were daily growing worse, and, more 
 urgently than ever, forcing themselves upon the atten 
 tion of the elder Spoliate, who kept hoping they would 
 mend presently, and who willingly would have con 
 cealed the exact state of the case even from himself. 
 
 As he sat that day in his ancient dusky office, over 
 hauling his papers, his courageous old heart gave way 
 sufficiently to confess the fear that he should not leave 
 Leone as well off as he had expected. It meant much 
 coming from such a man.
 
 50 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 "I wish he would visit his uncle in Jerusalem," he 
 added. "Those old Jews have a pile of gold laid by. 
 Poor-looking and shabby as they keep themselves, I 
 never knew it to fail. Whatever he has, much or 
 little, he will probably give or leave to Leone, espe 
 cially should Leone visit him. It may, perhaps, make 
 up for my losses. Their money is just as clean as any 
 one s, even if they are Jews. And Anselmo must 
 have a good share of the Jacobini hoardings, which 
 ought to belong to Leone if he only managed right. 
 But there is no use telling my high-strung nephew 
 this; it might spoil everything. I don t blame him, 
 though, for despising the marame the rubbish. 
 People of God, indeed! Children of the devil!" 
 
 Thus ended the old man, his innate prejudice getting 
 the better of him. 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 MONTHS passed by, and Leone still postponed 
 leaving Naples for Jerusalem. 
 
 Had one been able to look in on Count Spollato in 
 those days, as he lingered alone in his office, poring 
 over his papers and account -books, he would have been 
 found, oftener than ever, shaking his head and saying, 
 " I fear I shall not be able to leave Leone as well off 
 as I expected, when I die." It was always Leone and 
 not himself he thought of, the handsome brave old man. 
 
 Long had he fought, almost single-handed, and with 
 out a murmur, against adverse circumstances. Too 
 unselfish and courageous to recognise there was any 
 thing of peculiar merit in his devotion to others, or 
 in the fortitude that carried a sublime head high above 
 all trouble, he moved among his fellows only as an 
 ordinary man. 
 
 He even did not perceive he was advancing in life 
 growing old, and less able to contend with the 
 troubles which, each year, were becoming more com 
 plicated and more difficult to deal with. It was,
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 51 
 
 indeed, not easy for him to acknowledge age or its 
 inroads; for there was little appearance of physical or 
 mental decay about him. Of him it could truly be 
 said: "His eye was not dim nor his natural force 
 abated." He would strike his chest and say, "I am a 
 young man yet, in every respect potcnte, vigoroso. " 
 
 But new methods and new devices that he was little 
 familiar with, or comparatively ignorant of, had been 
 introduced in business. The power and tyranny of 
 capital, too, were making themselves felt in large 
 combinations and far-reaching schemes, unknown in 
 former times. 
 
 Nor was Leone, however well-disposed he might be, 
 quite capable of affording deliverance from this state 
 of things, for his uncle had always brought him up 
 more as the gentleman than as the man of business. 
 
 It was when the elder Spollato found himself alone 
 with his accounts that the truth was forced upon him, 
 and he was obliged to admit a constantly diminishing 
 income. 
 
 For these and other similar reasons, though he did 
 not advance them to Leone, he had urged his nephew s 
 visit to Jerusalem. There was abundant occasion for 
 this, for Anselmo Jacobini, weary under the delay, 
 heart-sick from hope deferred, had written repeatedly 
 since the first memorable letter, beseeching his nephew 
 no longer to postpone coming to him. In this connec 
 tion he again alluded to his advanced age and declining 
 strength as motives for the visit. 
 
 "For the sake of common humanity, Leone," his 
 uncle Giovanni would say to him, "you cannot neglect 
 this duty. You have promised. You ought not to 
 postpone it. Suppose your uncle Anselmo should die 
 without your seeing him, you would never forgive your 
 self. It would always be a subject of remorseful regret 
 to you." 
 
 "I will do as you wish, uncle," Leone would reply; 
 and still he let the time pass. 
 
 It had now been several years since Anselmo Jacobini 
 had left Venice and gone to reside in the Holy City. 
 
 Pious Jews, all over the world, have an intense long-
 
 5 2 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 ing not only to visit the ancient capital of their fore 
 fathers, but also to reside there. Apart from the 
 general religious feeling, or the mere matter of senti 
 ment which underlies this desire, there is the wish to 
 be buried on the Mount of Olives. And this arises 
 from the curious superstition of the Jews that all 
 Hebrews who are not buried on that mountain are 
 dragged from wherever they may be interred, under 
 neath the earth, to Olivet, to be judged there on the 
 great day of final judgment. With the object of avert 
 ing or, in some degree, mitigating the hideous doom, 
 it is that the custom has arisen of placing a little bag 
 of earth from Jerusalem in the coffin, beneath the head 
 of the Jew who dies in other lands. 
 
 Thousands of aged Jews find their way to Jerusalem 
 that they may die there, and be buried on the Mount. 
 Scores of these ludicrously antiquated-looking beings 
 may be seen on any day upon the streets of the city, in 
 their odd dress, of which the peculiarity of the head 
 gear is generally the most noticeable feature, covering 
 as it does the widest of ranges, from the turban and 
 tarboosh of the Oriental, to the low black plush hat of 
 the Hebrew of Jerusalem, and the uncouth cap trimmed 
 with bristling fur of the Polish Jew. 
 
 Those blear-eyed old fellows, tottering with age, 
 with tangled gray or snow-white beards, and corkscrew 
 ringlets on each side of the face, are a wonder among 
 humanity. No other people are like them. They have 
 an individuality of the most pronounced order, separat 
 ing them from all other members of the human 
 family. 
 
 The Children of Israel, Sons of Abraham, the People 
 of God their history is as peculiar as their counte 
 nance. And, knowing their history, you would say that 
 the Jew is just what you might expect him to be. Never 
 had any people of their time greater light. Never have 
 any people so sinned against the light as they have 
 sinned. Never have any people been so disgraced and 
 degraded. 
 
 These are they who were delivered with a mighty 
 hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with great
 
 Hassan : a Fellah. 53 
 
 judgments from the bondage in Egypt. These are they 
 who were led by pillar of cloud and of fire through the 
 Red Sea and the wilderness up into this, the land of 
 promise and of blessing, flowing with milk and honey. 
 These are of the nation to whom the Almighty revealed 
 himself as he had done to no other people, making a 
 covenant with them, and showing himself in their holy 
 place, between the cherubim, in the mystical Shekinah 
 the visible glory of the Lord ! 
 
 These are the stiff-necked, rebellious, and adulterous 
 people, according to the description of their own 
 prophets. These are they who murmured against 
 Jehovah in the midst of his lovingkindness and deliv 
 erance, longing for the flesh-pots of Egypt, and setting 
 up the golden calf and worshipping it as the God who 
 had delivered them. These are of the race who slew 
 the Zidonians, that serene people, yet preserved their 
 priest alive and kept their idol unbroken, that they, 
 the people of God, forsooth, might continue the idola 
 trous worship they were sent to destroy ! These are 
 of the iniquitous and abominable kindred, full of 
 uncleannesses, who defiled even the holy place, and 
 set up an image of jealousy therein, turning their 
 backs upon the Shekinah, that they might worship the 
 idol ! These are they who slew the prophets, and 
 stoned the messengers of peace as malefactors ! These 
 are the people of whom the Lord has made a hissing 
 and a byword and a proverb, as he said he would, 
 scattering them among all the nations of the earth. 
 
 Look at them well ; for the marks of all this are 
 upon them ! The marks of all this and much more 
 brand their every feature. Great has been the sin 
 great the expiation. 
 
 This is the place Jerusalem. And these are the 
 people. 
 
 What agony and tears and bloody sweat have been 
 poured out here ! 
 
 What mighty works have been done under this sky 
 within the circle of these inclosing hills ! Here, fear 
 less of mighty men and kings, the great prophets 
 delivered the messages of God; here the Divine Man
 
 54 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 walked and taught; here was revealed Redemptive 
 love, and the great sacrifice was consummated. 
 
 The voice of the All-Merciful rings out now, over it 
 all, down the centuries, with the piteous grief of 
 unfathomable love : 
 
 " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the 
 prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, 
 how often would I have gathered thy children together, 
 even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, 
 and ye would not. Behold your house is left unto you 
 desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me 
 henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh 
 in the name of the Lord." 
 
 Desolate enough, forsooth, and worse than desolate 
 is the house. The dark, narrow streets reek with 
 unsavory odours. Ordure and filth of every kind rankle 
 in the detestably offensive alleys and corners. Mos 
 lems, Jews, multiform Christians, semi-wild men, and 
 strangers from many lands crowd the city. The care 
 lessness, looseness and want of modesty of the Oriental 
 are seen on every side. It is an old story here. The 
 valley of the Dead Sea is in sight, with Sodom and 
 Gomorrah in the depths of the bitter lake. 
 
 In the Jewish quarter of the ancient city, so far as 
 filth, stench and degradation are concerned, the acme 
 seems to be reached. With few exceptions, even the 
 better class of houses have little to recommend them. 
 The worst abodes are mere dens of darkness and misery, 
 no better than, indeed scarcely as good as, the haunt of 
 the wild beast. 
 
 The contracted, ill-paved streets, in which the bal 
 conies on each side almost meet, may be picturesque, 
 but are unwholesome. The odd projecting lattices, 
 like bird-cages, are a peculiar feature. These are all 
 well provided with iron gratings or grillings, necessary 
 for protection from robbery; and often have within a 
 finer grating of wire, or of curiously carved wood. Occa 
 sionally a few flower-pots may be found adorning them, 
 with trailing vines depending. But this is a feature 
 less common in the Jewish than in the Mohammedan 
 quarter. Indeed, the Moslem openly shows his love
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 55 
 
 for flowers, while, apparently, the Jew has compara 
 tively but little feeling in this direction. 
 
 But it is those parts of the streets which are arched 
 over, houses connecting with each side being built 
 upon the archways, that present the most characteristic 
 traits dark, tunnel-like vistas, often clammy with 
 foetid nastiness, and even in the daytime pervaded 
 with semi-darkness. Out of these again, on either 
 side, stretch similar overarched passages full of dra 
 matic possibilities and nocturnal dreaminess. Even a 
 tragic and sepulchral atmosphere is not wanting. 
 
 Here crouch in groups or move with restless steps 
 the teeming humanity of the place; the men in long, 
 gown-like garments that reach to the ground, the last 
 form of dress, one would say, adapted to the conditions 
 of such a locality; the women generally muffled in 
 shawls worn over the head. 
 
 They go and come upon their petty business, by 
 them magnified out of all due proportion, with the 
 hovering keenness of vultures. Sickening odours float 
 out with an acrid penetrating quality from those 
 ancient-looking gabardines, which are so stiff with 
 greasy filth, it is impossible to imagine they could ever 
 have been new and clean. 
 
 " God preserve us from uncleanness, and from coming 
 in contact with them ! " exclaims the devout Moslem, 
 as he passes by, having washed before prayer. 
 
 Were it not for the distinct realism of certain fea 
 tures, these unmanlike men would seem to be phantoms 
 of unwholesome creation, dark and vague apparitions 
 from Gehenna. 
 
 The sharp, piercing eyes, with acquisitive gleam, 
 and the beak-like noses, curving over the flabby, pro 
 truded lips, give an aspect of cruelty to many of the 
 faces. The shrillness of their voices is half-choked in 
 a rumbling gutturalness of discordant tone; and their 
 conversation is invariably accompanied with uncouth 
 gesticulations, in which their fingers, hands and arms, 
 heads, and even entire bodies participate. 
 
 In one of the better parts of the quarter, frequented 
 chiefly by the Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Jews,
 
 56 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 was the abode of Anselmo Jacobini. The house was 
 old and quaint, and had a superiority and something of 
 a picturesqueness possessed by few of its neighbours. 
 It was built of the yellowish cut stone supplied by the 
 quarries of the surrounding hills ; and curiously carved 
 bosses and architraves, still in good preservation, orna 
 mented the weather-chastened facade. It was further 
 enriched by stones of a fine black, and of a deep red 
 hue, which, being sparingly used, enhanced their 
 preciousness. These were placed, with a simple, judi 
 cious arrangement, over the windows, adding a charm 
 ing note of colour. The irregularity of the size, form, 
 and disposition of the windows, with their Moresque 
 lattices, greatly contributed to the effect. 
 
 Here, in the principal, hall-like room of the house, 
 might be found, as was usual, during the greater part 
 of the day, the old man, Anselmo Jacobini (for he now 
 seldom went abroad, except to the synagogue), seated at 
 a plain desk, on which lay a large open book a fine 
 copy of the law or Pentateuch. A mellow, subdued 
 light sifted into the room through the curtained lattice 
 of the wide, projecting window, and illumined the bent 
 head, now silvery with age. The face was mostly in 
 shadow, the back of the high chair in which he sat being 
 turned to the window. 
 
 It was a subject which Rembrandt would have loved 
 to paint, and, to which, perhaps, he alone could have 
 done justice. Though the features were decidedly 
 Jewish, they were of the best Hebrew type, and a 
 certain refinement, perhaps of Italian origin, subdued 
 and qualified traits which might otherwise have been 
 of severe or unpleasing character. A lengthy beard, 
 nearly as white as his head, swept full in front, over 
 the black satin robe, which almost completely enveloped 
 him, reaching to his feet. These showed from beneath 
 it, and were encased in a pair of Turkish slippers, of 
 soft, yellow leather, and with pointed, up-curved toes. 
 
 The richness of the entire effect was enhanced by its 
 simplicity, and was heightened by the ancient aspect 
 of the room, with its arched and groined roof, thick 
 fortress-like walls, and Oriental furnishing. The
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 57 
 
 silvery white of the prophet-like hair and beard, the 
 intense glossy black of the satin robe, and the yellow 
 of the slippers made fine broad contrasts, which even 
 the most unimpressive could scarcely have failed to 
 appreciate. 
 
 The day was bright and pleasant, and a fresh breeze, 
 yet of treacherous, sirocco-like warmth, from the direc 
 tion of the Moabite hills, entered softly through the 
 partially opened lattice. To the southeast those dis 
 tant hills stood up like a rosy-purple and amethystine 
 wall, as if barring the entrance to the Cedron Valley, 
 though far, far beyond it, and even beyond the Dead 
 Sea ; while to the right, near by, was visible a great 
 part of the castellated wall of the city, always a pictur 
 esque object. 
 
 The old walls of Jerusalem are an interesting study. 
 The very stones have each an individual beauty. 
 Carved and painted by the hand of Time, long since 
 they left the hand of man, they put on a glory and a 
 grace hallowed by the admiring gaze of countless gen 
 erations who have dwelt beneath their protecting 
 environment. How many times have those ancient 
 Phoenician-cut stones been cast down and built up 
 again ! How distinctive and eloquent they are with 
 their wide margins and sumptuous colour! Rich, warm 
 ochre tints deepen into orange glows and pink veining, 
 relieved by cool grays and neutral shades. Wherever 
 it can find a foothold, the blossoming weed adds a 
 brilliant key-note of scarlet, or a grateful accent of 
 soft harmonious green. And behind all spreads that 
 miraculous background of blue, the clear, cloudless 
 sky of Palestine. 
 
 As the old man arose and stood in the window recess, 
 something of all this must have entered his mind as he 
 caught a glimpse of the great walls, for he murmured, 
 " I will lay thy stones with fair colours." And again, 
 "Thy servants love thy very stones." 
 
 He was evidently in a restless mood to-day, for, hav 
 ing more than once returned to his reading, he, from 
 time to time, would arise and pace the stone-paved 
 floor, to and fro, over the rare, antique Persian rugs
 
 58 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 which strewed it with their luxurious thickness and 
 concordant arabesqueries. Many of these wonderful 
 specimens of Oriental art had been used by Moham 
 medans in public and private worship. Some of them 
 had been taken out of the mosques. 
 
 The touch of the rugs had to some extent a soothing 
 effect upon him. He enjoyed feeling his foot sink in 
 their velvety depths; while he found the fantastic 
 patterns, wrought in subdued harmonies and rare con 
 trasts of colour, a solace and a pleasure to the eye. 
 
 But was there not more than this? Was it not pos 
 sible he felt a virtue, an effluence of sanctity, a 
 mysterious psychic aura or influence proceed from 
 those ancient seggadehs, prayer-mats from which 
 had ascended to the one true God thousands of adoring 
 invocations and praises? 
 
 After taking a further turn or two of the room, he 
 would come back to his desk with a certain relief, and 
 resume his reading; but only again presently to push 
 the book from him with an unsatisfied expression. 
 
 Could it be that those Moslem prayer carpets gave 
 him more comfort than the fivefold book of Moses, 
 with its anathemas and exacting legalities? 
 
 "I ought to have had a letter to-day," he said, 
 thinking aloud to himself, after the manner of persons 
 who have lived much alone. " I wonder if that lazy 
 Oriental hasn t forgotten to call for the mail. It 
 would be just like him ; though he knows how anxious 
 I am." 
 
 He crossed the room, and threw open the door. 
 
 " Selim ! Selim ! " he called in an irritated voice. 
 
 There was no reply. 
 
 He then clapped his hands repeatedly, after the 
 Eastern manner of summoning servants, but only with 
 a like result. 
 
 "I really believe the fellow has fallen asleep," he 
 said. "Just like him. And I cannot find my bell. 
 No doubt he has hidden it away, so that I cannot call 
 him. There is no knowing these Moslems. They are 
 equal to anything. Sons of Belial, even though they 
 are circumcised."
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 59 
 
 His search for the bell, however, at length resulted 
 in his finding it on one of the koursis the inlaid 
 octagonal stands of Damascus adorning the room. 
 Seizing the bell, he rang it violently and repeatedly. 
 
 "After all, the bell was. in the right place. I have 
 wronged him," he said contritely. 
 
 From a remote quarter of the house came Selim s 
 answering cry. And soon appeared in the doorway a 
 young man of attractive appearance, clad in the loose- 
 flowing trousers of the East, and wearing a citron- 
 coloured embroidered vest beneath a jacket similarly 
 ornamented, and of a subdued blue shade. On his 
 finely-poised head he wore a crimson tarboosh, rakishly 
 set at the back, and permitting a goodly proportion of 
 his glossy, blue-black hair to appear in front. A sash 
 of crimson silk striped with gold encircled his waist, 
 while his feet were enclosed in high-laced canvas shoes, 
 a European innovation. He had altogether an insin 
 uating air about him ; and though, no doubt, quite 
 youthful, was as fully developed as are most young men 
 of twenty-five in the West. His eyes were uncom 
 monly large and lustrous ; and he used them most effec 
 tively. They were true indicators of his lingual 
 powers ; for he could command the use of several 
 foreign languages, at least in a smattering way. 
 
 Standing in the doorway, he pushed aside the portiere 
 and made salaam, raising, as usual, his hand succes 
 sively to his breast, mouth and forehead, with such a 
 grace as is unknown to the Occidental, and which one 
 never wearies of witnessing, especially in the courteous 
 little children of the land. 
 
 It was evidently difficult for his master to be angry 
 with him. After an attempt or two at it, the frown 
 disappeared from his brow. 
 
 " I have been calling for you till I am hoarse, Selim. 
 Where have you been? I really believe you have been 
 asleep." 
 
 "No, no, Signer! I was only in the courtyard." 
 
 "And what were you doing there? But no matter." 
 
 The old man broke off abruptly, while the slim 
 young servant, almost as full of sinuosities as a serpent
 
 60 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 or a lizard, remained standing, with folded arms, in 
 the most gracefully patient attitude imaginable, await 
 ing further questioning, without the least appearance 
 of anxiety. 
 
 " What is the use of tempting him to speak falsely? " 
 said Jacobini, aside. 
 
 The astute servant watched his eyes, as though he 
 read his very thoughts. 
 
 "Did you call at the post-office this morning? " 
 
 This time the old man spoke aloud and rather sternly. 
 
 " Yes, yes, Signer ! I was there the first thing 
 after the Turkish post came in, and I waited till it was 
 given out. They take a long time to sort it, you know. 
 I had already called and inquired at the Austrian 
 post." 
 
 "And was there nothing for me? " 
 
 "Nothing, Signor. " 
 
 " It is very strange. I ought to have had a letter." 
 
 "Yes, yes, Signor; I told them so, and made them 
 look a second time; but there was naught." 
 
 The old man sighed, resuming his seat, and leaning 
 his head on his hand with a dejected air. 
 
 "Perhaps the next mail will bring it," said Selim, 
 sympathetically, seeing his master s disappointment. 
 
 The old man did not seem to hear him. 
 
 "That is all," he said. "In future come and tell 
 me at once whether there are or are not letters for me. 
 Shut the door." 
 
 " I cannot expect much attention from the Spoliates," 
 he presently said to himself, after Selim had departed. 
 " It would be too much to look for, under the circum 
 stances, I suppose. And yet I think Leone might 
 have " 
 
 He suddenly ceased, his voice trembling and failing. 
 
 "My nephew my own sister s son," he continued, 
 "he ought to have some feeling for me. But prejudice 
 is hard to overcome. It is especially strong where 
 pertaining to race or to caste, and where it has become 
 a habit a fixed idea for generations." 
 
 He stroked his long beard in a way peculiar to him 
 when he was agitated.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 61 
 
 "Perhaps I wrong him," he resumed, in a more 
 cheerful tone. " He may be on his way to see me, at 
 this very moment." 
 
 A loud knock at the door interrupted his self-com- 
 munings. Selim had returned, and announced that 
 the Rabbi Sloman was waiting below and wished to 
 see the Signer. Would he see him? 
 
 "By all means. Let the rabbi come up." 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 A VENERABLE old man of mild countenance, 
 diminutive stature and attenuated frame, slightly 
 bent with the weight of his many years, and who was 
 attired in the dress of a Jewish chief rabbi, entered the 
 room, accompanied by two other Hebrews, one of 
 whom was his secretary or dragoman. The rather 
 refined-looking old man was the Rabbi Sloman, whose 
 name was probably a corruption of Solomon. 
 
 As Anselmo Jacobini was reputed to be rich, at least 
 in Jerusalem, and was, moreover, generous in his char 
 ities, he was treated with great respect by all who came 
 in contact with him, and especially by the Jews. The 
 chief rabbis frequently came to consult and advise with 
 the retired banker ; and he was sure to be addressed as 
 Signor by all who had any object to gain with him. 
 His Italian life had given him a certain freedom of 
 opinion in regard to many of the more rigid and out 
 worn observances of his religion, which in any one of 
 less authority and of less wealth would not have been 
 condoned. But in this case it was advisable to wink at 
 much that could not have been permitted in another. 
 
 In Jerusalem there is in general such an abject sub 
 mission on the part of the Jews in good standing to 
 everything even of the most tyrannical character em 
 anating from their head rabbis and pertaining to the 
 Mosaic law and their religion, as to be scarcely credible. 
 According to the more rigid observances of the Sab-
 
 62 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 bath, for instance, during the holy day an umbrella 
 cannot be opened even in the most deluging rain, or 
 in the most scorching sun ; a handkerchief or a piece 
 of money cannot be carried in the pocket ; no cooking 
 must be done ; nor can a match be lighted, nor a cigar 
 ette be smoked. Hebrews who would be Hebrews 
 indeed, must discard all European dress and wear the 
 peculiar garb of the Israelite. They must not shave, 
 or even trim their beards or side locks, lest they offend 
 against the law which prescribes, "Thou shalt not mar 
 the corners of thy beard." The peculiar and almost 
 invariably filthy garments seen on this people, on every 
 side are a positive testimony ; so are the disgusting 
 corkscrew ringlets, known as peahs, worn on each side 
 of the men s faces. 
 
 The degree in which Jacobini was regarded as a spe 
 cially privileged character therefore must not be under 
 estimated. 
 
 On the other hand, it must be confessed that this 
 extremely rigid interpretation of the law, entering into 
 the most minute details of everyday life with an op 
 pressiveness almost unbearable, engenders on the part 
 of many of its pretended observers a secret shirking of 
 the odious obedience. There is in every direction a 
 setting about to evade and shift responsibility. The 
 Jews, from of old, have ever been past-masters in the art 
 of evasion. Even the rabbis are known to go down to 
 the market on the Sabbath, and purchase what they 
 choose, with impunity, but are careful not to complete 
 the transaction by paying for what they buy. This is 
 delayed till the following day, which being the Christian 
 holy day is all the more agreeable for the purpose. 
 Such action would seem to most unbiassed thinkers 
 simply what is described, in language more graphic 
 than elegant, as " Whipping the Devil round the 
 stump." Yet their religious law permits it. 
 
 The Rabbi Sloman had, on this occasion, much to 
 consult about, and many charitable schemes to recom 
 mend ; and Anselmo Jacobini listened to him with all 
 due patience, yielding a not ungenerous response. 
 They spoke of the rapid influx of the Jews ; their
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 63 
 
 persecution in Russia and other countries, and the 
 necessity of providing homes and support for those 
 afflicted, poverty-stricken people, until one might well 
 think the subject exhausted, if exhausted it could be ; 
 yet still the chief rabbi lingered. He seemed to hes 
 itate at delivering some further message, till admonished 
 by an expressive gesture from the Rabbi Ben Cohen 
 who accompanied him. 
 
 It had always been a sore trial to the neighbouring 
 Jews that Jacobini employed as his personal attendant 
 and dragoman a Moslem Syrian an unbeliever, instead 
 of one of the Lord s people. This dereliction of duty, 
 the rabbi now, though with some misgivings, under 
 took to point out, to the great annoyance of Jacobini, 
 who very properly considered it was a private matter, 
 pertaining to himself, and in which the rabbi had no 
 right to interfere. 
 
 " You might have one of your own co-religionists, one 
 of the sons of Israel," continued the rabbi, after opening 
 the subject, " instead of this profane follower of the 
 False Prophet." 
 
 "Ah! Indeed?" gasped Jacobini, controlling his 
 displeasure but imperfectly. 
 
 " It is an occasion of much offence to our people, and, 
 it seems to me, justly so." 
 
 " Excuse me, but I do not see that they have any rea 
 son to be offended in the matter. I simply exercise the 
 right to choose my own servant. If I prefer one man 
 to another, it is my privilege. They have no right to 
 call me to an account for so doing." 
 
 Jacobini spoke with decided warmth, and as if deter 
 mined to end the matter. 
 
 " True, true ; but consider, it is not the custom of our 
 people to do this thing. When you might aid one of 
 your own brethren and 
 
 The rabbi, a most amiable man, paused. He feared 
 that Jacobini, from what he had said, and his angry 
 glance, was not likely to be moved, and he wisely pre 
 ferred not to irritate him by saying all he had intended 
 to say. 
 
 "The matter is one not apt to be mended, but rather
 
 64 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 to grow worse. What would they say to find me invit 
 ing a Christian under my roof into intimate association 
 with me? " 
 
 " God forbid ! " exclaimed the rabbi. 
 
 " Nevertheless, it is likely to be so." 
 
 " How may this be ? " 
 
 " I am expecting my nephew, my sister s son, to come 
 and visit me perhaps to stay with me for the re 
 mainder of my days, which may not be long upon the 
 earth. He may arrive at any time. I do not know. 
 He ought to be with me now." 
 
 The old man s voice trembled as he spoke the last 
 words; while the two rabbis took snuff from an enor 
 mous silver box, glancing significantly at one another. 
 
 "Your nephew your sister s son," repeated the 
 Rabbi Sloman ; " then he must be a son of Israel." 
 
 " Surely, surely," coincided the companion rabbi, 
 Ben Cohen, who blew his nose on a soiled blue cotton 
 handkerchief, and leaned forward to help himself to 
 another liberal pinch of the snuff. 
 
 " It does not follow, apparently," replied Jacobini. 
 " His father was of the Spollato family, a Christian, 
 or, as you would say, one of the Nazarenes ; and my 
 nephew was brought up a Christian." 
 
 " He has never had the ancient rite performed 
 upon him, then?" responded the Rabbi Sloman in 
 terrogatively. 
 
 " Never, so far as I know." 
 
 An almost comical expression overspread the features 
 of Jacobini as the subject rather grotesquely presented 
 itself to him in connection with Leone and the pride and 
 exclusiveness of the Spoliates. 
 
 " Ah, that comes of the evil of mixed marriages ! " ex 
 claimed the Rabbi Ben Cohen. 
 
 " Doubtless. In all probability my nephew would 
 look on it, as do most Christians, as a barbarous mutila 
 tion a savage rite." 
 
 " I have heard the uncircumcised sons of Belial jest 
 about our holy things; and I know what is in their 
 corrupt natures. They are full of all uncleanness and 
 wantonness. But what can you expect?"
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 65 
 
 It was the Rabbi Ben Cohen who spoke, and with a 
 peculiar vindictiveness apparently wanting to the chief 
 rabbi. His hooked nose, of monstrous proportions and 
 shape, gave an indescribably malicious aspect to a face 
 which otherwise also possessed in a pronounced degree 
 unpleasant characteristics. There could be no mistaking, 
 for an instant, his idiosyncrasies. 
 
 " But now, no doubt, you hope to bring the young 
 man to the true belief. Under your influence much may 
 be expected," interposed the Rabbi Sloman. 
 
 " I fear it is not reasonable to expect too much from 
 my nephew in that direction. Had my poor sister lived 
 long enough to instil into his mind the lessons of our 
 holy religion, how different it might all have been. But 
 she died when Leone was a mere infant." 
 
 " You have a duty upon you in this, which you should 
 not lightly set aside. In any way that I can help in the 
 good work you can command me. I shall only be too 
 glad to use my efforts with the young man." 
 
 "Thank you, Rabbi, thank you. I fear he would look 
 upon all our interest with disdain." 
 
 " It is a bitter lesson, a sore warning," reiterated the 
 Rabbi Ben Cohen. " One cannot be too strict in pro 
 hibiting such marriages. There must be no leniency." 
 
 " Yes, there must be no leniency," repeated the chief 
 rabbi. 
 
 Jacobini had risen while Ben Cohen spoke, and, stand 
 ing in the balcony-like window, looked toward the Mount 
 of Olives, whose southwesterly slopes were thickly set 
 with Hebrew graves. The innumerable tombstones, in 
 general of the very rudest make, some of the oldest being, 
 indeed, hardly discernible from the unhewn rock itself, 
 stood out on the face of the Mount, in the brazen glare 
 of the Palestine sun, like a leprous mass of eruption. 
 There was scarcely a tree or a shrub to shade or shield 
 them. Higher up the mountain, and below, and on 
 either side were scattered clumps of dusky olive-trees ; 
 but the graves were utterly exposed, with an almost 
 dreadful ugliness, a horrible nakedness, to the blazing 
 eye of the sun. Yet there were few of even the rudest of 
 those gravestones that some loving hand had not marked 
 
 5
 
 66 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 with brief memorial inscription in the unmistakable 
 radical characters that their ancestors had brought back 
 with them from their captivity in Babylon, where they 
 had lost their ancient alphabet. 
 
 Often had Jacobini stood by this window in the night 
 time and watched the torches as they flitted over the 
 hillside. 
 
 " Another poor Israelite laid away," he would mutter, 
 sorrowfully shaking his head. " Well may they bury 
 their dead at night, hiding their misery in the darkness. 
 Surely no people have been afflicted as they have been 
 afflicted." 
 
 A half-suppressed sigh parted the old man s lips as he 
 now stood gazing on the dismal view. He was weary of 
 the conversation, and would willingly have changed it. 
 
 "There is not such another sight in the whole world," 
 he said. " Poor Hebrews ; it is here we come, at the last, 
 to lay our bones. There is no compromising with death 
 there no pretence at beautifying. Perhaps it is as well 
 that it is so." 
 
 " Surely it is well," said the chief rabbi, hardly com 
 prehending Jacobini. " Every true son of Israel natur 
 ally desires to be buried in the sacred spot. You and I 
 we all desire it, when the time comes. But, excuse 
 me, will you not consider what we have spoken to you 
 regarding your servant, this Selim, this unbelieving 
 Moslem?" he continued, returning to the charge. 
 " Could you change him for one of the seed of Jacob, 
 it would remove a great cause of offence, and be a source 
 of peace and comfort to yourself. Ben Cohen and I 
 have talked the matter over ; and we have selected a 
 man for you in every way suitable, one who will give you 
 every satisfaction." 
 
 " He is Nathan, brother of the rabbi s dragoman," 
 added Ben Cohen. 
 
 A flush of anger tinged for a moment the pale face 
 of Jacobini. His eyes, which had been lowered, were 
 suddenly lifted, showing a dangerous gleam in their dark 
 depths. 
 
 "Thank you," he replied, with a haughty inclination 
 of the head; "I am greatly obliged to you for your
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 67 
 
 thoughtful interest. The truth is, however, that I have 
 taken a liking to this unbeliever this Selim. In spite 
 of all his shortcomings, there is something about him 
 that pleases me ; and, now that I am expecting my 
 nephew, who doubtless would prefer Selim to an Israel 
 ite, I will make no change, at least for the present." 
 
 " You surprise me ! " exclaimed Ben Cohen, and sud 
 denly stopped. 
 
 Both the reverends were silent with chagrin. 
 
 " Yes," added Jacobini, " I am sure my nephew would 
 prefer Selim." 
 
 The rabbis saw that there was no use in further argu 
 ment, and, having already partaken of the usual Orien 
 tal refreshments, consisting of conserves, liqueurs and 
 coffee, which Selim had produced, they, after a few com 
 monplace and complimentary remarks, took their leave. 
 
 " You will, at least, consider the matter, and let us 
 know," they said, tenacious of their authority, and bow 
 ing themselves out. 
 
 It was a relief to Jacobini as he returned their saluta 
 tions. 
 
 " I really think it best for me to retain Selim. I be 
 lieve he would suit Leone far better than the Hebrew. 
 Besides I hardly care to place myself so utterly under 
 the surveillance of those intrusive people. There is 
 some limit to forbearance." These were the conclusions 
 of Jacobini, spoken to himself when again alone in his 
 chamber. He had given the rabbis no promise to con 
 sider the matter. 
 
 Selim, after the manner of the Oriental, with eye and 
 ear to keyhole, had learned the principal object of the 
 rabbis visit; and now, redoubling his attentions and 
 fascinations with Jacobini, as a consequence held a 
 higher place than ever in his regard. The subtle Syrian, 
 like all his people, knew to perfection how to make him 
 self agreeable, and thoroughly ingratiated himself with 
 his master. 
 
 What graceful gravity, what dignified reserve blended 
 with every motion of the lithe body of Selim, fully con 
 scious of his good looks and handsome form, while care 
 fully concealing all appearance of that consciousness !
 
 68 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 How well he knew how to bestow upon his master those 
 delicate little attentions that are almost nameless, yet 
 which are always acceptable ! He called himself Jacob- 
 ini s son, while he endeared himself to him more and 
 more. As he came and went with panther-like tread, 
 his physical fascinations had no little to do in holding 
 him in the good graces of the old man, who actually 
 liked him all the better for the attempt of the rabbis to 
 deprive him of him. 
 
 But the climax was reached when on the following 
 morning the debonair young Moslem brought Jacobini 
 the long-looked-for letter from Leone. Nothing could 
 exceed the delight of his master, who somehow asso 
 ciated the entire circumstance with Selim, giving him a 
 handsome present in the first exuberance of his gratifi 
 cation. 
 
 " And now, Selim, you must watch the arrivals at the 
 hotels," said his master, as he adjusted his glasses, and 
 pored over Leone s brief letter. " My nephew may 
 reach Jerusalem any day, and we must pay him every 
 attention, and not let him feel like a stranger in a strange 
 land. I depend on you for this. You must let me know 
 the moment he arrives." 
 
 As Selim bowed his head in sign of acquiescence, his 
 eyes sparkled with the peculiar light that brilliant 
 radiance that is seldom seen at such perfection in any 
 but Oriental orbs. This token of pleasure was repeated 
 in the superb smile that parted his scarlet lips, showing 
 his beautiful teeth, as even and white as a double string 
 of choice pearls. He was a sound, wholesome fellow 
 from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet ; and 
 he felt the warm animal life within him, or rather it made 
 itself felt to him with an intensity that would not be 
 denied. The passionate glow was almost visible in him ; 
 and, as in most of his people, seldom failed to impress 
 those who came in contact with him. 
 
 Next to receiving honour or reward in his own person, 
 there is nothing that so thoroughly gratifies an Oriental 
 as to be made the dispenser or vehicle of another s 
 bounty or ceremonious respect. It transfigures him. 
 A sublimity of exaltation possesses him; and, for the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 69 
 
 time being, he is another man the personification of 
 some princely embassade. Backsheesh, the largess of 
 the East, is a stupendous and almost formidable institu 
 tion, calculated to astonish if not overwhelm the un 
 prepared Occidental ; but ceremonious courtesy as 
 observed by Asiatics is vastly more, it is the very life- 
 blood of the people. 
 
 Thus Selim s joy was doubly fulfilled. 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE sun had set behind the hills of Judaea, and 
 glow after glow rose and vanished successively 
 in that arch of the heavens overhanging the Holy City, 
 circling the entire horizon with rainbow-like bands of 
 glorious colours, with a mystic splendour such as is 
 seen in no other part of the world. Through the gorge 
 of the Cedron the Moabite mountains showed, like a 
 great purple battlement with pink and crimson but 
 tresses ; and the olive-trees on the Mount of Olives 
 caught the reflected glory on the subdued green of their 
 foliage. So golden was the sunset that it seemed as if 
 the sun, instead of disappearing behind the hills, had 
 melted in the heavens. 
 
 A stranger who had arrived in Jerusalem that evening 
 stood with several of the other guests gazing from the 
 flat roof of their hotel at the wondrous sight, with an 
 interest that was only natural ; for even a Nile sunset 
 could not exceed this, no, it could not approach it. 
 The almost complete dying out of the glory, succeeded 
 by a death-like ashen hue, followed by the revival of 
 the resplendent colours, and this recurring six or seven 
 times, formed not the least remarkable feature of the 
 magnificent display. 
 
 There was something about the strange young man 
 that instantly attracted the attention ; and yet it was 
 difficult for his fellow-travellers to decide as to what 
 nationality he belonged. Dressed with much good
 
 jo Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 taste, though in the height of the French fashion, his 
 grace and dignity of movement suggested the Greek or 
 the so-called " civilised " Oriental. Perhaps one might 
 think he had a mixture of both in his veins with a pre 
 dominating dash of the Italian. As he paced up and 
 down on the extensive roof of the hotel, there was al 
 most a touch of melancholy in the pronounced features 
 of his face that had in it a reminiscence of the eternally 
 sad Antinous. Was he sorry for his sins? And, again, 
 as one looked closer, glimpses of an older race might be 
 detected, and the suggestion arise that here, perhaps, 
 was such a man as Cleopatra or even Bathsheba might 
 have smiled upon. 
 
 One thing was certain he would not have failed to 
 return that smile with interest. There was, with all its 
 refinement and polish, a simplicity of audacity about 
 him which told you, in unmistakable language, that he 
 would have the courage of his passion. 
 
 All sorts and conditions of men, and of women too, 
 come up to Jerusalem. One can only wonder what 
 attraction it can possess for some of them. And the 
 wonder is increased by finding that many of those 
 anomalous characters are frequently not merely tran 
 sient visitors, but that they come to the Holy City to 
 make it their abiding place. 
 
 Allusion is not now made to those poor old Jews, who, 
 in their indomitable superstition, drag their miserable 
 worn-out bodies to the place, that they may die within 
 the walls, and be buried where so many of their race 
 and of their forefathers lie, on the scarred and sun- 
 bleached slopes of the Mount of Olives. The fanatic 
 or " crank " of all nationalities and of all religions finds 
 his way to Zion, imbued with the idea that he has a 
 " mission " which he alone can carry out. Or some dim 
 notion flickers in the addled brain that here may be 
 found that peace and joy in believing, which he has 
 failed to find elsewhere ; or that prayers said here have 
 a hundredfold efficacy. 
 
 But such a young man as this, whether Italian, Greek, 
 or Oriental, to all appearance full of worldly-mindedness 
 and unrestrained instincts, whose whole being seems an
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 71 
 
 embodiment of self-gratification, he, the pleasure-lov 
 ing fellow, with sensuous if refined tastes, the resultant 
 of a long line of warm-blooded ancestry, what object 
 has brought him to the ancient ruin-heap? It would 
 not be easy for the general beholder to answer. And 
 guesses are idle. 
 
 Men are not always what they seem. At any rate, 
 to-night, some ancient memory, drawn perhaps from a 
 long-forgotten past, surged within him ; an old feeling 
 for which he had no recognition was resuscitated and 
 moved him in a way surprising to himself. 
 
 What archaic longings lurk in the blood, what dis 
 positions lie hidden there, waiting for the appointed time 
 to wake up and assert themselves, whether for good or 
 evil. He thought of his Hebraic ancestry, and tried to 
 feel backward through it to the remote beginning of the 
 things that lay before him. Centuries returned, passing 
 beneath his mental gaze, and vanished as they had come. 
 At last he grew dizzy at the complicated scenes he cpuld 
 not grasp, and turned from them. 
 
 Looking toward the Turkish barracks, on the near 
 slope of Zion s hill, he saw the flat roof was covered with 
 living, moving objects. He might well imagine it the 
 continuation of the visions of his brain. It was the sol 
 diers at their evening prayer. The greater part of a 
 regiment was there, Moslems, all praying at once. He 
 could see distinctly, against the flame-coloured sky, 
 every genuflection and prostration, the bowing of the 
 heads, the outstretched hands, not a movement was 
 lost. How wonderful it was ! Nearly an entire regi 
 ment worshipping at once. And every man of them, 
 before ascending to pray, had performed the ablution, 
 and purified himself, with water, of all uncleanness ; 
 where necessary, carrying out the abstersions known 
 as the Istinga and the Ghusl masuun, as required by the 
 Mohammedan religion. 
 
 " Was there ever such another sight ! " he exclaimed. 
 " Does any other people or belief present a scene like 
 this?" 
 
 He was lost in wonder at it, as well he might be. 
 Every night, at sunset, this was repeated.
 
 72 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 His reverie was broken by the ringing of the last din 
 ner-bell. He looked around him, and saw that he was 
 alone. All the other guests who had been on the roof 
 had gone below. It was already commencing to grow 
 dusk, and the stars had begun to appear. 
 
 Searching for the narrow stone stairway by which he 
 must descend, he walked the entire length of the house 
 top, which was paved with broad stone slabs, and with, 
 here and there, a low hemispherical dome rising to break 
 the monotony of the flat surface. Reaching the foot of 
 the flight, he found himself upon the wide second land 
 ing, which was like a loggia, and open on the southward 
 and eastward to air and sky. Below, laving the very 
 base of the building, lay the darkling Pool of Hezekiah, 
 with an occasional reflection of light mirrored in its waters 
 from the houses rising out of it on each of its four sides, 
 and forming its inclosing bounds. He noticed again the 
 quaint irregular structures with their curious, oddly- 
 disposed windows and their bracketed balconies over 
 hanging the water. Here and there, a tuft of hyssop or 
 some other ragged mendicant plant grew out of the walls, 
 or a bit of scarlet drapery, brilliantly visible by the lights 
 behind it, made a pleasant note of colour in the fast-gather 
 ing gloom ; and, on the right, one palm-tree raised aloft 
 its plumy head. 
 
 Lifting his eyes, he beheld, in the background, beyond 
 all, the entire front of the Mount of Olives, spread out 
 like a panorama before him. On its southwesterly 
 slopes he could still detect the clumps of olive-trees, and 
 even those strange spotty marks dotting its surface, and 
 which he knew to be Hebrew graves. Beneath, this side 
 the Cedron, lay the Temple site, covered by the Mosque 
 of Omar, hiding the Garden of Gethsemane behind it. 
 
 What unspeakable peace broods over all ! 
 
 But what is that sudden vapourous light, like a beacon- 
 fire, shooting up into the heavens from behind the Mount, 
 becoming each moment more intense in its brightness, 
 till, at last, every undulation of the entire outline of the 
 historic hill is clearly defined against the sky? There is 
 a golden core to the light which rises and expands. All 
 at once, full-born, it leaps into the air, free of earth, im-
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 73 
 
 maculate, spectre-like. Glory of glories, it is the virgin 
 of the heavens, the full-orbed moon ! 
 
 It is a sight never to be forgotten, that moon-rise 
 over Olivet. 
 
 What wonder that he lingers to drink in the serene 
 majestic beauty of the scene ! His peculiar nature made 
 him keenly alive to all such sights. This sort of enjoy 
 ment was as necessary to him as the more material grati 
 fication of his bodily appetites. He laved in it, revelled 
 in it. 
 
 He almost started, as if awaked from a dream, when a 
 waiter approached to remind him that dinner was served ; 
 and, entering his room and making some hasty prepara 
 tions, he went down to the salle a manger. 
 
 In the entire world, excepting Palestine, there is not, 
 perhaps, another dining-room similar to the one he now 
 entered. As in all the rooms in the house, the floor was 
 paved with stone flags ; and the thickness of the walls in 
 which the arched windows were sunk suggested a fortress 
 rather than a dwelling. The groined ceiling and the 
 pilasters gave it an ecclesiastical aspect the character 
 of the private chapel of some nobleman or king. This 
 effect was heightened by its being principally lighted by 
 lamps of antique design, suspended by chains from over 
 head. Both walls and ceiling were frescoed in colours ; 
 the former with landscapes, the latter with trailing vines. 
 
 The largest and most pretentious of the paintings 
 covered the wall towards the upper end of the room, and 
 did not fail to draw the attention and wondering criticism 
 of the traveller. It was a composite design, an Eastern 
 landscape, in which it was difficult to determine as to 
 whether the round face of the presiding luminary was 
 meant to represent the sun or the moon. The pyramids 
 of Ghizeh, the glorious columns of the temple at Baalbec, 
 and an oasis with palms, in the desert of Sahara, were 
 confusingly combined with the Tomb of Absalom in the 
 Valley of Jehosaphat, while in the background a river 
 resembling the Mississippi rolled, like a ribbon of silver, 
 at the foot of a range of mountains suggesting the Him 
 alayas. A decrepit, mangy-looking lion crouched among 
 the ruins of the foreground.
 
 74 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 How many a weary traveller has found this unfortunate 
 composition a welcome relief, as affording a topic for 
 conversation, and an easy subject for his wit and raillery ! 
 So it was on this occasion. As Leone Spoliate (for it 
 was he) took his place at the table, the threadbare sub 
 ject was again under discussion. It was a target always 
 set up, ready to render comparatively sharp the blunt 
 arrows of the most witless critic. 
 
 He found himself seated next to a young lady whom 
 he had seen on the roof, and had especially noticed as 
 being good-looking. This last mentioned fact was quite 
 sufficient to put him on his mettle, and bring out his best 
 points, or those considered such by the fair sex. It 
 stimulated him like some rare wine. Under such circum 
 stances his manner visibly underwent a transformation. 
 Every motion had an elegance and grace that intensified 
 all that was attractive about him. In justice to him it 
 must be said there was no effort in this ; it was all natu 
 ral ; and he was often quite unconscious of it. 
 
 Uncommonly attentive in assisting the young lady at 
 table, the ice was quickly broken, and they launched into 
 conversation with wonderful ease. He undoubtedly had 
 a remarkable gift in such cases, and seldom failed to 
 impress the so-called weaker vessels with a certain admi 
 ration for him. That the result was not wanting in the 
 present instance, he felt he had reason to flatter himself. 
 The sympathetic eyes sought his face with that peculiar 
 expression he had learned so well to know, and in which 
 he thought he could hardly be mistaken. 
 
 The young lady spoke English, in which Leone was 
 proficient; and presently he discovered she was an 
 American. Handsomely dressed, and wearing rich 
 jewels, there were other correspondent signs whereby 
 the conclusion was reached that she was probably 
 wealthy. 
 
 He had heard her addressed as Miss Warren, and her 
 lady friend and companion had called her Augusta, there 
 fore he knew her name. But, it need scarcely be said, 
 he was by far too well-bred not to understand that this 
 would give him no right to use it in speaking to her at 
 this stage of their acquaintance.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah y $ 
 
 The general conversation of the company had drifted 
 from the most convenient, crude, and composite of fresco 
 paintings, and had at length reached that venerable 
 subject, the Jew. There were few of those present who, 
 having made a short visit in Jerusalem, did not feel com 
 petent to dispose of the ancient city and people in a brief 
 set of jaunty off-hand sentences. 
 
 Yet, it could not be denied, that many a practical or 
 appropriate thought found succinct expression in this 
 mixed company; many a word of common sense and 
 keen appreciation floated out on the stagnant atmosphere 
 of a land not given to common sense in general. 
 
 Some spoke of the overcrowding of the Holy Sepulchre 
 church with relics of doubtful authenticity, associated 
 with historic acts which could not have taken place there, 
 thus pandering to the ignorant superstition of the multi 
 tude. Then they brought forward the contradictory 
 sacred places and legends of the Greek Church, in oppo 
 sition to the Latins, throwing discredit on all. Two 
 wealthy bankers from Moscow did not hesitate to pro 
 claim they regretted having come to Jerusalem. 
 
 " It has spoiled our faith ! It has spoiled our faith ! " 
 they continued to repeat, in evident distress. 
 
 There was much to be said as to the abundant display 
 of orders and so-called decorations. 
 
 " When I saw Tom, Dick, and Harry decorated, and 
 even the guides wearing those symbols of suppositious 
 honour," said one young man, " I looked around, expect 
 ing to see the porters and donkeys decorated, but was 
 greatly disappointed, as I considered them much better 
 entitled to the distinction than some of those who had 
 received it." 
 
 " You are quite correct," replied an elderly gentleman, 
 who seemed to have spent some time in the city. 
 " Among the things most to be admired in Jerusalem are 
 the porters and the donkeys. There is a certain likeness 
 and relationship between them those hard-worked and 
 poorly-paid fellow-labourers. The more I know them the 
 more I honour them. I cannot but feel a certain respect 
 for them beyond the common. What enormous loads 
 those Coptic and Nubian porters carry ! It passes belief.
 
 y6 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 As to the donkeys, they are the best in the world, except 
 ing perhaps those of Cairo." 
 
 " The trouble about those orders of merit and decora 
 tions," added another speaker, " is generally this : the 
 worthless, or rather unworthy, strain after and usually 
 succeed in getting them, while the really meritorious 
 and the great disregard them, or despise them on account 
 of their promiscuous bestowal." 
 
 Leone, though understanding and speaking English, 
 joined but little in the general conversation. He satis 
 fied himself with paying quiet attentions to Miss Warren 
 and her companion, addressing an occasional comment 
 to the same ladies. 
 
 After dinner he again found himself in Miss Warren s 
 company. He certainly had made himself agreeable to 
 her, and she did not scruple to let him perceive it, and 
 to encourage him in further manifestations of a similar 
 nature. 
 
 He having mentioned the beauty of the view by moon 
 light from the roof of the hotel, she at once saw the 
 romantic character of the position, and expressed so great 
 a desire to behold the charming effects as he had described 
 them, that he could do no less than offer to accompany 
 her there. She was not satisfied till they ascended to the 
 highest point upon the flat roof. The full clear moon 
 light had performed the work of enchantment with the 
 scene. The silvery transparent flood, a vast overflowing 
 lake of light, submerged everything. It was a transfigu 
 ration a spiritualising of each object they had already 
 beheld in the warm, voluptuous sunlight. The dullest 
 mind could not but have some appreciation of it. And 
 these two who were now enjoying the entrancing sight, 
 were anything but dull. No doubt, too, the agreeable 
 companionship was not without its effect on both of them. 
 
 " How remarkably beautiful ! How wonderfully fine ! 
 Far beyond the view by daylight ! " 
 
 These were some of Miss Warren s admiring, if some 
 what commonplace exclamations, as she and Leone 
 lingered on the roof, and tried to make out and designate 
 the more important places and buildings in the world- 
 renowned scene.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 77 
 
 To the westward the Tower of David, on the slopes of 
 Mount Zion, lifted its great central mass of battlemented 
 walls and castle against the sky. On the opposite slopes 
 showed the two bluish domes of the chief synagogues, 
 blanched by the moonlight. Immediately beneath the 
 spot where the young people stood, the sombre Pool of 
 Hezekiah, reflected on its motionless surface the unbroken 
 image of the twin domes (Latin and Greek) of the Basilica 
 of the Holy Sepulchre, looking down upon it from the 
 northward. Tapering shafts of variously-shaped minarets, 
 here and there shot up in isolated pride, as if moulded 
 out of pure silver. Farther away, to the eastward, on 
 the lesser height of Mount Moriah, the extensive Temple 
 Enclosure spread itself in dignified repose, surrounding 
 the most beautiful dome of all, that of the Mosque of 
 Omar, marking the site of the Holy Temple, the spot 
 where the visible presence of God manifested itself in the 
 Shekinah, above the Mercy Seat the Holy of Holies; 
 and beyond all rose Olivet, its highest height crowned 
 with the towering Russian belfry, dominating everything. 
 Turning again to the westward, they saw, beyond the 
 whitewashed walls of the Turkish barracks, and covering 
 part of the northerly summit of Mount Zion, the Garden 
 of King Herod, now belonging to the Armenian church, 
 its dark cypresses and pines with a palm or two making 
 a refreshing spot for the eye to rest upon. They could 
 catch what they took to be a glimmer of the hills of 
 Judaea through the trees in the Herodian garden. With 
 what suggestive memories and thoughts of the deepest 
 import all they beheld abounded ! If there had been 
 any taint of frivolity in the heart or upon the lips of 
 either Leone or Miss Warren it could not but dissolve 
 and disappear in the presence of such surroundings as 
 these. Silence fell upon both of them. Leone was 
 especially affected, strangely so for one like him. 
 
 "And this," he mused, "is Jerusalem, the desired of 
 all the earth." 
 
 He thought of his mother and her people. This had 
 been their home their nest, ages ago. Here they had 
 had their origin. He was closely allied to all this, whether 
 he would or not. It was in his blood. He shuddered.
 
 78 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 It was a mixed feeling. Not a hint of it must be conveyed 
 to Miss Warren. Yet what a fascination it had for him. 
 It drew him to it with a magnet-like force he could scarcely 
 repel. 
 
 An irresistible desire seized him to walk, down among 
 those lights and shadows, under the Tower of David, and 
 through the arched streets. If these places had for others 
 a sanctity and a weird charm, should they not have for 
 him a thousandfold more interest, an immeasurable 
 attraction and delight? The Jew was growing strong 
 within him and gaining the ascendency. That which, 
 through his prejudice, he had abhorred and loathed, had 
 clutched him and was compelling him hugging him to 
 its heart. Was it a bear-like grip that would not be 
 shaken off? 
 
 " You are remarkably silent. I would give much to 
 know what you are thinking of," said Miss Warren, 
 noticing his enrapt expression. 
 
 " I was only giving way to the feeling that I wanted to 
 see those places near by to walk those streets to 
 touch some of those objects and satisfy myself of their 
 reality. And I want to do it now this moment." 
 
 He spoke in grave, measured tones. 
 
 " Strange," she said. " I have the very same feeling. 
 Pray let me go with you. Let us go at once." 
 
 "-Is it not too late for you? " he asked, in simple sur 
 prise, not understanding such independence. 
 
 " No, no," she said. " I assure you I do not mind it. 
 Nor do I consider it late. I believe you have infected 
 me with your longing. I, too, want to walk among those 
 mysterious dreamy places, this very night. Do not dis 
 appoint me." 
 
 " I shall be only too well pleased to have your com 
 pany," he murmured. 
 
 He descended through the long confusing corridors 
 and stairways to the heavy bolted gateway and the street, 
 she rashly accompanying him. 
 
 " What is to be said? " he thought. " It is not for me 
 to say." 
 
 The porter, seeing them approach, rubbed his eyes, 
 and shook off a little of his drowsy state, as he arose
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 79 
 
 from his divan, and, drawing back the bolt, opened one 
 leaf of the gate to let them through. He awoke suffi 
 ciently to ask them if they wished for a guide with a 
 lantern. 
 
 But this would have spoiled everything for the roman 
 tic pair; and they quickly protested they had no need 
 for such an attendant. 
 
 They being forthwith enlightened as to the fact that 
 the law required lanterns to be carried at night, and 
 that it was a necessity in the dark and narrow streets, 
 they explained they were going but a little way, and 
 would be back in a few minutes. As Leone, while he 
 spoke, dropped a piece of silver into the porter s hand, 
 the man had nothing more to say. He had done his 
 duty. 
 
 It was with a strange sensation, yet one of relief, that 
 they heard the iron-sheathed gate close behind them, as 
 if shutting them out from the last connection with civili 
 sation into the ancient weird city. 
 
 Their first experience on emerging into the semi-dark 
 ness, which was only broken here and there at wide in 
 tervals, by yellow, dimly-flickering oil lamps, was stum 
 bling into a group of scavenger dogs encumbering the 
 narrow walk. The lazy brutes did not attempt to get 
 out of the way, and continued their apparently unbroken 
 slumber as if nothing had occurred to disturb them. 
 Sleep is a congenial condition of the land and of the 
 things that are in the land. It might be called the Land 
 of Nod. 
 
 Large numbers of these pariah-dogs, belonging to no 
 one, infest the city; they also are found in packs, at 
 night, on the roads outside the walls, where, when fam 
 ished with hunger, they are apt to become dangerous 
 and attack a lonely traveller, as they have somewhat of 
 the nature of the wolf in them. 
 
 The effect upon Miss Warren was to make her cling 
 the more closely to Leone s arm ; and a mutual approcJie 
 ensued. The ludicrousness of their position in the 
 midst of the inert dogs awoke the risible faculties of the 
 fair American and her cavalier, and they ended in a 
 hearty laugh at their predicament. It must be confessed
 
 8o Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 this comical affair contributed to dissipate some of the 
 graver feelings with which they might otherwise have 
 contemplated the scenes through which they moved. 
 
 They passed under sepulchre-like archways, through 
 dusky deserted streets, singularly impressive from their 
 silence, and their emptiness of the dense crowd that had 
 thronged them all day. During their entire ramble 
 they scarcely met more than two or three belated 
 pedestrians. 
 
 Once a policeman glanced at them inquiringly ; but, 
 perceiving they were respectable foreigners, made no 
 inquisition. 
 
 The policemen of Jerusalem, armed with swords, have 
 a general resemblance to the French gendarme. They 
 are a comparatively recent acquisition ; and seem well- 
 behaved, polite, gentlemanly fellows. The Moslems, 
 in referring to them quietly remark with sublime equa 
 nimity: "We have got them for your benefit (meaning 
 for the strangers and foreign residents who are Chris 
 tians). We have no need of them." 
 
 Few such officials, anywhere, act with better judgment, 
 of which the present instance may be taken as a case 
 in point the pair of strollers being unprovided with 
 the required lantern, and therefore subject to investiga 
 tion, were allowed to pass without hindrance or examin 
 ation. Like other policemen we might mention, they 
 know whom not to arrest. 
 
 It was late when Leone and Miss Warren returned to 
 the hotel. But the porter was ready and waiting to open 
 to them. Leone s bounty had made the man his fast 
 adherent. 
 
 The friendship of Leone and Miss Warren, who were 
 strangers only a few hours before, had ripened at an 
 extraordinary rate ; so much so, that the name of the 
 Count Leone Spoliate appeared on most of the young 
 lady s programmes and plans in connection with her 
 sojourn in Jerusalem.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 81 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 LIKE many a heavenly body, woman carries with 
 her the elements of perturbation, by the very law 
 of attraction. 
 
 Leone had been more than a week in Jerusalem, and 
 yet had not gone near his uncle Anselmo. This state 
 of affairs may well be charged to the fascinations of 
 Miss Warren. 
 
 He had escaped the inquiries and scrutiny of the 
 subtle Selim, who, to do him justice, had made diligent 
 search for him, not only in all the hotels of the city, but 
 at all the convents and brotherhoods where travellers 
 were afforded hospitality. 
 
 The difficulty in finding him arose from the fact that 
 the ill-regulated hotel register was by most strangers a 
 much-neglected book, and Leone, in company with a 
 number of other visitors, had failed to record his name, 
 which, with his title, except to a few of the guests, was 
 quite unknown. The hotel proprietor, a native, knew 
 him only by appearance. Selim s pompous inquiries 
 and grandiloquent descriptions had overshot the mark. 
 Leone remained undiscovered, and free to come and go 
 at the sweet will of the fair stranger who had him in her 
 train. 
 
 A certain dread or repulsion as to meeting his uncle 
 had again settled upon him. He feared the knowledge 
 of the relationship should spread and reach Miss War 
 ren s ears. He would keep away from the old man for 
 the present. A few days postponement could matter 
 but little. It would be easy to find some excuse or 
 evasion afterwards, in explaining the matter to his 
 uncle. Thus he argued himself into an apologetic if 
 not a satisfactory estimate of his conduct. 
 
 Whatever qualms of conscience he might have felt 
 were forgotten in the presence of the charming young 
 creature who was not satisfied if he was not with her. 
 
 They visited, in delighted companionship, the Mosque 
 of Omar, luxuriating in the matchless colouring of the 
 
 6
 
 82 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Damascus tiles and world-renowned mosaics, and the 
 rare stained glass of the windows which had been ripen 
 ing to that perfect mellowness for so many centuries. 
 They were not surprised when told that an English 
 nobleman had offered in vain thirty thousand pounds 
 for one of the windows, for his private chapel. The 
 chaste octagonal pile rose before them as if formed of 
 beryl and chrysoprase and clothed with supernatural 
 golden light, the entire the creation of the magician s 
 wand, one stroke of which would return it to the impal 
 pable air out of which it was born. At first sight they 
 almost feared their very breathing would obliterate it. 
 But it was the huge mass of rock lying in majestic re 
 pose, in the centre, beneath the Great Dome that ex 
 cited their wonder and their awe. The grand simplicity 
 of it could not but affect them, as it has affected mil 
 lions of worshippers for thousands of years ever since 
 King Solomon built his glorious temple over it ever 
 since King David made his sacrifice here, at the 
 threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite yea, ever 
 since Abraham, building an altar, offered up here his 
 son Isaac. They saw before them the very summit of 
 Mount Moriah the Holy Mountain its unhewn rock 
 apex, upon which, according to Divine command, tool 
 had never been lifted to pollute it, rising in all its 
 original natural grandeur, shaming in its primeval 
 strength the magnificence of the building that inclosed 
 it. Through all the vicissitudes of the Holy Place, that 
 mighty summit had made itself respected ; in the midst 
 of assaults and changes it had remained unchanged. 
 Here was not a semblance of idolatrous worship. 
 
 " And the Jews themselves are shut out," murmured 
 Leone, as he gazed upon the scene. " Indeed, if per 
 mitted, they would not enter, I am told, fearing to 
 commit the unpardonable sin of putting foot upon the 
 Holy of Holies." 
 
 "It is impossible, as one stands here," said Miss 
 Warren, "not to sympathise with them, and pity them." 
 
 "It" they would let you pity them," returned Leone. 
 "But, it seems to me, they want no man s pity. That 
 is a part of their obduracy."
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 83 
 
 He would have said further; but, remembering him 
 self, he changed the subject. 
 
 Subsequently they visited the Church of the Holy 
 Sepulchre, and could not forbear comparing unfavor 
 ably the Christian with the Mohammedan place of wor 
 ship, the grand simplicity and scrupulous cleanliness 
 of the latter as compared with the former. When they 
 had seen everything worth seeing even to the sword 
 and spurs of Godfrey of Bouillon, and the chair in 
 which that British princess the Empress Helena sat 
 while directing the excavations for the finding of the 
 cross it was suggested that they visit the tomb cut in 
 the rock in the garden beneath the knoll of the Prophet 
 Jeremiah, outside of the Damascus Gate. Latterly the 
 belief of many had strongly inclined to accept this as 
 the true place of the crucifixion and tomb of Christ. 
 The guide did not fail to point out to them the strong 
 points favouring this as the locality of those great 
 events. Had it not been called Calvary Golgotha 
 the place of a skull? And, certainly, the very hill 
 before them resembled a cranium. Jewish tradition, 
 too, perhaps the worthiest of traditions, and the most 
 entitled to credence in such a case, identified the spot 
 as the ancient place of execution. Saint Paul, also, 
 plainly says the crucifixion took place "without the 
 gate." What gate would specially occupy his mind as 
 "the gate," except the Damascus Gate? There are 
 many other remarkable correspondences to the gospel 
 narrative; and what wonder if Leone and his com 
 panion, coming from superstitious and meretricious 
 spectacles, far from edifying, and recalling the words 
 of the Russian bankers, found here, in these simple 
 surroundings, the grateful relief they longed for, and 
 with others were inclined to accept the rock tomb as 
 "the place where they laid Him?" 
 
 These and other excursions had thrown Miss Warren 
 and Leone much together. The influences were favour 
 able to drawing out that which was best in each of 
 their characters. Friendship something more pre 
 cious than friendship is apt to ripen under such 
 circumstances.
 
 84 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 They had "scaled the Mount of Olives together, and 
 climbed the Russian belfry with its mighty, sonorous 
 bell "swinging slow with sullen roar." They had 
 passed beyond the mountain to quiet Bethany, that 
 almost dismantled and ruined village, sorrowing among 
 its lingering olive-trees, and oh, how heart-appeal 
 ing in its dejection ! They had descended the excava 
 tions within Jerusalem, through four tiers of underground 
 ancient buildings, to the Bethesda, the twin pools 
 with their five porches, nigh unto the Sheep Gate, now 
 St. Stephen s Gate; and had made a pilgrimage to 
 Bethlehem and the fortress-like Church of the Nativity 
 the oldest Christian basilica in the world. If 
 ordinary, everyday experiences have power to touch 
 the soul and influence the life, how much more should 
 these? Leone confessed he did not think he could 
 have been so moved. But the son of Italy, although 
 not overburdened with religion, like many a son of 
 other lands, was full of emotions and sympathies that 
 survive neglect and ill-usage, that live after we think 
 we have murdered them. He had gone the rounds of 
 the ancient city, as he well knew, chiefly for the 
 pleasure of Miss Warren s society: he had been the 
 recipient of more than he had bargained for. The sacred 
 sights had mellowed their feelings, and while drawing 
 them closer together, had given a different colour to 
 their thoughts. 
 
 The possibilities that lie hidden in man and in 
 woman, for that matter there is no calculating on. 
 With the wantonness that has a genesis more or less 
 remote, and that stands ready to come to the front 
 often when least expected, bides under the same roof, 
 the devotional and religious sentiments and aspirations. 
 It is like the Arab love-song, in which we find the 
 most sensual and even abandoned ideas associated with 
 or developing spiritual or religious concepts. But the 
 soft tones of the angels voices too often are drowned 
 in the carnal chorus. The serpent is represented as 
 delighting to hide in the grass, or amid banks of lilies 
 and roses. The heart of man is described as deceitful 
 above all things, and desperately wicked.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 85 
 
 There was a restiveness under the religious feelings 
 which could not be entirely concealed; but which, 
 1 perhaps, was less apparent in Leone than in Miss 
 Warren. She had a quick and clever tongue, which 
 would not be repressed. Even the Patriarch of the 
 Greek Church did not escape it. His Blessedness, 
 i always so kind, generous and good, had very graciously 
 j received them when they called, accompanied by a high 
 j ecclesiastic. They were greatly impressed with the 
 noble man a prince of the Church and his interest 
 ing surroundings. As they sat in the great reception- 
 room, which was mildly heated by a large antique 
 i brazier standing in the centre, the walls adorned with 
 i portraits of most of the crowned heads of Europe, 
 \ the visitors had been served with refreshments, in the 
 Oriental style, consisting of a conserve of rose- 
 leaves, partaken of with gold spoons, a tiny glass of 
 maraschino, and finally a cup of black Turkish coffee 
 i presented in a gold filigree holder. 
 
 " He is a magnificent man," remarked Miss Warren, 
 on leaving. " He is like a living cathedral, in which 
 his profound voice is the organ." Then she flippantly 
 added: " His nose is a great snuff-box. But I like his 
 Aleppo cat, and his rose-leaf conserve is delicious." 
 
 Of course this caused a laugh, which was sufficient 
 tribute. 
 
 Some would have said some did say that the 
 young lady had been inexcusably indiscreet in her con 
 duct with Leone, to put it in the mildest terms, while 
 employing more tolerant censure towards the man. 
 But Leone felt he would have been a fool in the eyes 
 of mankind yes, and of womankind as well to have 
 done other than he had done. Why should he repel or 
 rebuke the advances of one so fair who took such inter 
 est and pleasure in him ? 
 
 But for certain unfriendly facts which now occurred, 
 what the immediate outcome of the affair might have 
 been who can tell ? 
 
 A male relative, one having authority, and eyes of 
 the keenest, even of the accipiter quality, being no 
 other than the father of the young lady, appeared upon
 
 86 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 the scene. It was soon announced that circumstances 
 obliged a change in Miss Warren s plans. She was to 
 leave Jerusalem the next day. It was something of a 
 shock and a heartbreak ; but it was inevitable. Before 
 taking her departure, there was more than one love- 
 passage between the wealthy young heiress and Leone ; 
 and, denouncing the interference, she assured him she 
 certainly would return, at no distant day. 
 
 " Yes, if from the uttermost parts of the earth, I 
 shall come," was her emphatic language. 
 
 While the day-dream lasted, they had been in a maze 
 of pleasure, with the holy places for a background. It 
 was a rude awakening. But this was not all. 
 
 While the sad yet sweet regrets of his inamorata 
 were still ringing in Leone s ears, as he stood in the 
 open corridor or loggia of the hotel, he was approached 
 by a young man, a native, of uncommon self-possession 
 and engaging address. He saluted Leone with the 
 greatest respect and politeness, calling him by his 
 name, and stating he had been directed to him, at the 
 same time hoping he had made no mistake. 
 
 Leone, absorbed in his thoughts, wrapped as in a 
 dream, barely aroused himself sufficiently to answer in 
 a most indifferent perfunctory manner, hardly know 
 ing or caring what he said. He mistook the man for 
 one of the numerous dragomans who had been offering 
 their services to him, and whose importunities had 
 wearied and disgusted him. 
 
 In his abstraction he had been watching the swal 
 lows, in their imperial purple plumage, as they went 
 circling and flashing, like winged sapphires, in the 
 open space inclosed by the high walls of the houses, 
 above Hezekiah s Pool. The air seemed alive with 
 them, as they came teeming on, on, and on, in endless 
 file, as if they were pouring out of heaven. Around 
 and around they swing, now flitting high, anon swoop 
 ing low, skimming the water. With what fine impetu 
 osity of abandoned certainty they fling themselves 
 upon the air, making as if they would dash themselves 
 to pieces against the buildings ! The wild graceful 
 careering of their course has a method a rhythmical
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 87 
 
 order. Thirty or more of them, with passionate pre 
 cipitation, push out in advance of the main division, 
 then gradually restrain their flight till the rear guard 
 comes up and finally passes in advance, in its turn 
 to be left behind at the next swinging of the circle ; 
 while those which were, a moment ago, at the sides, 
 are now in the centre of the winged troop. No wonder 
 we are never tired watching them ! No wonder we are 
 cheered by their airy gladness ! 
 
 "It is marvellously beautiful," Leone thought and 
 said, as he relapsed into his former reverie. 
 
 A peculiar movement on the part of the young man 
 beside him recalled his attention. 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Leone. "Are you still here? 
 I supposed you had left some time ago. " 
 
 "Oh no, Signor! I have not left. I am awaiting 
 your pleasure. " 
 
 " Awaiting my pleasure ! Then I fear you will have 
 a long time to wait; for I have no pleasure. How 
 could I have any, in such a miserable, God-forsaken, 
 joyless old city as this is? Awaiting my pleasure!" 
 repeated Leone. " Why, that is what I am doing. 
 We seem to be both in the same business, and, to all 
 appearance, a hopeless one it is." 
 
 A pleased and knowing twinkle flickered in the dark 
 eyes of the young native, in sympathy with a smile of 
 like nature that parted his full red lips. He flattered 
 himself he understood the fine gentleman whom he had 
 approached, and before whom he stood. 
 
 "There is much more pleasure here, in spite of 
 appearances, than the Signor thinks. If he would only 
 trust me, I should soon show him," he ventured to 
 reply. 
 
 "Really, while I haven t the least doubt of your 
 capabilities in that or any other direction, I do not 
 require your services," returned Leone. "I already 
 have a dragoman, and he is too much for me one 
 more than I want." 
 
 This was evidently a most unexpected reply, for the 
 young native seemed quite taken aback and had nothing 
 to say.
 
 88 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 As for Leone, he appeared to imagine he had dis 
 missed the subject and the man, and was quick lapsing 
 back into his original flight of thought, aided by the 
 flight of the swallows, when something in the appear 
 ance of the Syrian attracted and recalled his attention. 
 
 "You are a good-looking fellow," Leone felt com 
 pelled to say, on a closer inspection. " I wish I had 
 seen 
 
 He was going to say "I wish I had seen you before 
 engaging my present dragoman," but he checked him 
 self in time. 
 
 The Oriental, in cold weather, contracts and shrinks 
 into himself. He drops his gay trappings, and wraps 
 his lithe body in dun-coloured garments. It is only in 
 warm weather that you see him at his best. It is 
 astonishing how the sunshine expands him, the 
 tropical flower. Not but that in the cold season he 
 generally has a bit of bright or rich colour about him 
 somewhere, like the fulvous streak at the horizon in a 
 grey winter sunset. If his tarboosh, with its scarlet 
 or crimson flush, does not always make him a "red 
 head," his turban or his sash has a touch of yellow or 
 gold in it. Of course all Turkish soldiers and officers, 
 and officials of every degree and rank, from the Sultan 
 down, wear the fez from morning till night, indoors 
 and outdoors, and are veritable "red-heads," a name 
 which, while specially appropriate as applied to the 
 Turkish officials, military and civilian, may properly 
 be extended to include the majority of the nation. 
 
 But if the ordinary Oriental is a refreshing piece 
 of form and colour, the young Syrian upon whom 
 Leone s eyes rested was a full-blown flower of superla 
 tive elegance, rejoicing in the height of its season, and 
 spreading its petals alluringly in the genial sunshine. 
 One might say, in the words of the well-worn phrase, 
 he had been gotten up regardless of expense ; and, like 
 the king s daughter of old, he was all-glorious within 
 and without. The raiment of needlework and of wrought 
 gold was not wanting, but was represented in his gold- 
 embroidered jacket. Nor was he deficient in the most 
 airy graces and manners.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 89 
 
 The conceit or vanity of the Oriental is something 
 immeasurable and inexpressible, not to say unimagi 
 nable, to the Western mind. It is his predominant 
 characteristic. Admiration is the breath of his nos 
 trils; and the wounding of his self-esteem the most 
 atrocious of offences, not to be forgiven. Place him 
 in the least exalted position of honour or trust, and oh, 
 how he will strut, and assume the most intolerable 
 airs of importance ! It seems as if every hair on his 
 body put on an extra curl of pride; the toss of the 
 head, the pose of his figure, and every motion of his 
 limbs are studied and practised for their effect on the 
 observant crowd. It is impossible not to notice this. 
 It is thrust upon you, and you are compelled to see it. 
 In the city Syrians it is an unmitigated unmistakable 
 trait. They are forever thinking of their looks, their 
 dress and personal appearance, and the impression they 
 make. When they "dress up," as they love to do, 
 
 !: they will be sure to make some excuse to come and 
 show themselves. They avert their eyes with what 
 
 i they consider a "killing" expression, when they 
 think they are observed. There is no exaggerating the 
 amount of flattery they are capable of accepting. You 
 can daub it on with a whitewash brush you can 
 
 i plaster it on with a shovel. And yet there is a fasci 
 nation about them that is unaccountable, unless it 
 pertains to the traits described, or is related to a 
 species of sorcery. It recalls what Lord Byron said of 
 the Greeks: "I know you are rascals; yet I can t help 
 loving you." 
 
 Of all this there was a living exponent standing at 
 the elbow of the preoccupied Italian count. 
 
 Leone s complimentary expression, dropped as an 
 aside, as one throws a crust to a dog, fell on ears that 
 received it with no ordinary gratification. It was like 
 an angelic benediction. The young dragoman beamed 
 all over, from head to foot, in recognition of it, and 
 thought Leone, to whom his heart warmed instanter, 
 one of the most agreeable, handsome and charming men 
 he had ever met. He felt sure that, even had he not 
 known, he could have told he was of noble lineage.
 
 90 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 From the first, Leone had paid but indifferent atten 
 tion to what the Syrian said, having taken for granted 
 that the man was importuning him for employment 
 which he could not give him, and not being able to 
 follow very closely his broken English. Again he 
 turned to watch the swallows, and was fast lapsing into 
 his former train of thought and absent-mindedness, 
 when in the monotonous murmur of the foreign English 
 he caught the mention of his uncle s name. 
 
 "What is that you say? " he asked, suddenly seizing 
 the man by the shoulder. 
 
 "Excuse me, Signor; I was only saying what I have 
 already told you that Signor Anselmo Jacobini was 
 most anxious to see you. I have come many times, 
 these many days, seeking to find you, but failed. And 
 now I am informed you have been here all the time. I 
 dare not return to Signor Jacobini without you. He 
 would dismiss me on the spot, should I tell him you 
 were here and I did not bring you to him." 
 
 "And who are you? And by what name may I call 
 you? " 
 
 " My name is Selim; lam Signor Jacobini s drago 
 man, at your lordship s disposition." 
 
 "Now, Selim, no doubt you are a man to be 
 trusted." 
 
 "That s what I think. If you only try me you will 
 think so too." 
 
 "Very good. Listen to me. If Signor Jacobini 
 should deal with you, as you say, for so trifling an 
 offence, what do you suppose he would do to you, did 
 he learn you had failed to convey to me his message, 
 all this time, while I have been here under your very 
 nose ? " 
 
 "It would be bad for me," acknowledged Selim, 
 dejectedly. 
 
 " Suppose we keep silence upon the subject. Under 
 certain circumstances, silence is a great virtue, as I 
 imagine you very well know. Let us say nothing 
 about it." 
 
 Selim stepped forward, and, bending low, seized 
 Leone s hand, imprinting a kiss upon it, while he
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 9 1 
 
 uttered his acknowledgments and thanks, assuring 
 him he would do anything for him. 
 
 "And will you permit me to conduct you to the 
 Signor Jacobini?" Selim inquired. "He has made 
 great preparation for your Excellency. He has spared 
 no expense in furnishing and garnishing your rooms. 
 They are like a palace." 
 
 Leone smiled at the description and the high 
 address. 
 
 "Yes," he replied; "I will go with you." 
 
 The words, which he had begun to fear he should 
 never hear, were a great relief to Selim. 
 
 " Thank God ! " he said audibly. 
 
 He felt as if he were carrying off a great prize which 
 he had richly earned. 
 
 As they made their way through the narrow streets 
 to Jacobini s house, Selim, lowering his voice to a 
 confidential tone, said to Leone, " If you ask Signor 
 Jacobini, he will give me to you. He will let you 
 have me for your body-servant." 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 IT cannot be denied that there was more than a 
 shadow of mistrust in the heart of Leone as, ushered 
 in by the effusive Selim, he stood in the presence of 
 his uncle, Anselmo Jacobini. Doubtless it was a try 
 ing moment for uncle as well as for nephew. The 
 retired Hebrew banker had been schooling himself not 
 to expect too much in the way of affectionate feeling 
 or kindly demonstration from his high-toned nephew; 
 while Leone had been nerving himself to conceal and 
 repress any repulsion he might have harboured toward 
 his uncle on account of that long-cherished, bigoted 
 prejudice the young man would not measure or define, 
 because he hated to think of it. 
 
 Leone, pausing for a moment in the doorway, saw 
 before him, in the rich but dim setting of the room, an
 
 92 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 aged man of dignified presence, who, for aught he 
 knew, so far as appearances went, might have been one 
 of the ancient priests, kings, or prophets of Israel. 
 There was a singular nobility or even grandeur in the 
 manner and bearing of Jacobin i, that declared in no 
 false or feeble accents the inner nature of the man. 
 
 Selim announced with a flourish, as he had been 
 instructed: "The Count Leone Spoliate." 
 
 The firm, light step had but half-way crossed the 
 floor when it was met by the still energetic tread of 
 the proud old man, whom Leone had shrunk from 
 meeting. 
 
 "You are welcome welcome indeed." 
 
 "Thank you, thank you, Uncle Anselmo. I hope 
 I find you well," was Leone s response, delivered with 
 prepossessing manner and warm pressure of the hand. 
 
 The look of qualified hope and subdued expectancy 
 in the face of Jacobini was rapidly melting away into 
 a very different expression. He saw before him the 
 last scion of his house, the son of his beloved sister. 
 His pride was touched as he beheld the easy carriage, 
 the cultured bearing, the high-bred air of the young 
 patrician, all evident, but subordinated to a courte 
 ous, kind regard that was delightful. 
 
 " Nothing could be better. He is perfect." 
 
 This was what the uncle thought, while he loved 
 him, on the instant. 
 
 A feeling of awe as well as respect tinctured Leone s 
 greeting. His prejudices were almost forgotten. Surely 
 there was nothing mean or degraded here. The man 
 whom he called uncle was of no common clay. He 
 might well have been some great ruler, a man having 
 authority. 
 
 The full satisfaction and joy of Jacobini in finding 
 Leone all that was so admirable in person and manner 
 were of no ordinary type, to be indulged in without 
 discrimination. They were born of the feelings he 
 had kept in sacred reserve ever since the death of his 
 wife and children. 
 
 That grand old face was not without the sculpture 
 that can be carved only by the hand of grief. His
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 93 
 
 children had died before reaching the ages of men and 
 women, and his wife had not long survived them; 
 while, in spite of all his, efforts to save him, his only 
 brother, a young unmarried man of the highest worth 
 and talent, accused unjustly, and cruelly persecuted, 
 had perished in a Russian prison. His sister, the 
 beautiful Rachele, had died, a young mother, as we 
 know, leaving an only child, the man who now stood 
 before him, "so engaging, so polished and refined, 
 and full of all that is desirable to the eye," as the 
 bereaved father in Israel told himself. 
 
 Thus it had come to pass that Leone was not only 
 the last representative of all the generations of the 
 Spollato family, but the sole heir of the Jacobini 
 blood. In him both the currents met and closed. In 
 him centred the hopes for their perpetuation. This 
 was the obligation that rested upon him. It seemed 
 as if all the generations of the past, on- both sides, 
 cried to him, beseechingly, adjuringly, not to let their 
 remembrance perish off the face of the earth, but to 
 leave posterity heirs born of his own body to in 
 corporate them in hereditary succession, so that it 
 might be said of them that "they should not want a 
 man to stand before the Lord forever." 
 
 This was largely connected with the feeling that had 
 impelled Jacobini to call Leone to him, and undoubt 
 edly added materially to the old man s pleasure in 
 contemplating the unimpeachable manly character of 
 his nephew s personality. 
 
 When the first words of welcome and joy were over, 
 Jacobini held Leone opposite to him, while his eyes 
 searched every feature of the young man s face with a 
 gaze that was almost fondling. He was seeking some 
 family likeness, some hint of the past, in the hand 
 some lineaments. 
 
 " You are the son of my beloved sister my 
 Rachele," he said. "You are as dear to me as if you 
 were my own offspring. What would I not do for 
 you ? " 
 
 " My uncle my father, you are very good to me. I 
 am not worthy of your kindness," stammered Leone.
 
 94 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 He remembered his bitter prejudice, and the intensity 
 of his aversion to the mala sangre of the house of 
 Judah displayed on the occasion of that memorable 
 interview with his uncle Giovanni, in their ancestral 
 home in Naples. How he hated himself his own 
 blood because of the contaminating stain ! He re 
 called the horror he felt, so lately, lest Miss Warren 
 and others should learn of his connection with Anselmo 
 Jacobini. Many another past incident arose to rebuke 
 and accuse him. No wonder his conscience smote him. 
 No wonder that he felt ashamed. He was here in spite 
 of himself. He was led captive. This was the end. 
 The old man s generosity and love had conquered him. 
 
 Each day the net that held him was more closely 
 and more inextricably wound about him. He himself 
 could not explain it. His uncle would not suffer him 
 to be contradicted or thwarted. Leone s most extrava 
 gant wishes were anticipated. Money was lavished 
 upon him. Everything possible was done to make 
 him contented, and reconciled to the life, a life so 
 different from that he had been accustomed to in 
 Naples, that he had wondered he could endure it. At 
 length his uncle obtained from him the promise that 
 he would remain with him in Jerusalem. 
 
 The delight Jacobini took in the young man was 
 extraordinary. It was evident he not only loved him, 
 but was proud of him. He was not happy when he was 
 out of his presence. He insisted upon Leone s being 
 addressed by his title and honoured beyond himself, in 
 which he set the example. 
 
 Gradually he began interesting Leone in matters 
 pertaining to the Jacobini family and its history. 
 There was an old coffer, resembling a muniment chest, 
 which played an important part on such occasions. It 
 was made of some unknown dark wood, curiously and 
 elaborately carved, and was provided with iron bands 
 and hasps. The contents consisted chiefly of parch 
 ments and scrolls, some of which were evidently of 
 great antiquity. A few were made of antelope skins, 
 inclosed in silver cases. They were in various stages 
 of discolouration and decay. Many of them odd
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 95 
 
 scraps of leather were crumbling to pieces, and in 
 decipherable, others were partly so; and only a few of 
 the more modern documents could be read with satis 
 faction. Jacobini informed his nephew that they were 
 pedigrees, legal documents, and family histories and 
 notes covering a long period of time. The oldest docu 
 ments, he declared, were in the ancient character of 
 the Israelites, which they had lost when carried into 
 captivity the same in which God had written the first 
 tables of stone. He declared there was undoubted 
 proof that the office of Treasurer to the royal house of 
 David, from which he claimed descent, had been 
 hereditary in his family, through all the varied history 
 of its kings ; and certain relics which he showed Leone 
 were, to some extent, corroborative of the pretension. 
 
 Jacobini never argued about any of these points, as 
 Leone soon learned ; but expected them to be received 
 implicitly, as he had received them. To him they 
 were indisputable, accepted facts. Many of the tradi 
 tions and statements were only verbal, handed down 
 from father to son ; but they were accorded by Jacobini 
 a reverence beyond that he gave to the parchments. 
 
 For some time he had been quietly making in Jeru 
 salem investigations in connection with his family and 
 the documents. He had satisfied himself regarding 
 the identification of certain localities on Mount Zion, 
 and had gone so far as, through the use of bribery or 
 backsheesh, to carry on some secret excavation there. 
 The results, he considered, were most encouraging; 
 and he only regretted that his age prevented his giving 
 more of his personal supervision to the work. 
 
 "I am too old to do much more," he said. "But 
 you, Leone, you " 
 
 It was not altogether congenial work for Leone; but 
 what could he say or do ? 
 
 "Yes, uncle, yes, "he answered, manfully acquiescing. 
 
 " I would not have you expose yourself to the least 
 danger," he said, apologetically. "But without doing 
 that, there will be opportunity to direct and watch the 
 work. And I, for my part, shall only be too glad to 
 do what I can."
 
 96 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 The principal place of their research was in a part 
 of an old and little-used garden, which Jacobini believed 
 to be the garden of King Herod, and within which 
 must have stood the royal palace. The point where 
 they had discovered certain marks and indications 
 identifying the locality with the descriptions in the 
 ancient parchments and rolls, was in and below the 
 foundations of the westerly wall of the city, which 
 proved to Be of the most ancient work. The rock 
 beneath gave abundant evidence of the unmistakable 
 old chisel-marks, and further down, was honeycombed 
 with chambers. 
 
 Though the custodian of the garden and others had 
 been "arranged with," to employ no more offensive 
 term, it was considered necessary to use great secrecy, 
 and the work at the surface was carried on at night, 
 with the aid of the dark lantern. 
 
 Among the more interesting discoveries was an 
 article carved from the black Dead Sea stone, which 
 Jacobini, after a close examination, pronounced to be 
 the signet of King David. Slightly in excess of four 
 inches in height, it was rudely shaped in the form of 
 a man, showing more than three-quarters in length of 
 the figure, and terminating below in a series of spirals ; 
 but instead of arms were what resembled folded 
 wings, pressed closely, one on each side. 
 This image was simply the handle. Upon 
 the smooth oval base of the image was the 
 seal. This held the inscription in ancient 
 Hebrew : " The servant of Jehovah, David 
 the King." It contained, therefore, the 
 " Ineffable Name. " The characters, with 
 the exception of a few variants, were almost identical 
 with those of the oldest of the parchments of the iron- 
 bound coffer, and for which Jacobini claimed such 
 extraordinary antiquity. It was the Hebrew before 
 the Babylonian Captivity. 
 
 " I now understand the references to the seal or 
 signet in some of the documents," said Jacobini. "It 
 is evident the royal Treasurer was also Keeper of the 
 Seal. To him was the care of it intrusted; and the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 97 
 
 affixing it to decrees and other important papers, by 
 direction of the king, was his prerogative." 
 
 "But how is it possible that the seal should have 
 been made in the form of a man?" inquired Leone, 
 doubtingly. "Would it not be an infringement of the 
 commandment against graven images?" 
 
 This was a poser to Jacobini. 
 
 The question was submitted to some learned Jews : 
 The difficulty, it seemed, was not insurmountable. 
 The force of the prohibition, it was explained, resided 
 in "the making to thyself," that is, in setting up for 
 worship any graven image, and though afterwards given 
 a more sweeping extension, so as to exclude all carved 
 images for any purpose whatsoever, certain uses, such 
 as the one in question, would not conflict with the 
 divine command. Moreover, in any case, the opinion 
 declared, the omission of a single part of the thing 
 represented would satisfy the requirements, removing 
 all objection. Thus it was pointed out the figure 
 forming the handle of the seal was not full length, 
 being without the lower extremities; besides, the arms 
 \vere wanting. Therefore it did not offend against the 
 law. The cherubim on the Mercy Seat were cited 
 in corroboration. 
 
 So the question was settled, to Jacobini s satisfaction. 
 
 "It is a clear case" was Leone s sarcastic com 
 ment, completing the sentence sotto voce "of Hebraic 
 evasion. " 
 
 Nothing aroused Jacobini s disgust as did any allu 
 sion to the fact that Moslem descendants of King 
 Solomon, living upon the Mount, held a firman from 
 the Sultan confirming their right and title, through 
 that descent, to the land and buildings on Mount Zion 
 connected with the tomb of David and the kings of 
 Judah. He would not listen to it with the least 
 patience; and once when, on the Mount, and near the 
 ancient sepulchre, certain of those descendants were 
 pointed out to him, he would not look at them, but 
 turned away his face; though nothing is more clearly 
 established than that both David and Solomon were 
 much-married men.
 
 98 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Yet, with all his pride in this direction, he admitted 
 in private to Leone that he attributed some of the evils 
 that had befallen him to his descent from King David. 
 
 "The house of David, with few exceptions, was, like 
 that of the Stuarts of Scotland, a faithless and unfor 
 tunate house," he said. "It began with an atrocious 
 and bloody crime, for which, when convicted of it, the 
 author offered but scanty and fruitless repentance. 
 What could be expected as the outcome but a licen 
 tious, pleasure-worshipping Solomon, who, wise as he 
 was, lapsed into idolatrous infidelity, leaving a son to 
 succeed him, who proved to be a weak-brained, over 
 bearing despot, and lost the ten tribes through his 
 folly ? And so on with, here and there, a gleam of 
 hope, generally to be disappointed to the end of 
 the pedigree. There seems to be a fatality about the 
 dynasty, and everything connected with it. " 
 
 Leone would smile to himself complacently at these 
 admissions, while he confessed he quite agreed with 
 his uncle s opinion on the subject. 
 
 Though he sometimes declared it was next to martyr 
 dom, on the whole, Leone bore his transplanting to 
 Jerusalem much better than could have been expected. 
 Having but few recreations, he amused himself with 
 collecting and studying the ancient coins and other 
 antiquities of the country, and soon had a respectable 
 museum. In this and in less praiseworthy pleasures 
 he was aided by Selim, who from the first had closely 
 attached himself to him, insinuating himself into his 
 good graces, bound to make himself indispensable to 
 him. Through him Leone was also acquiring a certain 
 knowledge of the Arabic, which he flattered himself 
 would soon be sufficient for conversational purposes. 
 
 Seeing the important role filled by Selim in easing 
 and making more bearable Leone s banishment in the 
 ancient city, Jacobini congratulated himself that he 
 had not given way to the persuasions of the rabbis, 
 but had retained the Moslem. 
 
 " I felt sure Leone would like him better than the 
 man they recommended," he said. "The two young 
 men together it is but natural."
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 99 
 
 Yet he loved to ridicule Selim s weak traits; and 
 seldom lost an opportunity of pointing them out to 
 Leone. 
 
 "Look at that Oriental that Syrian," he would 
 say. " What an air and carriage he has ! The jerky 
 swing of the silk tassel of that crimson tarboosh of his 
 measures for you his conceit. See its haughty whisk 
 at each step he takes, as though it had a conscious life, 
 in sympathy with its owner." 
 
 Leone laughed. 
 
 "Nothing reaches the conceit of those fellows," he 
 said, " not even the proverbial jackass. To me it is a 
 great source of amusement. But as to Selim, he is so 
 devoted to me he makes me like him." 
 
 " Did you notice what a handsome dog he is ? " 
 
 "Ah! did I not?" 
 
 "He is full of the devil," added Jacobini, laughing. 
 " He is equal to anything. But I am glad you like 
 him." 
 
 Jacobini had a humorous side to which he but rarely 
 gave way until rinding it amused Leone, when he 
 oftener indulged in it. In this mood he did not 
 hesitate to slash into Jewish history and effete cus 
 toms, for his nephew s benefit; though no man was 
 more reverent of the truly sacred things than was 
 Jacobini. 
 
 " Let me tell you my Egyptian experience, Leone, 
 and you will see how conscientious I am," was his 
 preface to the following : " When I came through Egypt, 
 and remembered how my people had defrauded the 
 Egyptians at the Exodus, borrowing from them jewels 
 of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, which they 
 never intended to return, so that they spoiled the 
 Egyptians - - I felt I could afford to be generous in the 
 distribution of an extra large backsheesh there. It was 
 a sort of retribution or liquidation on my part, so far 
 as I was concerned in that ancient fraudulent trans 
 action. Did you ever know a man go farther back to 
 discharge a debt? "
 
 ioo Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 LEONE had been faithful in carrying out, so far as 
 he conveniently could, his uncle s wishes in 
 regard to the researches which Jacobini was so much 
 interested in. But he could not very well conceal the 
 fact that it was irksome business to him. So enthu 
 siastic was his uncle, that three or four times he had 
 exerted himself to accompany Leone to the place, 
 taking due precautions to prevent discovery. 
 
 In going, they had to pass the den -like shops sunk 
 in the wall of the garden of the Armenian convent. 
 In those dark recesses the makers of filigree carried on 
 the manufacture of their delicate work; and near by 
 were the tattooers, who seemed to have quite as large a 
 patronage. Above, over the high wall of the garden, 
 stretched far across the roadway the plumy branches 
 of a row of fine old pines, whispering and sighing with 
 that gentle susurration that is an embodied memory 
 the likest sound in Nature to the far-off murmuring 
 of the sea. Beyond an angle, in a recess, was a solid 
 gate, entering by which, they found themselves in a 
 long passage which brought them to another gate that 
 opened into the garden. 
 
 Being provided with keys, they had no difficulty in 
 gaining access to the grounds. The trouble lay in the 
 danger of being detected. That they should be able 
 to carry on such work without discovery seems incredi 
 ble. Nor could it be done for any great length of 
 time. It was only the connivance of the gardener 
 made it at all possible. 
 
 To Jacobini it was enchanted land. As he walked 
 under the trees he thought of David, Solomon and 
 Hezekiah, the cruel Herod and the beautiful Mariamne, 
 as having trod the same ground. The Christian 
 believer would also have remembered that it was here, 
 and to the palace of the High Priest, not far from 
 here, that Christ was dragged from the Judgment
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 101 
 
 Hall of Pilate on that night of agony and terror 
 preceding the Crucifixion. 
 
 The hope of making some more important discovery 
 stimulated Jacobini ; and he would have risked much 
 with such a prize in view. 
 
 But suddenly he was warned that he must desist. 
 
 "It is heart-breaking," he said; "just as we are on 
 the eve, perhaps, of some great revelation. But we 
 have sufficiently determined the main point. I am 
 convinced of the correspondence of the various de 
 scriptions in the parchments, and the identity of the 
 place." 
 
 He was not satisfied till he had liberally remunerated 
 every one connected with the transaction. But the 
 work was closed. 
 
 The exertions he had made and the disappointment 
 told on his health. He was laid up for several days, 
 and his physician advised him he must be more care 
 ful in future, and not expose himself unnecessarily. 
 Though he recovered, it was but slowly, and his 
 nervous system seemed impaired. In truth, old age 
 was leaving its final marks upon him, and he felt this 
 and acknowledged it. 
 
 " I am like the old trees in the forest that the wood 
 man marks to be cut down, he said. "If I live much 
 longer, I shall be cumbering the ground." 
 
 It was while his uncle was confined to his room and 
 to bed that Leone discovered, to some extent, the 
 benevolences in which the sick man took so much 
 pleasure. The pensioners who depended on his bounty 
 were of all sorts and degrees of misery and wretched 
 ness. The blind, so numerous in Jerusalem, where 
 ophthalmia rages only less fiercely than in Egypt, 
 were special objects of his care. 
 
 "There can be no mistake in such a case," he would 
 say. " The poor blind man needs no voice to beg for 
 alms or pity; his sightless orbs speak louder than 
 words. His silence is the greatest eloquence." 
 
 There were many poor Jews to whom he gave privately, 
 to save their pride. Whatever a Jew may be else 
 where, however despised, hated, degraded, impover-
 
 IO2 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 ished, in Jerusalem he is a king, at least in his own 
 eyes. 
 
 Nor did he restrict his benevolence to any narrowing 
 lines of race or religion. The Turk and Moslem fre 
 quently had reason to praise and bless his generosity. 
 
 Once, when speaking of their politeness and cour 
 tesy, a friend had interrupted him, remarking, - 
 
 " I wonder at your sympathy for the Moslem and the 
 Turk, the lithe, brawny Turk, with his stealthy 
 tread and sensual soul ; in the form of a man, indeed, 
 but with a beast inside of him." 
 
 "After all, with such a government and with his 
 institutions, the Turk is not so much to blame," 
 Jacobini replied. "Poor fellow, is he not rather to be 
 commiserated ? " 
 
 Then, always ready to speak good and not evil of a 
 man, where possible, he referred to the constant 
 acknowledgment of God by the Moslems, and the mark 
 invariably used by them (4) half-way between a cross 
 and the figure 4 at the commencement of letters and 
 all writings, even official documents, standing for: "In 
 the name of God the Most Merciful," -the words 
 beginning every chapter of the Koran. " It speaks 
 well for them," he said. "They are not ashamed of 
 their religion. And their rigid exclusion of all sem 
 blance of idolatry from their worship is beyond praise." 
 
 The large minds, and those that God loves, are not 
 those that stop to question and to quarrel about little 
 differences of religion, but those who agree in believ 
 ing the great things, and set themselves to reach them 
 and do them. 
 
 Among the protfgts he took the most interest and 
 pleasure in were those he was encouraging to maintain 
 industrious habits and carry on some trade or business, 
 thus preserving their self-respect. There was the fine 
 old Spanish Jew, an aristocrat in his way, who would 
 not think of taking alms. He was essentially an artist, 
 a virtuoso, who supported himself by his skilful repair 
 ing and renovating of Oriental carpets and rugs, 
 masterpieces mellow with age. He was accomplished 
 in his knowledge of the more unique specimens of
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 103 
 
 these, any of which, with few exceptions, he declared 
 he could make. Besides, he gathered and sold other 
 antiques. He was a picturesque object with his many- 
 coloured wools and threads, visiting houses to restore the 
 rare old mats and carpets, lending himself to the work 
 as if it was a labour of love. Leone also became a 
 patron of this interesting Jew, whose dignified character 
 he could not but respect; and he told his uncle 
 Anselmo that he had come to the conclusion that the 
 Spanish, Portuguese and Italian Jews were among the 
 more noble types. 
 
 Others he was also interested in were the peasants 
 and villagers who earn a scanty and precarious living 
 by the peculiar industry of the grinding and powdering 
 of ancient pottery which they dig out of the long- 
 accumulated rubbish of the city, and who carry on their 
 strange manufacture chiefly on the rocky ledges at the 
 lower end of the Gihon. This long-seasoned old pot 
 tery, when finely ground to powder, is used for cement 
 in relining cisterns, and for other purposes. As these 
 men and women often dig out rare old Jewish, Roman, 
 and other coins, ancient iridescent glass, and innu 
 merable miscellaneous antiques, they naturally become 
 antiquarians of a humble sort. They found it profit 
 able to resort to Leone and his uncle with their " finds, " 
 and always were welcomed. 
 
 No doubt occasionally Jacobini gave indiscreetly. 
 When this was brought to his notice, he would confess 
 with contrition his fault. 
 
 " There is no question it is a species of robbery on 
 my part as well as on his who deceived me, by which 
 the worthy poor have been deprived of that which 
 should have gone to them, but which has been diverted 
 into a base channel," was his censure of the act. "A 
 man must not let the feeling of kindness go in advance 
 of duty and responsibility." 
 
 He had always attended to those cases personally. 
 It was a matter which he disliked delegating to another. 
 And on the appointed days the courtyard in rear of his 
 house would often be crowded with the objects of his 
 charity.
 
 IO4 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 "I am a rival of the Greek and Latin convents," 
 he said, referring to the enormous distribution of bread 
 at those religious houses, too often with proselytising 
 intent; a few more loaves given by either convent 
 causing an entire family to "flop over" into the church 
 giving the greater number. 
 
 Since Jacobini s illness Leone was obliged to take 
 upon himself the eleemosynary functions of his uncle, 
 who he feared would never again be able to resume 
 them. To him it was far from an agreeable duty. 
 Many of the Jewish recipients of the generous bounty 
 almost demanded it as a right. He could never forget 
 one of them saying to him in an angry tone, " He 
 owes me now for three weeks." 
 
 Jacobini s recovery, it was evident, did not bring 
 back his complete strength; and his physician required 
 that the greatest care and caution should be observed 
 by him, even after his convalescence. Latterly he had 
 fallen into a gloomy reminiscent mood, and often 
 talked of the past with Leone, when he had him 
 alone. 
 
 "As we advance in years," he said, "we have so 
 many dead belonging to us, that life and memory 
 assume for us more or less of the graveyard aspect. 
 Do what we will, the fact remains. We try to forget 
 it; or we cover the graves with flowers of sentiment 
 and affection, or the fragrance of old joys; and we tell 
 ourselves we have higher hopes; but we feel, all the 
 time, though we ought not to feel so, that the 
 dreadful darkness is there that no light can dissipate, 
 where no light ever comes, or has come." 
 
 He had been speaking of the deaths of his two 
 sons and his wife, having previously given the account 
 of the death of his sister Rachele, and the cruel end of 
 his only brother. He spoke of the home in Venice, 
 and the overshadowing of it. 
 
 "There I suffered a great sorrow," he said. "It 
 almost fitted me for the kingdom of heaven ; purging 
 away the dross, and lifting me up up, till at times 
 I seemed to breathe celestial air. I prayed for the 
 souls of my two boys, my sons, whom I had expected
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 105 
 
 to pray for my soul, who were to be the custodians of 
 the sacred trust of our family and I tried to be 
 resigned. God help me, I had to be resigned ! But 
 there was a great desolateness, first. Oh, the dreari 
 ness, the blackness of despair, the nothingness of every 
 thing ! The remembrance of it haunts me yet. It is 
 a time like that which makes or mars a man but 
 oftenest mars him. I thanked God for the deliver 
 ance." 
 
 It seemed to Leone that this state of mind portended 
 the change that comes but once to all; and that his 
 uncle, in thus brooding, was conscious and expectant 
 of it. But the physician was positive that the worst 
 was over, and that with proper care Jacobini might live 
 for several years. 
 
 To encourage him, Leone told him the doctor s 
 opinion. But the aged man shook his head sadly. 
 
 "At my time of life," he said, "who knows what a 
 day may bring forth? Though I have recovered from 
 this attack, it is a warning to me to put my house in 
 order against the time when I shall go hence and be 
 no more. Well may I say, in the words of Job : Is 
 there not an appointed time to man upon earth ? are 
 not his days also like the days of an hireling? But 
 think not I repine at this." 
 
 "Yet you are much better," said Leone, who hardly 
 knew what to say in reply. 
 
 " Yes, I am better to-day ; but what may I be to 
 morrow ? " 
 
 Jacobini was seated in his favourite place, the copy 
 of the great Pentateuch open before him on his reading 
 desk. The day was remarkably fine and sunny, and 
 he enjoyed it, the casement being unclosed wide to the 
 breeze. His face showed the marks of his recent 
 illness. There was a touch of physical weakness, 
 though the lines were more refined and spiritual. But 
 his mind was bright and clear. 
 
 "It was never more so, in all my life," he declared. 
 "It has been refreshed and made strong by glad 
 tidings." 
 
 He had just received the news, from the American
 
 io6 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 consul, of the abrogation of the Sultan s firman or 
 decree regarding the expulsion of the Jews. 
 
 " Praise be to God, the consul has succeeded in this 
 great deliverance of my people! His representations 
 and despatches have had the effect. Of all the con 
 suls in Jerusalem, he was the only one who refused 
 to aid, and even resisted, the Turkish government in 
 this work, as the Pasha of Palestine had repeatedly told 
 him, remonstrating with him. He was alone; but he 
 remained firm. See the result. Four hundred Hebrews 
 have just landed at Jaffa, without the least molestation 
 or hindrance; and there will be no more expulsion! 
 It is enough to put new life in me. If God be for us, 
 who can be against us ? 
 
 He spoke of the recent coming to Jerusalem of the 
 Jews from Yemen, in Arabia, who claimed to be of 
 the tribe of Gad. These Gadite Jews said they had 
 been warned by writings affixed to the door of their 
 synagogue, which told them that the time had come 
 when they should return to Jerusalem. 
 
 "It is all the fulfilment of prophecy," he said. 
 "The city itself is growing on the very lines foretold 
 by the prophets Jeremiah and Zachariah. The water 
 too shall be brought into Jerusalem in abundance, a 
 fountain for sin and for uncleanness. We have no 
 longer need of faith, when we see these things, when 
 we see prophecy fulfilling itself under our very eyes. 
 Great is our Lord, and worthy to be praised ! Have 
 I not magnified his holy name? " 
 
 A wonderful change passed upon the face and form 
 of Jacobini as he spoke. It was as if he was trans 
 figured, overshadowed by some holy being. He put 
 his arm around Leone, and drew him to him. He took 
 his hand and pressed it to his breast. 
 
 "I have held back too long," he said, "held back, 
 for doubt unbelief and want of faith. But it shall 
 be so no longer. Are you not my son almost as much 
 as though you were born of me? Are you not the 
 grandson of my father, the child of my sister, my 
 beloved Rachele?" 
 
 "My uncle! Uncle Anselmo, you are tiring your 
 self!" exclaimed Leone.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 107 
 
 He could not understand. He thought his uncle s 
 mind was wandering, overcome by his joy at the 
 good news. 
 
 "Nay. Listen to me," replied his uncle. "Were 
 we not hereditary treasurers and scribes of the Kings 
 of Judah, beginning with King David, and Keepers of 
 the Great Seal of the King? But besides this, and 
 above all, even to the present hour, we have been 
 the custodians of the Ineffable Name, preserved 
 hitherto carefully in the family, and spoken by the head 
 of the house, in secret, to the eldest son, on his coming 
 of age, that it might be kept holy, and not be lost. 
 Vocally it has disappeared from the world. Its pro 
 nunciation, its very sound, its exact form, have 
 melted from the memory of mankind in general. The 
 greatest scholars are in doubt and dispute about it. I 
 have shown you the name upon the seal the four 
 pointless letters that express it, or rather stand for it 
 - in reality but three, for the second and fourth char 
 acters are alike. The vowels, or points indicating the 
 vowels being wanting, the written word is utterly 
 unpronounceable. It is the archaic Hebrew lost in 
 Chaldea, and for which the Chaldaic alphabet has been 
 substituted." 
 
 By this time Leone was all attention, so absorbed 
 he would not speak, lest he should lose a word of what 
 his uncle said. 
 
 " The Name above every Name, the sacredness of 
 it, how shall I express it?" continued Jacobini. "At 
 one time it was never written, or only partially written, 
 and then with a separate stylus, or one cleansed for the 
 purpose. It was spoken but once a year, by the High 
 Priest, when he went into the Holy of Holies, where 
 none but he might enter; chains being fastened about 
 his feet, that he might be drawn out in case of his 
 death, swooning, illness, or other accident. On com 
 ing out, after sprinkling the blood of atonement on 
 the altar, in the holy place, he spoke the Ineffable 
 Name in the ears of all the people, they prostrating 
 themselves." 
 
 All this Jacobini related to Leone; but with a cer-
 
 io8 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 tain measure of reluctance and fear, Leone not being 
 an Israelite indeed, and not bearing upon his person the 
 immemorial mark of the covenant. 
 
 Had it been possible to have brought it about, there 
 is no doubt it would have relieved the good and pious 
 Anselmo to have had Leone receive the ancient rite. 
 But, from the first, his uncle had little or no hope of 
 inducing him to submit to it ; and the efforts of the 
 rabbis utterly failed with the young man. He would 
 not listen to them on the subject, and horrified and 
 scandalised them by denouncing and ridiculing it in 
 the grossest terms. 
 
 " I have delayed, I have doubted, I have argued 
 with myself about it," said Jacobini. "But now I will 
 no longer hesitate. The time has come. I feel it as 
 if an angel told me. On this day of days, in this 
 very hour, this very moment, I am determined that 
 to you, Leone, the last of our blood, the rightful heir 
 to the inheritance, honours and dignities of our house, 
 in whom its hopes are fixed for its perpetuation, to 
 you I am resolved to communicate the Ineffable 
 Name, as it was conveyed to me ; and God grant it is 
 a righteous act, and that you will keep the trust faith 
 fully, and transmit it in like manner to your son." 
 
 It was a breathless moment. The old man arose. 
 A look of awful majesty filled his expressive counte 
 nance, that was lighted with an unearthly radiance. He 
 drew himself up, so that in Leone s sight he appeared 
 to grow taller, much taller than usual. But he 
 remained silent, uttering not a single syllable, till 
 the unbroken stillness of the room became oppressive, 
 
 almost unbearable. 
 
 He had seemed more than once to make an effort to 
 speak. The lips moved, but not a sound came from 
 them. Leone was completely awed at the sight. 
 
 At last the aged man slowly raised his arms aloft, 
 
 high above his head, holding them there for several 
 moments. Then, lowering them, he folded them for a 
 few seconds on his breast, at the place where the great 
 jewelled breastplate with the Urim and Thummim, 
 that dread and mystic oracle of Israel s worship, was
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 109 
 
 worn by the High Priest; but finally, with a motion 
 of grievous pity, extended them, one on each side, to 
 their full length, in that significant posture symbolising 
 the sacred Tau the ansated cross, which was archaic 
 and venerable in the days when Moses wandered by the 
 Nile, the boy -protege of Pharaoh s daughter, learning 
 all the wisdom of the Egyptians. 
 
 Leone bowed himself in the attitude of worship. 
 In that instant the Word seemed to speak itself, in 
 living accents. The long-disused syllables took dis 
 tinct form. And upon the wondering air rested, like a 
 benediction, the Name of the Most High God. 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 WHEN the night came down and darkness covered 
 the land, Hassan was still abiding in the fields, 
 watching his flock. 
 
 The stars came out, one by one. They hung like 
 rare jewels diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and rubies 
 of the first water in that clear cloudless sky. He 
 could tell them all by their names ; for, many a night 
 had he lain thus, gazing into the face of the heavens, till 
 it had become to him as the face of a friend. 
 
 "They are my familiars," he said. "They speak to 
 me, and I know their voices." 
 
 The air was filled with odours unknown to the day. 
 The night-smelling stock poured out its delicious, copious, 
 mystical fragrance, which the sun, all day long, had been 
 unable to awaken, and with the breath of mint and 
 thyme and rue and many another herb saturated the 
 soft westerly gale that swept up from the great sca 
 the not so very far off blue Mediterranean. It was as if 
 the feet of the genii and other spirits trod out the per 
 fume, or as if the unseen angel host swung censers 
 overflowing with pungent burning incense. 
 
 "What a beautiful fragrant carpet of God the wild 
 uncontaminated places of the earth are ! It is all a
 
 no Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 prayer-carpet a seggadeh," said the young shep 
 herd. 
 
 Lonely as the place was during the day, it was far 
 more lonely in the still night-watches. The mysterious 
 silences seemed to Hassan to have a presence an in 
 dividuality, and to be one with the almost palpable and 
 impenetrable darkness that enveloped everything as 
 with a garment ; and to be allied with the intensified 
 odours that swept along the ground in spicy whiffs. 
 They suggested the afrit, peri and demon. He drew his 
 abai of camel s hair, woven in those broad brown and 
 white stripes, so peculiarly characteristic, more closely 
 about him, as much from his sense of isolation and awe, 
 as to guard against the chilliness of the atmosphere, 
 while he settled nearer to the overhanging rock, whose 
 shelter he had selected as his place of bivouac. Well 
 might he say in the words of Jacob of old : " In the 
 day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night ; 
 and my sleep departed from mine eyes." 
 
 An unaccountable feeling of anxiety as well as the 
 cold had made him wakeful ; and he had slept but little. 
 
 "The genii and their chief, Iblees, are surely abroad 
 to-night," he soliloquized. 
 
 He had brought his sheep to this spot for more than 
 one reason. The pasturage, though of limited extent, 
 was some of the best in the neighborhood, and was pro 
 tected from the colder winds by a long, though irregular 
 and partially broken natural wall of cliff. Moreover, 
 water, that great desideratum, was accessible, if not 
 abundant. 
 
 But these inducements were doubtless of far less 
 weight with him at present than the fact that Hilwe 
 would be there on the morrow, as she had informed him. 
 Spite of custom that unwritten tyrannical law she 
 had promised to meet him there. The adjacent hillside 
 was thickly covered with the brushwood which the peas 
 ants of Palestine are so largely dependent on for their fuel. 
 As is well known, with the peculiar habits of the people, 
 its provision is nearly altogether left to the women of 
 the family, who cut, dry, haul and store it for household 
 purposes. It is chiefly employed for heating the great
 
 Hassan : a Fellah ill 
 
 ovens, built of stone, which are such conspicuous objects 
 in all the villages of the country, and which are largely 
 used in common by the inhabitants of each place. He 
 was aware, from personal knowledge, that an extra or 
 unusual quantity of the brushwood had been cut and 
 dried on that particular hillside, in which the people of 
 Malha claimed a proprietary interest, and that the im 
 portant product now only required collecting together 
 in piles or bale-like bundles, and finally conveying to 
 the village on the backs of donkeys, or, as was too often 
 the case, on the backs of the women themselves. 
 
 When donkeys were employed, the men sometimes 
 condescended to assist in the work of driving them. 
 Otherwise all of this drudgery generally fell to the lot 
 of the women. 
 
 Hilwe would probably be accompanied by three or 
 four of the elder women of Malha, under whose espionage 
 she would, more or less, be placed. But this was an 
 impediment both the young people had taken into con 
 sideration, and with which there was more than one way 
 of satisfactorily dealing. 
 
 Hassan had secretly gathered and bound Hilwe s share 
 of the brush. 
 
 " I have made it easy for her," he said smiling. 
 
 The women occupied with their work, would get sepa 
 rated, Hassan argued. Where they had no special or 
 personal interest in the young woman under their charge, 
 such as the bond of relationship implied, and as was the 
 case in this instance, their responsibility, usually self- 
 imposed, was of the lightest and frailest character, and 
 their duty as guardians was performed in the most per 
 functory manner, if at all. Hilwe could, without diffi 
 culty, wander off, out of eyesight and earshot of those 
 obnoxious creatures ; and so he could have her all to 
 himself, and enjoy with her the secret meeting for which 
 his whole soul thirsted and longed. 
 
 The very suggestion set him beside himself, and made 
 the weary hours of the night seem longer. 
 
 "Yes," he said, "it can easily be done. Why not?" 
 And, with the ardent imagination of the Oriental, he was 
 not slow in filling up the details.
 
 H2 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 He had discovered a cave in the cliff near his pastur 
 age, a place little resorted to, and difficult to find, and 
 where the women from Malha would be most unlikely to 
 penetrate, as it was distinctly on the Bettir side of the 
 boundary. He for some time had used this cave as a 
 shelter and partial dwelling-place. There Hilwe and he 
 could safely meet and discuss the present shape of 
 things, and make their plans for the future. 
 
 Under the distressing circumstances in which they 
 were placed, it was necessary that they should meet 
 and comfort each other. They could not live, otherwise. 
 It was all-important too that Hassan should be kept 
 informed of the progress of the suit of Abd-el-nour, and 
 of any new and dangerous phases it should assume. 
 
 These were the things that Hassan and Hilwe told 
 themselves in exculpation of the facts, and in presence 
 of their superabundant love for each other. 
 
 " Thou wilt not fail to come, Hilwe?" Hassan asked, 
 for the pleasure of hearing her answer. 
 
 " Ah, surely I shall be there, with Allah s help ! " was 
 her ringing reply. 
 
 When a young man and young woman are deter 
 mined on meeting, what power on earth can prevent 
 their coming together? The very spirits of the air 
 seem to become their allies, and the occult principles 
 and laws of nature appear to be on their side, to fight 
 for them. How often have they been known to carry 
 on their procedures under the very eyes and noses of 
 their elders, without causing the least suspicion of what 
 they were at, and though those sagacious guardians 
 had, of course, the full benefit of their own experiences 
 to warn them of the inevitable result. It seems to be 
 a natural fatality, or, more properly, a result of the 
 conditions. 
 
 In the darkness of the long-drawn night hours, in his 
 sheltered nook, on the edge of the beautiful stretch of 
 pasture, his solid shoulders pressing against the side of 
 the overhanging rock, Hassan saw in anticipation the 
 whole scene of the blissful meeting which he hoped to 
 realise on the morrow. It sent the blood in warmer, 
 swifter, and more blissful currents through his veins, and
 
 Hassan: a Fellah nj 
 
 made him long, more than ever, that the night were 
 over. 
 
 As he noted the time by the stars, he thought they 
 had never moved so slowly. Yet the glinting Fishes, 
 true to Palestine, shone bright. There was Orion, up 
 on high, a strong young man, like himself; belted, and 
 armed, and valiant, a very giant, he stood up boldly and 
 defiantly in the firmament, in his complete virile equip 
 ment, a resolute victor forever. It did him good to see 
 him ; and he praised God like a faithful Moslem, and 
 took courage. Near by were the Pleiades glittering like 
 a netted purse of gold ; and not far off the Hyades, look 
 ing like the Arabic numeral Sabaa seven (V). 
 
 " They all mean good fortune," he said. 
 
 True, the red Antares in the baneful Scorpion seemed 
 to watch him ominously like a fiery evil eye. 
 
 " Perhaps it means Abd-el-nour," he whispered. 
 
 But he did not care. He could outmatch him, and 
 get the better of him, he was confident. Yes, he would 
 thwart his base designs, and deliver Hilwe from him ; 
 he would be a victor, as was Orion, the immortal 
 hunter. 
 
 Like most Mohammedans, Hassan had his tasbih or 
 chaplet of beads with him, and, notwithstanding the 
 wandering thoughts, slipped the tiny balls, made of wood 
 from Mecca most holy Mecca with great regularity, 
 muttering as each one passed through his fingers, the 
 name of God " Allah." 
 
 This act very soon becomes with the worshipper 
 merely formal and automatic. But in the East almost 
 everyone, excepting the Jew and women, carries a chaplet 
 or rosary, and whether in the street or the house, 
 men may be seen having these articles of devotion in 
 their hands, and sliding the beads with constant motion 
 through their fingers, which they continue to do in the 
 midst of their conversation and business transactions. 
 Even natives belonging to the Protestant churches per 
 sist in the habit. They say they do it for amusement, 
 to occupy their hands and to pass the time. No doubt 
 it contributes to the ease of manner for which the Ori 
 ental is so celebrated. The rosary was unknown in
 
 H4 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Europe till introduced by the Crusaders returning from 
 the Holy Land. 
 
 Hassan also commenced repeating portions of the 
 Koran, which he found exceedingly comforting in the 
 darkness, and helpful in making the hours pass less 
 tardily. 
 
 Especially did he love to dwell on those parts which 
 describe the bliss of Paradise, and the exquisite delights 
 of the true believers, in the future life. How his tongue 
 and his thoughts lingered and luxuriated over those 
 highly coloured and voluptuous portrayals of the happi 
 ness in store for the faithful followers of the Prophet, 
 and which pictured them as " reposing on couches 
 adorned with gold and precious stones ; sitting opposite 
 to one another thereon," so as to enjoy in companion 
 ship their pleasures; while "youths who shall continue 
 in their bloom forever shall go round about to attend 
 them, with goblets and beakers, and a cup of flowing 
 wine denied them on earth, but now permitted and 
 with fruits of the sorts which they shall choose, and the 
 flesh of birds of the kind which they shall desire. And 
 there shall accompany them fair damsels having large 
 black eyes, resembling pearls hidden in their shells ; as 
 a reward for that which they shall have wrought." 
 These resplendent houris of paradise are not created of 
 clay as mortal women are, but are made of pure musk. 
 Each sense shall have its proper gratification, none shall 
 be unsatisfied. The ear will be entertained with the 
 ravishing songs of the angel Israfil, who has, of all God s 
 creatures, the sweetest voice. And to qualify the blessed 
 for the full enjoyment of the pleasures of this garden of 
 delights, " God will give to every one the abilities of a 
 hundred men." 
 
 This is the Moslem s dream of Heaven, the Paradise 
 revealed in his holy book, the hope of reaching which 
 he has ever before him amid the trials and vicissitudes 
 of this life. 
 
 It was natural that Hassan, in contemplating the 
 ecstatic vision as related by the Arabian Prophet should 
 mingle with the picture of the chief actors in this allur 
 ing scene those beauteous large-eyed virgins of Para-
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 115 
 
 disc the image of his beloved, Hilwe. To him, each 
 of the seventy-two damsels apportioned to him as his 
 own individual share in the heavenly place, bore the 
 exact image and likeness of the woman he loved the 
 little maiden of Malha. 
 
 "Ah, my Hilwe," he exclaimed, "I shall long for 
 thee even in Paradise, and therefore shall have thee 
 there." 
 
 The only possibility of a woman entering Heaven, it 
 is firmly believed by the Moslems, rests upon her hav 
 ing a husband there who wishes for her. 
 
 With the more sensual conception of the Koran 
 mingled that revelation of the new Heaven of St. John 
 the Evangelist which Hassan had learned from the 
 missionaries, and which is described as the holy city, 
 the new Jerusalem, coming down from on high, pre 
 pared as a bride adorned for her husband. Here he 
 was told of gates of pearl, foundations of precious 
 stones, streets of gold, and the river of life, on the sides 
 of which were planted that wondrous tree bearing 
 twelve manner of fruits, and whose leaves were for the 
 healing of the nations. There was no night there. He 
 remembered that very distinctly all the more so that 
 he was now experiencing the effects of exposure to a 
 very dark and cold night on that breezy hillside of 
 Palestine. 
 
 In the midst of these beatific images of Paradise and 
 its delights, with which, as has been said, invariably 
 mingled the face and form of his adored Hilwe, Hassan 
 was suddenly and rudely aroused to the fact that some 
 wild beast had attacked his flock. 
 
 During the latter part of the night he had been dis 
 turbed by the howling and sharp barking of the jackals 
 which infested those cliffs and hillsides in great numbers, 
 and which even are bold enough to show themselves 
 during the daytime. The most annoying whining cry 
 of a hyena had also more than once sounded unpleas 
 antly near. This last animal, with its great fangs, and 
 of cruel and treacherous nature as well as hideous as 
 pect, reaches a large size, and sometimes proves a dis 
 agreeable visitor to the shepherd and his flock.
 
 n6 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Hassan had therefore to keep on the alert, and had 
 been unable to obtain more than a few brief snatches 
 of sleep throughout the entire time, though it was by 
 this near to daybreak. 
 
 The peculiar howl and deep growling which now broke 
 on his startled ear was different from anything of the 
 kind with which he was acquainted. It was accompanied 
 by a frightened scampering and bleating of the sheep. 
 
 He immediately sprang to his feet, and, seizing his 
 heavily-knobbed club, such as shepherds in Palestine 
 are invariably provided with when tending their flocks, 
 he quickly ran down towards the partly artificial, partly 
 natural inclosure into which, as the night had come on, 
 he had driven his flock for security. 
 
 The rear of the rude inclosure, if such it may be 
 called, was formed of the high cliff, and so afforded 
 ample protection in that quarter. A low spur covered 
 with broken rock that ran out from the cliff at an 
 obtuse angle formed one of the sides; the opposite 
 side consisted of great fragments of stone which, loosen 
 ing and breaking away from the ledge, had fallen and 
 partly rolled down the slope, lying piled with more 
 or less irregularity for some distance from its base. 
 The fourth and last side, which had in it the entrance, 
 and was parallel to the cliff, was almost totally of arti 
 ficial construction, being made chiefly of the scattered 
 boulders collected from the adjacent surface of the 
 ground, and built up into the most primitive form of 
 a mortarless wall or fence. 
 
 Though the second and third mentioned sides had 
 received from the hand of man some little assistance 
 in bringing them into their shape, they had long since 
 lost most of the evidence of such a fact, and seemed 
 to have lapsed back into a state of nature. They were 
 to a great extent covered with a growth of weeds, brush, 
 and shrubs, and on the spur-like ridge two or three fig- 
 trees had taken root, springing from the chance seeds 
 deposited probably by a bird, or unheedingly dropped 
 by some shepherd or wayfarer of a generation ago, who 
 had stopped there to rest while he ate his simple meal 
 of bread and figs.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 117 
 
 This gentle merging into what they originally came 
 out of this sinking back into nature, of dwelling, wall, 
 terrace, bastion, palace and temple is a sight which one 
 grows familiar with in this ancient land ; and the matter 
 is often so nicely balanced that it is a puzzle to deter 
 mine with certainty that the particular object before 
 one, covered with clinging vines and plants, and over 
 shadowed with shrubbery, is of artificial structure, or 
 that, from the beginning to the present time it was 
 Nature s work, and Nature s alone. 
 
 In no other country in the world are even the dwell 
 ings of the present day in such absolute harmony with 
 their surroundings. They are completely akin to the 
 rocky " high-places," the craggy cliffs and scaurs which 
 they front or crown, and which they seem to have 
 grown out of, through some natural process, rather 
 than to have been built by man. 
 
 The fact that the village house is, in many cases, 
 simply a single room, or, at best, an extension or 
 series of rooms, in one story or more, erected in front 
 of a great cave, the abiding place of the prehistoric 
 people of the land, the troglodytes of Palestine in not 
 a few instances the direct ancestors of the present occu 
 pants is another consonance of significant import, 
 and an interesting link in the mighty chain of the life- 
 record of the aborigines of the country and the history 
 of the human race. The hole or cave in the rock 
 has simply developed or expanded into the stone house 
 in reality a sort of cliff-dwelling, bearing in colour 
 and structure the very appearance of being a continua 
 tion of the rock itself, of which, and upon which it has 
 been built. 
 
 Hassan had proceeded but a short distance towards 
 the inclosure, when the peculiar sounds he heard had 
 the effect of making him suddenly retrace his steps. 
 This was for the purpose of procuring his rifle, he hav 
 ing left it in a hollow of the rock beneath which he had 
 bivouacked. The implement was rather an antiquated- 
 looking piece, bound with many brass bands, and other 
 wise repaired, and with the general appearance that 
 it might be of dangerous consequences to him who
 
 n8 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 employed it. Yet, like many another of the same kind 
 found in Bedawin tents and elsewhere in this country, 
 in the hands of a native skilled in its use it was an 
 effective weapon. It was a flintlock, and was already 
 loaded and primed. 
 
 There was more than one entrance to the fold-like 
 inclosure, though only one regular place of ingress and 
 egress. Hassan did not take the time to go around 
 to the latter. He ran up a slope at the side nearest 
 to him and finding an opening in the bushes crowning 
 the summit, a place so well known to him he had no 
 trouble in finding it in the night, he let himself down 
 into the pen. 
 
 The little field-like space did not contain quite as 
 much as an acre of ground; but everything was so dark 
 within, Hassan at first had the greatest difficulty in dis 
 tinguishing objects, even those close at hand. 
 
 His coming seemed to have produced a certain diver 
 sion in the attack of whatever wild beast it was which 
 had broken into the fold. But this was only temporary. 
 The assault was soon renewed, as was manifest by the 
 low growl of the intruder and the piteous bleating of 
 the sheep. 
 
 " Bismillah," he cried, partly as an exclamation, 
 partly as a prayer. " Perhaps it is Iblees himself, the 
 chief of the devils." 
 
 Hassan at once divested himself of his loose raiment. 
 He cast aside his tarboosh, dropped his heavy abai 
 from his shoulders, letting it fall in a heap by the 
 fence, and stood forth in the full freedom of his finely- 
 formed muscular limbs, not even wearing the sheep 
 skin jacket of the shepherd, but only the simple cotton 
 undergarment of the country, confined around his loins 
 by a leathern girdle. In this last he had thrust his 
 heavy club, with its rounded knob, his hands being occu 
 pied with his rifle. The hair stood erect on his bared 
 head, not from cowardice, but in full realisation of his 
 peril, as he gathered his strength for the conflict. 
 
 In whatever the Syrian may be lacking, whatever 
 may be his shortcomings and his vices, under circum 
 stances such as these, he is rarely deficient in courage.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 119 
 
 With his physical endowments, it is only natural he 
 should not be wanting in the characteristics generally 
 supposed to pertain to and accompany them, and espe 
 cially the quality which, in both civilised and savage 
 life, men prize so highly, and which they have named 
 courage or bravery. 
 
 It was, as might be expected, with no misgiving or 
 hesitation, and with but little reflection, that Hassan 
 promptly and steadily proceeded against his unknown 
 adversary. 
 
 It soon became apparent to him that the wild beast 
 had already seized one of the sheep, and was attempt 
 ing to drag it away to devour it. No time must there 
 fore be lost if he would save alive the innocent and 
 helpless prey. 
 
 For an instant, through the darkness cast by the over 
 hanging cliff and rocks, he had caught the glare of a 
 pair of fierce eyes turned upon him. It was only for a 
 moment that the almost phosphorescent greenish light 
 of those malign orbs, like flaming emeralds, blazed daz- 
 zlingly into his face, not giving him time to level and 
 take aim with his rifle. 
 
 Nor had he opportunity to repeat the seven salaams 
 from the Koran, recited by religious Moslems in danger 
 or distress. He could only say: "Bismillah In the 
 name of God." 
 
 And now, as his eyes became mor-? accustomed to 
 the darkness, which was far more intense within than 
 without the inclosure, he had a passing glimpse of the 
 strange animal which had broken into the fold, and he 
 knew it was a panther, a species of leopard which now 
 is seldom or never found in that part of the country, 
 though at one time it must have abounded there, and 
 still may be detected upon the Galilean hills, being 
 common beyond the Jordan, in the Moabite region. 
 
 It must have wandered out of its district, and gradu 
 ally lost itself, to be found so far off from its haunts, 
 whether they were in the Mount Tabor range, by the 
 Lake of Galilee, or in Moab. 
 
 Hassan recognised at once the formidable character 
 of the creature he had to contend with. He had seen
 
 I2O Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 the leopard in the wild Adwan country, beyond the 
 Jordan, during a visit there, and could not be mistaken. 
 He had also seen the skins of that animal brought in by 
 the Bedawin hunters, who always take the greatest pride 
 in exhibiting them as an evidence of their prowess, tell 
 ing surprising stories of their desperate encounters. 
 
 The leopard what a profound wickedness is in that 
 creature ! He sits, satisfied with himself, and crouches 
 with the determination to proceed further in his evil- 
 doing. He evidently thinks wickedness is the right 
 thing. And possibly it is, for him. At least, to him, 
 his sins are no sins. When God made that creature He 
 must have known what He was doing. But one hesi 
 tates to follow the legitimate inferences. 
 
 Though Hassan well knew the perilous nature of his 
 position, and that even his life was in jeopardy, he 
 shrank not from the duty before him. He was there to 
 protect the sheep to defend them from any and every 
 foe, even at the risk of his life. 
 
 Long before the days of the Great Shepherd, it had 
 been an established maxim in Palestine that " the good 
 shepherd," by which name he called himself, " giveth 
 his life for the sheep." And it was from such scenes as 
 these, enacted on these Judaean hillsides, that some of 
 the most beautiful pictures and heart-reaching lessons 
 the world has ever received were taken. 
 
 Hassan, therefore, instinctively strode forward, level 
 ling his rifle from time to time, and trying to get a good 
 aim, but fearing to fire lest, under the circumstances, he 
 should kill some of the sheep. 
 
 It would be impossible to exaggerate the beauty of 
 his form and the exquisitely graceful movements of his 
 shapely limbs, as, all unconscious of his glorious en 
 dowments, he advanced upon the foe, without a fear as 
 to the danger to which he was exposing himself. Ab 
 sorbed in his purpose, everything else was for the moment 
 forgotten. 
 
 The semi-darkness added the quality of mystery to 
 the scene. 
 
 Meanwhile the leopard had reached a part of the 
 inclosure more removed from the shadows cast by the
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 121 
 
 cliff and shrubbery, and where the effect of the fast- 
 approaching dawn was more apparent. 
 
 For the first time the brave young shepherd got a 
 full view of the bloodthirsty beast which was carrying 
 off his trembling sheep. There the ravening tyrant 
 stood, lashing his tail, and uttering a low growl, secure 
 in his might, and, like most of the members of his tribe, 
 protracting his enjoyment by gloating over his victim 
 and deferring the final acts of slaying, rending, and 
 devouring. 
 
 Hassan, raising his weapon, took deliberate aim. 
 
 The next moment a quick streak of fire divided the 
 gloom ; and a sharp, almost deafening, report rang out 
 on the stillness of the night, already morning. 
 
 The immediate permeating silence which followed 
 this detonation seemed the death of all sound. But 
 this was only for a second or so. A wild clash and 
 concussion of echoing reverberations, like volley after 
 volley of artillery, woke up in distant glen, hollow and 
 waddy, and pealed and repealed against rocky cliff and 
 hill, grew faint, swooned, awoke again, then died 
 away in a long-drawn sigh, partially revived in strangely 
 near and loud rumbling and thunder-like claps, buffeted 
 to and fro, followed with resounding but ever more 
 muffled echoes in more remote fastnesses, and finally 
 ceased altogether, when one might wonder whether it 
 would ever cease. 
 
 A flock of startled birds rose with clamorous cry 
 from roosting places in the cliffs, wheeling high in air. 
 Nature s peace was broken her solitude insulted. 
 
 When the smoke cleared away, the leopard might be 
 seen having the appearance of being dazed or para 
 lysed. 
 
 The bullet had taken effect back of the left shoulder. 
 
 But was the wound fatal? 
 
 The creature had let the sheep drop, and seemed 
 more stunned by the sudden report of the rifle than 
 injured by the wound. 
 
 In a flash, and with the alert action of its kind, it 
 recovered itself, and, goaded by the stinging pain of 
 the ball, turned and sprang upon Hassan.
 
 122 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 The leap was made with all the fury and energy of 
 which the animal was capable. 
 
 The gray dawn, as has been shown, was already be 
 ginning to make itself felt, the coming of the day here 
 being, as is well known, much more rapid than in some 
 other countries ; and objects seemed suddenly to grow 
 more distinctly visible, especially in that part of the 
 inclosure where the conflict took place. This was 
 greatly aided by the lifting and parting of a heavy rack 
 of cloud which had hitherto hung low at the eastern 
 horizon. Thus Hassan easily perceived the attack of the 
 enraged pard, that agile beast appearing to come flying 
 through the air, a beautiful as well as a fearful sight. 
 
 The poor fellow might well be appalled at the spec 
 tacle. The angry roar, the displayed fangs, the extended 
 claws, the lithe embodiment of frenzied rage united with 
 superhuman strength few things can be more instan 
 taneously terrible. 
 
 Never for a moment had Hassan removed his gaze 
 from the intrepid enemy. And as it came towards him 
 with all its gathered force, and with the accuracy of a 
 bomb from a mortar, determined to overwhelm him at 
 one fell swoop, he kept his place, motionless, to the 
 last possibly safe fraction of time, measured by his keen 
 eye with the greatest nicety; then, bounding aside, he 
 let the tawny monster go swinging past. 
 
 The fiery beast reached the ground with a dull heavy 
 thud, barely saving itself from rolling over and over. 
 
 With the almost intuitive perception possessed by 
 many of the lower animals in a degree marvellous to 
 us, the leopard had detected Hassan s strategical move 
 ment, though too late to recover itself. It had spasmod 
 ically stretched out its nearest paw in passing him, with 
 the intention of seizing him, and arresting its course. 
 But it only succeeded in inflicting a slight flesh wound 
 upon his shoulder. 
 
 The fight, however, was not yet at an end. The 
 indomitable beast, though baffled, returned to the charge, 
 if possible with redoubled determination. 
 
 Wounded as it was, the desperate fall it had received 
 could not have failed to affect it more or less seriously.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 123 
 
 It left a little pool of blood where it had landed. It 
 turned and looked at it, as a man might have done. 
 
 At first it seemed ashamed of itself, and crept off a 
 little way, then retraced its steps. 
 
 Hassan s first intention was to seize his rifle and reload 
 it. But the renewed attack of the leopard gave him no 
 time for this. He also knew the utter inefficiency of the 
 weapon when employed as a bludgeon. With all its 
 strengthening bands of brass, the first blow would have 
 broken it in pieces, while inflicting little or no material in 
 jury on the enemy. He was therefore driven back on his 
 sole remaining munition of defense his shepherd s club. 
 
 This peculiar club is a short stick with heavy round 
 knob, formed of a natural knot in the wood ; and from 
 time immemorial it has been the implement of the 
 shepherd of Palestine, used in protecting himself and his 
 flock when in danger. It was, in all probability, with 
 such a weapon as this that David slew both the lion and 
 the bear when he kept his father s sheep at Bethlehem, 
 not far from here, as so graphically narrated by him to 
 King Saul. 
 
 And now the leopard suddenly paused, as if it had 
 changed its tactics ; but soon began approaching Hassan 
 more cautiously and slowly, walking around him, and 
 then creeping up upon him gradually, and more after 
 its usual manner of attacking and taking its prey. There 
 was a fiend-like glare in its eyes. Its tail, extended 
 straight to its full length, had an ominous snaky vibra 
 tion at its tip. 
 
 In the first instance, the pain of the wound and Has 
 san s sudden onslaught had infuriated it and set it beside 
 itself with rage. There was, this time, the characteristic 
 cunning and stealthy movement peculiar to the family, 
 seen in its action. Withal, there was a decided vinclic- 
 tiveness or revenge apparent in its demeanour. 
 
 The creature avoided Hassan s eye, and quailed be 
 fore it. 
 
 Its richly-spotted tawny hide was brushed by the grass 
 and small shrubs, which partially concealed it; and, at 
 times, its belly almost dragged upon the ground, as it 
 drew fearfully near.
 
 124 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Hassan s heart beat fast, but he held his ground and 
 kept courage, grasping more firmly his simple weapon. 
 
 When within a few paces, the crafty feline suddenly 
 quickened its stride to a run, as if to take him unawares, 
 gathering all its energies to make the supreme spring. 
 
 Whether in the next instant Hassan felt, or, in the 
 intenseness of his deep expectancy, only imagined he 
 felt, the tremendous impact of that furious hairy bulk, 
 he did not then know, though the effect of the stunning 
 shock was upon him, the sinking of the claws, the 
 fleshing of the fangs, the death-grip, for, almost sim 
 ultaneously, his well-poised club had descended with 
 extraordinary force, begotten of the desperateness of his 
 situation, upon the head of the leopard, crushing its 
 skull. 
 
 A second blow immediately followed. It was the 
 finishing stroke. 
 
 The claws relaxed ; the jaws unclosed. The beauti 
 ful terror lay at his feet, a helpless mass of tawny hide, 
 glistening with dark clustering spots like eyes. 
 
 The eyes themselves the real eyes, fast losing their 
 light, as they glazed and changed in colour, had a piti 
 fully inquiring glance, looking out, far beyond Hassan, 
 as if seeking the mountain ranges where lately it had 
 roamed, or a still farther-off land, a mysterious bournless 
 habitation where yet it might have life. This was fol 
 lowed by a despairing, disappointed expression in them, 
 such as is so often seen in the dying, as if they had not 
 found what they sought. 
 
 There were a few spasmodic muscular motions, and 
 several unconscious twitchings of the splendid skin over 
 sinews and parts where vitality had more abundantly 
 resided and now clung tenaciously, and the lordly beast 
 stretched his proud limbs to their full extent for the last 
 time. 
 
 Soon the rigor mortis would seize them. 
 
 The life had gone out. But whither? 
 
 "Who knoweth the spirit of man whether it goeth 
 upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goeth 
 downward to the earth? "quoth Solomon.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 125 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 HASSAN, flinging himself on the ground not far 
 from the dead leopard, lost no time in stanching 
 and binding up the wounds it had, while living, inflicted 
 on his arm and shoulder, he tearing off a strip from his 
 kamis, or inner cotton garment, for the purpose. He 
 also attended to the mauled sheep. The injury in both 
 cases fortunately was of a far less serious character than 
 appearances indicated, and he congratulated himself on 
 escaping so easily from so dangerous a foe. 
 
 By this time it was broad daylight, though the sun 
 had not yet risen above the hills, and the eastern sky 
 was all-glorious with crimson and gold, especially at the 
 point where the god of day might be expected to 
 appear. 
 
 The sunrises in Palestine are almost as beautiful and 
 rich in colour as the sunsets of other countries. 
 
 Drawing his knife from its sheath, Hassan immediately 
 commenced to strip the hide from the yet warm carcass 
 of the beast. This he accomplished in a remarkably 
 short space of time. 
 
 He then withdrew to a small pool among the rocks, 
 fed by a rill from the cliffs. Laying aside his garments, 
 he washed the bloody stains from his limbs, and then 
 bathed his body, completing the washing of particular 
 parts according to the ceremonial prescribed by the 
 Moslem religion known as the wudoo, and considered 
 absolutely necessary preparatory to prayer, as without 
 this cleansing, it teaches, no prayer is acceptable to God. 
 
 This ablution, cl-wudoo, is far from being the perfunc 
 tory act it is sometimes represented as being. It is, in 
 fact, a religious purification, carried out carefully in the 
 most particular and elaborate manner. Any of the parts 
 of the body which, intentionally or unintentionally, have 
 been exposed to pollution receive the most special atten 
 tion in the cleansing, which invariably includes the mouth, 
 nostrils and ears (each being rinsed out three times), as 
 well as the face, neck, head, hands and arms, and the feet
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 and legs. Appropriate prayers are used while each mem 
 ber or organ is purified, and when the entire act is com 
 pleted the regular prayer is entered on. This chiefly 
 consists of the recitation of the " Soorat el-Kadr" the 
 celebrated chapter of the Koran so entitled, with the 
 universal preface : " In the name of the most merciful 
 God." This chapter, which, it may be stated, is ex 
 ceedingly brief, is sometimes recited twice or thrice. It 
 closes with the beautiful words : " It is peace till the 
 rising of the morn." But, it must be confessed, there 
 is little or nothing about it of what strictly could be 
 considered prayer. 
 
 Though some Moslems may prove careless in regard 
 to their prayers, and neglect them, there are certain par 
 tial washings or purifications which, though not essen 
 tially pertaining to prayer, are regarded as acts of 
 devotion, and which are regularly performed by all the 
 men, on occasion. This guarantees a personal cleanli 
 ness on the part of the followers of Mohammed, which 
 is unquestionably an admirable feature. They and the 
 Englishman are the great bathing animals. 
 
 Hassan, having no seggadeh or prayer-carpet, nor 
 even a mat, spread his abai as a substitute, as is often 
 done, and had soon finished his devotions to his full satis 
 faction. 
 
 He then entered on the discussion of his frugal morn 
 ing meal, which consisted chiefly of a cake or two of 
 brown bread, with cheese, olives, and a few dried figs, 
 regarded as a sumptuous repast by the ordinary inhabi 
 tant, and for which Hassan s unwonted exercise and cold 
 bath had given him an excellent appetite. His only 
 drink was from the clear, sparkling spring gushing from 
 the rock. He had not, in all his life, touched wine or 
 arack. The beauty of his perfectly-kept body was an 
 openly triumphant testimony that he had never been 
 bitten by that serpent, nor stung by that adder strong 
 drink. But drunkenness is scarcely ever seen among 
 the natives especially the peasants. 
 
 There was something uncommonly agreeable in the 
 fresh, young face that he turned toward the morning sun 
 with the ejaculation upon his lips: " Praise be to Allah,
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 127 
 
 the All-Merciful ! " It was full of the uncontaminated 
 strengths of exuberant manhood ; and, as has been pre 
 viously hinted, the very redundance of the masculine 
 was the first impression conveyed by him. His natural 
 forces unimpaired, there was a genial ease allied to a 
 boyish simplicity in every expression of his face and in 
 all his movements that was more convincing as to his 
 true character than a score of accusations could pos 
 sibly be. 
 
 Yet there were those who had no good opinion of 
 him, and spoke all manner of evil of him. They charged 
 him with all sorts of frailties and irregularities, and had 
 what they considered convincing facts and statements in 
 support of their assertions. 
 
 But we have not claimed him to be an angel or a 
 saint. Are not such exalted personages exceedingly 
 scarce upon the earth, if they are, at all, to be found 
 there ? He was, like the rest of us, only a man ; and, no 
 doubt, full of a man s imperfections and shortcomings; 
 and, as far as seraphic goodness is concerned, without 
 the least title to it. Still, as compared with his censors, 
 judged from this standpoint, he was no worse than they 
 were, in the sight of his Creator, and was far more of a 
 man. 
 
 Let there be no mistake upon the subject. This is no 
 defence of vice. It is not vice. It is nature. Also, it 
 is not pretended that the natives of the land are not 
 without certain manners and customs, habits and doings 
 which, in a people so natural, and so largely primitive, 
 are relatively only impulsive, careless, and almost to be 
 expected, but which would be undoubtedly out of place, 
 inexcusable, and gross, in a highly civilised community. 
 Immemorial usage, too, has sanctioned among the peas 
 antry, from ancient Bible times, many of those practices, 
 while the great mass of them are far older than any 
 thing which we are accustomed to term habit, and are 
 one with the natural instinct and affections. In other 
 words, what might be called their sins were to them 
 comparatively no sins. To palliate an offence, however, 
 does not. justify it. 
 
 Scarcely had Hassan spread the food before him and
 
 128 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 commenced to eat, when a slight rustling in the grass 
 and shrubs attracted his attention and caused him to turn 
 his head in the direction of the sound. It was made by 
 Hilwe, who was close at hand, having stolen upon him 
 from behind. She had eluded the vigilance of her com 
 panions, coming by a way he had not expected, and 
 arriving much sooner than he had dared to hope for. 
 
 She carried on her shoulder, supported by one hand, 
 a small earthen vessel, a jar of the common pottery 
 of the country; and it greatly pleased her to think 
 that, with all his superior acumen, and that peculiar 
 and exquisite perception of the presence of another 
 under the most unlikely circumstances, characteristic 
 of the race, she had managed to surprise him, and 
 come upon him unawares. 
 
 Could it be that through the exercise of the oppos 
 ing desire she had brought this to pass? She had 
 wished to steal upon him, to shock him with happiness. 
 
 Her face was radiant with the joy of meeting him, 
 which she utterly failed to conceal, and which, it is 
 hardly necessary to say, drew from him more than one 
 answering heart-throb. 
 
 Instantly springing to his feet, he advanced to meet 
 her, and caught her to him in an irrepressible embrace, 
 and with many a warm salutation. 
 
 Hilwe had a peculiar beauty of her own which was 
 not of the common order, and was almost rare among 
 her people. True, the young peasant girls of Palestine 
 are frequently good-looking, and sometimes quite hand 
 some, though in this respect they may, in general, be 
 said to be inferior to the men. But the life of hard 
 ship which they lead, and which is the recognised lot 
 of the female of the land, soon makes old hags of them. 
 It is exceptional to see a fine-looking woman of ad 
 vanced or even middle age outside of the limits of 
 Bethlehem or Nazareth. 
 
 Fromentin has declared that, among all peoples, the 
 man is unquestionably the handsomer animal. 
 
 He may be correct in this. Probably he is, at least, 
 not far from the truth in his statement; though, as a 
 general thing, all sweeping assertions require qualifica-
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 129 
 
 tion. Certain it is, however, that the idea has taken 
 root; and, moreover, it would appear that, so far as 
 the presentation of the sexes in sculpture is concerned, 
 it is no very new idea, but that the ancient masters 
 had a decided leaning in the same direction, and in their 
 more glorious conceptions and masterpieces chiefly se 
 lected the male as their subject rather than the female. 
 
 It is doubtful that any one of reasonably artistic cul 
 ture can visit the collection of statuary in any of the 
 great art galleries of the world without perceiving and 
 admitting the vast superiority of the male as compared 
 with the female in all that is accepted as consisting of 
 the leading excellencies that go to make up that mag 
 nificent creation, the human being. Who, for instance 
 can turn from the Apollo Belvedere, the Hermes of 
 Praxiteles, the David of Michael Angelo, or the Dying 
 Gaul, to the Venus de Medici, the renowned Niobe, or 
 even the great Victory, and the many Minervas, with 
 out experiencing a feeling of loss, of disappointment, of 
 a descent to the inferior ? 
 
 No wonder he feels ready to exclaim that he has 
 hitherto been laboring under a mistake, and that the 
 man, and not the woman, is the more beautiful animal. 
 
 But even Fromentin himself would, I believe, hesi 
 tate, in the presence of Hilwe, in giving such a decision, 
 notwithstanding the superb endowment of all the manly 
 attributes presented in the person of Hassan. The 
 truth was, as we have already shown, she excelled in 
 her own as he did in his own sphere, each reflecting 
 and yet heightening the beauty of the other a marvel 
 lous duality in unity. 
 
 This is the answer to the entire controversy. 
 
 They were made for each other. The two made one. 
 It would have been a sin against nature to have separ 
 ated them. 
 
 Let us contemplate it the beautiful dual creation. 
 Nature in her fearless joy and strength, conceiving 
 moulding. Should not all men and women be, in this, 
 like Hassan and Hilwe? Is it not a revelation of the 
 Divine thought? Male and female created he them, 
 throughout the universe.
 
 130 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Exceptional mention has been made of Nazareth and 
 Bethlehem. The women of those towns have long been 
 noted for their extraordinary beauty. In explanation, 
 they boast of crusader descent, and doubtless can 
 rightfully claim an infusion of some of the best blood 
 in Europe. A mixture of bloods, if good, improves 
 the breed. 
 
 It would have been next to impossible that men of 
 the type and well-known character of those valiant yet 
 far from immaculate soldiers of the cross could have 
 lived as long in the country as they had done, its 
 lords and masters, without leaving some of their seed 
 behind them. Indeed we have record of the marriages 
 of some of the leaders to Armenian, Syrian, and even 
 Saracen women. 
 
 There is no question too that in certain places in 
 Palestine and Syria there is much Italian blood, due to 
 the early connection of the Holy Land with Italy, not 
 only under the Romans, who have left their indelible 
 marks upon the country in many ways, such as in the 
 names of the places, the massive pavements, the bridges, 
 aqueducts and roadways that cover its face, and their 
 very coinage with which the soil is sown ; but also, in 
 later times, when the Genoese came on their trading 
 expeditions, and the Venetians, under their Doges, had 
 such intimate relations with the Christian inhabitants, 
 and lent material aid to them against their infidel op 
 pressors. In gratitude for this last had not the Italians 
 been allotted streets in the towns of Palestine? And, 
 to this day, are not the silver coins of Venice dug up 
 among the ruins of Samaria? The preservation of the 
 Italian language among some of the old families, resi 
 dents of the land for hundreds of years, their features 
 and habits, even the very patronymics they bear, con 
 tribute to evidences of their descent past gainsaying. 
 
 What a wonderful romance lies behind some of those 
 faces that one meets in Palestine ! The mystery of 
 mysteries is there. The spectre of the hidden and 
 obscure past makes itself seen and felt for an instant ; 
 sometimes, in the flash of an eye, sometimes in the 
 curve of the lip, the distension of the sensitive nostril,
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 131 
 
 or the carriage of the head. The very motions of the 
 body, the movements of an arm or foot, the erect, 
 proud bearing, or the graceful, courtly salutation, re 
 veal weird glimpses of a period full of fantastic action, 
 before which imagination, falls prostrate, dumb and 
 transfixed with amazement, outdone and conquered by 
 the reality. Nothing is impossible under the condi 
 tions, nothing too improbable to have happened. 
 What blood, what history lies concealed ! Who can 
 know? 
 
 Malha, the village where Hilwe was born, and where 
 she lived, is not far from Bethlehem. There must, at 
 first, have been, for generations, more or less intercourse 
 between the people of the two places. How intimate ? 
 Perhaps to the extent of intermarriage. Could Hilwe s 
 charms be thus accounted for? Who can tell? In 
 later days, Malha, with positive truth, could claim the 
 Circassian infusion. Hence, it might be, those planta 
 tions of roses for the making of rose-water. Hence, 
 possibly, Hilwe s beauty. Hence, also, perhaps, the 
 origin of the blood-feud with Bettir, that remorseless 
 shadow of an inexpiable wrong, the genesis of which 
 the very nature of which no man of either village 
 could describe or even hint at with anything like 
 positiveness. 
 
 Nevertheless, as we have seen, the feud this colos 
 sal shade or ghost spite of its occult origin, stalked 
 abroad in the land, a very perceptible power for evil ; 
 like many another impersonated wrong, inheriting, 
 through long lines of descent, an accumulated preroga 
 tive, all the more difficult to contend with on account 
 of a certain intangibility which characterized it. 
 
 Hassan, having returned to his simple repast, at 
 which he had been interrupted by the arrival of Hilwe, 
 invited the latter to join him in eating. But inexorable 
 custom, as he well knew, was as yet too strong in her 
 to permit her to comply. Besides, she had already 
 eaten before leaving the house. No doubt she pre 
 ferred waiting on him, according to the habit of the 
 Oriental; and, there is no question, she took a greater 
 pleasure in serving him, and in watching him eat and
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 relish the food, than she would have done in partici 
 pating in the meal. 
 
 There are other women than those of the Orient 
 whose chief pleasure is to be the slaves of the men 
 they love. 
 
 She immediately commenced unfastening the cover 
 of the small jar she had conveyed, and soon disclosed 
 the contents. 
 
 " I have brought thee some lebban," she said. " It 
 is of my own making, and such as I know thou lovest." 
 
 She next opened a small package of cotton cloth. 
 
 " And here are a few of the best olives," she added, 
 " also prepared by me." 
 
 While he did not neglect to express his gratification 
 and thanks, she poured into a bowl-like dish, for his 
 use, a goodly portion of the lebban, which is a comesti 
 ble resembling clotted cream, prepared in a peculiar 
 manner from specially fermented new milk, and having 
 an agreeable acid or lemon flavour. 
 
 It has been known in Palestine from the most ancient 
 times. Butter is not used by the natives of the land ; 
 and as the making of it was an unknown art to them, 
 there can be little hesitation in believing that where the 
 word butter is employed in our translation of the Holy 
 Scriptures, lebban is meant. Thus, for instance, it was 
 lebban, and not " butter in a lordly dish," which Jael 
 gave to Sisera, that ill-fated captain of the Canaanite 
 army, whom she had cunningly inveigled into her tent, 
 and whom, after hospitably entertaining him, she so 
 ruthlessly murdered while he slept. 
 
 Hassan expressed his satisfaction at the refreshing 
 and palatable qualities of the lebban, insisting on Hilwe 
 partaking of it. 
 
 " It is, indeed, such as my soul loveth," he said. 
 " Verily thou art as the wise woman, who looketh well 
 to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread 
 of idleness." 
 
 From time to time he would select some choice por 
 tion of the food, and put it into her mouth. This is 
 always considered a delicate attention on the part of 
 the host to the man who is his guest; though of course
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 it is not practised toward women, as they do not eat 
 with the men. It was therefore an exceptionally affec 
 tionate act on the part of the young shepherd, and was 
 so felt by Hilwe. 
 
 At the close of the meal, as she brought him water 
 for the usual washing of the hands, Hassan, bending 
 that she might pour it over them in performing the 
 ablution, accidentally disarranged his garment, which 
 slipped aside, so as to show the wounded arm and 
 shoulder which he had rather clumsily bandaged. 
 
 " Thou art wounded," exclaimed Hilwe, at once per 
 ceiving the blood-stained cloth. " What mischief hath 
 happened to thee ? " 
 
 Hassan, with the proud reticence of the native, had 
 said nothing to Hilwe of his wounded condition or as to 
 his conflict, and his victory over the leopard. He was 
 keeping it in reserve for her. 
 
 " I fear thou art grievously injured. Why hast thou 
 not told me? And what has brought upon thee this 
 evil?" 
 
 Hassan, after having deprived the dead beast of its 
 skin, had dragged the body a good way off, where it was 
 quite out of sight, and where already the eagles, vultures 
 and ravens of the valley were gathering to devour the 
 carcass. Thus the rapacious land carnivora are des 
 tined to be the prey of the carnivora of the air, and the 
 mighty eater itself at last would be eaten. The skin, 
 the hunter s trophy, he had hung upon a bush to which, 
 it had happened, Hilwe s back was turned, so that she 
 had not observed it. 
 
 Hassan was touched by her solicitude; but he main 
 tained his conventional gravity. 
 
 " Behold," he simply answered, pointing out the bril 
 liant, spotted skin. 
 
 Turning, she directed her gaze to the place indicated, 
 and great was her amazement as she saw what had 
 lately been the garment of the ravenous pard, hanging 
 from the shrub. 
 
 They both hastened towards it. 
 
 " And thou hast slain it ! " she cried admiringly. 
 
 " Verily and indeed. It is even so,"
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 " And thy life was in peril." 
 
 " Perhaps." 
 
 " And \ knew it not. And you kept silence, all this 
 while." 
 
 Hassan smiled proudly, looking uncommonly hand 
 some before the woman he loved. 
 
 " It was a powerful beast," he said, " and fought 
 bravely." 
 
 " What terrible fangs and claws it has ! It might 
 have rent thee in pieces." 
 
 " Ay. But I had to save my sheep," was his reply. 
 
 "Tell me about it. Wilt thou not tell me how it 
 happened?" 
 
 And forthwith Hassan related to her the story of the 
 combat, as we already know it. 
 
 "But art thou not sorely wounded?" she asked, in 
 terrupting him. 
 
 " No, no. It is nothing," he assured her. 
 
 But she would not be satisfied till she had seen and 
 properly bound up the wounds, which, from their posi 
 tion, Hassan had not been able to succeed in doing. 
 
 " I am sure this must be the wild beast which has 
 been slaying and devouring the sheep of my uncle 
 Ismail and the sheik, and of Abd-el-nour," she re 
 marked. "They have lost several lately; and many 
 others have been killed beyond the farther side of the 
 hill to the west, as they have told us." 
 
 This was news to Hassan ; and, with his inventive 
 mind, it did not fail to suggest a certain opportunity 
 to him. 
 
 Why should not his achievement his delivering 
 them from this fierce destructive enemy give him 
 grace, render him acceptable in the eyes of Hilwe s 
 uncle, and, indeed, of all the people of Malha? 
 
 He communicated the thought to Hilwe. They both 
 agreed it was the hand of Allah, interposing in their 
 behalf, and that it should be acted upon without 
 delay. 
 
 Hassan commenced at once brushing and preparing 
 the skin, while doing so making an occasional remark 
 to Hilwe regarding his purposed action.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 135 
 
 It was evident he was thoroughly aroused in carry 
 ing out his design. He intended it should be no 
 half-hearted business. He should now openly declare 
 himself. 
 
 Though Hilwe had acquiesced in Hassan s proposi 
 tion as generally expressed, when it came to the point, 
 and the statement of details, she paused, hesitating 
 and silent. 
 
 " I shall carry the skin with me up into Malha," he 
 said, " and shall see the sheik and thy uncle Ismail, 
 and set my cause before them, come what may." 
 
 She heard and trembled, knowing the danger, and 
 dreading the consequences. She shrank from the final 
 issue, when thus presented to her, even though she, 
 herself, was but a passive agent in the transaction. 
 
 Knowing but too well the deadly rancour of the Thar, 
 she even feared for Hassan s safety his very life 
 should he venture to enter Malha without some per 
 vious special guarantee, such as the permission of the 
 sheik, or under the protection of some man in author 
 ity, or one held in high esteem of the people. 
 
 Something of this she presently tried to express. 
 
 "Art thou not venturing much?" she asked with 
 anxious lifted eye. " Art thou not taking thy life in 
 thy hand?" 
 
 " Nay, nay." 
 
 She failed to convince or even moderately impress 
 Hassan with her views, which he put down to womanish 
 dread overdue caution. 
 
 " Fear not, Hilwe," he replied ; " I have counted the 
 cost, and taken thought of what thou sayest, as well as 
 counsel of my heart." 
 
 No; he was coming to Malha under such peculiar 
 circumstances, in such friendly guise, as their deliverer 
 from a dangerous and destructive foe which had done 
 them such serious injury, he felt surely he was secure of 
 immunity from harm to his person, if only out of com 
 mon gratitude for what he had done ; and, though he 
 might not be successful in his object, he at least would 
 be suffered to come and go in peace. 
 
 She then reminded him of Kadra s failure in his be-
 
 136 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 half. How, though she had kept her promise, and 
 acted as his go-between, and " spoken sweet words for 
 him," so far from advancing his cause, notwithstanding 
 the feast she had made for all her acquaintances and 
 friends with the sheep he had given her, she had only 
 succeeded in rendering herself more unpopular than 
 ever, and was now regarded by many of the villagers 
 almost in the light of a traitor and a spy. 
 
 But Hilwe tenderly refrained from telling Hassan the 
 evil things they said of him. 
 
 " There are many ways of reaching an object without 
 going to it directly," he simply replied. " Thou canst 
 trust me ; I know what I am about." 
 
 After this Hilwe could offer no further remonstrance. 
 
 " Peradventure I am over-anxious for thy safety," she 
 said with a sigh. 
 
 Hassan smiled confidently, that deep gentle smile of 
 the man satisfied with the love of the woman he has 
 chosen, and on whom he has bestowed his affections. 
 
 " Doubtless it is even as thou sayest. Thy love 
 maketh thee overmuch jealous and careful for me. 
 Nevertheless I blame thee not. Why should I? But 
 take courage. All will be well with thee and me." 
 
 "Wilt thou take no one with thee?" she asked. 
 
 " I shall take Chalil, as a witness and companion," he 
 answered. " He is even as my brother my own 
 self." 
 
 He spoke with so much assurance that she could not 
 but feel a responsive chord reverberate within her, and 
 smiled back at him. 
 
 It is of the nature of things that those who have con 
 fidence in themselves inspire with a similar feeling those 
 with whom they are brought in contact. Hilwe s dis 
 trust was greatly relieved, if not altogether removed, by 
 the brave words and manner of Hassan ; and she so far 
 responded to his advice as, at length, to become imbued 
 with somewhat of his spirit and hopeful of his success. 
 
 From the beginning from the first breath of love 
 between them, the man, if worthy of the name, is the 
 creator of the woman who lives with him to be his help 
 mate. This is, doubtless, in some degree what is sym-
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 137 
 
 bolised by the sweet old story that she was taken out 
 of his side from beneath his heart. Day by day, 
 month by month the action deepens and intensifies. 
 From the moment that his blood begins to circulate 
 within her, and she becomes, in prospectu, the mother 
 of his child, the divine process is inaugurated which 
 makes her blood of his blood, bone of his bone, and 
 flesh of his flesh. 
 
 This is one of the great and holy mysteries of Nature, 
 which seems of almost miraculous essence, linking us 
 with the eternal holding us within the revolving, evo 
 lutional cycles of everlasting life that which is, ever 
 has been, and ever will be. 
 
 Yet it is no more wonderful than thousands of the 
 simple acts which are continually occurring around us, 
 on every side, each day. It is only ignorance which 
 makes anything miraculous or wonderful. 
 
 So Hilwe already began to feel the controlling influ 
 ence of the man who had gained her heart, and who 
 had given her his heart. The gentle yet powerful obe 
 dience of pure love was working within her and she 
 calmed her fears, and was glad that she had a faithful 
 breast and a stronger arm than her own to lean on. 
 
 " It is time I were returning whence I came," she 
 said presently, " lest my companions miss me, and 
 come seeking me." 
 
 " Perhaps it is as well," he agreed, " as also there is 
 much before us to do." 
 
 He bade her a very tender good-bye, pressing her to 
 him, and speaking words even kinder and warmer than 
 his wont. 
 
 She received all his loving demonstrations with ex 
 treme modesty, a passive, pure devotion of inexpres 
 sible womanliness which said, " I am thine." The 
 virgin daughter of the Judaean hills had kept her chaste 
 loveliness undefiled. It was with these two as when 
 one rose bends over another rose kissing it, or the 
 pale purple asphodels of Mount Hermon, on their tall 
 slender stalks, shaken by the wind, cling together, and 
 mingle their breath for the space of a sweet moment. 
 
 " I have gathered and bound the brush for thee," he
 
 138 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 said, just as they were parting. " Thou wilt find it near 
 the Giant Rock beyond the great terebinth, in the place 
 thou knowest, and where I have left it that thou mayest 
 not have far to carry it." 
 
 " Allah preserve and bless thee," she exclaimed, 
 " for all thy goodness and lovingkindness to me. It is 
 no little thing this that thou hast done, with the care of 
 the sheep upon thee too." 
 
 But he would not let her make much of it. 
 
 " It is as nothing for the love I bear thee," he said. 
 " Gladly, if need be, would I serve seven years for thee, 
 even as Yacoob served for Rakel. They would be to 
 me but a few days, for the love I have to thee." 
 
 So they parted, and she went her way, though look 
 ing back more than once to catch the last glimpse of 
 him, her heart beating fast and warm. 
 
 " Verily, she is the married woman whom her hus 
 band loves," she said. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 AS soon as Hilwe had departed, Hassan turned and 
 took the leopard s skin and, folding it compactly, 
 hid it in a secure spot, in a cleft of the rock, a place 
 also affording concealment for his rifle. 
 
 He then proceeded, in haste, to gather his sheep once 
 more within the inclosure ; for meanwhile he had 
 watered them and let them loose to feed outside on the 
 slopes where now the grass was abundant. This he did 
 in comparatively a brief space of time, and carefully 
 closed the entrance with stones and broken rock. 
 
 The day was already well advanced as he deliberately 
 took the way along the mountain side in the direction of 
 Bettir. 
 
 He presently struck into a narrow path, well known to 
 him, for he and his sheep had traversed it many a time, 
 passing to and fro between the village and the pastures. 
 
 Like most of the country paths, it was rough and ill-
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 139 
 
 defined in several places, and often diverged to avoid the 
 vast blocks of stone the huge masses of rock which had 
 broken loose and had rolled down from the adjacent 
 cliffs, under the shelter of which it ran for the principal 
 part of the way. 
 
 But it all was such familiar ground to him, he could 
 have walked over it in the night, as, indeed, he not 
 seldom had done ; and his rapid strides soon brought 
 him to that part of the hillside directly opposite to 
 Bettir. 
 
 It was an attractive sight which spread before him. In 
 the clear air, the thickly-clustered houses of the village, 
 gathered together for protection on their craggy heights, 
 as is usual in this country, looked so near they seemed 
 close at hand. Yet the slopes of the hills on each side, 
 and the entire breadth of the valley, with its gardens and 
 fields, its fig orchards, pomegranate thickets, olive groves, 
 and vineyards stretched between, with oranges, citrons, 
 limes and lemons in sheltered places, and almonds and 
 apricots in abundance. 
 
 On this bright, pleasant day how serenely fair they 
 appeared ! In all Palestine, there are no better-kept 
 gardens. Looking down on them, near by, not a weed, 
 nor intrusive blade of grass could be detected among the 
 legitimate crops, which showed other evidences of faith 
 ful culture, and were well watered. 
 
 Ah, that last is the secret, the great necessity, in the 
 production of fine crops in this ancient land irrigation 
 abundance of water ! Here it poured out in a flood 
 a river of delight from the rocks on which the village 
 stood, rushing strong and swift, like a stream of liquid 
 silver, in the sun. 
 
 Water, living water ! What a rarely sweet and pure 
 creature of God it is ! cleansing, cooling, refreshing, 
 stimulating, fertilising emblem of the Holy Spirit of 
 Regeneration the Comforter the giver of the Life 
 Indeed ! 
 
 The rich volume of water is carried in a high, sloping 
 aqueduct of solid masonry across the roadway imme 
 diately below Bettir, spanning it in a single arch, in the 
 shade and moisture of which grow countless sprays,
 
 140 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 fronds and tufts of maidenhair fern in great luxuriance 
 a greenery of gladness. Separated, after its triumphal 
 leap overhead, into many divisions, by numerous smaller 
 conduits, the water is gradually brought down to the 
 gardens, fields, and orchards below, through which it 
 is conducted in innumerable rills that in those lower 
 grounds, like Siloam s waters, " go softly," rippling and 
 singing on their way. 
 
 Hassan might well and truly say, as he did declare, 
 in his simple, gentle language to Hilwe : " There is 
 plenty of water at Bettir. Thou hast not to go far to 
 draw it." 
 
 As he now stood on the opposite hillside, and gazed 
 on the peaceful scene, his heart warmed and swelled 
 with the tenderest emotions. It was his home his 
 beautiful home. From the point where he waited, he 
 could tell every one of the weather-beaten houses of the 
 village ; and he knew every one of the persons who lived 
 in them. 
 
 But a little way beyond was seen the end of the val 
 ley, where the surrounding hills form an ampitheatre, 
 the site of the last rally of the miserable impostor, Bar- 
 Cocheba, against the Roman troops being the extreme 
 towering height, whose summit is still crowned with the 
 ruins of what seems to be the remains of an ancient 
 attempt at fortification. From this is had a command 
 ing view of the Great Sea the glorious blue-and-gold 
 Mediterranean, rolling in misty atmospheric splendour, 
 but undeniable as a queen in its magnificence. More 
 than twenty-five miles of hill, valley and plain stretch 
 between ; and the molten turquoise, sapphire and lapis- 
 lazuli of the matchless waters may be dimmed by the 
 distance, but we know they are there, and the imagina 
 tive mind feels the supreme colour. 
 
 It is historic ground. Nearly eighteen hundred years 
 ago, the followers of the false Messiah, Bar-Cocheba, 
 " Son of a Star," who was acknowledged by the deluded 
 but sincere Rabbi Akiba, when they fortified the 
 heights, and made that rally born of despair, must have 
 looked down on these scenes : the peaceful valley, torn 
 with battle, crowded with mailed Romans, on the one
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 141 
 
 side, and on the other, far beyond, like Heaven in its 
 amplitude, the broad blue sea, ever shifting and chang 
 ing, yet ever the same. 
 
 To-day, the scarcely discernible ruins on the topmost 
 peak arc covered with the trailing vines of the sweet- 
 smelling honeysuckle, and the tangled clematis with 
 dark green polished leaves and cream-coloured, nod 
 ding blossoms, masks the fallen walls. Here the un 
 fortunate remnant of the Jewish rebels or patriots were 
 pitilessly slaughtered, the horses of the Romans being 
 up to their girths in blood. The aged Rabbi Akiba had 
 been arrested, tried, and put to death with cruel torture, 
 the flesh being torn with red-hot pincers, piece by 
 piece, from his body, while he, faithful to his belief, 
 with a fortitude almost superhuman, to his last breath, 
 and until he gave up the ghost, continued to cry : " Hear, 
 O Israel ; the Lord our God is one Lord ! " l 
 
 At a sharp curve in the difficult and narrow road 
 which runs beneath the village, leading to it, there is 
 seen a most peculiar overhanging shelf of rock. It is 
 impossible to resist the suggestion that in ancient times 
 it must have been used as a strategical position from 
 which to hurl masses of stone and other missiles in resist 
 ing the approach of an enemy by this critical pass, which 
 the shelf would completely command. And there are 
 other similar points of interest and evidence which here 
 cannot be dwelt on. 
 
 But none of these things entered into the thoughts of 
 Hassan, as he stood on the hillside opposite to Bettir. 
 
 He saw the house, the simple abode which had 
 been assigned to him as having belonged to his parents, 
 deceased when he was a mere infant, and noted the nar 
 row bounds of the little inclosure in which it stood with 
 
 1 The writer, when, within recent years, he stood on those 
 heights the Tell of Bettir amid those ruins, identifying the 
 place with ancient Bether, and remembering the Rabbi Akiba, in 
 memory of his fidelity and courage repeated aloud to the listening 
 air, and in the ears of the Syrians who stood around, the self-same 
 cry : " Hear, O Israel ; the Lord our God is one Lord ! " 
 
 The venerable Rabbi is said to have reached the unusually 
 great age of 120 years. They might have let him end his life in 
 peace.
 
 142 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 its hedge-like border of pomegranates. He had but sel 
 dom dwelt there of late, he was so much away, tending 
 his sheep ; and in such absences he had placed it in 
 charge of his bosom friend, Chalil, the son of the village 
 sheik. They had often occupied it together, for brief 
 periods of time, being both young unmarried men of 
 about the same age, and intimate acquaintances from 
 boyhood. His friend was probably within it at this very 
 moment. 
 
 Hassan had told Hihve he should take Chalil with him 
 to Malha. And this it was which brought the former to 
 Bettir. 
 
 Ascending a projecting pinnacle of rock, Hassan, 
 placing his hands in a certain position before his mouth, 
 sent forth, in the direction of the village, a peculiar cry 
 or signal. This he repeated more than once. 
 
 He had unwound from his waist the scarf forming his 
 girdle, which he next commenced waving in a singular 
 fashion to and fro. 
 
 It was evidently an agreed-on code of signalling; for 
 presently there came across the valley, from Bettir, an 
 answering cry, and a similar waving of waist-gear. 
 Whereupon Hassan, throwing his voice in a curious, 
 almost ventriloquial manner, desired Chalil to come to 
 him ; when at once Chain s reply, to the effect that he 
 would come immediately, borne on that sonorous air, 
 was distinctly heard. 
 
 This "throwing of the voice," as it may be called, 
 this singular conveyance of sound, is, in Palestine, a 
 peculiarity which seems to have its parallel in the great 
 distances at which objects are seen clearly. Both per 
 tain to the country, and largely are due to its atmos 
 pheric conditions, though doubtless also governed by 
 special characteristics of locality. 
 
 Hassan no\v descended from his lofty pedestal of rock, 
 and flung himself upon the ground to rest, for, though 
 not exactly fatigued, he had been walking with great 
 rapidity, and besides his conflict with the pard had left 
 its effect upon him. 
 
 The sight of the little flat-roofed village house and its 
 pomegranate bushes and fig-trees, which were his own,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 143 
 
 made him think of Hilwe, and how happy he might be, 
 could he bring her there as his wife. 
 
 The pleasant happy valley to him seemed like Far- 
 eidis, Paradise, the name from of old given to gar 
 dens by this people. But it, too, had its serpent, in the 
 shape of the blood-feud. For, only in a less degree, the 
 animosity and vindictiveness of the Thar was felt in Bettir 
 as it was in Malha. 
 
 Yet he did not dwell overmuch on the thought that, 
 even though he obtained the reluctant consent of Hilwe s 
 guardians, which at best could only be had through the 
 payment of an excessively large backsheesh, the trouble 
 would not then be over. He would still have to appease 
 and satisfy the people of his own village. The greater 
 difficulty, as is usual, presented itself first. That re 
 moved, no doubt the lesser one would come in sight, 
 and duly demand attention. 
 
 This may be said to be the case all over the world. 
 The minor cares disappear on the advent of the more 
 serious ones. But especially is it so in this land, where 
 the maxim " Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" 
 is of particular force, and adapted to the instincts and 
 habits of the people. 
 
 Hassan had distinctly seen Chalil when he left the vil 
 lage and set out to come to him. 
 
 (P " He leaps as a young roe for gladness, as he hastens," 
 he said. 
 
 He watched him descend the slopes, and cross the 
 hollow of the valley, by a pathway which led through 
 the gardens, and where his well-known figure was fre 
 quently hidden from sight by the fruit-trees. At length, 
 reaching the opposite side, he ascended to the ledge 
 where Hassan stood waiting to receive him. 
 
 " I came as soon as I heard thy voice," he exclaimed 
 joyously. 
 
 " Verily. And I am well pleased to see thee, as thou 
 knowest," returned Hassan. 
 
 Hurrying forward, Hassan almost ran to meet him, and 
 fell on his neck and kissed him. 
 
 The Oriental kiss between men is a sight of more than 
 ordinary interest to those unaccustomed to see it. It is
 
 144 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 undoubtedly of great antiquity. Breast to breast, in close 
 embrace, and with enfolding arms, the men lean forward, 
 and first on the right side, then on the left, literally 
 " falling on the neck," they each bestow a kiss ; and 
 this is repeated, sometimes more than once. 
 
 Generally it is only on special occasions, or after an 
 absence of considerable length of time, that the kiss is 
 indulged in ; but it is not necessarily so ; and the Syrians 
 are a distinctively affectionate people, of which this cus 
 tom is only one of numerous evidences. As to its an 
 tiquity, the Old Testament abounds with examples ; the 
 New Testament continuing the record to the time of 
 Christ, of which the parable of the Prodigal Son is 
 interesting proof. The Son of Man was betrayed with 
 a kiss. 
 
 With these unrestrained tokens of feeling, the two 
 young villagers met. 
 
 Chalil, the son of the sheik of Bettir, was a young 
 man of prepossessing appearance, in that he had a 
 slender graceful figure, an oval face of a light-olive 
 complexion, clear, brown sympathetic eyes, full of light, 
 a well-formed mouth ornamented with a very dark but 
 very small mustache, a straight nose with scarce a hint 
 of the aquiline, and the usual abundance of the strong 
 black hair which so commonly pertains to the men 
 of the country who lead an outdoor life. 
 
 His dress was somewhat different from that of Hassan. 
 There was a fine finish and embroidered edge to his 
 inner garments, which were further adorned and fastened 
 with ornamental knobs. He wore a girdle of rich yellow 
 silk around his lithe waist, and his crimson tarboosh with 
 heavy blue tassel had wound about it a cloth of the same 
 material as the sash, but of pure white, sprinkled with 
 stars woven of gold thread. He was, in short, somewhat 
 of a village "exquisite." 
 
 But it was his abai or outside robe which showed 
 to the more observant eye a distinctive mark. This was 
 a strip of many colours worn inside the front border, into 
 which, indeed, it seemed woven. Though, from its posi 
 tion, generally concealed from sight, it is this which forms 
 the robe of honour of the eldest son of the sheik, who
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 145 
 
 is the young sheik, or heir-apparent. To him alone it 
 belongs. It is of right his inalienable badge. 
 
 This is the " coat of many colours " which Jacob 
 gave to his son Joseph thus unduly exalting him 
 above his brethren, and exciting their envy and hatred. 
 In plain terms, by his act, Jacob clothed him with the 
 insignia of the young sheik gave him the position 
 which rightfully belonged to Reuben, the first-born. 
 
 There was something irresistibly suave and graceful 
 in Chain s manner, as he stood on the edge of the 
 natural terrace, still holding Hassan s hand, and asking 
 and answering many questions. He had much interest 
 ing information to give respecting the village, which he 
 evidently enjoyed relating; and Hassan was a good 
 listener, all the better because of his love of the 
 speaker, though naturally impatient on this occasion. 
 
 But all was related in a few minutes. The Arabic is 
 a comprehensive language. 
 
 There was not the least reserve between the two, nor 
 the slightest attempt to conceal or restrain the bond of 
 affection existing between them, which was of the most 
 tender friendly character. 
 
 As Hassan led Chalil under the shade of the rocks, 
 he asked him : 
 
 " Does thy honoured father, Abou Chalil, the sheik, 
 know that thou art with me?" 
 
 There was a momentary silence. 
 
 " I did not think it best to tell him," replied Chalil. 
 " Thou knowest 
 
 He refrained, through delicacy of feeling, from finish 
 ing the sentence. 
 
 " Yes, I know thy father favours not our intimacy. 
 Yet have I never done aught against him ; but, on the 
 contrary, ever have honoured and respected him, as 
 thou thyself canst bear witness." 
 
 " Thou speakest the words of truth and honesty. It 
 is the only thing in which I have ever disobeyed my 
 father. Nor, indeed, have I done so in this; for he has 
 never positively forbidden our friendship. Though if 
 he had " 
 
 Again Chalil was silent.
 
 146 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 "If he had," took up Hassan, " thou wouldst " 
 
 " I would still do even as I have done." 
 
 Hassan pressed Chalil s hand in acknowledgment. 
 
 " Well art thou named," he said. " Thou art a faith 
 ful friend. One who sticketh closer than a brother." 
 
 Chalil was to the old sheik, his father, dear as the 
 apple of his eye. He could not bear to thwart him in 
 anything. And yet, often, as in many another case of a 
 like kind, the fatherly interest and affection not infre 
 quently proved somewhat oppressive to the young man, 
 who had far different ideas, sympathies, and pleasures 
 from those of his sire. 
 
 The sheik s name originally had been Areef Aweda. 
 But, according to the custom of the country, on the 
 birth of his son Chalil, he had been given, out of high 
 honour and respect, the name Abou Chalil, which 
 means, "The Father of Chalil." This is the almost in 
 variable habit in Palestine, the father disusing his 
 own name on the birth of a son, and being addressed 
 as The Father of Chalil, Selim, Yusef, Said, or what 
 ever the son s name may be. 
 
 From this may be had some faint perception of the 
 importance attached to male offspring in the East, and 
 especially to the first-born son. It is even more strongly 
 emphasised with the Jews, who, if they have not a son 
 are apt to adopt one, that, believing as they do in 
 prayers for the dead, they may have on their decease 
 some one to offer such supplications for their souls, for 
 a daughter or female relative cannot be permitted to 
 enter the synagogue for this or any other purpose ; 
 while it is especially the duty of the son to pray for the 
 soul of the author of his being as well as for that of the 
 father who has adopted him. 
 
 Chalil, which means " friend," is a name as common 
 among the people of the Holy Land as the name John 
 is with the English-speaking races. It is the name by 
 which Abraham, " the father of the faithful, and the 
 friend of God," is invariably known and spoken of; and 
 this explains its being such a favourite with his descen 
 dants and the natives who honour his memory. 
 
 Hassan now felt he had no longer any time to spare
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 147 
 
 if he would carry out his purpose of this day visiting 
 Malha. 
 
 Turning to Chalil, who sat close beside him, he affec 
 tionately leaned towards him, and placed his friend s 
 hand on his thigh, after the old manner with men of 
 urging a request or swearing to a promise, a custom 
 of prehistoric origin. 
 
 " Wilt thou, this day, go up with me to Malha?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "To Malha?" exclaimed Chalil. 
 
 " Even so. To Malha," quietly repeated Hassan. 
 
 " Dost thou mean what thou sayest? " 
 
 "Yea; verily and indeed." 
 
 The young sheik could scarcely believe he heard 
 aright, and so expressed himself. 
 
 Whereupon Hassan unfolded to him the facts in the 
 case, relating to him the events of the morning, includ 
 ing the fight with the leopard, and showing him of what 
 service he could be to him. 
 
 " Thou wilt be my spokesman my daysman," he 
 said. 
 
 At the close of his narration, he again put the ques 
 tion to Chalil : , 
 
 " Wilt thou go up with me to Malha?" 
 
 It was put with the same solemn form as before. 
 
 And now, without the least hesitation, came the reply: 
 
 " Thou knowest well that I will go. Even should 
 mischief befall thee, it is only the more reason that I 
 should be with thee." 
 
 "Thou speakest bravely. Hast thou counted the cost?" 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " Then let us be going." 
 
 They both rose to their feet simultaneously, and set 
 out, without further delay or another word, to return by 
 the route Hassan had already traversed. 
 
 They soon reached the old inclosure the scene of 
 the leopard fight of the early morning, Hassan eagerly 
 indicated to the young sheik the different points in the 
 conflict, fighting the battle over again, to the delight of 
 both of them. It was a brief but rapturous rehearsal, 
 on the very ground where the action had occurred.
 
 148 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 " The sheep will do well enough in the pen till we get 
 back from Malha," said Hassan. " I have watered the 
 flock, and cut some fodder for them. Besides, Yusef is 
 coming to spell me. They will be all right." 
 
 "Yea, doubtless," responded Chalil. " I only wish it 
 might be as well with us." 
 
 They found the leopard s hide the peace-offering 
 safe in the cleft of the rock where Hassan had con 
 cealed it. Placing it upon a stout pole, which they 
 carried between them, the young men turned their faces 
 toward Malha, which, as soon as they had passed an 
 intervening ridge, appeared in sight, on its conical tell, 
 for, indeed, like the city set upon a hill, it could not be 
 hid. In the distance, the tell looked like an extinct vol 
 cano, with the village built across the crater. 
 
 They walked as rapidly as their inconvenient burden 
 and the rough ground permitted, and in due time found 
 themselves at the base of the tell, where they called a 
 temporary halt, set down their load, and rested. 
 
 At this point the surface of the land was covered with 
 an immense amount of loose rock and stones, giving the 
 scene an aspect savage and dreary in the extreme. It 
 conveyed the impression that in a far Distant age some 
 enormous glacier had here unloaded itself, melting away 
 after having brought and deposited its millions of tons of 
 debris like the wreck of a planet. 
 
 It is probable that Hassan never quite or even approx 
 imately realised the difficulty of his undertaking until he 
 sat thus, amid this ferocious scene this antediluvian 
 rubbish-heap, at the foot of the tell. 
 
 Was it not the very threshold of his fate ? Had he not 
 reached the edge of the future? How different was the 
 scene on this side from that facing the Wady-el-werd 
 the cheerful and pleasant Valley of Roses. There seemed 
 something ominous and uncanny in the presentment. 
 
 But he had not the least intention of turning back. 
 
 Taking up their burden, they once more moved 
 forward. 
 
 This time they made but slow progress. The steep 
 ascent, in many places quite precipitous and almost dan 
 gerous, rendered it difficult for them, hampered with their
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 149 
 
 awkward load, to make even moderate speed. Often they 
 were obliged to come to a " dead stop " ; and they suffered 
 many a slip and backward stumble over the loose stones 
 as they patiently plodded up the abrupt acclivity, which 
 seemed to be more and more trying as they advanced. 
 In truth the}- had made a mistake, and had not found 
 the usual and easiest place of ascent, which, at best, is 
 troublesome enough. 
 
 At length they reached a point, within a few feet of 
 the apex, where a huge boulder was firmly embedded. 
 Here they stopped to reconnoitre. 
 
 " There is not a thing stirring. It seems like a dead 
 place," remarked Hassan. 
 
 " No doubt, such of them as are not away are asleep," 
 said Chalil. " They will come out in due time, like 
 hornets." 
 
 He viewed the narrow precincts with the curiosity of 
 a stranger, mingled with distrust. 
 
 But it was with affectionate interest Hassan surveyed 
 the place the abode of Hilwe. This feeling predomi 
 nated, notwithstanding the unfriendliness, of immemorial 
 existence. He felt jealous for it, and was provoked at 
 any disparagement of it which he was sure Chalil mentally 
 indulged in, in comparing it with the excellency of Bettir. 
 
 He turned to his friend to give him a last injunction. 
 
 " Thou wilt speak for me, Chalil thou wilt be my 
 daysman, and plead my cause," he said. " But do not 
 use harsh words to the men. Who knows but, even at 
 the last, their hearts may incline to us, when we speak 
 with them face to face, and when they see they have been 
 delivered from the wild beast. And then then, forget 
 not they are Hilwe s people." 
 
 " Thou needest not fear, Hassan. I shall not talk 
 roughly to the men. I shall be even as thine own mouth, 
 to deliver the words thou hast in thine heart to say. 
 Trust me, I shall speak better for thee than I would for 
 mine own self." 
 
 As the young sheik uttered these sentiments, his look 
 was so noble, so full of affection, Hassan s heart yearned 
 towards him more than ever, and he impetuously threw 
 his arm around him while he pressed his hand.
 
 150 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 " Allah bless and preserve thee ! " he exclaimed. " I 
 know it is as thou hast said. Thou art better to me than 
 a thousand." 
 
 The young men now adjusted their apparel. Each 
 shook the dust from his abai and his shoes, and Chalil 
 drew more tightly about his loins his silk ishdad or girdle. 
 
 " Let us go around, so as to enter by the direct way, 
 the gate," suggested Hassan, " that we seem not to break 
 in like thieves or robbers." 
 
 " Or as though we were afraid, or ashamed of what we 
 are doing," added Chalil. 
 
 " Yea, thou speakest wisely, my brother. Here ; let 
 us turn to the right ; and let me, this time, go in advance. 
 Bismillah in the name of Allah. So be it. We will 
 go forward in the name of the Most Merciful. Who 
 knoweth but he alone whether we be in danger or not? " 
 
 And so, bearing the leopard skin between them, they 
 passed quickly to the right for a short distance beneath 
 the crest of the grim, ashen-gray tell, until they reached 
 the regular entrance to the place. 
 
 Less than a score of ascending steps brought them to 
 the summit; and Malha, in all its contracted limitations, 
 and almost unpropitious aspect, lay revealed before them. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 ONE of the peculiarities of Palestine is that there are 
 no scattered dwellings no isolated habitations 
 to be found within its borders. Even the country people, 
 with the object of self-protection, for ages have built their 
 houses in what may be called agglomerated communities 
 condensed villages on lofty heights or tells. For the 
 same reason, safety as well as seclusion, " high-places " 
 were selected for the erection of altars and sanctuaries 
 for the worship of God as well as for idolatrous practices. 
 The idea that " there is safety in a multitude " has 
 become crystallised into the proverbs of the land, and 
 permeates its literature. The man with many sons is
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 151 
 
 described as not being afraid to speak with his enemy in 
 the gate ; and the Lord is continually spoken of as a 
 tower, as " my rock and my fortress," and as " a high 
 rock of defence." 
 
 Malha in many respects is not very different from the 
 generality of the villages of the Holy Land ; except that 
 from the very circumscribed area of the peculiar site, all 
 the conditions which pertain to the ordinary village are 
 here intensified and aggravated. 
 
 Hassan and Chalil, as they reached the summit, at the 
 principal entrance to the place, saw before them an assem 
 blage of flat-roofed stone houses closely packed together 
 completely covering the truncated apex of the tell. 
 
 In the midst ran a crooked, narrow passage-way, 
 scarcely wide enough to be dignified with the name of 
 alley, and where two donkeys could barely pass each 
 other or move together abreast. This was the main street. 
 
 At the entrance or approach, where they stood, this 
 passage widened or enlarged into what the most fertile 
 imagination might convert into a plaza, piazza, or square 
 of the most diminutive proportions. Around a curve in 
 the narrow way they caught a glimpse of the village oven, 
 proportionately not much smaller than some of the 
 houses, with a heap of ashes before it. But not a man, 
 woman, or child was as yet visible. 
 
 The acrid smell of the smoke, a predominant feature, 
 was to them not as noticeable or disagreeable as it would 
 have been to one who was a stranger in the land, as it 
 is a characteristic common to all the villages of the 
 country, and therefore it was a familiar smell, a mark 
 of relationship or identity, and regarded by them as 
 not particularly objectionable, but perhaps rather the 
 opposite. 
 
 Several pariah-dogs, of a dusty or reddish-yellow 
 colour, and with smooth skins, and erect pointed ears, 
 suddenly became apparent. They had been lazily 
 dozing in the sun; but awoke, shook themselves, and, 
 perceiving the new-comers, gave vent to a succession 
 of startling barks and yelps. 
 
 This immediately called out several of the women, 
 who at once gave the alarm ; and in an incredibly short
 
 152 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 interval of time it seemed as if the greater part of the 
 population had swarmed upon the scene, so that they 
 filled the narrow space in front of the visitors. 
 
 Hassan and Chalil, who had deposited upon the ground || 
 the leopard skin, made the usual salutations with more 
 than ordinary respect. These, through the natural cour 
 tesy of the people, involuntarily, and on the first impulse 
 of the moment, had been returned by the men who stood 
 nearest, and among whom might be recognised the sheik 
 of Malha, and Ismail, the uncle of Hilwe. 
 
 Others, who had commenced to return the obeisance, 
 suddenly checked themselves, while in some instances 
 scowls and looks of anger darkened their countenances. 
 Among the latter was a man considerably past the 
 middle age, with penetrating black eyes, hooked nose, 
 and long, weather-beaten face, which was much wrinkled, 
 and of the colour of soiled leather. 
 
 This was Abd-el-nour. His dark beard, of medium 
 length, and his hair were slightly sprinkled with gray ; 
 and from the malign expression of his features, and his 
 active communication with those who stood about him, 
 he evidently was infecting the men with the proper spirit 
 of hatred he himself possessed, and which he considered 
 justified by the intrusion of the men of Bettir. 
 
 Among the women and children, who remained in the 
 rear, were Kadra and Fatima, who quickly understood 
 the meaning of the scene ; but there was no appearance 
 of Hilwe. Yet, not very far off, she viewed the unusual 
 spectacle through a lattice, her great luminous eyes 
 moistening and dilating ; and she even overheard almost 
 every word of what was said. 
 
 The dogs now began to approach the leopard s hide, 
 aud cautiously sniff at it. To them it was an unknown 
 enemy. Some of them turned tail and ran away, after 
 the brief olfactory experiment, seeming to consider " dis 
 cretion the better part of valour." The few that remained 
 kept at a safe distance, and gave vent to an occasional 
 yelp or growl. 
 
 If curiosity is a strong characteristic of all peasants, 
 more especially is it so of the fellaheen of Palestine. And 
 this alone would have gone far to modify and appease,
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 153 
 
 at least for the time being, the feelings of the men of 
 Malha towards their hereditary enemies in the persons 
 of the two young men of Bettir who had ventured among 
 them, to convey the skin of this strange wild beast. 
 
 The sheik and several of the prominent men of the 
 place drew near, expressing their wonder, and making 
 many comments on the beauty and large dimensions 
 of the hide, and wanting to know who killed the animal, 
 and where and how it was killed. They called it Nimr 
 or panther. 
 
 Most of the younger men had never beheld or heard 
 of such a creature, though two or three of them de 
 clared they had seen the same beast or one like it, near 
 where the sheik s and Abd-el-nour s sheep were killed. 
 They were sure it had been the devastator of their flocks. 
 
 The sheik repeating his desire to know all about it, 
 Chalil saw his opportunity. His time had come. With 
 the tact of the born orator and story-teller, he had waited 
 for the favourable moment before beginning to speak. 
 
 As he stepped forward a pace or so, leaving Hassan 
 slightly in the rear and on the other side of the hand 
 some trophy, and opened his mouth, pouring out, at 
 first slowly and with great dignity, but soon with ex 
 traordinary volubility, the living glowing words, the rap 
 turous sentences descriptive of Hassan s adventure, his 
 conflict, and victory, every eye was fixed on him, and 
 every ear strained to extreme tension to hear him. 
 
 From the very first the grace and enthusiasm of the 
 man captured them. He was transfigured before them. 
 The beauty of nobility exalted him. 
 
 As he told of the attack of the leopard in the thick 
 darkness, the glare of the eyes, the horror of his roar, 
 the piteous bleating of the helpless sheep, all was 
 realized by those imaginative people. It was as though 
 their hearts and brains were harps, and he swept the 
 resonant cords with passionate power and at his own 
 will. 
 
 It was an epic. Full of Oriental colouring, it was a 
 rhapsody of word-painting. There was no actual falsify 
 ing, but here and there, with consummate art, he 
 strengthened a light or deepened a shadow, till the
 
 154 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 entire action stood revealed like the masterpiece of a 
 great painter. 
 
 As he spoke, he carried these simple men on his 
 words. They reached towards him eagerly, long 
 ingly. He was as their breath to them. They saw and 
 heard as he desired. They dreamed his dream ; they 
 thought his thought; they felt as he felt. 
 
 They saw the gray dawn, the cool river of day pour 
 over the red-burning bars of the east, till the hills and val 
 leys were flooded with the white blessedness, and every 
 thing awoke to the exultation of being, the joy of 
 existence, everything but the once fierce-lived leopard. 
 That lay dead, slain on the threshold of the morning. 
 He had accompanied the entire marvellous recital with 
 that peculiar illustrative action of the East which seizes 
 as its accomplice every movement and expression of the 
 body. Gesture after gesture projected, emphasised and 
 acted out each incident, feeling and bearing of the story, 
 things that words could not say. Weird movements 
 of the hand and fingers, arms, and feet, exquisite motions 
 of the head, and effective mobile employment of eyes and 
 mouth, in indescribable and innumerable array, lent them 
 selves to his purpose, and carried out his meaning to the 
 ultimate limit of suggestiveness. 
 
 As Chalil paused for a moment, their intensified feel 
 ings seemed ready to snap like the over-stretched vibrant 
 string of a musical instrument. Then came a half-sup 
 pressed breathing, as if of one united sigh of relief, 
 followed by scarcely articulated syllables of admiring 
 wonder : 
 
 "Taieeb! Taieeb! Good! Good!" 
 
 He heard them, but did not notice. He seemed not 
 to care. 
 
 He had left the leopard dead. 
 
 There lay its skin before them. 
 
 It was no fiction, no mere story, no dream. It 
 was reality. 
 
 Lowering his voice in a confidential manner, so that 
 only those in his immediate vicinity might seem to 
 hear, though all heard him, he turned to Ismail, Hilwe s 
 uncle.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 155 
 
 "And this young hero," he said, pointing to Hassan, 
 "the conqueror of the strong, the slayer of the devourer 
 who slaughtered thy flocks, comes to thee softly, 
 humbly. He speaks not a word for himself. I, who 
 am not worthy to mention his name, or wipe the dust 
 from his coundra his shoe I am his daysman, his 
 advocate. He has stripped the proud raiment from the 
 vanquished, and lays the noble trophy, the token of 
 his manhood, his strength and courage, as a present 
 and a peace-offering at thy feet. It is as naught to 
 what he is prepared and willing to give thee. Gra 
 ciously be pleased to accept this offering, and grant 
 that he find favour in thine eyes. He is at thy disposi 
 tion. Treat him kindly. Thou knowest that, accord 
 ing to the usage of our land, he has presented his suit 
 through a woman of thy people. " 
 
 Scarcely had Chalil concluded the last sentence, 
 when various inimical cries were heard, interrupting 
 what further he would have said. 
 
 A short while previously Abd-el-nour had approached 
 Ismail, and had spoken in his ear threatenings and 
 words of bitterness, while at the same time he 
 promised to add largely to the amount he had pledged 
 to give him for Hilwe. He also had not ceased to 
 foment among the other men the traditional hate. 
 
 The murmurs now became louder, and various dis 
 cordant cries, among them that of the " Thar," resounded 
 on all sides. 
 
 Chalil attempted to speak, but his voice was drowned 
 in the confusion. 
 
 " Let not this dreamer beguile thee with deceitful 
 words ! " exclaimed Abd-el-nour. " Remember the 
 Thar." 
 
 Chalil dropped back beside Hassan, who, in turn, 
 after a similar failure to make himself audible, also 
 was obliged to remain silent. He stretched out his 
 hands imploringly; but not a word of his was heard. 
 
 At this juncture Ismail, with Abd-el-nour and 
 several followers, pressed to the front. 
 
 The uncle of Hilwe was evidently greatly excited, 
 violently waving his arms high above his head, and
 
 156 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 was indulging in the most inflamed language, the 
 greater part of which was lost to Hassan and Chalil in 
 the din. 
 
 But the latter part of Ismail s words were but too 
 distinct. 
 
 "Thou comest here," he said, addressing Hassan, 
 "but we have not invited thee, nor given thee any 
 encouragement to enter. Thinkest thou to instruct 
 us, and dost thou expect that we shall set aside our 
 ancient customs at thy pleasure. Allah forbid ! Who 
 art thou, indeed, that we should regard thee? We 
 know thee not, nor thy generation. It is not meet that 
 we should have any dealings with thee; much less that 
 we should give thee our daughters to wife, or receive 
 the daughters of the men of Bettir as our sons wives. 
 As for thy gift, it is naught to us. We accept it not. 
 Take it, and get thee gone with thy friend to thine 
 own place." 
 
 Suiting the action to the word, he and those with 
 him seized the leopard skin, and hurled it towards 
 Hassan. 
 
 It was the most bitter insult which could be offered, 
 the return of a gift, especially when so presented. 
 
 The scene which ensued baffles description. 
 
 The people, who but a few moments before had been 
 listening in such enrapt attention to the words of Chalil, 
 seemed suddenly possessed of demons. They surged 
 forward in a rush, waving their arms threateningly, 
 uttering loud opprobrious epithets, and almost beside 
 themselves with rage. 
 
 The bland musical accents of the graceful young 
 sheik might and should have gone far to pacify and 
 ameliorate the angry and discordant feelings of those 
 who heard him speak with the voice as of an angel. But 
 prejudice, with distorted eye and ear, is a cruel and 
 implacable thing. It turns honey to gall, the beauti 
 ful to the hideous, and good to evil, riding roughshod 
 over the amenities of life. 
 
 The Sheik of Malha, though stunned by the tumult, 
 evidently entertained a sense of gratitude and kindly 
 feeling for Hassan; but it was in vain he tried to stem
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 157 
 
 the torrent, counselling moderation and reason, and 
 repeatedly saying there was no necessity for such 
 violence. He and the few who stood with him were 
 thrust aside and hustled rudely, in the outbreak of the 
 turbulence. 
 
 He saw immediately, to his mortification, that in 
 the madness of the hour his authority was utterly 
 ignored, and that the old vindictiveness was in the 
 ascendency, and the passions of his people were beyond 
 his control. 
 
 " Isma hatta ihki lak Listen, that I may speak 
 to thee, " implored Hassan, in a last appeal to Hilwe s 
 uncle. 
 
 "Iskat ma berid isma minak Hold thy peace, I 
 don t want to hear thee," came the contemptuous reply. 
 
 Hassan seemed bewildered. 
 
 "Thou hast sojourned with the Nazarenes. Wouldst 
 thou teach us their ways and doctrine? Get thee 
 hence. We want thee not," were some of the words 
 hurled at him. 
 
 Chalil, who had counselled Hassan to hasten his 
 departure, now helped him to gather up the leopard 
 skin ; and they at once turned to leave, the crowd 
 closely pressing upon them, and using abusive 
 language. 
 
 They were occasionally roughly handled, and all 
 their expostulations fell on deaf or unfriendly ears. 
 
 In the midst of this fearful scene this sudden 
 burst of fanaticism, poor Hilwe, beside herself with 
 terror, rushed screaming from the house, with what 
 intention was not apparent. 
 
 " O Hassan, they will slay thee ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 But she was brutally pushed back by her uncle and 
 Fatima, who, shutting the door upon her, overwhelmed 
 her with vituperation and sarcastic mockings, in which 
 department of speech the fellaheen of Palestine are 
 accomplished, indeed skilled adepts: 
 
 " Ha, hah ! We laugh thee to scorn. Thou art even 
 one of the froward daughters. Cry aloud. Call upon 
 thy lover. Peradventure he will hear thee, and come 
 to thine aid."
 
 158 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Poor Hilwe, she thrust her fingers in her ears to 
 dull the cruel taunts, and flung herself, in agony of 
 mind, upon the floor of the leewan or raised part of the 
 room, tortured with the thought of the ignominious 
 usage bestowed on her beloved Hassan and his friend, 
 and torn with the fearful dread that their lives were 
 in danger, and would fall a sacrifice to the hateful, 
 Thar. 
 
 " I feared it ! I feared it ! " she cried. " Did not. 
 my heart tell me? Did I not warn Hassan?" 
 
 She covered her mouth with her hands to smother 
 the pitiful cries and sobs she could not restrain. But 
 there was none to commiserate none to console her. 
 
 " Poor fellow ! Poor Hassan ! They have killed 
 thee and thy noble friend. And it is all for me." 
 
 Lifting up her voice, in the anguish of her despair, 
 thus she lamented and wept : 
 
 " Oh ! my beloved ! why am I not with thee ? Why 
 am I not beside thee to stanch thy wounds to raise 
 thy head to comfort thee with sweet words ? As one 
 whom his mother comforteth, so would I comfort thee. 
 Mayhap, even while I speak thou art numbered with 
 the dead, art gone down into the noisome pit, and 
 art even as those who are not. Better also that I were 
 dead that I were not in the land of the living, but in 
 the abode of darkness, than that I should survive to 
 see this foul day. Better that I had died the hour of 
 my birth." 
 
 Kadra, hearing her lamentation, drew near and stood 
 beneath the narrow unglazed opening which served for 
 a window, and would fain have soothed her. 
 
 "O little goat, don t die, for the spring and the 
 sweet grass are soon coming," she began in the tender 
 metaphor of the East. 
 
 But Fatima would not permit it ; and the sharp- 
 tongued, yet not ungrateful recipient of Hassan s 
 generous backsheesh in the shape of that fat sheep, was 
 obliged to withdraw without being able to communi 
 cate further with the grief-stricken Hilwe. 
 
 "It is the work of the evil eye which hath brought 
 this to pass," concluded Kadra. "But, even now, I
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 159 
 
 will get me to the old watch-tower, whence I can see, 
 unobserved, the outcome of it all." 
 
 She hobbled off, in her awkward slippers, in the 
 direction mentioned. 
 
 " I advised her to wear the blue beads about her 
 neck, to ward off the bad influence," she muttered. 
 
 As Hassan, following Chalil, reached the edge of 
 the declivity, and turned to take a last look at the 
 place, with the hope of seeing Hilwe, and with the 
 feeling, which was but natural, that he was not fleeing 
 as a coward, even though in the presence of superior 
 numbers, he encountered Abd-el-nour, face to face. 
 
 Grim, satyr-like, and diabolically malevolent was 
 the gleam of those deeply-set black eyes, filled with 
 the gathered tenebrse of generations of hate. Of all 
 the inhabitants of Malha, he it was who cherished most 
 persistently the traditions of the Thar, believed the 
 most thoroughly in the application of the unholy doc 
 trines of the blood-feud. 
 
 He was like the presiding evil genius of the place. 
 
 "Hah! I have met thee, then, O my enemy!" he 
 exclaimed, and began to curse and swear. 
 
 Seeing Hassan encumbered with the leopard skin, 
 he suddenly smote him upon the cheek with the palm 
 of his hand. 
 
 It was a spontaneous outburst of his spitefulness. 
 
 "Interloper," he shouted, "hast thou ventured into 
 our stronghold ? Take thy punishment ! " 
 
 He evidently was emboldened by the near presence of 
 several of the younger men. 
 
 Hassan was astounded for the moment. His cheek 
 tingled with the sharpness of the blow; but that was 
 as nothing to the indignity. 
 
 "What wrong have I done thee, that thou smitest 
 me? " he cried. 
 
 Hampered as he was, he raised himself to his full 
 height, and in a flash, hardly knowing what he did, 
 for anger, dealt such a buffet in return, with his open 
 hand upon the face, as sent Abd-el-nour staggering 
 backward to the ground. 
 
 It is seldom or never, even in severe fights, that the
 
 160 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 natives strike with the clenched fist. They generally 
 are satisfied with buffeting, or smiting with the palms 
 of their hands. 
 
 Thus, indeed, was Christ smitten, when they mocked 
 him, in the palace of the high priest. 
 
 "Art thou called Abd-el-nour Servant of Light? " 
 retorted Hassan, with the greatest sarcasm. " More 
 rightfully shouldst thou be named Servant of Darkness, 
 for thou art the child of Iblees the Evil One." 
 
 Abd-el-nour, as with difficulty he arose, clutched a 
 heavy stone, which he prepared to hurl at Hassan. 
 But the latter, perceiving the act, had promptly picked 
 up a similar missile, and stood ready to retaliate in 
 kind. 
 
 The vindictive man of Malha, seeing he was detected, 
 and fearing the result, slowly unclosed his fingers, and 
 cautiously and regretfully let the stone which he held 
 drop. 
 
 Chalil had, meanwhile, rushed up to Hassan, and, 
 catching hold of his arm, besought of him not to throw 
 the stone he stood ready to hurl. 
 
 "It would be madness," he said. "It would bring 
 all of them upon us in an instant. And what should 
 we be among so many ? " 
 
 As he spoke he gently took the fragment of rock 
 from the hand of Hassan, who willingly yielded it up. 
 
 "Thou art right," he said to Chalil. "My wrath got 
 the better of my judgment. His insults are hard to 
 bear." 
 
 But Abd-el-nour s anger was now intensified. 
 
 "Get thee gone. We want none of thee, waladu z- 
 zina illegitimate one bastard," he shouted. 
 
 Hassan, already descending, again paused. The 
 bitter cruel taunt stung him all the more keenly in 
 that he had never actually known his parents; as 
 already has been shown, they having died when he was 
 a mere infant. To him they were a dream an ideali 
 sation. All the more tender and sacred were they to 
 him, because, for him, they had never been mingled 
 with earthly cares or doings. And yet there was a 
 mystery surrounding the matter, at least something
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 161 
 
 unusual about it a varying from the ordinary, that 
 made his case exceptional, perhaps unpleasantly so. 
 His childhood had not been like that of others. Well 
 had he known and felt it. There is, spite of all we 
 can do and say, a blight almost a certain stigma 
 connected with orphanage. Yet he was a strong, 
 shapely man, finer and handsomer than most men. 
 Nothing seemed able to prevent that. 
 
 He would have rushed back on his persecutor, hardly 
 knowing what he did, his innate stamina asserting 
 itself, had not the less impetuous Chalil again checked 
 him, restraining and holding him. 
 
 But he could not prevent his calling to Abd-el-nour: 
 
 " Were it not for thy years, thou son of perdition, I 
 should have dealt more severely with thee. " 
 
 To this was returned the repeated slur, yelled more 
 loudly than ever, 
 
 " Waladu z-zina. Waladu z-zina. " 
 
 It was maddening. 
 
 " Hearest thou what he says ? Oh, the cursedness of 
 it! Unhand me, Chalil. Let me get at him." 
 
 "No, no; thou must not. What matter the words 
 of such an one as he ? No more than the cry of the 
 partridge in the pasture, the twittering of the sparrow 
 on the house-top, or the whistling of the wind blowing 
 over the reeds. Who careth or knoweth what they 
 say ? " 
 
 "My blood boils to hear him. I cannot bear it." 
 
 It was all Chalil could do to control and pacify his 
 justly enraged companion. 
 
 " Hassan, let us get hence, out of this corrupt place, 
 without delay, lest worse befall us. It will be dark 
 before we get half-way back. " 
 
 So Chalil besought his friend ; and Hassan, loving 
 him well-nigh as his own soul, hearkened to his voice, 
 to do as he advised. 
 
 They had proceeded but a short way clown the pre 
 cipitous tell, when a shower of stones fell upon them. 
 
 "They come thick as hail," said Hassan. 
 
 "This is what I feared," returned the young sheik. 
 
 Hassan could see that the missiles were thrown by
 
 1 62 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 the young people of the village; who, doubtless, were 
 incited thereto, if not aided and abetted, by their 
 elders. 
 
 Fortunately, so far, the stones had failed to do any 
 serious injury; all but a few falling short, or flying 
 wide of the mark. 
 
 A succeeding volley proved to be more effective. A 
 third one was still more dangerous. It evidently pro- < 
 ceeded from nearer quarters, showing the fugitives 
 were pursued. Then came a much closer and fierce 
 attack. Both Hassan and Chalil were struck several i 
 times, the former receiving a wound upon the head. 
 There followed the sharp crack of a rifle. 
 
 Hassan, having been the means of drawing Chalil 
 into the trouble, felt in honour bound to bring him 
 safely through, if possible. He insisted upon his going 
 in advance, repeatedly urging him forward, while he 
 himself fell back, and acted as a check or rear-guard, 
 receiving the brunt of the battle. 
 
 In the scuffle in the village, they had lost their pole; 
 so Hassan had thrown the leopard skin over his 
 shoulders, and thus carried it. He said it was like a 
 shield, and protected him from the stones. But, no 
 doubt, it was an encumbrance to him. Yet he would 
 not leave it in the hands of the enemy. It would be 
 like deserting a battle-flag. 
 
 Half-crazed from the blow on his head, and partly 
 blinded by the blood which trickled over his face from 
 the wound, he made a desperate charge upon their 
 assailants, who for the moment having gathered confi 
 dence, had approached nearer than usual. 
 
 They, however, had seen him grasp a fragment of 
 rock as he turned ; and, seized with a sudden panic, the 
 treacherous fanatic creatures fled incontinently, nor 
 paused till they reached near to the summit of the 
 hill. 
 
 This gave Hassan and Chalil an opportunity to escape; 
 and though the assaults from Malha were renewed, 
 they were now comparatively harmless. 
 
 True, for a time, the stones flew around with such 
 liveliness, it might appear as if the words of the old
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 163 
 
 psalm were put in action, that the mountains had 
 begun to skip like rams, and the little hills like lambs. 
 But this materialisation of the ancient text was not of 
 long continuance. 
 
 The two young men felt thankful when they reached 
 the foot of the tell ; and, battered and weary as they 
 were, they courageously struck out across the rocky 
 plain toward their destination ; though this, for a time, 
 exposed them to the rifle-shots which, at intervals, 
 pursued them from Malha. 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 " TT was desperate work while it lasted," was Hassan s 
 
 _|_ first remark on getting away. 
 
 "Thou sayest," acquiesced Challl. "There were 
 times when I feared for thy life." 
 
 "And I for thine. Truly they pressed us sore." 
 
 " It was not because of their will that they did not 
 make an end of us." 
 
 "Ay. They tried hard enough. " 
 
 "Kismet." 
 
 "Yea, Kismet, Challl. It is written." 
 
 "Yet it was all for naught," rejoined the young 
 sheik, "that we adventured so much." 
 
 " Who knoweth ? " 
 
 "Nay; but that is how it looks." 
 
 " What meanest thou ? Dost thou think because of 
 what has come to pass, through the base counsel of 
 mine enemies, I shall desist from my purpose, and 
 yield up Hilwe to Abd-el-nour? That be far from me." 
 
 Chalil sighed. 
 
 " Poor Hilwe," he said. " She seemed in despair. I 
 fear it will go hard with her." 
 
 "Didst thou see her?" 
 
 "Even so. Didst thou not hear her cry? And 
 didst thou not see when Ismail and Fatima thrust her 
 back when she would fly to us ? "
 
 164 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 It so happened that from the position where Hassan 
 stood it was impossible for him to observe the pitiful 
 scene which was distinctly visible to Chalil. 
 
 "I neither heard nor saw what thou describest," 
 confessed Hassan, with evident chagrin. "Art thou 
 sure thou art not mistaken?" 
 
 "As sure as that I live." 
 
 Hassan hung his head thoughtfully. 
 
 "Then thou sawest what I did not see." 
 
 Chalil made no answer. But Hassan heard him sigh 
 more deeply than ever. 
 
 " Perhaps the love I bear her the love that con 
 sumes my very heart makes me hear and see and feel 
 what otherwise I could not," thought the young sheik. 
 "But nothing of this must Hassan or Hilwe know." 
 
 Every word he had spoken in Malha for his friend 
 had been baptised in his heart s blood. It was truly a 
 sevenfold test of his friendship. 
 
 Of all who heard Chalil, not one, not even Hassan, 
 had the least suspicion of the pain he felt. It was 
 like the bulbul that sings the sweeter for the thorn 
 against its breast. For Chalil loved Hilwe all the 
 more passionately for the desperateness and hopeless 
 ness of his case. And it took all his fealty to his 
 friend to sustain him through the cruel ordeal. 
 
 In pleading for Hassan, had not the devoted Chalil 
 been inspired by his own love ? 
 
 How different were the thoughts and feelings of the 
 two men this evening, as, in returning, they traversed 
 the wild rock-strewn soil, how different from what 
 they had been so lately, when, to save Hilwe from 
 her impending fate, with high hopes, not, indeed, 
 untempered with a certain leaven of solicitude, they 
 had strode over the same ground on their way up to 
 Malha. The very landscape took on a more gloomy, 
 desolate aspect, and the long, wavering, attenuated 
 shadows of pointed cliff or solitary olive-tree, cast by 
 the fast declining sun, seemed like gigantic warning 
 fingers of portentous doom shaken at them. 
 
 In their hurried retreat, the wounded Hassan had 
 begun to show evidences of exhaustion.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 165 
 
 . More than once he had stumbled, and at last would 
 have fallen, had he not been caught in the arms of the 
 faithful Chalil, who now perceived the serious condi 
 tion of his friend, and insisted on relieving him of the 
 leopard skin. This he had previously attempted; but 
 Hassan had resisted; possibly with a feeling of pride 
 and reluctance to give up what hitherto he had carried 
 as a trophy and protection, now that it had become 
 merely a burden. 
 
 It came to pass that when the immediate pressure 
 of the necessity for resistance was removed, he felt the 
 accumulated effect of all he had gone through during 
 that eventful day. He suffered also from the peculiar 
 faintness caused by the loss of blood. For Chalil dis 
 covered that the wound in the head, under the rude and 
 hasty bandaging it had received, had, unknown to 
 them, been rather freely bleeding. 
 
 He now stanched and dressed the wound, to the 
 best of his ability, while Hassan sat, patiently enough, 
 on one of the smaller boulders which lay strewn 
 around looking like a flock of sheep. 
 
 "Didst thou know thou wast bleeding?" asked 
 Chalil. 
 
 " I saw some drops of blood fall on the stones when 
 I stooped over. But I thought nothing of it. I sup 
 pose I have left a red trail behind me." 
 
 Chalil saw that this was so. In passing along so 
 rapidly, they had not observed it at the time. 
 
 "I ought to have noticed it," he said, and blamed 
 himself. 
 
 " It is nothing. Blame not thyself. Why shouldst 
 thou? I won t miss the loss of that much blood. It 
 will do me good. I felt the moisture running down 
 my back and sides, but I didn t think it was that. I 
 took it for sweat. " 
 
 Hassan laughed reassuringly. 
 
 "And now I perceive the crimson stains have even 
 streamed down thy legs. Between the leopard and the 
 people of Malha, surely thou hast been mauled." 
 
 " I shall be none the worse for it, but mayhap the 
 better. I tell thee it is nothing. Though if we could
 
 1 66 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 reach the Giant Rock before dark, it would be well. 
 We could stop there overnight." 
 
 "Yea, thou sayest; it would be well. Thou couldst 
 never get to Bettir, in thy present state, in the darkness. 
 And the night comes on apace. Thou couldst not even 
 reach the ain on this side of the wady." 
 
 " Perhaps thou art right ; though I believe it was but 
 a passing faintness that came upon me." 
 
 The rest, and the stanching of the wound in his 
 head, had the effect of greatly reviving Hassan, and he 
 wanted to go forward at once. 
 
 " If we can get to the great rock," he said, " we shall 
 do well enough." 
 
 " I would we were there," said Chalil, who feared his 
 friend might again give out, before reaching shelter for 
 the night. 
 
 " Then, in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, let 
 us go," returned Hassan. 
 
 So once more they set out. 
 
 This time they walked hand in hand, as do men who 
 love each other, and are more than brothers in their 
 friendship. 
 
 The red lights had flamed up and died out again and 
 again in the western sky, and great patches and hol 
 lows of sombre violet penumbra, deepening into black, 
 were gathering and spreading over the land everywhere. 
 These, slowly but surely, were swallowing up the little 
 that remained of the last gleams of day, by the time 
 they reached the shelter of the great rock. 
 
 As they approached the Giant Rock near yet re 
 mote, material yet spiritual in its grandeur and salvatory 
 power the rugged mass rose before them in the dusk, 
 high and shadowy, like a vast living personality, vague 
 yet mighty. It had stood thus, through countless ages, 
 the symbol of one able and willing to save. There was a 
 cleft, like a gaping wound, in one side of the rock. This 
 was not a cave, but a deep fissure having a narrow level 
 space within it, in which several men could easily find 
 shelter. It was a well-known refuge, often resorted to 
 in storms by the shepherds, as a retreat to hide in till 
 the tempest be past ; or, as in the present instance, by
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 167 
 
 belated wayfarers who sought it as affording security 
 and a resting-place for the night. 
 
 Here it was that Hassan and Chalil, climbing up into 
 the cleft, were only too glad to find themselves. Spread 
 ing the leopard s skin upon the rock, Chalil placed a 
 block of stone beneath it at one end, which answered 
 for a pillow; and, wrapped in their abais, they lay down 
 together, side by side, in the darkness. 
 
 What a relief what a gladness it was, after all they 
 had gone through ! 
 
 Before lying down, Chalil had re-examined Hassan s 
 wounds, and replaced the bandages. 
 
 " Art thou better? " he asked. 
 
 " Yea. I never felt better in all my life," came 
 Hassan s reply. " And thou? How dost thou feel?" 
 
 " Oh, I escaped with but a few trifling bruises. I 
 feared thy loss of blood." 
 
 " I feel as strong as a young bull of the herds. Thou 
 needest have no fear for me." 
 
 " It is well." 
 
 " Believest thou what I say? See how I take hold of 
 thee." 
 
 Hassan playfully grasped his friend over the arms and 
 shoulders, holding him as in a vice. 
 
 A slight struggle on the part of Chalil ended in his 
 submitting with a laugh. 
 
 " There ! " he cried. " I believe." 
 
 Hassan was much the stronger of the two ; and in 
 their friendly contests from boyhood up, generally had 
 maintained the supremacy. And he now was tenacious 
 lest it should appear that what he had passed through 
 had weakened him, or in any way impaired his strength 
 the great pride of man. 
 
 The healthy, temperate peasant of Palestine has stored 
 away within that lithe and graceful body of his a wonder 
 ful reserve of endurance and recuperative force. He 
 walks around in the burning fevers of the country, when 
 they fasten on him, with his pulse at an unbelievable 
 height. He bears pain with a stoical and fatalistic 
 calm, and under severe surgical operations, or acci 
 dental or other injuries of moment, exhibits a com-
 
 i68 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 posure which, though sometimes attributed to obtuseness 
 or want of sensitiveness, might rather be ascribed to 
 something very like fortitude and manly resolution. His 
 wounds and sores, too, heal with an ease and unusual 
 rapidity, often under the crudest or most barbarous 
 treatment. This, probably, is due largely to his simple 
 and natural mode of living. 
 
 Some of the native surgery is quite of a surprising 
 character. For instance, it is not uncommon to see a 
 fellah having the surface of his entire back branded 
 with a red-hot iron a favourite remedy for rheumatism. 
 The repeated application of the iron to the shrivelled, 
 sizzling flesh, is borne by him without the least shrink 
 ing, or the slightest murmur. And though modern 
 science informs us that the pain endured under such 
 circumstances is far less than it has the appearance of 
 being, and that the contact of the branding-iron has 
 the effect of immediately dulling or destroying the finer 
 susceptibility of the nerves, there still must remain 
 an amount of torture not easily submitted to with 
 equanimity. 
 
 So Hassan, rejoicing in the fulness of his manly 
 strength, was not willing to admit that his late experi 
 ences had in any manner or degree abated or injured 
 even temporarily the vigour of his natural powers. Nor 
 in reality had they done so to any material extent. Of 
 this he was prepared to give, and did give, Chili! ample 
 proof, reiterating that the blood-letting, if anything, was 
 salutary. 
 
 They had cast themselves down to rest in that wel 
 come cleft in the rock with the abandon of men who 
 are thoroughly weary, too tired, at first, to feel hungry, 
 or think of eating. Yet, fatigued as they were, they did 
 not fall asleep. The excited state of their minds, the 
 result of all they had undergone, had the effect of keep 
 ing them awake. Their sleep might be said to have 
 gone astray. 
 
 Neither was the barking of the jackals in the neigh 
 bouring cliffs conducive to repose. The sharp reiterant 
 yelps of those noisy prowlers, hunting in packs, con 
 tinued to disturb the silence of the night ; and would
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 169 
 
 have gone far to tax the somniferous qualities of the 
 fabled Seven Sleepers themselves, had they been ex 
 posed to such merciless influences. 
 
 But, jackals or no jackals, the case probably would 
 have been the same. With so much to think of and 
 talk about, once the young men began, they gave free 
 rein to the inclination and the indulgence of the imagi 
 native faculty, and there appeared to be no end to it. 
 
 After some restless tossing, especially on the part of 
 Hassan, Chalil complained of being hungry, and said 
 he believed if they had something to eat, they could 
 sleep soundly. 
 
 "I, too, am hungry, and also am chilly; and I am 
 more thirsty than either," said Hassan. " And that 
 reminds me that there is left in my scrip a cake of the 
 bread with a handful of the olives and figs, of the por 
 tion the lad last brought me from Bettir. It is not 
 much ; but may help to sustain us till the morning. Oh, 
 that we had a draught of the water from Ain Karim ; or 
 better still, from our own village." 
 
 " Let us get down and make a fire to warm thee," 
 suggested Chalil, " and we can eat by it. I saw some 
 dried brush on the other side." 
 
 " It is well said. No doubt the brush is some of that 
 I left there for Hilwe, and which she could not carry 
 away." 
 
 While Hassan spoke, they had slid to the base of the 
 rock; and Chalil brought some of the dried fuel, which 
 was close at hand, and began laying it for a fire. In 
 the mean time the former commenced striking sparks 
 with the flint and steel always carried by the peasant of 
 the country, and with the aid of the ready tinder soon 
 had a comfortable blaze. 
 
 As they sat, side by side, warming themselves, the 
 firelight, streaming full on Hassan, revealed the gouts of 
 blood which had gathered and dried on his forehead, 
 and had matted and stiffened into points the locks of 
 his hair. He looked like a warrior returned from the 
 battlefield where his cause had been lost. This gave to 
 his handsome features a pathetic sadness, which touched 
 Chalil with a feeling of the tenderest sympathy.
 
 lyo Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 How strange was the bond uniting these two ! How 
 peculiar the affection which, day by day and year by 
 year, from their boyhood up, had grown and strength 
 ened, binding them together as with bands of steel ! 
 
 It was almost amusing to see how frequently Hassan, 
 with all his dominancy, was obedient and compliant 
 when brought in contact with Chalil, often deferring to 
 the latter s judgment. And yet, in experience and in 
 formation, Hassan was in no degree inferior to Chalil, 
 but the reverse. 
 
 The one was of an ardent temperament impulsive, 
 imperative. Chalil, as deeply passionate, was more 
 sympathetic and tender. There was, in fact, an emo 
 tional phase to his character, united to an intuitiveness 
 which was almost feminine. The aesthetic grace of all 
 his movements as well as the refined and pleasing regu 
 larity of his features, but, above all, the charm of those 
 amber-brown eyes, now languidly sensitive, now ablaze 
 with ophidian-like scintillation, more than hinted at 
 gave outward evidence of this. 
 
 But, as is shown, despite the masterful disposition and 
 determination of Hassan, he often was found yielding to 
 the gentle persuasions of the more amiable Chalil ; it 
 even gratified him to give way to the decided yet quietly 
 expressed opinions of the latter; nor did he feel low 
 ered in so doing, as a man does not feel hurt or 
 degraded in consenting to the soft solicitations of his 
 wife. 
 
 Both of the friends had all the fervour of youth; a 
 quality, perhaps, more fully possessed through life by 
 the men of Palestine than by most men of other nation 
 alities with any pretence to being civilised. 
 
 The fellah is apt to be very much a child of larger 
 growth. Light-hearted, and having the savage s hatred 
 of law and order, except where of his own ordinance and 
 acceptance, and though early experienced in what per 
 tains to the natural man, and in advanced age he may 
 be wise after a certain kind, he is ever and always fer 
 vid, and when least expected may be found giving 
 way to the impulsiveness and enthusiasm as well as the 
 self-indulgence of youth. He is a survival of the
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 171 
 
 incipient man. He is of kin with his surroundings, 
 out of place when removed from his own environment. 
 The passionate earnestness of the child remains in him, 
 even after he has lost his innocence. 
 
 There are times, in a world like this, when it would 
 seem as if a man must be very simple or very wise or 
 perhaps both in order to do right. The harmlessness 
 of the dove may sometimes be in place. Then, again, 
 the wisdom of the serpent is demanded. But to be, in 
 the full sense of the word, a man, is the one glorious, 
 unimpeachable attainment. It is what we were intended 
 to be were made to be. And after man the angel. 
 
 But can we not be angels now here? comes the 
 question from that troublesome interrogator who will 
 not be still. 
 
 Ah ! Have I not often told thee we are neither 
 saints nor angels? Poor heart! Poor fool! Be a 
 man ! That is the best thou canst be. 
 
 Chalil and Hassan, with all their faults and short 
 comings, were " men and brethren," according to their 
 light and generation. If it was said the standard was 
 not the highest, it might also be added, they compared 
 not unfavourably with the men of the land, and their im 
 perfections were the failings of their people and of their 
 race. They were men, but with the heart and brain of 
 the peasant. 
 
 They had made their fire near a large fragment of 
 fallen rock, which was broad and flat on top, and which 
 served them as seat as well as table for their scanty 
 meal. The thick darkness, closing around them, gave 
 their illuminated figures the effect of highly-coloured 
 mosaics set in black onyx. It was intensely picturesque. 
 
 Having no water, they manifestly could not perform 
 the customary ablution. But they had used instead the 
 sand which, blown in eddies by the winds, had gathered 
 at the foot of the rock. And sand, in a case like this, 
 the Moslem religious law permits to be employed as a 
 substitute for water. 
 
 With the sand, therefore, they had cleansed themselves 
 as far as possible, as do the faithful when in the desert 
 where there is no water, and where only dust or sand is
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 found for the purpose. They had rubbed with it their 
 faces, and their hands and arms, repeating the prescribed 
 ejaculations, which is considered sufficient, under the cir 
 cumstances. It was hard for them to eat with unwashen 
 hands, or to pray without purification. 
 
 With the courtesy which ordinarily pertains to this 
 people, recognising invariably any distinction of rank or 
 position, however slight, Hassan, notwithstanding the 
 great familiarity of the two, on taking the bread from 
 his pouch, had handed it for distribution to Chalil. He 
 also gave him the few figs and olives which had been 
 saved from his morning meal. 
 
 The bread was the flat circular cake of the country, 
 baked with the fire made of the residuum the dried 
 refuse of the olives, left after the oil is pressed out, and 
 which is carefully gathered, and kept for that purpose. 
 The principal food of the fellah, to whom it is, in a 
 peculiar sense, the staff of life, the main support of 
 his existence, this bread may well have for him almost a 
 sacred meaning, and be symbolic of life itself. 
 
 Though dark, well-nigh to blackness, it was to them 
 inexpressibly sweet and nourishing, especially in their 
 present hunger. 
 
 Chalil at once assumed the gentle office which had 
 become his duty. Taking the bread in his hands, he 
 bent his head and said some few words of blessing, of 
 thanksgiving, and of praise some simple ascription to 
 Allah. Then breaking the bread, he divided it between 
 them, giving Hassan the larger portion. Likewise he 
 gave to him of the olives and the figs. 
 
 But Hassan would not have it so. 
 
 " My brother, thou hast defrauded thyself," he said. 
 " Thou hast given me the goodly share, and kept but 
 little for thy portion." 
 
 " It is sufficient, my brother," was Chain s quiet 
 answer. 
 
 "Nay; but I cannot have it so," returned Hassan, 
 insisting upon a more equitable division. 
 
 " It is all right, I tell thee, Hassan. It is well." 
 
 " How can I eat what thou hast given me, while I see 
 thee with so little? "
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 173 
 
 But Chalil refused to accept the portion which Hassan 
 so urgently was returning. 
 
 " Suffer it to be so, Hassan," said the young sheik, 
 in a tone meant to be decisive, and as if ending the 
 question. 
 
 " Wilt thou not be persuaded?" 
 
 "Thy share is no more for thee than is mine for me." 
 
 " How can that be? " exclaimed Hassan, impetuously. 
 
 " Thou needest it more than I do. It is enough. Say 
 not another word." 
 
 Was there not here the eucharistic grace? Who knows 
 how much of the spirit of a true and holy sacrament 
 lingered in the kindly act how much of the spon 
 taneous thanksgiving, the sublime self-abnegation of 
 the Divine Man? It is often in small and simple deeds 
 that the true character is shown. 
 
 At the little mountain town of Nazareth there is, at 
 this day, an enormous boulder, of such peculiar propor 
 tions as invariably to excite the remark of the stranger 
 on his first seeing it. Fashioned and carved by Nature s 
 hand alone, its flat and smooth upper surface, sufficiently 
 large to accommodate more than thirteen men when 
 seated upon it, gives it somewhat the appearance of a 
 tible, as it lies, slightly embedded, on the slope of the 
 hill. Upon this boulder this table of stone tradition 
 says, it was the habit of Christ to break bread with his 
 twelve disciples. 
 
 It is easy to believe such a tradition. 
 
 How sweet such a meal ! To eat the bread broken 
 by the hands of the God-Man ! Yet we can do this 
 every day if we remember him. 
 
 It was a double breaking the breaking of the bread 
 the breaking of the fast. It also had a double mean 
 ing the feeding and nourishing of the body, and, 
 above all, the esoteric significance, of which it was the 
 outward and visible sign the sustaining and elevating 
 of the spirit and the soul through the communication of 
 the Word. 
 
 As these two young men, sinful as they were, sat and 
 ate their slender meal, even so it was that, nearly two 
 thousand years before, that chosen group one of whom
 
 174 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 was a traitor, the son of perdition on the bare rock 
 (that table of stone on which had been graven the " new 
 commandment," teaching the brotherhood of man, 
 " Love one another ") had sat and eaten in the open air, 
 with the holy grandeur of simplicity, free of all belittling 
 sacerdotal pomp and splendour. And he, the Great One, 
 the Divine Love, had sanctified the frugal repast, and 
 made it a love-feast, an agape, a sacrament He who 
 had said : " Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye 
 do, do all for the glory of God," added : " This is my 
 body. This is my blood. This do in remembrance of 
 me." 
 
 Surely it is not the mere act, but the spirit of the act, 
 which glorifies. It is the spirit which quickens. The 
 flesh profiteth nothing. 
 
 Although Hassan had acquiesced in Chain s insistence 
 regarding the distribution of the bread, as they half 
 reclined, leaning against each other, on the couch which 
 Nature had prepared for them, he took the opportunity 
 of, from time to time, breaking off pieces of the food 
 and putting them, with many an affectionate epithet, 
 into his friend s mouth, according to the brotherly Ori 
 ental custom. In this way he had managed to counter 
 act, to some extent, the effect of Chalil s generosity, even 
 though the courteous attention had been returned. Yet 
 had he not been successful in his fraternal purpose, the 
 lovingkindness of the act the feeling which had 
 gendered it would still have remained to comfort and 
 strengthen. 
 
 As Hassan placed a morsel of the bread within 
 Chalil s lips, he said : 
 
 " Surely, Chalil, until the appointed time arrives, the 
 labours of one s friends are of no avail, else would thy 
 words have prevailed this day." 
 
 " Yea, all is in the hands of Allah," responded the 
 young sheik. " Yet, when the camel wants straw he 
 stretches out his neck." 
 
 " Ay," returned Hassan ; " and he is a lazy fellow who 
 sits at the foot of the date-tree, and climbs not to get the 
 fruit, waiting till it falls in his lap."
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 175 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 TO two strong, lusty young men, as active and 
 hungry as were these, the meal could scarcely 
 have been a satisfying one. Besides, it had the effect of 
 intensifying their thirst. Hassan felt this all the more 
 because of his wound, which made him feverish. 
 
 " Would that I had a draught of the water of Malha or 
 Ain Karim to assuage my thirst ! " he cried. 
 
 "Or, rather, of the fountain of Bettir," interposed Chalil. 
 "There is none like that for coolness and for sweetness." 
 
 As thirsty people are apt to do, Hassan thought of all 
 the streams and pools and watercourses he had ever 
 seen, and how he had wantonly bathed in the lavish 
 element. He remembered how he had splashed in it, 
 and wasted it, and come dripping from it, and the many 
 times he had stooped and drunk freely and carelessly 
 from the rivulet out of the rocky cliff, by the hillside 
 where he kept his sheep ; and, as in a dream, he saw the 
 great fountains that sent an abundant silvery flood over 
 the aqueduct at Bettir. How often he had rested in its 
 shade, beneath the great arch, where the moss and ferns 
 grow so thickly ! How plainly it rose before him ! Yet 
 he had not a drop to cool his tongue. But, more than 
 all, he recalled the day when first he had spoken to 
 Hilwe, and she had given him to drink of the freshly 
 drawn water of Malha from her pitcher. 
 
 " Ah, how satisfying, how refreshing ! How it glad 
 dened my soul ! " 
 
 He uttered his thoughts aloud: for it seemed as if he 
 saw the maiden of Malha once more before him, as if 
 he held her to him, while she poured the living water, 
 through his parched lips, into his heart into his very 
 soul. And he loved her loved her loved her. 
 He loved her as never before. His whole life his 
 body and soul were awake and afire, throbbing and 
 thirsting for her. 
 
 Suddenly he started from his seat, and stared out 
 into the darkness, as if he would see through it.
 
 176 
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " She is coming. I hear her footsteps," he cried. 
 
 " Who is coming? " asked Chalil. 
 
 " Hilwe." 
 
 Chalil thought him feverish, and that his mind was 
 wandering; and taking hold of his hand, to feel his 
 pulse, he found it of a burning glow, and the pulse-beat 
 high and almost too fast to count. 
 
 "Thou art consumed with fever," he said; "and thy 
 blood is hot in thee, and plunging like a young stallion 
 of the plains. Lie down, and take some rest, and I shall 
 cover thee. Let us get back into the cleft, where we 
 can sleep till daybreak, when thou wilt be better, and 
 we can go upon our way." 
 
 But Hassan seemed not to understand. 
 
 "Listen ! Didst thou not hear?" he exclaimed, after 
 another interval. 
 
 He stooped, placing his ear to the ground. 
 
 Chalil shook his head and smiled. 
 
 " I hear naught," he said. 
 
 He would have detained Hassan, but the impetuous 
 fellow broke away from him and outside of the little 
 circle of light into the circumambient darkness, which 
 was all the denser more impenetrable to the eye 
 for that central core of fire. 
 
 " O my beloved, wilt thou not stay me with comfort 
 ing words, and the pleasant water, as in the day when 
 first I asked thee to give me to drink, and thou didst 
 not refuse me ? Sweet are the waters of Malha from thy 
 hand ; more to be desired than the living waters of 
 Bettir." 
 
 So Hassan murmured on, in a rambling incoherent 
 manner, as if regardless of his surroundings regardless 
 of everything but the one idea which possessed him. 
 
 "Did I not tell thee? " he said. " I hear her voice. 
 She is even here. I behold her ! " 
 
 Chalil thought Hassan beside himself. 
 
 " It is his craving for the water hath deranged him," 
 he said. " Would I could find some for him." 
 
 But the next instant, the firelight shone upon the 
 slim figure of a girl, gliding like a spirit out of the 
 darkness.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 177 
 
 " Hassan ! " cried a clear treble voice. 
 
 Chalil could scarcely believe his senses. It was 
 Hilwe. Nothing could exceed the rapturous delight of 
 Hassan, which he did not attempt to conceal. He for 
 got his thirst in his joy, and when she held the water- 
 vessel to his lips he could not drink. 
 
 " It is from Malha. It is sweet and cool," she said. 
 
 Taking it from her hands he carried it to Chalil. 
 
 " Thou hast more need of it than I have, Hassan," 
 said the young sheik, refusing it. " Drink, and may it 
 refresh thy soul. And after thou hast satisfied thy 
 thirst, I will drink." 
 
 The vessel was one of those peculiar porous water- 
 bottles of the country, provided with a spout more than 
 midway up the side, giving it some resemblance to a 
 teapot. 
 
 To Hassan s repeated urging Chalil politely declined 
 to yield. 
 
 " Nay. I will not drink till thou hast drunk," he 
 reiterated. 
 
 Seeing he was determined, Hassan desisted from his 
 importunity. 
 
 " Since thou wilt have it so," he said. 
 
 Throwing back his head, he raised the vessel several 
 inches above, and poured the water in a stream into his 
 open mouth, without once touching with his lips the 
 spout. 
 
 The deftness and nicety with which this drinking in 
 common is practised by the peasants of Palestine, and the 
 very idea of this peculiar utensil, made for the purpose, 
 are evidence of a refinement and delicacy of sentiment 
 in such matters which one would hardly be prepared to 
 find among this people. 
 
 In fact, it must be admitted that races pretending to 
 and boasting of a vastly higher state of civilisation, as 
 compared with these peasants, are deficient, and come 
 short in this direction. The single tin cup in the pail 
 of water is continually used in common by mixed gangs 
 of labourers in the chief cities and harvest-fields of 
 Europe and America, without a thought, or a qualm, or 
 the least hesitation as to its expediency.
 
 178 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 It is such unexpected touches as this, pertaining to 
 the simple fellaheen of Palestine, which give one pause, 
 and arrest condemnation, at least so far as sweeping 
 accusations regarding their neglect and uncleanliness 
 are concerned. 
 
 Long and deep Hassan drank of the refreshing water, 
 cooled by that porous earthen bottle, and then passed 
 the welcome vessel to Chalil, who having drunk from it 
 in like manner till he assuaged his thirst, passed it 
 back to Hassan. 
 
 It was new life to them as well it might be this 
 beautifully mysterious element, this gathered dew of 
 Heaven, full of light, refreshment and purifying 
 energy, the chosen emblem of the holy power confer 
 ring renewed existence, springing up to everlasting 
 vitality. 
 
 When the fierce drought in the men, which had so 
 devoured them, was appeased, the pangs of hunger laid 
 hold of them, for what little food they had had was 
 but as a morsel thrown to a famished wolf. 
 
 But for this too, Hilwe was prepared. She had brought 
 in her hurried and secret departure what she could lay 
 hands on in the shape of bread and cheese, and also some 
 of the thin flat cakes made of the pulp of the grapes, 
 pressed and dried in the sun, and studded with nut- 
 kernels and raisins, and which will keep perfectly good 
 for years. 
 
 How they extolled her thoughtfulness and generosity 
 as they partook of her timely bounty, receiving the food 
 from her hand, as she waited on them, and praising 
 Allah who had sent her to them in their distress ! 
 
 When they had eaten and were filled, they began, 
 with Eastern dignity, which despises hurry, to question 
 Hilwe as to how she came, and how she managed to 
 find them. 
 
 " Did I not in my spirit hear thee call for me, and 
 beseech of me to give thee to drink ? " she asked, turn 
 ing to Hassan. " Yea, verily. Indeed, I thought thee 
 wounded, and perishing for want of sustenance. Thou 
 didst draw me to thee. I could not help but come." 
 
 So, in her simple unaffected words, Hilwe explained
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 179 
 
 what she had accepted without hesitation or a doubt 
 that subtile communion of kindred souls, which takes no 
 count of distance or other material impediment, but, 
 clearing the grosser elements, immediately and surely 
 recognises and penetrates to its own. 
 
 " It is true," returned Hassan. " I knew thou wast 
 coming. I heard thee. I felt thee." 
 
 Turning to Chalil, he appealed to him. 
 
 "Did I not tell thee of it?" 
 
 " It is even so," answered the young sheik. 
 
 Poor, love-sick Chalil. He averted his eyes, groaning 
 inwardly, and fain would have gone away. The love- 
 passages between Hassan and Hilwe cut him to the 
 heart tried him to the utmost more than he felt he 
 could endure ; though he had supposed he had schooled 
 himself to sustain the pang. 
 
 " Were it any one but Hassan," he murmured, " I 
 could not bear it." 
 
 No wonder his heart was sore, for he loved Hilwe 
 truly. Nor, from the first, had he been able to control 
 the passion which had become part of his very life, 
 and seemed to root itself more deeply and inwardly, 
 because of its secrecy, and being deprived of outward 
 manifestation. 
 
 " He is even as myself," he would say, trying to 
 restrain himself. " Why should I feel so? " 
 
 But in such a case, reason and argument have little 
 effect. The fact that your rival is your bosom friend, is 
 not sufficient to heal the wound he has made. 
 
 " A man cannot command and master his feelings as, 
 with bit and bridle, whip and spur, he governs his 
 horse," mused Chalil. " And many waters cannot 
 quench love. For love is strong as death ; and jealousy 
 is cruel as the grave, as saith Suleyman the Wise, and, 
 surely of all men, he knew whereof he spake." 
 
 But from aught he said or did, none could know 
 ChahTs sorrow, he hid it so effectually. 
 
 "How didst thou escape?" inquired Hassan of 
 Hilwe. 
 
 " I even stole out while they slept." 
 
 " And how didst thou know to come here ?"
 
 180 Hassan: a Feliah 
 
 " Kadra told me she had seen thee go in the direction 
 of the Great Rock; and I felt sure thou wouldst abide 
 there overnight. Forsooth, I feared the worst for thee, 
 as the men of our village boasted they had wounded 
 thee sore." 
 
 " But how couldst thou find the way in the darkness? " 
 
 "Ere it was quite dark, the rock loomed up like a 
 pillar of cloud against the glow of the sky. And when 
 all was blackness, and the rock and the way were lost, 
 and the eye could no longer discern the path, nor the 
 feet find it, but kept wandering out of it, the heart fail 
 ing for fear, suddenly the rock flashed out a guiding 
 shaft of fire." 
 
 " It was even our kindling of the brush that lighted it 
 up," said Hassan. 
 
 " Yea. It was well," interjected Chalil. 
 
 " At first I was terribly affrighted, and said to myself, 
 It is the work of the jinns, who, with their bale-fires, 
 would lead astray, and to destruction, " continued Hilwe. 
 " But soon I perceived what it was, and took courage ; 
 and so arrived where I would be." 
 
 "The jackals and hyenas are abroad." 
 
 " Even so. I heard them." 
 
 " And thou didst venture all alone ! " 
 
 " Nay, nay ; Kadra came with me. She even now 
 waits for me, not a great way off." 
 
 A low laugh, between a croak and a chuckle, suc 
 ceeded the words. 
 
 "Kadra," exclaimed both Hassan and Chalil at once. 
 
 " Ay, Kadra," replied the irrepressible gossip and 
 scandalmonger of Malha, immediately appearing upon 
 the scene. 
 
 The temptation of warming herself at the fire, and 
 her curiosity to know how it fared with the young men 
 of Bettir, were too much for her; and she had gradually 
 drawn near, till at length she stood in their midst, almost 
 before they were aware of her presence. 
 
 As she stooped over the fire, stretching out her hands 
 to it, to catch the warmth, her sharp cynical manner 
 began to manifest itself. 
 
 " I verily thought to find the young men lying stiff and
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 181 
 
 cold, a feast for the ravens; and behold, they are 
 much alive and active, and better off than many a dead 
 king. Our pity has been wasted upon them, and our 
 compassion poured out like water upon the sandy 
 desert." 
 
 " Say not so, Kadra, say*not so. Thou hast been to 
 us a great deliverance in our sore need ; and we praise 
 Allah who sent thee and Hilwe to us. We were well- 
 nigh perishing for thirst; and our hearts and our souls 
 thank thee for the sweet refreshing thou hast helped to 
 bring us." 
 
 So spoke Hassan, quick to mollify the untoward spirit 
 in her. 
 
 " And thy companion, the sheik s son, who lately had 
 so many sweet words to speak for thee, how is it that 
 he now is silent, and that thou speakest for him? Has 
 he been wounded? Is his strength gone from him? 
 Has he lost his voice? Or is his spirit cast down within 
 him?" 
 
 Chalil, thus rallied, smiled a rather sad pitiful smile, 
 and roused himself to reply. 
 
 " I have not been wounded, O wise woman, but am 
 sound and whole, every whit; praise be to Allah. My 
 friend has spoken for me, and thanked thee for both of 
 us," he said. "Yet, thou speakest truly; it is not 
 enough no words could be enough in such a case. 
 Even if I could turn them into rubies and pearls, it 
 would not suffice. But if thou couldst see our hearts, 
 then, indeed, thou wouldst know our gratitude. I can 
 say no more." 
 
 The expression "wise woman" greatly delighted 
 Kadra. 
 
 " It is enough, honourable and highborn young 
 man," she said, " I kiss thy hand, my lord." She suited 
 the action to the word, kissing his hand twice. " What 
 we have done for thee is as nothing. Our hearts gave 
 it. I spake but to try thee. I longed once more to hear 
 thy pleasant voice and comfortable words ; and I feared 
 by thy silence thou wast hurt in body and soul through 
 the evil deeds of my people. I am ashamed for them 
 this day. Yet it is not for such as I am a poor
 
 1 82 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 despised woman to revile my generation, or to lift up 
 my accusation against my kindred." 
 
 " Surely that could not be expected of thee," ac 
 quiesced Chalil. 
 
 " But, woman as I am, I could have hurled over the 
 cliffs some of the cowardly ones who so ill-treated the 
 defenceless strangers within our gates." 
 
 "Thou hast the spirit of a man in thee!" cried 
 Hassan flatteringly. 
 
 " I doubt if that were saying much for me, to judge of 
 some men," scornfully sneered Kadra. " I care not to 
 be likened to them the foolish ones, without wisdom 
 or understanding, but like unto the brute beasts that 
 perish." 
 
 Salaaming politely to Chalil, she had prefaced (accord 
 ing to custom when mentioning anything disagreeable 
 or unclean) the last offensive terms with the word 
 " ajellack," a courteous qualification, equivalent to 
 " saving your reverence," or, as we would say under 
 like circumstances, " save in your presence," and which 
 might be taken as an apology. 
 
 Turning to Hassan, she repeated the gesture. 
 
 " Ah, Hassan," she then said, with softened manner, 
 " by coming up this day thou hast blotted out all that I 
 have done for thee, and made it as though it were not." 
 
 " Nay ; prophesy not evil for me, Kadra. Who knows 
 but it may be for the best." 
 
 " For the best ! How can that be ? " 
 
 " Do we not often see that the time of trouble is a 
 turning-point? and have we not a proverb which says 
 It is darkest before the dawning of the day ? " 
 
 " Verily thou speakest as a man of faith. Great must 
 be thy faith." 
 
 " Wouldst thou have me utterly cast down? " 
 
 "Thou knowest I would not; and that I have thy 
 welfare at heart. Yet, at the risk of offending thee, can 
 I not withhold my opinion. It would have been better 
 for thee to have restrained for a time thy desire toward 
 the damsel, that afterward thou mightest have obtained 
 the fullest recompense. Meanwhile I should have 
 watched the opportunity to advance thy cause. He who
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 183 
 
 would steal a minaret first digs a well to hide it in. But 
 thou hast wantonly exposed thyself. Thou hast taken 
 the bit between thy teeth, and gone headlong." 
 
 A smile of superb complacency parted for a moment 
 the rich scarlet of Hassan s lips, showing that proud 
 gleam of milk-white ivory within. Beginning in a smile, 
 it ended in something closely resembling the defiant 
 expression of the wild animal when it shows its fangs. 
 
 " Thou little knowest me if thou thinkest I am in the 
 slightest swerved from my purpose by aught that has 
 happened. I am more determined than ever to thwart 
 Abd-el-nour." 
 
 He drew himself up to his full height, and his whole 
 manner changed to one of extreme solemnity. 
 
 " I swear in the name of our prophet, even Moham 
 med," he continued, " not to yield in this thing while 
 there is life left in me, but to resist, even to the death." 
 
 He lifted his hand on high as he spoke, and placed it 
 reverently on his head. 
 
 It may be said that swearing by Mohammed is, to the 
 Moslem peasant, the most impressive and binding of 
 oaths. Indeed, in general, the fellaheen hold it to be 
 more sacred than swearing by Allah. It combines, too, 
 an older form of adjuration the swearing by the head, 
 condemned, along with other swearing, by Christ, who 
 recommended instead the simple reiteration the " Yea, 
 yea," and the " Nay, nay," so commonly practised 
 to this moment in Palestine. 
 
 All present were greatly moved by Hassan s manner 
 and the awfulness of the oath. His calm determination 
 had the effect of temporarily silencing Kadra. 
 
 But Kadra s silence, from the nature of the case, could 
 seldom be of long continuance. 
 
 " Allah grant thou mayest have thy will," she said 
 presently. " Mayest thou have the maiden of thy choice, 
 even Hilwe, to wife. And may thy children and thy 
 children s children rise up and bless thee." 
 
 Now, as a good wish in the East requires, as expressly 
 commanded in the Koran, that it be responded to by a 
 better wish, or, in other words, be returned with interest, 
 Hassan could do no other than rise to the occasion.
 
 184 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 " Allah bless and keep thee," he said, " and give thee 
 a man right proper and comely, and of thine own people, 
 to protect and cherish thee, and to stand between thee 
 and trouble ; and mayest thou prosper and see thy pos 
 terity prosper to the third generation." 
 
 Such a beatific smile illumined Kadra s face that her 
 gaunt and withered features, in all their tattooed ugliness, 
 for the moment became almost agreeable. 
 
 "Thou hast wished me a good and noble wish," she 
 said. " Allah grant it may come true." 
 
 Her coronet of bishliks trembled and tinkled with her 
 eagerness and delight. 
 
 " So be it," simultaneously responded Chalil, Hassan 
 and Hilwe, as if it were an antiphonal chorus. 
 
 " Yea, so may it be," reiterated Hassan. 
 
 He pushed his tarboosh carelessly backward, while a 
 merry thought showed itself in the twinkle of his eye. 
 
 " But, Kadra, how comes it to pass that thou hast not 
 already found a man to honour thee? Verily I thought 
 thy widowhood should, long ere this, have been turned 
 into joy, and that thou shouldst have been given a 
 consolator a spouse after thine own heart, and better 
 to thee than those who have gone before." 
 
 She moved her head in a sagacious manner, implying 
 much, but said nothing. 
 
 Seeing she spoke not, Hassan continued : 
 
 " I should think the men of Malha were deficient in 
 their duty, did I not suspect that thou thyself art the 
 real cause, and that thou art hard to please." 
 
 " Thou sayest," she at once replied, catching the 
 suggestion. " It is not every man would please me. 
 Besides, to me it is an old story, and as a tale which 
 twice hath been told." 
 
 In this she alluded with light touch to her two former 
 matrimonial episodes. 
 
 " But, Hassan," she continued, " I can wait. Think 
 not I am in so desperate a case, or such ardent haste as 
 thine." 
 
 This sally was far from displeasing the young man to 
 whom it was addressed. Few men would feel aggrieved 
 at having such an insinuation brought against them.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 185 
 
 Again the rich scarlet line of Hassan s lips parted be 
 neath the dark upward-curving mustache. 
 
 " Hear what she says, Chalil," he cried, turning to his 
 friend, in the proud gladness of his heart. 
 
 Chalil made an effort to respond, rather a sickly smile 
 flickering about his mouth. 
 
 " She speaks words of understanding," he said. 
 " Happy shall be the man who calls her wife." 
 
 Kadra s cup was full. The fine compliment from 
 Chalil set it overflowing. She advanced towards him, 
 holding herself uncommonly erect, and with a stately 
 air, which was greatly aided by her flowing white head 
 dress, and her other loose-floating drapery, swayed 
 gracefully by her movements. She bowed herself as 
 she came opposite to him and, raising his hand to her 
 lips, kissed it twice. 
 
 " Again I kiss thy hand, my lord. Blessed be thou, 
 and thy father, and thy father s father. Allah give thee 
 length of days, and to see thy children s children. Thy 
 words are sweeter to me than the honey fresh from the 
 honeycomb. Not because thou didst commend thy 
 handmaid, but because wisdom and knowledge pertain 
 to thee, and thou speakest the words of verity and 
 goodwill with golden lips from a guileless heart" 
 
 The several rows of convex bishliks strung across her 
 tan-coloured brow glowed red and pale, lustrous and dull, 
 by turns, in the firelight, and gave an impressive sibyl- 
 like character to her tall spare figure. 
 
 Those silver Turkish coins represented her two dow 
 ries. It is only the direst distress or some fearful crisis 
 that will compel even the poorest peasant woman of 
 Palestine to part with them. 
 
 The transient traveller, as he holds one of those pieces 
 in his hand, wondering at the peculiar saucer-like shape 
 into which it was wrought when appropriated for a 
 bridal tiara, and puzzled by the flowery agglomeration 
 of ornamental Turkish text which adorns one side of it, 
 being the name of the Sultan who reigned when it was 
 struck little does the wayworn traveller, the passing 
 stranger from a far-off country, imagine the struggle 
 and the tragic life-history which, again driving it into
 
 1 86 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 circulation, hides beneath that bevelled punctured coin, 
 held by him so carelessly. So it is that life is jostled 
 and hustled, driven and trampled ; and one man knows 
 not of the pangs which rend another man s heart yea, 
 though he be his neighbour. 
 
 Chalil bore the adulatory attention of Kadra, which 
 could hardly have been agreeable to him, with the 
 patient grace which is seldom wanting in the Oriental. 
 Some simple words of thanks from him, accompanied 
 by elaborate gesticulations, were sufficient. It is not 
 expected, nor would it be seemly nor well, to bring the 
 woman into too great prominence. There is no neces 
 sity of special thought in this, nor suspicion of wrong. 
 It is merely inexorable habit. 
 
 Meanwhile Hassan had taken the opportunity to pour 
 into Hilwe s ear some secret communication, with the 
 soft dalliance that lovers feed on, and that man and 
 woman, all over the globe, spite of custom and decree, 
 and heaven and earth, or Sheol itself, will indulge in, 
 though their very lives the next moment be the penalty 
 of the infringement of the offended dignity and majesty 
 of social law or stilted etiquette. 
 
 Here behold the fine balance, the nice discrimina 
 tion, of human nature. On such delicate distinctions 
 and adjustments, with such hair-trigger appliances we 
 live and move and have our being. 
 
 But Hassan s opportunity was of short duration. As 
 Kadra left the young sheik, and returned to her former 
 place at the fire, her sharp eyes fell on the lovers, 
 and she at once perceived the situation. 
 
 Remembering her duty and responsibility, and only 
 too well pleased to exhibit her brief authority, she faced 
 them with a certain asperity and dictatorial manner 
 peculiar to the Orientals, and prized by them above 
 measure when the occasion is afforded to use it. 
 
 " Hilwe," she exclaimed, " what art thou thinking of, 
 at this time of night? We should be half-way back ere 
 this. Arise, let us be going." 
 
 "I am even waiting on thy word," answered Hilwe, 
 gathering her garments about her and preparing to 
 leave.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 187 
 
 " Be not in haste. Stay yet awhile," murmured Has 
 san, proudly standing beside her. 
 
 "Nay, that cannot be," said Kadra. "We have re 
 mained too long already." 
 
 " It would not be well, Hassan," softly acceded Hilwe. 
 " I shall leave the vessel of water with thee. Thou canst 
 hide it in the hollow of the rock, where we can find it 
 on the morrow." 
 
 "Then, at least, I shall accompany thee back see 
 thee safely home." 
 
 " There is no need of so doing," interrupted Kadra. 
 
 " The jackals and hyenas are about," suggested 
 Hassan. 
 
 " Thinkest thou that I fear them? " she said. " Nay, 
 rather they fear me." 
 
 When Hassan would have further expostulated, she 
 would hear no more. 
 
 " Shouldst thou be seen with us, our lives would not 
 be worth a potsherd," she said. " Besides," she added, 
 " thou art weary with what thou hast endured this day, 
 and needest rest" 
 
 So the women departed. 
 
 Yet as Hilwe slowly followed Kadra, Hassan could 
 not refrain, but overtook the damsel, his soul yearning 
 for her. 
 
 " Hilwe," he said, " thou hast twice this day brought 
 comfort and refreshment to me. Allah bless and pro 
 tect thee. Think not that I have lost courage because 
 of this that has happened. Trust me, I shall yet deliver 
 thee from thy troubles." 
 
 He watched her till the darkness hid her from him ; 
 then came to Chalil to be consoled. 
 
 The young men, overcome with fatigue, were but too 
 glad to seek the couch they had prepared in the rock, 
 and, at Chain s suggestion that sleep was the best com 
 forter, at once turned in. Nor did they wake till dawn 
 of day. 
 
 Then instantly they were astir, and soon upon their 
 way. 
 
 When they reached the little pool beyond the sheep- 
 fold, under the cliff, they stopped and bathed, washing
 
 1 88 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 from their bodies all removable traces of their conflict 
 at Malha; and especially did Hassan cleanse him of 
 his blood-stains. In dressing his wounds, Chalil was as 
 kind and helpful as before. 
 
 " Verily." he said, " blood is not washed out with 
 blood, but with water." 
 
 As they passed the place of Hassan s encounter with 
 the leopard, they were attracted by a peculiar whirring 
 sound. It was like the singing of the air when beaten 
 by wings. 
 
 Hassan had drawn the dead body aside, and thrown 
 it into a hollow, down the lower cliff. The sound came 
 from this spot. Two hideous-looking vultures, those 
 most ghastly of scavengers, disturbed at their work of 
 gorging themselves on the carrion, had spread their 
 pinions with the slow lazy motion characteristic of the 
 unclean tribe, and had sullenly risen, hovering overhead 
 with that indifferent indolent mien which cloaks their 
 rapacity. A third foul creature, with talons fixed in the 
 carcass, and flapping his wings, still remained, as if un 
 determined whether he would desist from his detestable 
 task or not, his naked red head and neck glistening in 
 the sun, and with that horrible snake-like crook which is 
 so significant, accompanied by the malicious gleam of 
 his eye. 
 
 Surely the eater was being eaten ! The carnivora of 
 the air were devouring the destroyer of the flocks and 
 herds the ravager of the land. 
 
 A great crow or raven croaked from an adjacent rock, 
 its black plumage giving off bluish reflections; and, 
 high in the heavens, two gray eagles were passing and 
 repassing, as if watching their opportunity to descend. 
 Further off, so distant they looked like dark specks 
 above the pink and drab of the horizon line, several 
 other eagles were approaching. 
 
 Of a sooth, "wheresoever the carcass is, there will 
 the eagles be gathered together." 
 
 " A sorry end for the proud beast," remarked Has 
 san, somewhat regretfully. 
 
 " Yea ; but consider how he would have ended thee 
 and our sheep," returned Chalil.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 189 
 
 Early morning found the young men in Bettir, where 
 the leopard-skin was a wonderful sight, and a great 
 attraction to the villagers. Hassan was the hero of 
 the hour; and the people, crowding around him, were 
 never tired of hearing him tell the story of his fight 
 with the wild beast, in which he was the glorious 
 victor. 
 
 But both Hassan and Chalil were careful to suppress 
 reference to their unfortunate adventure at Malha, and 
 the repulse and shameful treatment they had received 
 there. And when, afterwards, the affair became known, 
 they greatly modified and smoothed over the worst fea 
 tures of it. 
 
 " Let us not add fuel to the flame," they said. " The 
 hate is bad enough already." 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 IDST thou see the blooms Amne found yester- 
 day?" asked Fatima of Hilwe. 
 
 " I have seen them. She showed them to me." 
 
 Hilwe answered in a subdued, almost depressed tone, 
 as if anticipatory of something disagreeable, and that 
 the question of her aunt and foster-mother was but the 
 prelude to personal reflections far from flattering, and 
 the opposite of complimentary. 
 
 " She has gathered the firstlings of the season. She 
 has had the advantage of thee. Hadst thou been as 
 active as thou mightest have been, thou wouldst have 
 got them." 
 
 " She knows a place where the white blooms come 
 early every year; and she keeps it secret." 
 
 "And why dost thou not find out for thyself such a 
 place? Many a metalik or piastre thou mightest bring 
 in and we want it badly enough, Allah knows if 
 thou wouldst only watch thy opportunities. When I was 
 thine age, there was n t a damsel of the neighbourhood 
 could excel me in anything. For that matter, why not
 
 190 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 spy upon her, and learn her secret haunt, and get the 
 better of her? " 
 
 " I should not like to do that," replied Hilvve. 
 
 "Why so?" 
 
 " It would seem like robbing her." 
 
 " What foolishness ! The place is as much thine as 
 hers. It is open to the sky, and to the winds and the 
 dew. The bees and the birds come and go there ; and 
 so mayest thou. Any man, woman or child may enter 
 and take of the blossoms. What could she say didst 
 thou go there to-day and gather them in? How could 
 she help herself? " 
 
 " I do not know. But it would break her heart." 
 
 Fatima laughed loud, and long, and scornfully. 
 
 "No doubt it would vex her, and make her angry. 
 It well might. She makes a goodly sum out of those 
 flowers. Knowest thou not that this is the flower the 
 Nazarenes call the Rose of Sharon, and to which they 
 say their prophet Issa ben Maryam Jesus, son of 
 Mary whom they make a god of, and worship, 
 likened himself. Therefore they prize it exceedingly, 
 and place it on his shrine in the Holy City. Amne 
 will make well by those early blossoms. The Greek, 
 the Armenian and the Latin monks will pay her a 
 high price for them, and backsheesh too. And thou 
 couldst do no better than to get a bountiful store of 
 them, and take them into the market in Jerusalem, 
 where thou canst easily dispose of them to the Naza 
 renes. Also, as well, to the True Believers. For they 
 too love the sweet odour of the flower, and say it 
 smells like their mothers. They will reward thee 
 handsomely." 
 
 " I hearken unto thy voice. But " 
 
 " What wouldst thou say? Speak ! " 
 
 " I cannot bear to vex Amne." 
 
 "If thou hast any scruples as to Amne s place, canst 
 thou not seek and find one like unto it? The entire 
 hillside to choose from is before thee. There is no 
 need to quarrel about it. And what is to prevent thee 
 going this very day now? " 
 
 It was not always that Fatima s words were as pleas-
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 191 
 
 ant in Hilvve s ears as on this occasion. But there was 
 an especial reason for the damsel s gladness. It would 
 give her the opportunity to meet Hassan. 
 
 " I shall do as thou hast said," she replied. " Thy 
 words are even a command to me." 
 
 A strange light burned in her eyes. 
 
 " Ay, go," urged Fatima. 
 
 " I 11 go this moment." 
 
 Quickly Hilwe got ready, and went upon her way. 
 She lost not an instant. It was as if she feared some 
 thing might occur to detain her. 
 
 Soon, and as if with winged feet, she had reached the 
 appointed place of meeting (where more than once 
 they had met), and had told Hassan of Amne s dis 
 covery of the narcissus flowers the white blooms, as 
 she called them, the first of the season, and repeated 
 Fatima s desire that she should procure them. 
 
 " I can take thee to a place where they abound," he 
 replied. 
 
 "Thou canst? Oh do ! " she exclaimed, delightedly. 
 
 " They come there the earliest and the finest. There 
 must be many there now. I know the place well. We 
 can take the sheep with us, for there is good pasturage 
 near by ; and they can feed in safety, while I help thee 
 to gather the blooms." 
 
 The way did not seem long to them, nor tedious, 
 though the sheep were not over quick in their move 
 ments. There was always so much pleasure^ such en- 
 rapt silent joy in being in each other s company, the 
 time fled only too rapidly for the lovers. 
 
 " T is but a little way," Hassan, wily through his 
 love, had said to encourage her. "A few minutes will 
 take us there." 
 
 It was one of Nature s gardens, one of those inter 
 ludes of loveliness, not uncommon in Palestine, a shel 
 tered hollow in the hills, hiding itself between the 
 outcroppings of the massive gray rocks, which are the 
 bulwarks of the land, and are seen almost everywhere 
 in the " hill country." Yet was it lifted up to heaven, 
 with somewhat of the aspect of an outstretched hand 
 offering its beautiful gifts.
 
 192 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 She saw the secluded spot for the first time. Her 
 face was illuminated with the reflected glow. As they 
 stood together on the verge before entering, they turned 
 to one another and smiled, without speaking. 
 
 There was a purity, a sanctity, about the place that 
 was entrancing. It looked as if desecrating foot had j 
 never profaned it. Multitudes of the narcissus were I 
 seen in groups scattered throughout, their silvery-white 
 blossoms gently swaying or softly rising and falling on 
 the palpitating air, as though they were living creatures 
 enjoying themselves, or the immaculate wings of the 
 angelic host spreading for flight. 
 
 " I see them ! I see them ! " Hilwe exclaimed as her 
 eye caught the sight. 
 
 A few scarlet anemones sent up their half-expanded 
 buds, at} ant-couriers of the great flaming host which 
 presently should inundate the land a victorious grand 
 army with their glorious banners ; and the crocus, both 
 purple and white, sprinkled the grass everywhere. 
 
 Hilwe drew nearer to Hassan she knew not why. 
 
 " Is it not like the garden of God? " he said. 
 
 " Yea; it is even Paradise." 
 
 " It is Paradise for me where thou art." 
 
 " Ah, Hassan ! " 
 
 " Ah, Hilwe, my beloved ! " 
 
 They entered, hand in hand, an expression almost of 
 awe in the girl s face. 
 
 He saw it, and interpreted it his own way. 
 
 " There is no one to see us here," he said, reassuringly. 
 "It is out of the common path, and people do not 
 often pass by; also the rocks conceal it." 
 
 "It is a holy place," she murmured with breathless; 
 pathos. 
 
 As she stood among the narcissus blooms, they 
 appeared like silvery stars or flocks of angels floating 
 around her, as if they belonged to the heaven rather 
 than to the earth. The tall slim asphodels, already; 
 sending up their purplish flower-buds from their sheath- 
 like leaves, reached higher than her waist. They 
 touched her brown hands as if in salutation. They 
 were akin to her.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 193 
 
 She stooped and kissed them. 
 
 " They salaam to thee ! Thou thyself art one of 
 them ! " he passionately declared. " Thou art even 
 fair and pure as a flower ! " 
 
 She again stooped and kissed the asphodel to hide 
 her blushes. As she pressed her warm lips to the 
 closed corolla, suddenly the curved petals expanded, 
 opening with a gentle shock. 
 
 It was such an incident as appeals peculiarly to an 
 Oriental. 
 
 Hassan laughed a low, soft, sympathetic sound, full 
 
 of suggestiveness, coming from far down in his throat 
 
 and chest. She felt as well as heard the mellow sound 
 
 the man within him. It thrilled her more than words 
 
 would have done. 
 
 " Thou hast awakened the flower," he said, " that is 
 how thou hast dealt with me. Thou hast awakened me 
 also, and broken the sleep of my heart. I never loved 
 thee as I do now." 
 
 She smiled but said nothing. It was as though she 
 was far, far away, and as if she understood him not. 
 
 Men are so bold, they have the courage of their feel 
 ings they break loose in their utterance. It is their 
 nature. 
 
 But after a short interval she turned to him with 
 parted lips, as though she had been pondering what he 
 had said. 
 
 " Nay, rather is it not thou who hast so dealt with 
 me? " she innocently asked. 
 
 "Is it so? Sayest thou so? It is well. Thou art 
 right, my beloved." Then, growing warmer, " Fear not 
 to tell me, I love thee better than my own soul. Thou 
 art my flower of flowers, whom no man s hand but mine 
 shall pluck. Thy name is Hilwe sweet, sweet ! and 
 thou art sweet ! " 
 
 It would be impossible to overestimate the influence 
 of such a man as Hassan over Hilwe. Uniting as he 
 did the nature, the warmth and passion of the Palestine 
 peasant, with many of the thoughts, words, and ways of 
 the more civilised man of the world the European, 
 teaching him more thoughtful, respectful, and tender 
 
 13
 
 194 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 relations and dealings with woman, he surely was pos 
 sessed of a power that for her was well-nigh irresistible. 
 Besides, he had the further the more evident potency : 
 in any land, he would have been considered a finely- 
 made and uncommonly handsome and lovable man. 
 And, say what we will, is there any single thing, even 
 in the most refined society, which appeals to human 
 nature as does physical beauty, especially when warmed 
 by the love element? The loftiest intellects have been 
 led captive by it; the strongest minds, the most reli 
 gious and holiest, as well as the wisest, have become 
 subject to it. However humiliating it may be, it would 
 be useless to attempt to deny this. The facts are too 
 abundant, the proofs too conclusive. 
 
 It had come to pass that the moments spent with 
 Hassan in those secret interviews on the Judaean hills, 
 had grown to be not only the happiest and the chief 
 part of Hilwe s life, but her very life itself. 
 
 When gathering the brush and sticks for fuel that 
 constant need in the household for the all-devouring 
 oven and the hearth she managed to be with him for 
 longer intervals than heretofore ; and he, in order to 
 make up for the loss of her time spent with him, would 
 aid her at her task so that her shortcomings would not 
 be noticed. 
 
 When caught in some sudden change of weather, such 
 as a cold wind or a shower of rain, he would shelter her 
 under his abai, artlessly saying the garment was large 
 enough for two. They were as simple as children in 
 their enjoyments ; and, though eager, warm, and impul 
 sive in their feelings, through their naturalness they 
 were innocent of evil. 
 
 And now Hilwe wandered to and fro among the wil 
 derness of flowers, lost in an ecstasy of delight; often 
 lying down beside them to kiss them and inhale their 
 perfume breath ; but, so far, not plucking one of them. 
 She felt it would be a species of desecration to mar in 
 the slightest degree the place so consecrated and set 
 apart of the heavenly powers. 
 
 Hassan, seeing her peculiar feeling, humoured her in 
 it, knowing that presently she would overcome it. He
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 195 
 
 drew her aside to a rocky ledge where, in the moisture 
 dripping from the overhanging cliff, a luxuriant bank of 
 moss flourished. Here in the congenial shade, bedded 
 in the thick cushion of sphagnous luxury, grew a num 
 ber of plants which found in the conditions a grateful 
 habitat. Among them was the grape hyacinth, with its 
 tapering clusters of blossom, finely graduated from the 
 deepest indigo to the richest aquamarine, tipped with 
 vivid powdery azure and a hint of cerulean blue. Also 
 there were many scillas, spires of creamy whiteness, 
 hair-striped with purple so dark it might be mistaken 
 for black. The crevices and crannies of the cliff were 
 crowded with cyclamens, whose flowers, resembling the 
 headdress of some South-sea Island chief, were scarcely 
 more beautiful than the mottled, deep-green leaves 
 backed with crimson. Yet how exquisitely fair were 
 the flowers, pure white or pale rose stained and blotched 
 in the mouth with the richest carmine magenta ! Like a 
 purplish fringe, trailed from the rock and swung loosely 
 on the air, the defiant bugloss ; and from the topmost 
 height, a flowering almond reached down its slender 
 boughs loaded with wreaths of the tenderest pink. On 
 the ground were numerous patches of the little blue- 
 gray iris, and the sparkling closely-matted silverweed, 
 with a species of golden gorse, whose foliage gave out 
 a musky fragrance, while the aromatic wild thyme 
 formed an outlying phalanx of sweetness and excellence. 
 
 Most of those plants are flowers cultivated and prized 
 in the gardens of other countries. The very multitude 
 of them was a glorious sight they silently sending up 
 their incense to heaven as an oblation, a sweet-smell 
 ing offering. It was a passional of Nature a grand 
 rhapsody of colour, and light, and perfume, and exqui 
 site form. What thought, beyond man s conception, 
 was in a single flower ! Each was a thought of God. 
 
 No wonder Hilwe, recognising something of this, 
 could not bear to mutilate it to mar the sacred beauty 
 of this mountain sanctuary. 
 
 Hassan, with the utilitarian instincts of a man, at last 
 reminded Hilwe of her errand, and that they had as 
 yet gathered none of the white blooms the narcissus.
 
 196 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 " Let us," he suggested, " pluck only those which 
 are full-blown, leaving the rest for other days ; and so 
 we can continue to come while the season lasts." 
 
 He was not altogether unselfish in thus quietly plan 
 ning for the future. But who could blame him? 
 
 His idea he forthwith proceeded to carry into exe 
 cution, in which he was soon joined by Hilwe, whose 
 arms were presently loaded with a great sheaf of the 
 narcissus. 
 
 " Thou wilt surprise Fatima," he said. " Thou hast 
 a goodly harvest of them, and wilt get a high price for 
 them in Jerusalem. Not that I care to have thee visit 
 the city. It is full of temptation and evil for such as 
 thou art unacquainted with the world." 
 
 He thereupon launched out into warnings as to the 
 wickedness of the place, and gave her many directions 
 for her conduct while visiting it. 
 
 They carried the flowers they had culled to a remote 
 corner of the hollow, where quantities of the narcissus 
 still remained, untouched ; and here, in the midst of the 
 white starry blooms, they sat themselves down, and 
 commenced making the sheaf of blossoms into nose 
 gays. 
 
 Presently, in abandonment of his feelings, he threw 
 himself upon the ground, in a reclining attitude at her 
 feet, looking up into her face. 
 
 Oh, the pure joy of him ! It was the gladness that 
 the man has when he comes close to Nature, and feels 
 his heart beat against her heart. 
 
 Hassan handed the flowers to Hilwe as she required, 
 and she rapidly arranged them into small bunches or 
 bouquets, neatly fastening each with one or more of 
 the long strap-like leaves of the plant itself. 
 
 It was delicious occupation. But it could not last 
 forever. And always the happiest moments are the 
 shortest. 
 
 At length the task was done their work finished. 
 The last bouquet was arranged and tied into shape, and 
 added to the redolent pile which had grown up under 
 Hilwe s hands a mound of silver and gold of Nature s 
 coinage.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 197 
 
 The sun had begun to get low in the heavens. The 
 wind had changed, and sharp little eddying gusts occa 
 sionally made themselves felt over the hillside, though 
 not heavy enough to bend the anemones the children 
 of the wind. 
 
 Hilwe gave a slight sympathetic shiver, which Hassan 
 at once noticed. 
 
 "Art thou cold?" he asked. "That little breeze 
 felt as if it came all the way from snow-crowned Mount 
 Hermon, and got tired on the journey, stopping here. 
 Or, mayhap, it has kissed the icy peaks of the more 
 northerly Lebanon. Who knows ? " 
 
 He spread open his abai, according to his wont. 
 
 " Here is thy shelter, my beloved. Here is thy 
 refuge and thy rest." 
 
 His face shone with a beauty an attractive power 
 beyond any she heretofore had seen in it. 
 
 "What happiness," she thought, "to be loved by 
 such a man. Well may I be proud of him. Well may 
 I love and worship him. There is none like him." 
 
 She spoke not the words, but they were written in 
 her face. He saw it. He felt it. 
 
 She moved nearer to him. At the same moment he 
 drew closer to her, and enveloped them both in the 
 tolds of his ample abai. 
 
 " It is large enough for two." 
 
 He smilingly and somewhat uncouthly repeated the 
 foolish phrase which he considered so applicable, so 
 clever, and had used so often and so happily. It was 
 as pleasant to them as the words of an old song which 
 are sung in the heart as well as by the lips. 
 
 Ignoring custom, the threatening storm of evil the 
 ominous conditions which overhung them, and even the 
 very existence of Abd-el-nour and Hilwe s uncle, and 
 the blood-feud, they lost themselves in their happiness. 
 
 Surrounded by the guardian rocks, the clear pure air, 
 and the sweet-smelling pasture, in this secluded nook, 
 where the narcissus the sacred Rose of Sharon 
 abounded, to which lonely spot they had penetrated in 
 search of those immaculate blossoms with silvery-white 
 wings and golden heart, beloved of all, Nazarene as
 
 198 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 well as Mohammedan, they forgot the outside world, 
 and lived in themselves alone. 
 
 They heard the gentle bleating of the sheep which 
 Hassan, the handsome and stalwart, had driven before 
 him into the further end of this rocky fastness of 
 beauty; and the free carolling of the flocks of birds 
 which flew overhead, with soft whizzing of wings came 
 nearer, and nearer. But these gave them no appre 
 hension of interference. They rather afforded the 
 sense of companionship without fear of intrusion or 
 interruption. 
 
 Oh, the joy of it the preciousness the soul-glad 
 ness of it to recline among the lilies and asphodels, in 
 this close and blissful communion, and, unmolested, 
 taste the sweet assurances of love ! 
 
 So far as her presence among those enchantingly 
 lonesome unfrequented retreats was concerned for 
 this Hilwe had, in some sort, a cover or colour, in that 
 Fatima, her own uncle s wife, who had authority over 
 her, had urged her to seek the flowers. It gave a 
 countenance to the transaction which, in the absence of 
 the foster-mother s permission, it could not have had. 
 
 What satisfaction pertains to such little incidents, 
 what a support they afford, and what enormous conse 
 quences they are made to father. 
 
 Even the harmless well-used abai had its influence. 
 It inspired a security, a confidence, a guardianship 
 almost a sanctity and a benediction, which otherwise 
 might have been absent. With its folds around them, 
 within its protective envelopment, they were transformed 
 were new creatures. Its circumference, for the time 
 being, was their mosque was their world. They were 
 a world to themselves. 
 
 To Hilwe, Hassan was an angel of light. And surely 
 she was no less to him. 
 
 When one has dealings with an angel of light, what 
 may* it not imply? 
 
 " Thou art dearer to me than my own flesh. What 
 would I not do for thee ! Thou art the delight of my 
 eyes, and my life my promised spouse. Have I not 
 said thou art rightly named Hilwe, for thou art very
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 199 
 
 sweet and pleasant to me? My beloved, surely my 
 soul cleaveth unto thee ; and all the ways of my being 
 turneth to thee ! " 
 
 These were the impassioned words with which he 
 addressed her. 
 
 But words are not enough. Glances are not enough. 
 What is enough for love? 
 
 He held one of the fragrant blossoms between his 
 teeth, and softly and persuasively rubbed it against her 
 lips. 
 
 How intently his eyes gazed into hers ! 
 
 She could scarcely bear it could scarcely contain 
 the joy of it. 
 
 The smile had gone from his face. How serious, 
 almost solemn he looked, with that far-off, absorbed 
 contemplation, consuming imagination, as if his soul 
 was issuing to mingle with hers, to be one with hers ! 
 But he was handsomer than ever. What languishing 
 entreaty was in his expression ! She felt his warm 
 breath upon her cheek. 
 
 " Dost thou love me, Hilwe? " 
 
 Well he knew she loved him; but he wanted to hear 
 her say so. 
 
 " I love and I fear thee " with a sigh. " Dost thou 
 love me, Hassan? " 
 
 " Yea. I never loved thee as I do now," he repeated. 
 
 Then, in a sudden transport of love triumphant, he 
 drew her to him; his arms were around her; and he 
 kissed her again and again. 
 
 Happy damsel, and happy lover. Their cup of bliss 
 was full to overflowing. For them, all the golden caril 
 lons the joy-bells of love, in heaven and on earth, 
 rang, and chimed, and pealed, in tangled sound in 
 inexpressible harmony of rapture and wonder. And 
 the evening was as the morning. And time had gone 
 astray, and lost the reckoning. For the day had been 
 born again; and all things were new. 
 
 Sweeter than ever, with the approach of evening, 
 ascended the perfume of the flowers. The songs of the 
 birds took on a higher, more blessed note, as if they 
 were an angelic epithalamium. The subdued tinkling
 
 2OO Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 of the sheep-bells sounded like an echo of the celestial 
 carols that only ring for bridals made above. And 
 Hassan and Hilvve were the centre of it all. 
 
 Lightly the golden moments passed for them. The 
 time for their return had arrived before they knew it. 
 They must go. 
 
 Slowly and with a self-consciousness that was a con 
 fession, they at last gathered up the flowers, and pre 
 pared to depart. 
 
 It was like Adam and Eve leaving Eden, after the 
 first sin. 
 
 As they left the place Hilwe laden with the flowers, 
 Hassan driving his sheep, Hilwe, looking back, burst 
 into tears. 
 
 " Why dost thou weep, Hilvve? Am I not as thine 
 own self? Dost thou not love me any more? " 
 
 "Love thee, askest thou? Well thou knowest that 
 I love thee." 
 
 " Then why weepest thou ? " 
 
 " I do not know." 
 
 " If thou knowest not, it is well." 
 
 She hung her head thoughtfully. 
 
 " It is because because it will never again be as it 
 has been. And and 
 
 She could say no more. She knew not how to define 
 the conflict of feelings within her. 
 
 As for happy yet pensive Hassan, a certain proud 
 assurance had taken possession of him. There was 
 not the least misgiving, regret, or doubt mingled with the 
 reflections with which he regarded the events of the day. 
 
 He felt more a man than ever. That was sufficient. 
 
 " Have no foreboding, Hilwe," he said. " Think not 
 that I have humbled thee. My love has made thee 
 mine. Thou art now mine own. Thou art even as my 
 wife. Dost thou not know?" 
 
 11 Yea." 
 
 " And not thy uncle, nor Abd-el-nour, nor the sheik, 
 nor aught else can change it." 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 She believed what he told her, regardless of 
 appearances.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 201 
 
 She said no more ; but, gathering her head-drapery 
 more closely about her face, followed him as if already 
 he was her lord and master. 
 
 " Now art thou mine indeed. I have made thee 
 mine," he declared imperiously. 
 
 Our nebulous incandescent central orb the greater 
 light that rules the day had already lost his power in 
 the heavens, and was gathering his royal purple and 
 crimson robes around him, his golden crown resting 
 upon his brow evidently determined and prepared 
 to die like a king as Hassan and Hilwe reached the 
 point where their ways diverged, and where they must 
 separate. 
 
 " Mayest thou be in the keeping of God, Hilwe," he 
 said. 
 
 " And thou too," she responded. " May Allah ever 
 protect thee with his merciful goodness." 
 
 " Keep up thy courage, Hilwe. Remember what I 
 have said to thee. Naught can divide thee and 
 me." 
 
 These were his last words. 
 
 With a smile and a sigh she parted from him. The 
 smile was from hope, and was for Hassan. The sigh, 
 for herself, was born of the woman s keener emotional 
 intuition and prescience unknown to the man. He 
 perceived, as was intended, but the former, and was 
 undisturbed. 
 
 She had reached the foot of the tell. The sun kept 
 sinking slowly, his face getting ever more passionately 
 ruddy. How round and rubicund it shone through the 
 violet earth-mist! Down, down he went, a globe of 
 glory, nearer and nearer to the horizon s verge. But 
 as Hilwe with her trophy of flowers rapidly ascended 
 the lofty tell as she rose higher and higher, it had 
 the apparent effect of staying his descent. It seemed 
 to arrest his decline to make him stand still in the 
 heavens. It was like a gentle reflection of Joshua s 
 miracle, when, in his fight with the Amorites, he bade 
 the sun stand still upon Gibeon, which is nigh unto 
 this place. 
 
 So it was that the sun was yet in sight at Malha, as
 
 202 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Hilwe reached the summit of the tell, and her foot 
 crossed the threshold of her home. 
 
 At the same moment, down in the valley, the sun 
 had set; and, in the twilight, Hassan, having cared 
 for his sheep, was saying to himself these words: 
 
 " Surely there is nothing to compare with the love of 
 woman. Not so much the love of the woman for the 
 man, as his love for the woman. It is that which 
 takes him out of himself which draws the life and 
 the soul out of him." 
 
 He was a simple man, and said what he thought. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE next morning found Hilwe in Jerusalem, 
 where, with Amne, she soon was busy disposing 
 of the narcissus flowers. The girls had been accom 
 panied by several of the elder women of Malha, each of 
 whom had something for sale. Some of them brought 
 the oak and olive-wood roots grubbed out of the earth 
 the ordinary fuel of the Holy City; others the water 
 of Ain Karim and Malha, conveyed in the odd-looking 
 black goat-skins prepared for the purpose, with the 
 skin of the various parts of the body, including the 
 legs and neck, remaining, and, filled with water, stand 
 ing straight out in grim and mocking similitude to 
 the original living animal, the water being dispensed 
 through an opening in the neck. A few brought vege 
 tables ; while two or three had spread upon the ground 
 before them handkerchiefs piled with saffron. But all 
 envied Hilwe and Amne, for whose narcissus blooms 
 there was an instant demand at favourable prices. 
 
 They came, as usual, in company; and their train, 
 in indigo-blue robes, and white headdresses, presented 
 a picturesque addition to the various groups of men 
 and women entering or departing through the high por 
 tals of the ancient Jaffa Gate, that beautiful morning. 
 
 Immediately within, and on the outside as well, the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 203 
 
 crowds of buyers and sellers of merchandise formed a 
 dense mass of humanity, among which might be found 
 representatives of from thirty to forty different nation 
 alities, many of them from far distant quarters of the 
 earth, and the greater part of them distinguishable by 
 their dress each being arrayed in the costume of his 
 country. Particularly noticeable among the surging 
 crowd were the hundreds and thousands of pilgrims 
 and the ecclesiastics on their way to and from the Holy 
 Sepulchre and the various other shrines and sacred 
 places. Towering above all others was the magnificent 
 form of the Greek Patriarch, fully six feet and six 
 inches in stature, and proportioned accordingly. Sur 
 rounded by his bishops and archimandrites, returning 
 from the performance of some holy office of his Church, 
 and preceded by cavasses with silver-mounted staves, 
 his Blessedness moved slowly forward, with august 
 mien and unquestionable dignity, wearing a fur-lined 
 robe, his high round hat being covered with a large 
 black veil, reaching below his shoulders. His rich 
 deep voice was like the roll of an organ, and his force 
 ful glance was tempered with geniality and a certain 
 mildness. 
 
 So also were in abundant evidence the Jews of differ 
 ent countries, who, while disinctively Hebrew, had 
 each some peculiarity, chiefly in his head-gear, denot 
 ing the land he hailed from, and which seemed to reach 
 its climax in the hat of the Polish Jew, trimmed along 
 the brim with projecting bristly fur, and far from 
 becoming. 
 
 The colour and variety of the garments of this mot 
 ley multitude are kaleidoscopic. Yet, so far as the 
 Syrian, Turk, Egyptian, and East Indian are con 
 cerned, there is an harmonious blending of tints and 
 shades in the dress, which is decidedly pleasing and 
 shows a feeling for colour. With them rarely is seen 
 a primary colour; secondary and tertiary tones prevail; 
 and a sultry citron, a peculiar grayish blue, a ripened 
 russet, or a soft neutral olive is most frequently found, 
 topped off with a crimson fez or tarboosh, giving the 
 accentuating note to the whole. Where there is a
 
 204 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 crude or discordant note in the gamut, it usually pro 
 ceeds from the Jew. 
 
 The native women of Jerusalem are not the least 
 conspicuous members of the motley throng, as, singly 
 or in groups, they surge to and fro, closely veiled 
 not even their eyes visible, and entirely enveloped in 
 their loose, balloon-like outer robe, generally of white 
 cotton, though sometimes of striped silk. This pecu 
 liar garment completely disguises and disfigures the 
 form of its wearer, from head to foot, in this respect 
 resembling the domino. 
 
 As the eye glances over this mixed assemblage of 
 Turk, Syrian, Hindoo, Nubian, Russian, Greek, Italian, 
 Briton, Persian, Egyptian, Armenian, Bedawin, Abys 
 sinian, Bulgarian, and all the rest, too numerous to 
 mention, it becomes dazzled and confused, as the ear 
 is perplexed and stunned by the Babel of languages. 
 Laden camels and donkeys, and zaptiehs mounted on 
 horseback, add to the commotion. 
 
 Day after day, for many centuries, the sublime castle- 
 like gateway, the principal entrance to the ancient city, 
 has looked down on this remarkable scene. The gate 
 of grayish stone a marbleised limestone, ripened on 
 the southerly side, by the sun, to a rich yellowish or 
 orange hue, as are all the old buildings in Jerusalem 
 has set in it, within the high interior archway, an 
 entablature with inscription in ornamental Arabic to 
 the sultan who built the gateway; and this fretwork 
 of fantastic lettering is relieved by a modern ground 
 of aquamarine blue, which, though out of place, is not 
 inharmonious. 
 
 Near by, to the westward, on the northeasterly slope 
 of Mount Zion, stands with imposing mien the Fortress 
 of Sultan Suleyman, with the Tower of David, even in 
 its decay an embodiment of stately stalwart strength. 
 
 This remarkable pile of buildings, in olden times 
 must have constituted a formidable defence, in connec 
 tion with the castellated wall surrounding the entire 
 city. The flank, close by the Jaffa Gate, terminates 
 in the grand quadrangular battlemented stronghold 
 already mentioned, known generally, per se, as the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 205 
 
 Tower of David, the remainder of the fortification, on 
 account of its position, partly hidden by other build 
 ings, not being so impressive from within, though on 
 the outside of the city presenting a noble and pic 
 turesque front, on the heights above the Bethlehem road. 
 
 This dominant quadrangular tower, sometimes called 
 the Hippicus and Tower of Herod, as well as of David, 
 is unquestionably of great antiquity, and is supposed 
 to be one of the great towers spared by Titus. It, 
 too, is touched on its southerly side to a rich pleasant 
 yellow; for, unlike the suns of other lands, which fade 
 what they look at, the opulent sun of the Orient turns 
 to gold what he kisses. The lower third, including 
 the foundations, is considered to date back to the time 
 of the Jebusites, before David captured the place, and 
 when it was held to be impregnable. The middle third 
 is of ancient Hebrew or Phoenician structure, while 
 the remaining upper portions are Saracenic. The 
 entire is surrounded by a dry moat or foss, which is 
 crossed by a covered wooden bridge, entrance to which 
 is had through a high gateway, to which a flight of 
 broad steps leads up from the street. 
 
 The strange, the unique, feature of this ancient tower 
 is one of peculiar interest, though it appears to have 
 but seldom attracted attention : the lower two-thirds 
 are not an inclosed walled space, like an ordinary fort 
 or castle, but are of solid masonry throughout. In 
 fact they are a massive foundation or platform-like 
 substructure for the upper works. 
 
 Tradition had long reported that a secret, under 
 ground passage, along the line of David street, con 
 nected the tower with the Holy Temple; so that in 
 time of danger the enormously valuable treasures of 
 the Sanctuary could be quietly conveyed by the priests 
 to the place of safety afforded by this citadel. 
 
 This story had reached the ears of the Turks, who 
 presently took occasion to break into the massive 
 masonry, which had never been penetrated, in search of 
 the vast and priceless hoard supposed to have been depos 
 ited there in A.D. 70, when the city was taken by Titus. 
 
 In the westerly side of the building, a cavity, made
 
 206 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 with laborious effort, is, to this day, evidence of the 
 cupidity and disappointment of the Turks. They found, 
 to their great chagrin, all that part of the tower to be, 
 as above mentioned, of solid stonework, like unto that 
 of the pyramids, traversed only by a few low and nar 
 row air passages, through which a man could with diffi 
 culty squeeze. The vessels and shields of gold, the 
 chests of money and coffers of precious stones, which, 
 as in the case of the rifled Tomb of David on Mount 
 Zion, they had hoped to find, were all a myth a delu 
 sion. Their labour had been in vain. 
 
 One thing, however, was proved : The great size of 
 the wonderful bevelled stones of the interior; and the 
 character of the work thus disclosed, afforded conclu 
 sive evidence of the antiquity of that part of the build 
 ing. Those peculiar ponderous stones, there could be 
 little question, occupied their original positions 
 they had never been moved. 
 
 One who has justly been accredited with extreme 
 carefulness in statements connected with such a case 
 as this, has said: "Doubtless the shadow of Christ may 
 have fallen upon this tower." It is one of the few 
 places in Jerusalem of which this may be affirmed. 
 
 Of course there have been changes. In the many 
 sieges there have been injuries which have been re 
 paired. But these are palpable, comparatively trifling, 
 and at once distinguishable from the ancient, primitive 
 structure. 
 
 A much older tradition connects the place with the 
 palace of King David, asserting that it was from this 
 tower the King first beheld Bathsheba, the wife of the 
 noble Hittite, the brave Uriah, when the brilliant but 
 inconstant beauty took her bath. This was she who 
 afterwards became the mother of Solomon. 
 
 How sedately and quaintly the old chronicle narrates 
 the circumstance, without blush, or hesitation, or cir 
 cumlocution ; and with that soft echoing chime of an 
 introductory clause, so long and so dearly familiar to 
 the Oriental ear: "And it came to pass." Again, and 
 again, never wearisome, it rings, and ushers in some 
 special narrative or story.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 207 
 
 Listen to it : 
 
 " And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David 
 arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the 
 king s house: and from the roof he saw a woman 
 washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful 
 to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the 
 woman." 
 
 It seems as if it were only yesterday that it had all 
 occurred. And the tower still stands there, an ever 
 lasting witness to the wickedness and base treachery of 
 him who occupied the exalted place, and the nobility 
 and grandeur of the comparatively humble Hittite 
 soldier. 
 
 The women from Malha, though keeping together as 
 much as possible, had joined other women who, living 
 at nearer places, had come in earlier; all taking their 
 seats on the curbstones at each side of David Street, 
 which at this end is the widest street in Jerusalem, 
 and has somewhat the character of a square, leading 
 up to the Turkish Barracks on Mount Zion. 
 
 But few of the stately and handsome women from 
 Bethlehem were found among them. Mostly Chris 
 tians, and boasting of their Crusader descent, they 
 form a sort of aristocracy among themselves, and have 
 but little in common with their poor Moslem sisters. 
 Their merchandise, too, is chiefly of a different sort, 
 consisting usually of embroidery, the carved shells 
 the finest of which resemble Mechlin lace and other 
 mother-of-pearl work, often of commendable artistic 
 merit, in the shape of crosses, chaplets, brooches and 
 pins. They also offer vases, cups and other articles 
 made of the black asphaltic stone from the Dead Sea. 
 All these, of the celebrated Bethlehem work, have a 
 widespread reputation; and the women of the City of 
 the Nativity carry themselves with a proud air, and 
 are distinguished by their peculiar high headdress, of 
 horseshoe shape, covered with white drapery. 
 
 From the Moslem village of Silwan or Siloam, cover 
 ing the cliffs on the opposite side of the Cedron valley, 
 a numerous delegation is present, bringing fruits, herbs 
 and vegetables. These are grown in what is called to
 
 2o8 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 this day the King s Garden, composed of a series of 
 inclosed cultivated fields, at the bottom of the valley, 
 and running up partly on the southerly Jerusalem 
 slopes, which, in places, are planted to the very walls 
 of the city. Doubtless it is what formerly consti 
 tuted the garden and pleasure-grounds of the kings 
 of Judah; and, according to tradition, probably may 
 have been planned and laid out by King Hezekiah, if 
 not Solomon, the garden-loving king. It is abun 
 dantly irrigated by the waters overflowing from the 
 Pool of Siloam, which is just beneath the hill; and 
 the Jerusalem market receives its finest fruits and vege 
 tables from this garden and from those other and greater 
 gardens of Solomon, in the green Valley of Urtas, be 
 low the three vast pools which he built to water them, 
 and which may be seen, at this present time, several 
 miles southwest of Jerusalem, on the road to Hebron. 
 
 To-day, within the walls of the Holy City, in the 
 shelter of the streets, there is a moist languid pulse 
 to the air which conveys a feeling of soothing repose, 
 thoroughly consonant with the Oriental temperament. 
 The traffic of the women vendors, in spite of their 
 complicated rivalries, has taken on a more subdued 
 tone than usual, and, with few exceptions, there 
 have been no serious quarrels between them ; yet they 
 have not been very successful in disposing of their 
 goods. 
 
 Hilwe and Amne had gradually wandered off further 
 down David Street, where a series of steps leads into 
 the sudden descent through the Bazaar, and the way is 
 very narrow, and crowded on each side by numerous 
 small shops and stores. The awnings overhead, some 
 times of matting, sometimes of cloth, reach entirely 
 across the street, subduing the light, and adding to 
 the peculiar disconsolate picturesqueness of the place. 
 Here, if possible, the crowd was more dense than ever; 
 and the occasional passage of a loaded camel, as he 
 strode by with tinkling bells and decorated with a great 
 blue bead fastened around his neck, to ward off the 
 influence of the "evil eye," was almost dangerous to 
 life, as there was barely room enough left for the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 209 
 
 people to squeeze out of his way on each side, and 
 escape being crushed to death. 
 
 "Let us go further on, down by Christian Street," 
 suggested Amne. 
 
 "Why should we go there?" asked Hilwe, doubt 
 fully. 
 
 " There the pilgrims turn aside to the Holy Sepul 
 chre, where is the shrine of their prophet Issa, and 
 the faithful keep straight on to the Great Mosque, the 
 Haram-es-Sherif. We there shall find plenty of the 
 best customers." 
 
 "It is well. I shall do as thou sayest," was the 
 simple answer of Hilwe. 
 
 " Then come at once. See the Greek priests and 
 monks! They will buy of us." 
 
 Where Christian Street branches eastward out of 
 David Street, at length giving access to the Street of 
 the Palmers and the Via Dolorosa, and finally to the 
 Church of the Holy Sepulchre, at the junction, and for 
 a short distance, each way, it is arched and built over 
 head with houses. This darkens and renders more 
 gloomy the already semi-twilight aspect of the place. 
 But there are sheltering angles and recesses beneath 
 the groined roof on which the dwellings are supported. 
 In one of these angles the young girls found a favour 
 able position for themselves and their crate-like baskets 
 containing the narcissus flowers, whose fresh natural 
 fragrance, floating out on the air, was a grateful relief to 
 the close and often musty atmosphere of the contracted 
 dingy shops. 
 
 Occasionally, it is true, came whiffs of pungent gales 
 from the mart of the spice-merchants, or the more 
 refreshing aroma from the golden store of the vendors 
 of oranges and lemons from Jaffa. The hinged shut 
 ters of those box-like stalls, let down and loaded with 
 great heaps of the luscious fruit, made an attractive 
 display. 
 
 Here, too, were gathered the immemorial money 
 changers -always Jews with their wire-grated boxes 
 of coin or banknotes, the currency of many lands, from 
 the deteriorated paper ruble of Russia to the lira of 
 
 14
 
 2io Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Italy and the golden napoleon of France, or the sover 
 eign of England with the image and superscription of 
 the revered and beloved queen upon it. Thus is the 
 prophecy fulfilled that the gold of the Gentiles shall 
 be given unto them. 
 
 The women, absorbed in their dealings, and taken 
 up with their own petty bickerings, gave little heed to 
 the young girls, and scarcely noticed their absence; or, 
 if they thought of them, took for granted they were 
 well occupied in making remunerative sales of their 
 flowers. 
 
 Not a few of these peasant women were a pitiful 
 sight, gaunt, wrinkled and aged before their time, 
 their dark indigo garments clinging in dejected scanty 
 folds about their spare spectral figures. How hard is 
 their lot ! No one appeared to have pity on them 
 none to regard or compassionate. Each customer 
 seemed to want the closest of bargains, wrenching the 
 very life out of those withered beings, till, at last, in 
 a sort of despair of getting their price, or of selling at 
 all, they would abandon the contest, and give up their 
 little pile of wood or bunch of roots, to them like theii 
 life-blood, for a despicable Turkish coin an old-style, 
 depreciated bishlik, with the copper, all too evident, 
 showing through the uncommonly thin wash of silver, 
 or a few insignificant battered piastres, or half-handfu" 
 of meagre attenuated metaliks, worn sharp by circu 
 lation. 
 
 Then, when the police passed by, with swords b) 
 their sides, always officious and exacting where the) 
 need not be, but had better be otherwise, they woulc 
 hustle and push the poor creatures domineeringly, tell 
 ing them angrily that they were in the way, and upset 
 ting and scattering their scanty stores. 
 
 So it went on, from hour to hour, till the day itsel 
 appeared to grow tired of it, and half worn out by it 
 for it was already afternoon. 
 
 The women, seldom looking up, but almost ever look 
 ing down, began to measure the shadows cast by th 
 buildings, and unwillingly count on the probability o 
 having to carry back to their homes their loads, ove
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 211 
 
 the weary way they had brought them, only to be 
 conveyed into the city on another occasion. 
 
 So they squat on beneath that ancient Tower of David, 
 wrapped in their insufficient garments, the cold heart - 
 lessness of their lives become an accepted fact, a perma 
 nent condition, which they do not dream of contending 
 with. They do not even murmur at their fate. Its 
 heaviness has lain so long upon them, they seem to 
 know no better. 
 
 As if in mockery, it is a gala day or holiday, per 
 haps the anniversary of the birth of one of the exalted 
 rulers of the earth, for all the consular flags are flying. 
 The information doubtless has been diplomatically con 
 veyed, by the consul in question, to his brother-consuls 
 and the local government : " It is the anniversary of the 
 birth of my august sovereign. The flag will be dis 
 played over the Consulate. There will also be an 
 official reception," etc. Hence the result this break 
 ing out or burgeoning of flags. 
 
 Over the heads of those despised sisters and wives of 
 the land, above the armed battlements, the Turkish ban 
 ner, the symbol of the Ottoman power, sullenly flaunts 
 its crimson folds, charged with white crescent and star. 
 
 Immediately opposite, strange juxtaposition, ripples 
 out gaily, cheerily, bravely, the beautiful flag of liberty 
 the emblem of the Great Republic across the sea 
 the fair young gonfalon with silver and red stripes, and 
 that bright constellation of co-equal stars, all of the 
 first magnitude, set in untarnished blue like to the 
 very heaven itself. Lifted high above the American 
 Consulate, on the slopes of Mount Zion, from the 
 tallest flagstaff in Jerusalem, it careers and plunges, 
 like a living creature, in the breezes that blow freshly 
 over the Judaean hills. That mast of pine, brought 
 across the Atlantic, grew and flourished for many a 
 year in one of the vast forests of Maine, one of thou 
 sands, bearing its green honours serenely, meekly. But 
 here, away from the land of its birth, it has burst 
 into this glorious blossom of majesty this flower-of- 
 flowers, whose dazzling petals flash back triumphantly 
 the signals of the sun.
 
 212 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Hail, holy flag ! Sanctified with love even to the 
 death, the flag of newer England of Greater Britain 
 great because she has conquered herself. No nation 
 can be great till she has conquered herself. England 
 did it, in her Revolution, and before that, and since. 
 For it has to be done again, and again sometimes 
 continually. And America did it when when - 
 But we will not talk of that. Are we not all brethren 
 the children of one mother? 
 
 Back of the flag and in the rear of the Consulate, 
 rises aloft, but leaning pensively, almost pathetically, 
 a single palm-tree a relic a retrospect and a hope. 
 Type of Israel s lost glory her only flag to-day ! She 
 has no other! Sad reminder of the period when the 
 Mount of Olives and the hills of Jerusalem were sump 
 tuous with palm-trees so abundant that, in the time 
 of Christ, the multitude of rejoicing people, crying 
 " Hosanna to the Son of David," cut down the branches 
 and strewed them in the way, on his entry, through the 
 Golden Gate, into the city. 
 
 There is one nationality that is a part of every nation 
 ality. Without a government, it is a part of every 
 government. It has no flag or other insignia of its 
 individuality; scarcely has it a standing or a name. 
 Despised, driven, peeled and persecuted by almost 
 every nation upon earth, it has accepted all this as 
 part of its destiny as the judgment of God and gone 
 forward, bearing the heavy burden believing, yea, 
 knowing that the end with its glorious results will as 
 surely be fulfilled as that the morrow will dawn with 
 the rising of the sun. For, above all the awful judg 
 ment-thunder, it hears the voice that spake in the 
 beginning: "Thou art my people, O House of Israel! 
 I will make of thee a great nation. In thee shall all 
 the families of the earth be blessed." 
 
 A short distance within the Jaffa Gate, indeed within 
 its shadow, waves the faded pale blue and white ensign 
 of Portugal one of the older and smaller kingdoms, 
 of enterprise and valour, which boasts of its blue blood, 
 and, in its day, has made its mark upon the world, and 
 need not be ashamed.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 213 
 
 While, far down, in the heart of the city, amid the 
 labyrinth of its narrowest streets, hangs, heavily and 
 drowsily, like a half-closed tawny lily, the old blood- 
 red-and-yellow glory of Spain with its emblazoned lions 
 and castles, the damp occasional breeze only reaching 
 it, in its sheltered position, at long intervals, and rarely 
 unfolding and displaying, in full, the wonder of its rich 
 colouring. Radiant and mellow as an illuminated ini 
 tial from an antique breviary, it stands at the opening 
 of the gray and gloomy street. 
 
 Within the house over which it casts its splendour 
 and the magnificence of its illustrious but tarnished 
 past, in the pleasant reception-room, has hung, for 
 many years, a full-length life-size portrait, in oils, of 
 Queen Isabella the Second, representing Her Majesty 
 at her best. Of course, this best must be taken in its 
 one particular physical sense, or with its qualifying 
 grain of salt. The painting shows her as the young 
 queen, and in full dress, and is flattered to the full 
 extent the preservation of the likeness would permit. 
 Poor Isabella ! Though pleasant, and even to the present 
 time liked and loved by those she comes in contact 
 with, she ceased to be popular in Spain ; and, at length, 
 as every one knows, the proud old land could not con 
 tain her. Strange strange ! She was too warm 
 hearted for the Spaniards ! The punctilious, haughty 
 people the sublimated hidalgos with all their gal 
 lantry, could no longer endure the shame of it; and 
 she was obliged to abdicate in favour of her son. He, 
 burning the candle at both ends, and being a man, 
 soon was dead; and so her little infant grandson, 
 Alfonso XIII., sinless king, is monarch of Spain. 
 
 Who that has ever seen them fails to remember 
 pleasantly the dear old Spanish consul and his wife? 
 Full of the most genuine etiquette, hallowed by the 
 warmest good-nature, he was the perfect gentleman 
 invariably. There they stand before you, both pining 
 for their native Madrid ; and as you express your sym 
 pathy under the circumstances, you hear him console 
 himself by saying proudly : " But one cannot be consul 
 of Spain and live in Madrid."
 
 214 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Of the ten foreign consulates at Jerusalem, the three 
 mentioned are the only ones at this time within the 
 walls. All the others, with their proud ensigns, even 
 that bearing the renowned and flamboyant meteor flag 
 of England, gradually have been moved outside, as the 
 city grew and expanded. There soon will be more 
 houses without than within the walls of Jerusalem. 
 
 But how far we have wandered from the Tower of 
 David, and the Jaffa Gate, and the poor peasant 
 women ! And just now there is an unusual stir at 
 the gate, for the American consul is entering, on his 
 return from the official function, which he has attended 
 in the required state. His dragoman, a distinguished- 
 looking young native with dark languishingly lustrous 
 eyes, and gifted with the knowledge of six different 
 languages, accompanies hirri ; and he is preceded by his 
 cavasses or guards, resplendent objects, in their gold- 
 embroidered jackets, and with enormous much-curved 
 sabres in solid silver scabbards by their sides. They 
 carry, also, long staves, heavily mounted and knobbed 
 in silver, with which, as they advance, they smite the 
 pavement, till it resounds again and again. This is 
 an old custom, observed with dignitaries, to give notice 
 of their approach, and to clear the way. 
 
 As they pass through the sublime portal, the Turkish 
 guard posted there presents arms, in recognition of the 
 consul, who makes due acknowledgment of the govern 
 ment salute, by raising his hat. 
 
 The old men, seated within the gate, full of the 
 gentle reverence of the East, rise and stand as he 
 passes, to do honour to him; and some of the groups 
 instantly begin to make comments upon him; for this 
 is a people which at once takes the measure of a man. 
 But the remarks are all complimentary. 
 
 "He is a good man," said one of the oldest of 
 the natives, venerable with long white flowing 
 beard. 
 
 "Yea, a good man and a just, and one that fears 
 God," was the response of a second, who seemed his 
 duplicate, so much alike were they with their steadfast, 
 unflinching eyes and placid countenances.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 215 
 
 Either of them might have personated Abraham the 
 Father of the Faithful and the Friend of God. 
 
 A third and younger individual acquiesced with some 
 emotion and even heat; and, like his companions, pass 
 ing the beads of his chaplet with well-drilled fingers : 
 
 "Thou speakest truly," he said, with animated ges 
 tures. "Verily he makes one love him. He treats us 
 natives like men the other consuls use us as if we 
 were dogs. " 
 
 "It were well there were more like him. He deals 
 righteously with us, and gives us wise counsel when 
 we take our troubles to him. Yea, though he need 
 give himself no care about us; for what are we to him 
 that he should weary his soul over us? " 
 
 This was uttered by the first speaker, after they had 
 all resumed their seats. 
 
 " I would rather go to him than to our own courts. " 
 
 "Thou mayest well say so. Thou wouldst get jus 
 tice, without a fee or backsheesh to pay. He would 
 not take a parah from thee. " 
 
 By this time the consul had reached that part of the 
 walk where the peasant women had crowded and were 
 seated, plying their traffic. 
 
 The cavasses, though natives and Moslems, with the 
 pride of place habitual to them, and eager to show their 
 authority, would have pushed the women aside to clear 
 the way for their "chief," as they called him. This 
 they proceeded to do with some roughness, as is only 
 too common in such cases. 
 
 " Get out of the way," they shouted. "Why cumber 
 the walk ? Do ye not see the Bey ? " giving the consul 
 his Turkish title. "Will you hinder him on the way 
 to his own palace ? " 
 
 But the consul raised his hand, and shook his head, 
 deprecatingly. 
 
 "Let them alone," he said. "Do not disturb them. 
 The poor creatures are trying to make a living. It is 
 hard for them at best. Their life is dark and bitter 
 enough already." 
 
 The women could hardly understand or believe that 
 he interfered to protect them. The words of kindness
 
 216 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 in a strange tongue were to them altogether strange. 
 But they saw the genial glance of the blue eyes, and 
 the restraining motion, and heard the reproving voice; 
 and, perceiving he was their friend, returned to their 
 places. 
 
 "Verily he is a kind man," they said to one another. 
 "He would not let the base-minded cavasses ill-treat 
 us." 
 
 "Yes; he is a kind man. Yet have I little faith in 
 any man." 
 
 This was said by Kadra, who sat near by, and who 
 was one of those who had been disturbed, and so felt 
 provoked. 
 
 " He is English." 
 
 "No, American," corrected Kadra. 
 
 "That is the same thing." 
 
 "Perhaps." 
 
 "They are all Nazarenes Christians." 
 
 "Yea; they are all Giaours Kaffirs Infidels." 
 
 Notwithstanding the numerous distinct races, people 
 in Palestine are usually classed and spoken of by their 
 belief or religion. 
 
 "There is Mustafa Effendi, " said another of the 
 women, calling attention to him "a well-favoured 
 man and a brave. He comes this way. He is a good 
 man and benevolent." 
 
 "Yea," responded Kadra, "he is a good man and 
 benevolent. But " 
 
 Her mouth went down at the corners with a hideous 
 grimace, the expression of her face implying unspeak 
 able things untold-of iniquity, inclusive of all the 
 deadly sins. 
 
 This is one of the peculiar gestures or actions of 
 the country, and is but too common. That detestable 
 implication is never interrogated. It is much more 
 agreeable to exercise the imagination. No one would 
 be so impolite as to inquire the meaning of that sig 
 nificant "But," which, often standing at the end of a 
 long string of praises, qualifies and nullifies them all, 
 appearing as the sum and substance of everything that 
 is abominable. Accompanied by that almost appalling
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 217 
 
 gesture, eulogium is more to be dreaded than defama 
 tion. No amount of mere words could take the place 
 of that pantomimic slur. Nothing in the entire range 
 of malign epithet could satisfy the meaning it conveys. 
 
 "He is a cadi a judge," added the former speaker. 
 
 " Oh yes, a cadi." 
 
 This ironically. 
 
 The Effendi, a grave, midde-aged unmarried man, 
 with oval face of a sickly yellowish hue (though with 
 nothing else sickly about him except, perhaps, his 
 voice), and having a smooth pleasant manner, flashed 
 his dark eyes upon the group, as he slowly came up, 
 searching for what he wanted. Totally unconscious 
 of the remarks of which he had been the subject, he 
 relaxed sufficiently from his dignity to do business. 
 He spoke in a languid and high-keyed querulous voice; 
 and, after the usual almost indispensable parley and 
 bargaining, purchased the remainder of the stock of 
 one of the women, who, as he was without his servant, 
 raised the basket containing it to her head, and fol 
 lowed him to his house. 
 
 The women were not slow to notice it was she who 
 had eulogised him ; and more than one censorious 
 remark was the consequence. 
 
 At the same time Kadra sold to another customer 
 the last of the eggs she had brought in ; and, in conse 
 quence, began at once to perceive it was growing late, 
 and was time to leave. 
 
 " Where is Hilwe?" she asked excitedly. "I prom 
 ised to wait for her. But it is long past the hour she 
 said she would be here; and she should not detain me 
 like this. It is a shame! She must have sold her 
 flowers long ago." 
 
 "Ah, I 11 warrant she and Amne are amusing them 
 selves visiting the bazaars ! " 
 
 This was said by one of the younger women who 
 disliked Kadra, with the object of further irritating 
 her. 
 
 "That forward Amne is equal to anything," was the 
 provoked retort. 
 
 "She will come to an evil end yet," said another of
 
 2i 8 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 the Malha neighbours, who, with several others, began 
 to gather together her effects, preparatory to taking 
 her departure. 
 
 " It has been a poor day, Kadra, " said a frail elderly 
 woman named Nigme. She was a neglected wife of 
 Abd-el-nour. 
 
 "Yea; though I managed to sell what little I 
 brought." 
 
 " Ah, thou art lucky ! " 
 
 The speaker had lifted to her head a basket with a 
 few poor roots which she had grubbed out of the ground 
 with her lean hands. 
 
 Kadra smiled at the implied compliment. 
 
 "Wait a little, Nigme," she said, "and I 11 be with 
 thee. I see Hilwe coming. Here she is." 
 
 As Kadra spoke, Hilwe rushed up, breathless. 
 
 " Wast thou leaving without me ? " she said reproach 
 fully. 
 
 "Even so. Thinkest thou I can remain here till 
 darkness covers the land? What has detained thee? " 
 
 " I have been waiting and searching for Amne. And 
 and I cannot find her." 
 
 Hilwe spoke anxiously. 
 
 "She s old enough to take care of herself, 
 cannot delay for her. Let us go, at once." 
 Kadra half pushed Hilwe before her. 
 
 "Thou hast sold thy flowers, I see," said Kadra, as 
 they followed the other woman, and passed through the 
 Jaffa Gate. 
 
 " Yea. See this. " 
 
 Hilwe exhibited a handful of coins. 
 
 "Thou hast done well. That will please Fatima; 
 and she will let thee go and gather the blooms another 
 day; and that will please thee. Ah! do I not know 
 the pride of thine heart?" 
 
 A faint passing smile was Hilwe s response. 
 
 " I wish that I had found Amne, and that she were 
 with us," she said. " I fear evil has befallen her." 
 
 But her companions heeded her not. They had over 
 taken the other women, and all were talking of the 
 native regiment, raised in the neighbourhood, which
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 219 
 
 was soon to return and be disbanded, its time of ser 
 vice having expired. 
 
 " I shall have my husband back," said one. 
 
 "And I the son of my strength," said another. 
 
 Thus the wretched creatures boasted. 
 
 There is no place so low, so degraded, but pride and 
 envy find entrance there, or even some feeble ray of 
 happiness or hope may reach it. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 BUT where was Amne ? 
 When she and Hilwe had taken their positions 
 under the arched way, at the entrance to Christian 
 Street, the rarity and beauty of the early blossoms 
 heaped high in their open baskets had drawn to them 
 many a passer-by, and not a few customers. 
 
 Amne, knowing her flowers were inferior to those of 
 Hilwe, with worldly wisdom had said to her companion, 
 " Let yours remain covered up till mine be sold. " 
 But Hilwe could not do this. 
 
 The pilgrims on their way to the Holy Sepulchre 
 and the Latin and Greek monks and clergy were liberal 
 purchasers; and the marble shrine covering the sup 
 posed tomb of the Crucified, lighted with silver ever 
 burning lamps, presents from emperors and kings, for 
 the first time that season was adorned with the pure 
 narcissus the flower to which he had been compared 
 his own flower the Rose of Sharon. 
 
 They were the blossoms which Hilwe and Hassan 
 had gathered. But let no one despise them on that 
 account. Think of the box of spikenard, very precious, 
 and Mary Magdalene. Were he, the All-merciful, 
 walking the earth to-day, he would not have refused 
 these blooms. And if sinful hands had touched them, 
 be it remembered that, as compared with him, all 
 hands and hearts are unclean and sinful. The daz 
 zling light of the petals, pure as the snow, shone un-
 
 220 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 blemished, immaculate, amid the royal and imperial 
 gifts, the fairest of all. And the free natural breath of 
 the flowers ascended up on high, a more acceptable 
 and a sweeter-smelling sacrifice than the perfume-clouds 
 of most costly incense from the censers swung by the 
 handsome dark-eyed and long-haired young acolytes of 
 the Greek Church, who were forever bowing themselves 
 very low, and crossing themselves from right to left, 
 with the left hand, instead of from left to right with 
 the right hand, as do the Latins or Roman Catholics. 
 
 "Anything, so as to be different from us," say the 
 Latins contemptuously. 
 
 Ah, how much we make our salvation depend on 
 such things ! How we still keep paying tithes of the 
 mint, anise and cummin, and omit the weightier mat 
 ters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith, cleansing 
 the outside of the cup and platter, when He said, " My 
 son, give me thine heart ! " 
 
 And so the Latin and Greek monks and ecclesiastics 
 swept by, and were followed by those of the Syrian, 
 Armenian, Coptic and Abyssinian churches. They 
 wore their peculiar vestments, those of the Oriental 
 churches having high conspicuous headdresses. Each 
 body had a special hour of worship allotted to it in the 
 Church of the Holy Sepulchre, so that there might be 
 no conflict. For, as is but too well known, among all 
 these Christian churches the most burning hates and 
 jealousies prevail, and quarrels and fights have occurred 
 from time to time between them, especially between 
 those of the Greek and Latin churches, not seldom 
 ending in bloodshed and even murder. Truly there 
 is no hate like religious hate. It is the hate of the 
 soul ; and the conscience of the man is made to stand 
 sponsor for it. 
 
 But it is within the great basilica, at its very 
 entrance, that the monstrous reproach exists. Imme 
 diately inside the portal, on the left, is a divan-like 
 recess spread with mats, at a considerable height above 
 the floor; and here, seated cross-legged, are two or 
 more Moslems, sheiks of the Mosque of Omar, the 
 official wardens of this Christian sanctuary this
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 221 
 
 cathedral of cathedrals, originally built by Constan 
 tino the Great, on the discovery of the supposed Cross 
 and Holy Sepulchre by his mother the Empress 
 Helena. 
 
 It is not difficult to imagine the feelings with which 
 these sedate Islamites, steeped in fatalistic equanimity, 
 look down upon the successive performances taking 
 place around them, and view the petty jealousies and 
 quarrels of the different sectarians who come here to 
 worship. These sheiks are the guardians of the keys, 
 the custody of which, sad to relate, could not be 
 intrusted to any of those churches. The suave, easy 
 going fellows, in their loose robes and white-turbaned 
 tarbooshes, seem fully to appreciate the superiority of 
 their position keeping peace between the Christians 
 holding the keys of their most holy place, which 
 they open each morning, and close each night. There 
 is a quiet sarcasm in their attitude which is beyond 
 the scope of the fiercest polemic. 
 
 A few members of the Anglican Church and of the 
 Protestant churches might be seen within the fane; but 
 these were chiefly travellers who could hardly be 
 classed even with the ordinary pilgrims; for few if any 
 of them permitted either their beliefs or their feelings 
 to carry them even so far as into the borderland of the 
 superstitious. They are lookers-on rather than partic 
 ipators in the ceremonies within the venerable church; 
 and, though not without the profound religious emotions 
 stirred by the occasion, a feeling of sublime pity moved 
 them as they witnessed some of the proceedings. 
 Where they had any sympathy, it was rather with the 
 poor Russian pilgrims of the Greek Church in their 
 abject but evidently sincere prostrations, and who are 
 in outward observances, the most religious as well as 
 the most ignorant and superstitious beings who visit 
 the holy places. 
 
 In the midst of all this, Hilwe s flowers were natural 
 and beautiful things, full of all that is acceptable and 
 lovely. How could it be otherwise? 
 
 As the Mohammedan hour of prayer the duhr, or 
 noon-prayer drew near, the stream of humanity
 
 222 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 which swept through David Street, past Hilwe and 
 Amne, had risen to the flood, for it happened to be 
 Friday, the market day, as well as the Moslem holy 
 day or Sabbath, and the merchants and dealers and arti 
 sans of that faith had closed their shops, and began to 
 take their way to the Mosque of Omar. The narrow 
 street, in its dusky windings, was like a river swollen 
 to the banks, sending off a branch at Christian Street, 
 which did not seem greatly to relieve the pressure. 
 
 There are three Sabbaths every week in Jerusalem. 
 In consequence there is none. Traffic and business 
 go on every day, with no very apparent differ 
 ence. 
 
 Friday is the Mohammedan holy day, and the True 
 Believer closes his place of business for a short time 
 in the forenoon, or at noon, while he visits the mosque 
 for prayer, always performing his ablutions at one of 
 the tanks within the great Temple Enclosure. Return 
 ing from prayer, he reopens ; and all through the after 
 noon, is as fully occupied with his trade or traffic as 
 on any other day in the week. Saturday is kept by 
 the Jews only, who desist from all work, in some cases 
 to the most ridiculously minute particulars, on that 
 day. Sunday is observed as usual by the Christians. 
 But from one year s end to another, the ancient city 
 never sees a total cessation of work and business, as 
 there is always sufficient of non-believers in the holy 
 day, whichever it may be, to keep up a volume of 
 activity, and destroy all appearance of Sabbath and of 
 rest. 
 
 As the Moslems passed the young girls with their 
 open baskets overflowing with the flowers whose aroma 
 those smooth, self-indulgent sons of Islam particularly 
 love, they did not fail to stop, and to remind one 
 another of the words of their prophet, and how Moham 
 med had said : " He that hath two cakes of bread, let 
 him sell one of them, and buy some flowers of the 
 narcissus ; for bread is food for the body, but the nar 
 cissus is food for the soul." 
 
 " Didst thou hear what those pious men say, Hilwe ? " 
 asked Amne. " They speak the words of our prophet
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 223 
 
 (God favour and preserve him !) I doubt not they are 
 out of the most excellent book which he wrote." 
 
 "Yea; I heard their words. They are sweet and 
 comfortable. " 
 
 " I would rather sell one flower to the Faithful than 
 ten to another." 
 
 While they spoke, two strangers, a dignitary of the 
 Church of England with his daughter hanging on his 
 arm, drew near. They at once seized the attention 
 of the girls. 
 
 "How much he loves her!" said Hilwe. 
 
 " And how he lets her cling to him, and what care he 
 takes of her ! " added Amne. " Truly those Giaours 
 have strange ways." 
 
 " These are asphodels, are they not ? " said the 
 daughter, taking up a shaft of the flowers. 
 
 "Ah, yes indeed!" 
 
 It was the asphodel which Hilwe had kissed into 
 blossoming, and which, out of a tender pity, she had 
 brought with her, placing it on top of her basket. 
 The slender stem with its spear-like leaves was topped 
 with the pale purplish-tinted corollas, but one of 
 which was expanded, the others still remaining partly 
 closed, or only buds. 
 
 "How strangely beautiful," said the English girl. 
 "Does it not seem as if there was something myste 
 rious, unearthly about it ? " 
 
 "Yes," replied her father. "It is indeed so. There 
 is also a golden-yellow species. And some think the 
 name daffodil another name for narcissus is derived 
 from the aphodyle or asphodel, which was sacred to 
 Proserpine, and was used in classic times at funeral 
 ceremonies. This is the flower beloved of the gods, 
 and which is said to bloom forever in the fields of 
 heaven." 
 
 The canon s face was all aglow with his innocent 
 enthusiasm. That noble eloquent face, it was a per 
 petual sermon and a litany, and spoke in a universal 
 language the story of peace and love his lips had so 
 often told. For the lineaments had received that 
 spiritual chiselling which left upon them the divine
 
 224 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 benediction. His name had gone into all lands the 
 worthy son of the great Anglican Church. 
 Presently his daughter heard him murmur: 
 
 " Those holy fields, 
 
 Over whose acres walked those blessed feet 
 Which eighteen hundred years ago were nailed, 
 For our advantage, on the bitter cross." 
 
 Hilwe, knowing scarcely a word they said, still 
 sufficiently understood their admiration. She caught 
 up one of the finest bunches of the narcissus, and held 
 it beside the asphodel. 
 
 "But here we have the Rose of Sharon," exclaimed 
 the canon. 
 
 "It is precious, indeed," said his daughter, kissing 
 the flowers with a feeling of reverence, as she took 
 them from Hilwe and pressed a piece of silver into her 
 palm. 
 
 In turn, Hilwe bent and (oh, how gracefully!) 
 kissed the lady s hand, and then prepared to make 
 change. 
 
 "No, no; keep it," said the young English girl. 
 "They are worth far more than that to me, when I 
 think of the dear Lord walking over the ground where 
 they have grown." 
 
 She did not know all they were worth to Hilwe 
 what they had cost her. 
 
 Seeing the change had been refused, Hilwe insisted 
 on adding more of the flowers. 
 
 "They make one think of the descriptions in the 
 poets of the celestial meadows filled with these beau 
 tiful blossoms, where the souls of the departed bliss 
 fully wander," said the canon, with a sigh, and in a 
 dreamy reminiscent undertone. 
 
 Why do even the best men always sigh when they 
 speak of Heaven? 
 
 The daughter of Britain lingered, greatly interested 
 in her Palestine sisters, fully as much so as they were 
 in her. 
 
 "What beautiful young creatures," she said, turning
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 225 
 
 to her father, " so natural and unspoiled ! What glori 
 ous eyes they have ! " 
 
 " I fear, my love, you have not been duly warned of 
 the evil eye, and its potent influence in this land," 
 was his smiling remark. 
 
 "No. Nor do I, in the. least, fear it. I should like 
 to speak to them to know more about them." 
 
 " Ah, there it is ! Perhaps it is already working its 
 spell upon you." 
 
 A womanly impulse suddenly seized her. She leaned 
 forward, and gently laid her hand on Hilwe s little 
 weather-browned paw. 
 
 "Where did you get your beautiful flowers?" she 
 asked. " Where do you come from ? And what is 
 your name? " 
 
 She spoke, without thinking that the girls under 
 stood scarcely a word she had uttered. 
 
 "My dear, they do not understand you," explained 
 her father. 
 
 "They come from Malha," said a clear full voice, in 
 English, with a slight foreign accent. 
 
 The canon and his daughter turned to see the 
 speaker. 
 
 A young man, a zaptieh, who had come up without 
 cheir observing it, stood close behind them ; and he it 
 was who had volunteered the information. 
 
 From his uniform they at once saw he was an officer. 
 It may be added that he was a distant relative of a high 
 official, had been educated abroad, and had spent some 
 time in both London and Paris. Indeed, the latter 
 voluptuous city had left her mark upon him most dis 
 tinctly. Tall and straight-limbed, the dark-blue uni 
 form, turned up with scarlet, enriched with braid, 
 and fitting him to perfection, set off his figure to the 
 greatest advantage. He was on his way to the mosque, 
 and had given his horse, a fine, blooded animal, to his 
 servant, who was leading it away, as it was unpleasant 
 to descend on horseback the steps at this part of the 
 street. 
 
 The young officer, standing erect, drawn up to his 
 full height, his left hand lightly resting on his sword- 
 is
 
 226 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 hilt, presented an uncommonly fine appearance, as he 
 met the gaze of the aristocratic Englishman and his 
 daughter, and saluted them in military style. He 
 excused his interest very neatly, and politely offered 
 to interpret. 
 
 Of course, they could only thank him and accept. 
 
 They noticed his rather clear complexion, the warm 
 rich color showing through. But they did not know 
 that though his father was a Turco-Syrian, his mother 
 was partly of European blood, and that this high- 
 mettled, well-built zaptieh, in all his becoming mili 
 tary trappings, was the product of one of those peculiar 
 mysteries of the harem which are not infrequent in the 
 dominions of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan. 
 
 As for the young officer, there was not the slightest 
 doubt that he was well aware of the attractiveness of 
 his person. But he was far too clever to permit any 
 evidence of this to betray him. The gentle, innocent 
 manner he affected, as if utterly unconsciousness of his 
 good looks, was his greatest fascination. 
 
 There are few things which an Oriental values more 
 than to be accepted on an equal footing and received 
 into intimate relations by the Frank or European of 
 distinction or high position. He will do much to 
 bring this about, and seldom permits an opportunity 
 of the kind to escape him. But, if possible, it must 
 come to pass naturally, without the appearance of anx 
 iety or intention of being sought on his part. 
 
 He had heard the English girl s reference to the 
 glorious eyes of the peasant girl, and he remembered 
 that he himself was possessed of as glorious orbs, which 
 he could use far more effectively, and with greater 
 potency, in that he was a man. His blood tingled 
 warmly, and he was feeling at his best, and looking 
 his best, as he knew the gaze of the highborn young 
 lady rested upon him. It was the stimulus he luxu 
 riated in. 
 
 Stepping nearer to Hilwe, he commenced interro 
 gating her. 
 
 "What is thy name?" he asked, in Arabic. "The 
 lady wishes to know."
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 227 
 
 "Hilwe." 
 
 "And what does that mean?" inquired the fair 
 stranger. " All their names have a meaning, have 
 they not ? " 
 
 "Yes. Hilwe means sweet. 
 
 " What a pretty name ! And, I m sure, appropriate. " 
 
 The gallant aga, or captain of zaptiehs turned and 
 smiled significantly. 
 
 "She wants to know your name," he explained, after 
 a low murmur from Hilwe. 
 
 "It is Mary Mary Stanhope." 
 
 "Mariam," he translated it in giving it to Hilwe 
 " Sitti Mariam Lady Mary. That is the name of the 
 Virgin," he remarked. 
 
 Strange to say, the Moslems revere the Blessed 
 Virgin as the mother of the Prophet Jesus, and send 
 tapers to burn at her tomb in Jerusalem, on her festival 
 days. 
 
 Hilwe smilingly made reply. 
 
 " She says she will remember your name, and bring 
 you more flowers when next she comes. " 
 
 "Thank her. Do they have to bring them far? It 
 must be weary for them." 
 
 On this being conveyed to them, both the Malha 
 girls threw back their heads, and made a peculiar 
 clicking sound with their tongues as they exclaimed 
 " La, la ! No, no ! " with a continuation of less intel 
 ligible rejoinder. 
 
 "They say it is such a pleasure carrying so beautiful 
 a burden, they would not care if the distance were 
 twice as great ! " 
 
 " How Oriental ! " said Miss Stanhope. 
 
 "They live at Malha," pursued the captain "a 
 village on the top of a high tell beyond the Valley of 
 Roses." 
 
 Miss Stanhope had drawn her notebook from her 
 pocket, and was making some entries. 
 
 "And Hilwe s companion!" she said. " I fear she 
 will feel neglected. I have not learned her name." 
 
 The agreeable young zaptieh quickly remedied this. 
 
 " Her name is Amne," he said.
 
 228 Hassan i a Fellah 
 
 " And that means ? " 
 
 "Believer." 
 
 "And how old are they? " 
 
 The question was duly put, and promptly though 
 unsatisfactorily answered. 
 
 "They say, Allah knows." 
 
 The most elegant of zaptiehs could scarcely keep his 
 countenance as he conveyed this reply, which is the 
 common one throughout Palestine to any inquiry into 
 age. But he managed to explain that there is a super 
 stitious dislike to giving such information. It is 
 enough for them that God knows their ages. 
 
 Besides the strong feeling that it is sacrilegious to 
 pry into such things, there is also probably a dense 
 ignorance and neglect in this direction. It is a land 
 in which statistics of any kind are looked upon with 
 horror the keeping of them, or inquiring into them 
 as acts of impiety, liable to the calling down of divine 
 wrath. 
 
 The feeling, doubtless, is of long standing. Remem 
 ber the numbering of the people by David, and the 
 pestilence visited in consequence. 
 
 Miss Stanhope kept her notebook open, puzzled what 
 to do, and half-inclined to enter the answer the girls 
 had made, recognising it contained, after all, some 
 thing beautiful and awe-inspiring. 
 
 "Allah knows." 
 
 Yes ; she entered the very words. 
 
 "Perhaps I can make out their ages for you," said 
 the zaptieh, anxious to please. 
 
 He looked at the girls very steadily, with the critical 
 eye of the Osmanli, skilled in the business, as though 
 noting and counting the marks and especially the 
 beauty points that every year, since they were born, had 
 made upon them. 
 
 "They are marriageable," he said, "and cannot be 
 far from sixteen years. " 
 
 But Miss Stanhope let her original entry stand. 
 
 "And my name, " he added, "is Kiamil Perfect. 
 What a name to give a man ! " 
 
 " I trust you try to live up to it," said the canon, sen-
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 229 
 
 tentiously, and with the ecclesiastical love of giving 
 advice. 
 
 " Oh yes, of course ! " 
 
 This was said with an expression of eyes and 
 mouth unutterable in words, but startling to the relig 
 ious mind. Doubtless, in his unbounded self-admira 
 tion, the aga considered his handsome body a complete 
 exponent of his name, and a sufficient and standing 
 reply to the Englishman. 
 
 " My dear," said the canon, addressing his daughter, 
 " is it not time we were returning to our hotel ? I fear 
 we shall be late for luncheon." 
 
 Fastening her flowers in her belt, and gathering up 
 her drapery, she prepared to leave, saying good-bye to 
 the girls. 
 
 "I am sure," said the canon, taking the captain s 
 hand with the formal regulation politeness of his place 
 and station, "we are greatly indebted to you for your 
 attention and kindness. Thank you very much. Good 
 day. " 
 
 These words addressed to the well-set-up zaptieh, 
 who had already taken position for an incomparable 
 salute, were faintly echoed by Miss Stanhope. He 
 raised his hand, small and delicate as a lady s, to his 
 fez. Farewell salutes in high style were made on both 
 sides, and they parted. 
 
 For a few moments the undaunted self-confident 
 officer stood gazing after the retreating figures of the 
 Anglican ecclesiastic and his charming daughter, and 
 then turned to recompense himself with the damsels 
 from Mai ha. 
 
 He had soon descended to a very different style of 
 conversation with them from that he had conducted for 
 Miss Stanhope. His equivocal, or, rather, to put it 
 less mildly, most questionable, attentions were chiefly 
 addressed to Hilwe, whose beauty had smitten him 
 desperately, but they also included Amne. 
 
 The former at first continued to answer his ques 
 tions with the respect she considered due his position, 
 and with the homage which all women in the East pay 
 to men; but as he went further, her eyes were cast
 
 230 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 down, her eyelids lowered, and she was silent. Not 
 so with Amne, who enjoyed the opportunity, and was 
 wayward enough to answer him "according to his 
 folly." 
 
 Though the zaptiehs are mounted gendarmes or 
 guards, who have little or nothing to do with municipal 
 affairs, but whose duties extend to the outlying country, 
 including certain of the adjacent towns and villages, he 
 had not hesitated to take advantage of his official rank 
 and the ignorance of the girls to impress them with his 
 authority, and dazzle them with his superb personality. 
 No one can surpass the Osmanli in the seductive 
 arena; and this man s residence in the gay French capi 
 tal had flavoured and qualified rather than corrected the 
 trait. 
 
 The zaptiehs have an ill name ; perhaps not unde 
 servedly. It has been said that, of all the Turkish officials, 
 they are the worst, oppressing with the most perfect 
 impartiality both Moslems and Christians. The majority 
 of them have the evil or sensual features that the deeds 
 ascribed to them would imply ; yet many of them are 
 handsome finely-formed men ; and, almost without ex 
 ception, they are skilled horsemen with the graceful and 
 confident bearing the manly exercise is apt to develop. 
 
 What would have been the outcome of the captain of 
 zaptiehs insinuating gallantry, had it been left undis 
 turbed, it is impossible to say. In the midst of his most 
 ardent demonstrations, a hand was laid on his shoulder. 
 A brother officer had come up stealthily behind him, in 
 the press of the crowd. 
 
 " Ah, Kiamil, I see thou art at thine old business ! " he 
 said, in Turkish. 
 
 " Even so," returned the other, unabashed. 
 
 " Come, come, didst thou not hear the azan an 
 nouncement (call to prayer) ? The muezzin cried it 
 some time ago. I was detained. We shall be late at the 
 mosque." 
 
 The speaker, whose face showed the more repellent 
 Turkish characteristics, including the sinister hooked 
 nose, evidently was one on whom the observances of his 
 religion had still a strong hold, and who had a decided
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 231 
 
 influence over the man he addressed, though this did 
 not prevent his making a gallant speech to the damsels 
 on his own account. They treated the peasant girls with 
 a familiarity they would not have dared to display to 
 wards women of their own class, whom, indeed, they 
 would not be allowed to see. 
 
 The voice of the new-comer was an imperative voice, 
 and, coming to Kiamil in the name of the religion, was 
 not to be trifled with. The weaker will gave way, though 
 reluctantly. 
 
 As he was carried off by his determined friend, whose 
 wickedly ugly face was a reproach to his fine soldierly 
 figure, the gay captain turned to the girls and said signifi 
 cantly, " I shall return shortly." 
 
 The girls watched with wondering, appreciative glances 
 the attractive forms of the two young officers in their fine 
 uniforms, to them beyond ordinary men, as those sons of 
 thunder rightfully or wrongfully charged with scourg 
 ing the country strode off, side by side, down the street 
 of steps, in martial splendour, the rowels of their spurs 
 gingling, their swords clanging on the pavement, their 
 well-drilled legs moving with rhythmic regularity a 
 glorious vision, dear to the feminine heart, one to admire 
 and love ; they watched them with undiminished fascina 
 tion till the delectable sight vanished, lost in the crowd 
 of less interesting spectacles. 
 
 In this, perhaps, the Malha girls were not so very 
 different from their more cultured sisters of other lands. 
 
 Across the way, a young man, standing on a block of 
 stone, in order to get the better advantage, had been a 
 close observer of all that had taken place between the 
 zaptiehs and the girls. He waited till the former had 
 disappeared from view, leaving the coast clear. Then 
 he cautiously approached, with a jasmine blossom held 
 between his lips, a not ungraceful custom. 
 
 "Look; there is Selim," said Amne, nudging Hilwe. 
 " He is coming here." 
 
 It was the wily servitor of Anselmo Jacobini, now 
 attached more closely to his nephew Leone, to whom the 
 old man had relinquished him. 
 
 " Who is he? I like not his looks," said Hilwe.
 
 23 2 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 She remembered the warnings of Hassan and was more 
 cautious on that account. 
 
 " Nay. He means well. He pays generously, and is 
 a good customer, every one says. But here he is." 
 
 " I count myself fortunate," said Selim, " to have come 
 before all the flowers have been sold." 
 
 He looked into the baskets, and examined the simply- 
 knotted bunches of the narcissus, which one might call 
 nosegays, but could hardly consider bouquets. He then 
 stooped and whispered something in Amne s ear, his eyes, 
 all the time, being fastened on Hilwe. 
 
 " Yes, yes," he replied, in answer to a question from 
 Amne. " Come with me. Bring your flowers. I know 
 one who will buy all you have left, and give you a hand 
 some price." 
 
 In reply, Hilwe gathered together some of the best 
 bunches, and offered them to him. 
 
 But this did not suit his purpose. 
 
 Again he stooped and said something aside to Amne, 
 speaking very earnestly and with emphatic gestures. 
 
 "Naam, naam Yes, yes," she replied, nodding, with 
 a pleased expression. 
 
 "And be sure to bring your companion," he added 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Hilwe, he says the man of the house will give us at 
 least a medjidie apiece for what we have left. Think 
 of that. And you have n t half as many left as I 
 have." 
 
 While they argued as to whether they should go, an 
 old woman from one of the villages drew near, and, with 
 the curiosity of the native, stopped to listen. She had 
 brought in water from Ain Karim, and the black goat 
 skin containing it was strapped to her back. She was 
 bending under the burden. But that was nothing new 
 
 O 
 
 to her. There were families in Jerusalem which she had 
 supplied with the water from St. John s birthplace for 
 many years since she was a young girl. She had been 
 a hewer of wood and drawer of water all her life. The 
 question was referred to her out of respect and habit. 
 
 Selim saw his opportunity to whisper a few words to 
 her, and to drop a small coin into her hand.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 233 
 
 " Yea, go with the man," she said plausibly. " He 
 will do what is right ; and he offers a. generous price." 
 
 This was sufficient. Both the girls arose, and, taking 
 their baskets, followed Selim. 
 
 He led them through many narrow and crooked by 
 streets, and up slippery ascents, and under dark and 
 damp archways, at last, when they began to think the 
 way would never end, emerging at the house of 
 Jacobini. 
 
 Hilwe somewhat dazed and bewildered by the confus 
 ing incidents which had befallen her, followed the lead 
 of Selim and Amne without much consideration. She 
 at first was gladdened by the thought of disposing of the 
 remainder of her flowers, and at so good a price, and so 
 early in the day. But the tortuous way, and something 
 in the too easy and familiar manner of Selim, as he swag 
 gered before them, the jasmine bloom jauntily held 
 between his lips, he casting, from time to time, a 
 backward leer to see that they followed, awoke her 
 alarm. 
 
 Selim did not take them to the main entrance, but 
 stopped at a side door in the adjoining wall, which 
 opened into a small courtyard, in the rear of which was 
 a semi-detached building containing the apartments 
 which Jacobini had sumptuously fitted up for Leone s 
 special use. 
 
 A pepper-tree on the right, with its fern-like foliage 
 all of a tremble, partly drooped over the wall, and as 
 Selim drew a key from his pocket, and unlocked and 
 flung open the door, there were revealed a few oleanders, 
 pomegranates and roses in the centre of the plat, and a 
 trellis which was covered with jasmine and a passion 
 flower. The inclosure was one of those bits of greenery 
 those pleasant revelations which occasionally, but far 
 too infrequently, burst on the depressed and unexpectant 
 vision in the ancient and mouldering city. 
 
 There was an old tradition regarding the house, which 
 mysteriously and with tragic accompaniments related 
 that, many and long years ago, it had been the property 
 of a wealthy Turk, and that the partly disconnected 
 wing, assigned to Leone, had been the seraglio contain-
 
 234 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 ing the harem of the true believer. There was more 
 than one indication which would go to confirm this. 
 
 Selim, stepping inside, held the door open, and beck 
 oned to the girls to enter. But both of them, looking 
 at one another inquiringly, hesitated and drew back. 
 
 " Come in," he said airily. " The good-man of the 
 house is within. He will abundantly reward you for the 
 flowers." 
 
 He rolled his eyes languishingly on the girls. 
 
 Thus urged, Amne turned to Hilwe. 
 
 "Let us go in, Hilwe. Come." 
 
 As she spoke, Amne passed inside the door ; but 
 Hilwe did not follow. 
 
 "Tell her to come," said Selim. "Why does she 
 delay?" 
 
 In his agitation and eagerness he twisted the fragrant 
 jasmine between his teeth, and then, taking it in his 
 fingers, unconsciously began pulling the milk-white 
 petals in pieces. 
 
 It was one of those made-up blossoms of which the 
 Oriental is so fond, flower being set within flower, re 
 peatedly, till the entire resembles an elongated double 
 or composite bloom. While his dark penetrating eyes 
 were earnestly fixed on Hilwe, he tore the perfumed 
 thing of beauty into shreds. 
 
 " Come, Hilwe," begged Amne. 
 
 " Come," he repeated, softly adding his solicitation. 
 
 But another voice sounded in Hilwe s ears. She 
 heard the warning words of Hassan as they told her of 
 the evil of the city, and that the holy places were the 
 wicked places. 
 
 " Entreat me not," she said. " I cannot come." 
 
 She stepped back several paces, and, while she did 
 so, implored Amne to accompany her. 
 
 This was more than Selim could endure. His deli 
 cately polite demeanour vanished. Provoked at being 
 thwarted upon the very threshold of success, he rushed 
 from his place, and caught the reluctant girl by the arm, 
 to compel her to come in. But before he had well 
 taken hold, Hilwe, now thoroughly alarmed, broke away 
 from him and fled.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 235 
 
 Away, away she flew, as if she was a bird of the 
 mountain ; nor did she wait to think whither her swift 
 feet carried her. 
 
 At first he tried to catch her ; but, seeing it was use 
 less, and worse than folly where there were so many to 
 interfere, he returned, closed the door, locking it on the 
 inside, and, resuming his bland and fascinating air, 
 ushered Amne into the house. 
 
 " She is a fool," he exclaimed, referring to Hilvve. 
 " We now shall see what she has lost through her 
 stupidity." 
 
 It was only after she had run through several streets 
 and crooked lanes of many turnings that Hilwe felt 
 secure, and was satisfied she had escaped. When she 
 paused, almost breathless and exhausted, she found her 
 self by a part of the old battleme.nted southerly wall of 
 the city, wondering how she had come there. 
 
 Managing to climb up by some broken steps into an 
 embrasure, where she could rest and look out, she saw, 
 far below her, the Valley of the Cedron winding between 
 the Hill of Evil Counsel and the Mount of Offence, the 
 village of Siloam skirting the lower slopes of the latter, 
 and the Mount of Olives towering high to the left. Far 
 to the right of the dismal fanatic Moslem village, lay 
 isolated the loathed dwellings of the lepers those 
 accursed unfortunates. Almost completely hidden from 
 sight, in the depth of the gorge, were the King s Gardens, 
 only a few of the trees and nearer inclosures being 
 visible. 
 
 Recognising where she was, while she recovered 
 breath, she rearranged in her basket the few bunches 
 of narcissus which had remained unsold, and which had 
 been sadly tossed and tumbled in her flight. She then 
 set out to return to the former position, at the entrance 
 to Christian Street. " It is there," she argued, " Amne 
 will come when she has sold her flowers." 
 
 Even could Hilwe have found the way back to 
 Jacobini s house, in search of Amne, she would not have 
 dared to venture near it, after her late experience. But 
 she kept a constant watch for her companion, expecting 
 to see her at every turn. And when she had sold her
 
 236 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 last blossom, she made a more definite search ; though 
 she found that, in her confusion, she had lost all idea of 
 the location of the house in which Amne had dis 
 appeared, or the way they had taken to reach it. 
 
 The truth was that Selim, for reasons best known to 
 himself, had brought the two girls by a roundabout 
 way, and through many unnecessary windings. 
 
 It was later than Hilwe supposed. Her anxiety had 
 made her forget her promise to Kadra to return without 
 unnecessary delay, and not to wait till the fifth or after 
 noon call to prayer. 
 
 Suddenly rang out the azan of the blind muezzin 
 from the topmost balcony of the nearest minaret, which 
 is an ancient structure fronting on the Via Dolorosa. 
 As he stood and cried his announcement to the four 
 quarters of the earth, from that airy octagonal balcony 
 with its archaic phallic ornamentation in gross evidence 
 at every angle strange intrusion of the symbol of an 
 older worship his voice had that plaintive tone so often 
 heard in the utterance of the blind. Each time, in clear 
 musical cadence, sounded the opening words: " Allahu 
 akbar ! God is most great ! " while he closed with the 
 invariable "La ilaha ilia llah ! There is no God but 
 God ! " ending with the ascription to Mohammed, in 
 long-drawn finely-accentuated syllables. It is a touching 
 proof of the humanity of the Moslem that the muezzin 
 is so often selected from among the blind, who, alas ! 
 are too frequent in the land. 
 
 Hilwe knew at once the call was for the prayer at the 
 asr, or afternoon, that is about mid-time between noon 
 and nightfall, and, remembering the strict injunction of 
 Kadra, hastened to join her, arriving none too soon, as 
 we have seen. 
 
 Once, on the way homeward, Hilwe ventured to inter- 
 rupt the conversation of the women with the expression 
 of her fears as to Amne ; but she was silenced with the 
 reminder that Amne had friends and acquaintances in 
 the city with whom she often stopped, and there was no 
 need to trouble herself about her.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 237 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 . This is the way." 
 
 As Selim showed Amne through the outer rooms 
 and into the inner apartment of Leone Spoliate, great was 
 her astonishment at the beauty and richness of the fur 
 nishings. She had never seen anything so fine, and, 
 in her wondering admiration, at first failed to notice the 
 owner of it all, its lord and master, the stately young 
 man who stood amusing himself in a corner with a 
 chameleon rather a strange pet, it might be thought, 
 for one like him. 
 
 The ungainly reptile was a large specimen of its kind, 
 and, including its tail, measured about a foot in length. 
 After its peculiarity, it had adapted its colour to the 
 young count s coat-sleeve, to which it clung, and was 
 now at its very darkest hue a mixture of black and 
 sooty olive. 
 
 Leone was quite absorbed in watching it dart out its 
 cylindrical extensile tongue, several inches in length, 
 when held within sufficient distance of a fly, which it 
 invariably hit and captured, aided by the glutinous 
 moisture covering the expanded end of that most extra 
 ordinary organ, so wonderfully adapted to its purpose. 
 The remarkable rapidity with which it used its tongue 
 was in strange contrast to the slow, lethargic character of 
 its other movements, for which it seemed compensative, 
 the length of time it took to lift one of its feet or turn 
 its head being so curiously and methodically sluggish as 
 to be incredible till witnessed. 
 
 But the most singular and unexpected action of a 
 creature so apparently inanimate was when Leone, who 
 greatly enjoyed the exhibition, held it towards two 
 smaller-sized chameleons crawling over the lace curtains 
 of the nearest window, to whose whiteness they had duly 
 approximated. Then, the pugnacity of the large chame 
 leon at once aroused, it became hideously enraged, ele 
 vated its humped and scaly back, as if to make itself 
 terrific, and, opening its mouth threateningly, hissed like
 
 238 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 a snake or angry cat, ready to snap at the first object 
 which presented itself. 
 
 " O you terror, how you frighten me ! " exclaimed the 
 count, in simulated alarm. He then burst into a laugh. 
 
 There was a boyishness, a freshness in the attitude 
 and manner of Leone, as he entered into the enjoyment 
 of this, which displayed his character in a new light. It 
 was as if bygone days, when he was a mere lad, came 
 back and reincarnated him for the time, as if olden joys 
 and feelings returned and filled him, possessing him, 
 looking through his eyes, moving his limbs, flooding his 
 veins. 
 
 Most men have a love for pets, though they may not 
 call them by that name, and though not always able to 
 gratify the propensity. Even sailors, situated as they 
 generally are under circumstances unusually difficult for 
 carrying out the object, manage to make and acquire 
 and keep a great variety of pets, the classification includ 
 ing birds, quadrupeds, and reptiles. Like the love of 
 flowers, it is thought to indicate a kindly spirit. I have 
 known a Prussian sailor, a handsome, neat young fellow, 
 on board a man-of-war, carry for a long time fastened 
 to his person, between his woollen shirt and his skin, one 
 of the smaller monkeys. The two seemed to become a 
 part of each other. 
 
 With the sailor, and others similarly situated, this love 
 of pets may be ascribed to the necessity of finding some 
 outlet for the restrained and pent-up affections of another 
 yet kindred nature, which thus find some alleviation. 
 Yet, it may be taken for granted, the boy survives in the 
 man much oftener than is supposed. 
 
 " How strange that a creature so lethargic, inert, and 
 dull, should yet be so quick and sagacious in some of 
 its movements, such as in this darting of its tongue, its 
 sudden manifestation of anger, and the skeptical way it 
 turns back on me its eye, so full of Pyrrhonic animus ! 
 One eye directed forward, the other backward ! What 
 a valuable gift ! What an expression, too ! See it ! 
 And then its capacity for changing the colour of its skin 
 in a few moments. A man could not do the like in a 
 hundred years, if he could live so long."
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 239 
 
 Leone had heard the footsteps behind him, and 
 addressed the words partly to himself, partly to Selim, 
 supposing the latter had entered the room alone. 
 
 " Signer Count," began Selim, to call attention, " see 
 the flowers I have brought you." 
 
 " Ah ! what have we here? " exclaimed Leone, drop 
 ping the chameleon and turning, with an altogether dif 
 ferent kind of admiration, apparently to the flowers, but 
 in reality to Amne. 
 
 " They are the first of the year, Signer." 
 
 " Flowers, indeed; I should think so." 
 
 " Is n t she handsome? " asked Selim, aside. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 This was uttered brusquely, with an impatient ac 
 quiescence, implying the admission was altogether 
 superfluous. 
 
 " I told her you would give her a good price for the 
 flowers perhaps a medjidie perhaps more than 
 that." 
 
 " Certainly. They are well worth it." 
 
 " Wilt thou buy them ? " Amne asked in Arabic, which 
 Selim translated. 
 
 " That I will, fair damsel." 
 
 Amne had begun displaying the flowers with a natural 
 grace which was most becoming to her. She smiled 
 softly, though she understood very few of the words 
 spoken, and scarce knew how to reply. But in Palestine 
 gesture is so much a part of conversation that there is, 
 perhaps, no other country where words may be so easily 
 dispensed with in communicating ideas as they may be 
 here. She was not slow to notice the respect and def 
 erence paid by Selim to Leone the possessor of all 
 this grandeur and wealth the fascinating young lord, 
 upon whom she looked with somewhat of the admiration, 
 awe, and reverence felt for a superior being; and she 
 governed herself accordingly. 
 
 On the mention of money, Leone had plunged his 
 hand deep into his pockets in search of purse or change. 
 But all his rummaging was of no avail ; he had neither 
 with him. 
 
 " Never mind, Signer, I will see to that, and make it
 
 240 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 all right," said Selim assuringly. " There is no need to 
 trouble about it. There is no hurry." 
 
 Leone had early fallen into the habit of letting Selim 
 act as his steward and purser. His knowledge of the 
 language, and acquaintance with the habits and customs 
 of the people, had naturally brought about this result. 
 And though the craving for authority and position, and 
 the love of display and lavish expenditure, so deeply em 
 bedded in the heart of the Syrian, occasionally tempted 
 him to exceed, it was not from any want of affection for 
 his master, to whom he had become attached in no 
 slight degree. Though he loved his money, it might 
 truly be said he loved the master more. In fact, it went 
 so far as that he identified himself with him to an ex 
 traordinary extent, taking pleasure in his gratification, 
 and pride in his very person. For the people of Palestine, 
 even in the city, are a warm-hearted people in whom the 
 natural impulses have lost little of the primitive flavour. 
 
 " For your honour, sir." 
 
 The way in which he would say this, when de 
 tected in some piece of extravagance, was altogether 
 indescribable. 
 
 It occasionally took all of Leone s determination to 
 check his worshipper in his unbounded and prodigal 
 adoration. And, it must be remembered that none of 
 the expense connected with the worship fell upon this 
 burner of incense, upon whom the glory was reflected. 
 From the golden Turkish pound or napoleon of 
 France, distributed with lavish hand, to the most atten 
 uated metalik, given to the blind beggar, all came out of 
 Leone s funds. But, then, they were constantly replen 
 ished from his wealthy uncle s hoard. And who could 
 be very angry with so devoted a follower as Selim? 
 Little did he count the cost where his master s gratifi 
 cation was concerned. 
 
 Sometimes Leone would lose his patience about it. 
 
 " This is unbearable ! " he declared. 
 
 There were not wanting those in Jerusalem who told 
 him that people were constantly saying: " Poor young 
 Count Spollato. His dragoman imposes on him ; and 
 makes him pay two prices for everything."
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 241 
 
 This exasperated Leone, and when next Selim got off 
 his stereotyped " Your honour, sir," " My honour, in 
 deed," Leone cried. " With these people my honour is 
 my money. And when you give them a handful of it, 
 you have taken so much of my honour from me, and 
 transferred it to them ; and presently they will have all 
 my honour, and I none." 
 
 But Selim was incorrigible, and, like the washed sow, 
 went back to his wallowing in the mire. 
 
 The curiosity and wonder of Amne in viewing the 
 furniture and appointments of the house were a source 
 of great enjoyment to Leone. Yet, in the midst of all 
 the display, the unsophisticated child of Nature, the 
 daughter of the wilderness, remained, to outward ap 
 pearance, unabashed, undisturbed. True, an occasional 
 visit to certain acquaintances and friends in Jerusalem 
 had partly prepared her, and given her a slight knowl 
 edge of what pertains to a somewhat more civilised 
 mode of life than that of the Palestine fellah. 
 
 Once she said, " I must go." But Selim reassured 
 her. 
 
 "She would like to see the other rooms the rest of 
 the house," suggested Selim. 
 
 Accustomed to the simple village house with its two 
 or three small rooms at most oftener only one room 
 these numerous chambers were to her like a maze. 
 She would have lost her way in them. But, then, this 
 only added the charm of mystery to their other delights. 
 
 So they led her from one apartment into another, and 
 even into the more sacred precincts of Leone s bedroom 
 a marvellous piece of sumptuousness where her 
 peculiar interest in the most minute details of its equip 
 ment she did not attempt to disguise, to the full ap 
 preciation of its owner, Selim liberally, and without 
 expurgation, translating for his benefit her artless, inno 
 cently broad remarks, while Leone wickedly smiled to 
 encourage her. 
 
 But it was the adjoining marble bath with all its 
 luxurious arrangements and appliances, in the Turkish 
 style, which appealed most decidedly to her suscepti 
 bilities. It was here, amid the various toilet articles, her 
 
 16
 
 242 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 feminine instincts asserted themselves. She had been 
 like a bird fluttering on the edge of the fountain before 
 wetting foot or wing. Here she gave way. This was 
 the grand climax. She could no longer contain herself. 
 The impulses of coquetry inherent in every female 
 creature, manifested themselves in the presence of 
 such a temptation were ungovernable, and were let 
 loose. 
 
 Few of even the peasant women are unacquainted 
 with the uses of henna with which they stain to a rich 
 golden orange the hands, feet, and finger-nails, or the 
 kohl with which they paint the borders of the eyes a full 
 black. Her fingers were already tinged with the lus 
 trous stain of the former. She, too, had learned, from 
 visiting her city friends, the employment of the cosmet 
 ics in more esteemed use. But now, this lavish display 
 at her free disposal was too much. It surpassed her be 
 lief. These agreeable mysteries, of voluptuous quality, 
 that held boundless possibilities of beauty, what might 
 not be achieved through them? The perfumed soap, 
 the dentifrice, the cold cream, the gilded flasks of otto 
 of roses, and rarer extracts to her unknown, the violet- 
 scented powder with its dainty box and puff, the 
 ivory-mounted brushes and other utensils, the uses of 
 some of which she could only guess at by intuition, 
 filled her with the intense desire to experiment with 
 them upon her person. She could not resist inquiring 
 about them, or requesting permission to so employ 
 them, and Leone was only too well pleased to gratify 
 her in these wishes. 
 
 " May I use this? Can I have that? " 
 
 The simple words fell from her lips like the twitter of 
 a bird, or the chatter of a child. 
 
 "Certainly. They are at your disposition," he would 
 answer, in the insinuating Eastern style. " They are 
 yours to do what you like with. They are yours, not 
 mine." 
 
 No second invitation was needed. She felt as if she 
 had entered some palace of the genii where her wishes 
 might know no limit where she might gratify her 
 desires to the full.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 243 
 
 " How delightfully amusing these natives are ! " said 
 Leone, turning to Selim. 
 
 " Wait, and you shall see," was his pithy reply. 
 
 "And now, Selim, you can go and arrange the flowers 
 in water before they fade. And then serve us something 
 extra fine in the way of refreshments." 
 
 Only too glad was the wily Selim to depart on such 
 an errand, which he knew meant a carte blanche for a 
 banquet. 
 
 " Now I shall do something grand," he said. 
 
 Amne stood before the great mirror, half entranced, 
 half ashamed, while beautifying herself, and arranging 
 her hair and dress, Leone leaning back upon the soft 
 abundant cushions of a broad couch, near by, and 
 luxuriating in the scene, to his heart s content. 
 
 She watched him furtively, her eyes demurely low 
 ered while he was looking. But when he turned away, 
 removing his enthralling glances for an interval, her 
 entire attention was given to his well-shaped glossy 
 head, which she longed to hold in her lap, and his 
 attractive form, extended with careless abandon, dis 
 played in close-fitting European dress, not concealed 
 by the long-flowing garments of the country, with 
 which custom had rendered her familiar. 
 
 " Would that he might love me," she whispered. 
 
 Her admiration for him was but too evident; and, 
 regarding him as an exalted god-like being, far above 
 her, this made her feel all the more keenly the neces 
 sity for making herself more beautiful, that she might 
 not come short of what was worthy of him. 
 
 So she had laved in the perfumed water, and made 
 lavish use of the articles of the toilet, as women are 
 wont to do who have such an object in prospect. 
 
 Her plain peasant garb, which hitherto had been 
 sufficient for her adornment, now had become utterly 
 contemptible in her eyes. She could not bear it. 
 
 " He will despise me in it," she said impetuously. 
 
 Among Leone s collections, which covered a wide 
 field, was a quantity of rich and costly Oriental gar 
 ments, of both men and women. These filled, in an 
 adjacent room, a large wardrobe which Amne had found
 
 244 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 in her ransacking exploration. She had been struck 
 particularly with the magificence of an elaborate silk 
 robe, of rich crimson, lavishly embroidered with gold. 
 The daring thought of appropriating it now flashed 
 through her mind. 
 
 " He will not refuse it to me," she said, to encourage 
 her act. " He is so royally munificent." 
 
 Cautiously she went to where that most desirable 
 thing of joy and splendour hung. It would fit her to 
 perfection. The sight of it inflamed her. She carefully 
 took it out. She held it against her. Oh, the glory of 
 it ! Again and again, she measured her height with it, 
 admiringly. It would make her like a houri. 
 
 She tore off and threw aside her peasant dress. It 
 was done in a sort of rage a passionate disdain. 
 
 She, at once, was a modern Eve in her undraped 
 beauty. 
 
 In a few moments the gorgeous apparel, all crimson- 
 and-gold, enveloped her. It clung to her as if it was 
 hers of right, as if it belonged to her and loved her. 
 She clasped it about her waist, and fastened its span 
 gled cincture, with graceful freedom drooping loosely 
 over the sheeny folds. She was like a radiant imago 
 a splendid butterfly, freshly emerged from the unsightly 
 cocoon. 
 
 She had found an antique chain of gold, and twisted 
 it about her neck. A similar ornament she twined in 
 her hair. 
 
 " He will not refuse them to me," she repeated, to 
 embolden her. " It is only to honour him, and make 
 me nearer to him and more worthy of the intimacy of 
 his sublime presence." 
 
 Softly and yearningly, all crimson and gold, with 
 throbbing heart, longing to see him longing yet fear 
 ing that he should see her she came to the door and 
 looked in. 
 
 He still remained where she had left him, half-reclined 
 on the couch, amid the billowy cushions. 
 
 There was a giving way to his feelings displayed in 
 his attitude which, being alone, he did not try to con 
 ceal, but evidently was careless about. His heart had
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 245 
 
 grown warm within him, and was dictating certain 
 hopes, wishes and desires, such as are apt to be born of 
 the young man s fancies. 
 
 She stood satisfying herself with gazing at him. 
 Perilous work ; for in such a case the appetite grows on 
 what it feeds on. 
 
 His face had an absorbed blissful expression, differ 
 ent from any she had seen on it. It pleased yet puzzled 
 her. She could gladly have kissed his feet. 
 
 He was thinking of her, but she did not know it. 
 
 " She is beautiful, beautiful beyond compare," he 
 murmured. " The sylphs of Paradise, whom a man 
 sometimes sees in his dreams, but who vanish at the 
 touch, are no fairer." 
 
 She knew not a word of what he said, but the deep 
 round tones of his voice appealed to her strangely, 
 movingly, and she felt through the vibratory communi 
 cation, all and more than all that the mere words would 
 have conveyed had she heard to understand them. 
 
 She saw with devouring eyes, in his retrospective 
 mood, unconscious of her presence, this noble exalted 
 young man, this prince of princes, this effendi, this emir 
 of high lineage, so immeasurably elevated above her, 
 and her heart leaped high, then sank within her. How 
 could she approach him? How could she even let her 
 thoughts incline to him? His face, his head, his hands, 
 his feet, his entire body and soul had for her the high 
 sanctity of the patrician the noble, the king-man. 
 
 "Yet, highly exalted as he is, he has been kind to 
 me," she said. " He has looked favourably upon me." 
 
 With proud native grace, concealing her timidity, she 
 drew near. It was Esther approaching Ahasuerus. 
 
 Just then with an impatient movement he changed 
 his position, so that the light struck full on his face and 
 figure, revealing his every feature. What a thrill of 
 rapture it gave her. What an attractive force com 
 pelled her. 
 
 His gaze was directed to the mirror; and he saw, 
 slowly taking form and advancing, as if coming out of it 
 towards him, a rare and lovely maiden, in glorious attire, 
 the realisation of his reverie.
 
 246 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 For a moment he could scarcely believe his senses. 
 Then there was the whispering rustle of the silken dress. 
 She stood beside him. 
 
 " Amne ! " he exclaimed, making a hurried effort to 
 sit upright. 
 
 What quickened admiration and delight he conveyed 
 in the single word ! It was sweeter than the sweetest 
 music in her ears. 
 
 After a slight hesitation, she stretched forth her hand 
 and, ever so delicately, touched his closely-trimmed, 
 pointed beard with the bewitching tips of her tapering 
 ringers, roseate-golden with the tint of the henna, then 
 raised them to her lips and kissed them. 
 
 The conciliatory gesture of supplication, the mode of 
 preferring any request of moment, familiar, yet sacredly 
 imperative in the land for thousands of years, it was new 
 to him. But under such circumstances as these, had he 
 witnessed the custom scores of times, for him it would 
 have pulsed with all the pristine warmth and freshness 
 of youth of the day that saw it done for the first 
 time. There could be no staleness about it from such 
 a source. 
 
 " Bountiful lord, be not angry with me because I 
 have borrowed from thy goodly store this costly rai 
 ment," she pleaded. " It is to do thee honour, gracious 
 Emir, and that I might not shame thy princely state. 
 Grant thy forgiveness if I have offended." 
 
 Her touch had sent the obedient blood in saltatory 
 bounds through his veins. He guessed what she meant 
 and said, though to him her action implied more than 
 was intended. He sprang to his feet He was still full 
 of the delicious glamour of his day-dream, of which this 
 was but a part. Lifted out of himself, it was as if he 
 walked on air. He was happier, more positive, more 
 natural than if he had been himself his ordinary self. 
 How could he withstand those dark pleading eyes, 
 those budding lips, red as a pomegranate flower? 
 
 " Angry ! Offended ! Oh, no ! Not I ! The rai 
 ment is yours. It is nothing. Did I not tell you? All 
 that I have is yours. I myself am yours." 
 
 What more he said he did not know. His signs and
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 247 
 
 actions more than satisfactorily supplied his want of 
 words. 
 
 " It is well," she murmured, half-inquiringly. 
 
 " It is heavenly well," he profanely responded, with 
 the blunt unequivocal assertiveness of the man 
 unrestrained. 
 
 Her long black silken lashes reposed with entrancing 
 modesty on the ripened glow of her olive cheek. The 
 rich gleam of that which is life and love shone through, 
 like a lighted lamp within an alabaster vase. Gently, 
 almost submissively, she at length lifted her full-orbed 
 eyes to his, as he gazed with overpowering intenseness 
 upon her. Is it not in this gentle submissiveness, where 
 used with discretion, that the chief power of the woman 
 resides? It was like the sudden meeting of decisive 
 lances in a friendly tournament. 
 
 " Allah is kind to me, and thou, generous lord, art 
 kind to me." 
 
 " Amne, I love you, I love you ! I 
 
 Pity him. Envy him. And her? 
 
 To her he was a great power a great hope and 
 more, he was the embodiment of love. 
 
 Except for some stray fragments of Arabic conversa- 
 *ion which Leone had already acquired, and a few sen 
 tences of Italian and English known to Amne, neither 
 understood the language of the other ; and Selim was 
 not near to interpret; nor did they want him near. 
 Eye to eye, lip to lip, heart to heart, there is a lan 
 guage for which, be the lands of their birth ever so far 
 apart, their speech ever so distinctive, man and woman 
 require no interpreter. It is the voice of Nature ; it is 
 the cry of love ; the universal tongue which has been 
 given to all. 
 
 There were in both of them the natural elements that 
 drew each to the other and besought recognition. 
 Perhaps, of the two, the woman felt this the more 
 intensely. Separated as they might be by race, relig 
 ion, education, training, and position, there still was 
 that, down deep in the heart of each, which remained to 
 claim affinity and association. 
 
 The moments swiftly passed ; the shadows of ap-
 
 248 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 preaching eventide began to fall, filling the room with 
 subdued glimmering. As it happened, it was at the 
 identical time that Hilwe had interrupted the conversa 
 tion of the women, as they approached Malha in return 
 ing from Jerusalem, with the repeated expression of her 
 fears as to Amne. 
 
 But Amne had no fears for herself. Nor did she 
 think of returning home. She was past all that. 
 
 Through the half-opened windows came occasionally 
 the feeble undertoned warble from a cage of gold 
 finches hung in the veranda under the trellis of jasmine 
 and passion-flower. A spray of the latter with a 
 single star-like flower, which had broken loose, swung 
 to and fro in the breeze, with a sibilant sound. 
 Within the room there was silence so deep that this 
 soft rustling made itself heard. 
 
 More than once Selim had entered the ante-chamber, 
 thinking he might be wanted, and had listened at the 
 door. He did not often enter the inner room without 
 being summoned by his master, or under urgent reasons. 
 So he continued to wait outside. 
 
 He had fulfilled his orders to his own satisfaction, 
 and was not without natural pride as to the result. 
 
 "It will be a grand banquet, and do credit to the 
 house," he told himself. 
 
 He bent his ear to the door. 
 
 "She has no intention of leaving," he whispered, a 
 peculiar insinuative gesture accompanying the words. 
 "Not she!" 
 
 He ventured to tap lightly on the panels. 
 
 There was no answer. 
 
 Again he tapped ; this time a little louder. Still 
 there was no response. 
 
 He now stealthily and noiselessly opened the door, 
 and gently pushed aside the drapery which overhung it 
 on the inside, just sufficient to intrude his head. 
 
 He stood and gazed for a space ; then slowly dropped 
 the portiere and withdrew, a significant smile curling 
 his complacent, sensuous lips. 
 
 As in the case of most Orientals, Selim s curiosity 
 was of the inordinate rapacious quality, and where his
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 249 
 
 master was involved, it was apt to reach the extreme. 
 But he had satisfied himself; and now proceeded to 
 complete the various appointments for the banquet, 
 arraying the table with all the skill of which he was 
 capable, and in ways which he knew were pleasing to 
 the count. 
 
 "Now I have done something worthy," he assured 
 himself. "Count Leone will praise me." 
 
 The sides of the dining-room as well as the centre 
 of the table were lavishly decorated with the flowers of 
 the narcissus, which he knew would gratify both Leone 
 and Amne ; and, with native taste, and that feeling for 
 colour which is predominant in the East, he had laid 
 loosely upon their delicately-veined sides, in open cut- 
 glass dishes of slim oblong shape, some blossoms of the 
 purple crocus, which made a fine and telling contrast 
 with the silver and gold of the narcissus. It was like 
 the rich man, Dives, clothed in purple and fine linen. 
 
 As by this time it was almost dusk, Selim lighted 
 the wax tapers in the candelabra, which added largely 
 to the brilliancy of the effect, and announced that all 
 was now ready. 
 
 Great was the dazzling blaze of crystal and silver; 
 sweet the relief of the clustering blossoms. 
 
 When he ushered Leone and Amne into the room, 
 it would be difficult to describe the delighted wonder 
 of the latter at the sight, as she nodded her head, from 
 which dangled a multitude of golden moons and stars, 
 and other heavenly bodies, by a series of chainlets, 
 from the antique ornament she had fastened in her 
 hair. Especially surprised and strangely pleased was 
 she to find that, instead of her having to serve Leone, 
 standing behind him, and waiting till he had finished 
 eating before she had placed a morsel of the food inside 
 her lips, she was given the seat of honour at his right 
 hand, and made a first feature of, all the dishes being 
 passed to her before he would touch them. 
 
 "Will you not eat of this, Amne? " 
 
 How gently and winningly he addressed her! With 
 what soft innocent words ! And how gallant, and 
 happy, and full of love he was!
 
 250 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 "Who could refuse him?" she said. "Who would 
 not worship such a lover?" 
 
 He talked to her all the sweet little broken prattle 
 of the Arabic that he knew, and used toward her the 
 tender, endearing, fascinating ways of which he was 
 master; encouraging her to reply in her unsophisticated 
 village phraseology. 
 
 It was remarkable with what tact she filled her place 
 at the table. There were few or no blunders percep 
 tible on her part. 
 
 The knives and forks were, no doubt, somewhat of 
 stumbling-blocks to her; and, like the Eastern people 
 generally, she considered that food tasted sweeter 
 from between the fingers ; yet she was too shrewd to 
 let this appear, but watched and copied Leone in 
 everything. 
 
 Still she could not forbear to put choice bits of the 
 food into his mouth with her fingers oh, how 
 daintily! 
 
 "It is delightful to be so intimate with you," she 
 said; " I love you so." 
 
 And he returned the compliment in kind, after her 
 example, and with the addition of an ardent kiss. 
 
 She even did not show surprise at the forbidden 
 fizzing sparkling draught of amber hue which Selim 
 poured into the slender glasses placed for her and 
 Leone s use, and which exhilarating fluid of France 
 she mistook for the most delicious sherbet she had ever 
 tasted. 
 
 Noticing its peculiar effervescence, in her heart she 
 supposed it contained some potent love-philtre. But 
 she did not care. 
 
 "So much the better," she said, tossing off the 
 potion; "I cannot love him enough." 
 
 And Leone drank her health ; and, with replenished 
 glasses, initiated her into what she accepted as a 
 sacred ceremonial libation, teaching her to drink his 
 health. 
 
 He luxuriated in talking to her at her level. 
 
 " What a dear little bead ! " he said. 
 
 It was one of those blue beads (suspended from her
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 251 
 
 neck) so commonly worn by the peasantry as a talisman 
 to ward off the influence of the "evil eye." 
 
 He bent forward, and taking it between his finger 
 and thumb, raised it to his lips and kissed it. 
 
 "I love it so, because it is yours," he lisped. 
 
 "It is nothing," she returned, smiling. 
 
 "It is everything." 
 
 He replaced it, softly and slowly, where it rested, 
 above her breast. His hand lingered there tenderly, 
 caressingly. And still flowed on the deliciously foolish 
 babble of love-words : 
 
 "O delight of my eyes, joy of my life, do we not 
 love one another? " 
 
 "Truly, truly." 
 
 " That is a beautiful star tattooed upon thy bosom, 
 Amne. Let me touch it with my lips." 
 
 Quickly appreciating the change in position which 
 had taken place between herself and Selim, Amne 
 followed Leone s example in ordering him about. She 
 even went further, exacting very particular service from 
 him in innumerable ways, clapping her hands to call 
 him, and making him feel her superiority in acts only 
 possible to an Oriental. It was perfectly characteris 
 tic of the people. 
 
 Leone laughed, much diverted. Selim showed no 
 restiveness, but took it all in good part, treating her as 
 a capricious child. He had a greater joy. 
 
 And when the night settled down and darkness 
 reigned supreme, and the fowls of the air had gone 
 to roost and the beasts of the field to their lairs and 
 man to his repose, and Amne evinced no anxiety or 
 fear as to remaining, Selim quietly repeated to him 
 self with scarcely-suppressed exultation : 
 
 " He is pleased. I am glad. She is well content 
 to stay. Why should it not be so? She has no 
 thought of leaving." 
 
 And the moon came and looked down on the ruinous 
 places, and on savage and desolate regions where no 
 man dwelt, and on homes of beauty and love; on 
 thievish haunts and murderous dens, and cradled inno 
 cence; on seraglios, and holy shrines; on peaceful
 
 252 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 sanctity, and hotbed of lust; and left on each alike 
 her chaste cold kiss. For to her all was well upon 
 the earth. 
 
 And that day and night passed, and were followed by 
 others like unto them. And Amne was content to live 
 the new life she had found with Leone, and to forget 
 the place of her birth, and the house of her people, and 
 the old life at Malha. Nor did it trouble her, nor 
 enter her head to think she had made herself accurst 
 with a dog of a Giaour. 
 
 He was kind to her according to what such men 
 count kindness, far kinder than would have been one 
 of her own religion or people. 
 
 In her estimation he was as an incarnation of all 
 that was to be desired. 
 
 O man ! the beast ! the angel ! the god ! What 
 art thou? And where is thy reckoning? 
 
 The old man, Jacobini, living close by, almost 
 under the same roof, came and went, in his placid 
 existence, knowing none of these things. Or, if a 
 stray suspicion entered his mind, he averted or closed 
 his eyes, thinking it better not to see. What could 
 he do? He recalled, too, the proverb he had once 
 heard quoted by Selim : "Why should a man set fire 
 to his own beard?" 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 EVEN as Kadra had prognosticated, Fatima was so 
 rejoiced at the amount of money obtained by 
 the sale of Hilwe s flowers, that she was eager the girl 
 should go, the very next day, in search of more of the 
 spoil of the field and hillside. Only too gladly did 
 Hilwe set out the following morning, and found the 
 expectant Hassan awaiting her, and eager to accom 
 pany her and assist her in her task, as he had done 
 previously. 
 
 If possible, the natural garden-like inclosure was
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 more beautiful than ever. The flowers were more 
 abundant, and of greater, variety. The two days of 
 genial weather which had intervened had made a 
 remarkable difference. The entire hillside would soon 
 be ablaze with scarlet anemones. In favourable spots 
 it was already dabbled with them, as if with blood 
 stains. But, oh, the silvery white of the narcissus! 
 And the joy, greater than ever, it was to Hassan and 
 Hilwe to sit among the blossoms and inhale the fra 
 grance ! They found it easier than before to gather 
 the flowers, and soon had all they desired. 
 
 Certes, their happiness was at the full. And how 
 glad and free were Hassan s words! 
 
 "Out here alone, Hilwe, away from every one, 
 among the sweet white and scarlet blooms, is it not 
 like Paradise? Is it not Heaven on earth, with thee 
 in my arms, so close to me, so dear to me, my 
 beloved?" 
 
 " Naam Yes. " 
 
 Hassan heard the softly-uttered response breathed 
 very low against his breast with a sigh of deep con 
 tentment, as Hilwe nestled nearer to him, under the 
 sheltering folds of his abai. 
 
 " How spice-like is the smell of the blossoms ! This 
 is even the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frank 
 incense of which Suleyman, the wise king, spake in his 
 Canticles his Song of Songs. And thou, my beloved, 
 my spouse, for art thou not my spouse ? fairest 
 among women, art among the daughters as is the lily 
 among thorns. Truly, I am sick of love. And thou 
 alone canst comfort me. I am my beloved s, and my 
 beloved is mine." 
 
 "Yes, truly, I am thine." 
 
 What could be more simple or innocent than their 
 love-life? 
 
 Whatever else he was, or was not, Hassan was a 
 brave, stalwart lover. He was deeply affectionate as 
 well as lovable. It came natural to him. He could 
 not help it. And now, at this time of the year, when 
 the earth and all things were so kind and generous in 
 responding to the genial influences that abounded, and
 
 254 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 the quickening ardour of the great central orb, it was 
 not for such as he to play the coward or the laggard. 
 It was not in his muscle or in his bones, in his heart 
 or his hands. He, the strong one, who had lived so 
 closely to nature, and who had wrestled with, or made 
 playfellows and playthings of the wild creatures on the 
 mountains and in the valleys, and had learned their 
 untutored ways, intuitively knew what was expected of 
 him, and was not dwarfed to the cold, calculating, 
 conventional standard of artificial life. 
 
 With the sweet music of the voice of the woman 
 he loved ringing in his ears, so soothing and low, so 
 loving yet so modest, what wonder that his heart was 
 stirred in no ordinary degree ! 
 
 Love is its own excuse. There is no apologising 
 for it. Is there anything sweeter in life? No no! 
 It is, as Hassan repeatedly had said, Heaven on earth. 
 
 She had met him in the hills, under the shadow of 
 the rocks, in the fields, in the cave where he slept and 
 found shelter. Men have warm hearts in the Orient, 
 and, living a rude pastoral life, are not ashamed of the 
 natural endowments rather, indeed, are they proud 
 of them. They have not learned the shame that comes 
 of progress of a certain kind. 
 
 No one brings accusation against the wild, unlicensed 
 creatures of God for acts of immorality or immodesty. 
 With man, of whom, rationally, more is expected, it 
 is otherwise. Yet, often, the natural emotions reduce 
 a man to the bare original principles. 
 
 In short, Hassan s love for Hilwe had all the impetu 
 ous ardour of the healthy robust peasant. Full of the 
 strong instincts of the man who has lived the free, 
 outdoor life of the mountain-side, and with compara 
 tively little or no conception of the restraints and 
 limits the conventionalities of a refined civilisation 
 necessarily have erected around all that is connected 
 with love and marriage, it obviously would be unfair 
 to judge him by any of the artificial standards of 
 modern society. They could not take his measure. 
 He was too large for their strait-laced mould. He 
 lived more in his feelings and emotions than in his
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 255 
 
 thoughts and reason ; and even his reason was dragged 
 down into his feelings. And in this respect he was no 
 exception to his class. 
 
 Still, it may be said he did not conform to the rules 
 and customs of the primitive people to whom he 
 belonged. 
 
 True. But this was not altogether his fault. He 
 had done what in him lay to reach this end, and gain 
 their approval ; and even yet hoped to obtain the desired 
 sanction. Exceptional circumstances had prevented 
 and thwarted him. Otherwise there would have been 
 no room for this criticism. 
 
 In the sight of God and the angels, Hassan and 
 Hilwe were man and wife. What mattered it that 
 neither Hilwe s uncle nor the sheik at Malha, nor the 
 sheik at Bettir had sanctioned the contract and mut 
 tered the formula over them ? What matter what the 
 functionary, civil or religious, or otherwise, had said 
 or done, or not said or done, about it? or that, for 
 venal motives, Hilwe s guardian had withheld consent? 
 Too often the sacred words consecrate unholy partner 
 ships and the most wicked compacts; and sometimes 
 they are wanting in the case of the genuine marriages, 
 unions made in Heaven. Besides, with the fella 
 heen, a written or even a verbal contract is all that is 
 absolutely required in marriage. 
 
 It was their honeymoon, the feast of their married 
 joy. But for them no wedding banquet was spread, 
 nor were there rejoicing and merry-making of kinsfolk 
 and friends, fatted calf, and golden ring, and mar 
 riage garment, nor all the little forms and ceremonies 
 so dear to the native heart. Even the most maimed 
 rites were wanting. Yet sweeter than the metheglin 
 prescribed by old Teutonic custom for bride and bride 
 groom during the bridal month, known from this as 
 the honey-month or honeymoon, were to them the 
 salutations of the flowers, and the " God speed ! " of 
 the fresh breezes blowing up from the Great Sea over 
 the waiting expectant hills. And within, they were 
 glad with a secret gladness and a fearful joy. 
 
 It was the time of year when the land may be seen
 
 256 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 in all its beauty; and Palestine seemed to put on its 
 glory to rejoice with them. Throughout rugged Judaea, 
 and fairer still in the land of Ephraim, whose lines 
 had fallen in pleasant places, on the richly-gardened 
 slopes, named Paradises, the freshly-expanded young 
 leaves of the pomegranate bushes had that delicate 
 orange-pink hue peculiar to them when first they 
 appear. It is neither pink nor orange, but smiles 
 among the soft green foliage of the early year with a 
 cheerful, fulvous glow, brightly beautiful as any 
 blossom, lighting up those grand slopes. They saw, 
 day by day, the hillsides and valleys, love-flooded, 
 flame out redder and redder, warmer and warmer, 
 with the scarlet of the anemone, till they seemed to 
 have caught fire from heaven, and all was universal 
 conflagration, that, later, smouldered on in the more 
 sullen crimson of the ranunculus, or the adonis, whose 
 sanguine flowers among their fringe of tender green 
 the Christians have pathetically named "The blood- 
 drops of Christ." The spurs of the mountains were 
 clothed as in a blue mist with multitudes of lupine; 
 and the little celandine, beloved of the swallow, lined 
 the margins of the cool streams with its golden 
 cups. 
 
 And the days and the weeks passed, and to the man 
 and the woman, in their Eden of bliss, all was as a 
 dream, and the blazonry and pageant of the flowery 
 landscape symbols of the love that each felt at heart, 
 growing fonder and fonder, stronger and deeper. 
 
 How much dream or dreaminess enters into the 
 Palestine life and character, the people, the places, 
 even the dress ! The traveller or the stranger lends 
 himself to the impression, and he feels as if he were 
 walking in a vision of the past, and that by some stroke 
 of the magician s wand which had created it, it all 
 should suddenly dissolve into impalpable air. 
 
 It is the Bible alive! 
 
 Yet if it is the land of three thousand years ago, it 
 is also the land of to-morrow, of procrastination. Per 
 haps this is the explanation of it all. 
 
 "Boukra, Boukra! To-morrow, to-morrow!"
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 257 
 
 Boukra! This is the word continually on the lips 
 of the people, the constant reply when the question 
 is put why this or that thing has been so long neglected, 
 and has not been done, or when they are pushed to 
 finish the work given them. They are eminently con 
 tent to wait rather than to labour. 
 
 " Boukra - To-morrow. " Yes, it is the land of 
 Boukra, where every one has plenty of time in which to 
 do nothing. There is no rasping hurry here; all is 
 bathed in the congenial almost torpid quiescence 
 the repose pertaining to it, and into which it has settled 
 with fatalistic equanimity. The thing most dreaded 
 is any disturbance of existing habits and customs. 
 
 But, so far as the visionary was concerned, with 
 Hassan and Hilwe it rather was that the dream, the 
 hope of their life, had been realised, and that their 
 happiness, through their love, had exceeded expecta 
 tion and the wildest imagination they ever had indulged 
 in. It had come upon them almost unawares. That 
 it had been chastened and proved by the peculiar 
 opposing circumstances they had encountered, had not 
 lessened but really heightened the ultimate satisfac 
 tion and felicity which were theirs in spite of all 
 antagonism. It is a well-understood principle of 
 human nature that that which costs comparatively 
 little is valued accordingly. 
 
 Hassan was not the sort of man to have any such 
 thought as that the shell or body which he inhabited, 
 or that of the beautiful Hilwe, or the rocks, flowers, 
 grass, trees, and living things surrounding him were, 
 as taught by the idealist, mere appearances, abstrac 
 tions, creations of the brain, delusions. Oh, no! He 
 was not built that way. To him they were very real, 
 substantial existences. There was no insipidity about 
 him, no molluscous flabbiness. He loved the world, 
 and the things that were in the world; and, so far as 
 in him lay, it was his determination to get all the good 
 out of them he possibly could extract. 
 
 By this time, according to men s ways, he may have 
 been wicked ; he was, at least, as frail or self-indul 
 gent as are a majority of the natives; but he never
 
 258 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 sinned as badly as David sinned; and I never called 
 Hassan "a man after God s own heart." 
 
 But had the bright calendar of those days of the 
 year as it unfolded itself in flower, and bird, and 
 insect, in sky, rivulet and grove, for Hassan and Hilwe 
 no undertone of melancholy, no touch of subdued, 
 sombre colouring? 
 
 That could not be answered positively from outward 
 observation. We only know that where man is, there 
 must be sadness that even his highest bliss is tem 
 pered with it. And we doubt that they were excep 
 tions. It indeed would be strange were they able, 
 except, perhaps, in their most exalted moments of 
 happiness, to shut out from themselves all thought of 
 the inimical conditions which, however courageously 
 they had pushed aside and held off from them, still 
 environed them. 
 
 Yet, whatever questioning or inauspicious thoughts 
 may have intruded upon their gladness, they gave 
 them no utterance during those days of light. It was 
 a point of honour as well as of love with them. They 
 would not say aught that might seem to bring 
 reproach. 
 
 It was not till the harvest of the roses that Hilwe 
 at last gave way, and broke silence as to what was 
 reverberating, a minor tone, in her mind. 
 
 She had stolen away, one evening, to meet Hassan 
 at the old trysting-place. She was late, and found 
 him waiting, and impatient at the delay. There was a 
 boisterousness in his manner towards her which some 
 thing told her was forced, unnatural, and meant to con 
 ceal or counteract his true feelings. She resented this 
 inwardly, while she gave way to his mood, and appar 
 ently took no notice of it. 
 
 Her hair had fallen loose on her shoulders, and was 
 blown in dark tangles about her face, while her gar 
 ments, in which she had been working all day, were 
 more or less bedraggled and disordered. She had 
 hastened at unusual speed, in her effort to make up for 
 being late; and she thus explained and excused her 
 dishevelled condition, which she tried to set right as
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 259 
 
 best she could. But Hassan only laughed, and told 
 her, humourously, he found no fault with her. 
 
 "Why should I?" he asked flippantly. "The face 
 of a beloved mistress has no need of a tire-woman," he 
 added, quoting an old proverb. 
 
 She wished he spoke more candidly and seriously. 
 Now, she felt, he is speaking away from the subject at 
 heart ; and tears filled her eyes. 
 
 Noticing this, he rallied her about it. 
 
 "Why art thou so woe-begone and dejected?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "Hassan, it is the time of roses," she said, with 
 great feeling. 
 
 " I know it," he replied carelessly. 
 
 He would not understand her. 
 
 He was very proud and sensitive about this, and 
 could not bear interrogatory upon it, even from the 
 woman he loved. It had been a sorer mortification to 
 him than he himself had quite measured, that he had 
 been foiled in reaching the end he had sought, and 
 that he had not yet found the hoped-for deliverance 
 for her. It was a reproach to him ; yet he did not care 
 to acknowledge it. 
 
 The words of Abd-el-nour spoken to her uncle had 
 been burned in upon Hassan s brain too deeply not, at 
 once, to be recalled by even a far slighter hint than 
 that of Hilwe s. 
 
 " The rose-harvest began three days ago ; and to 
 morrow will be the greatest day of all, when most of 
 the flowers will be in bloom." 
 
 How plaintively she spoke of the joyous, the beau 
 tiful event ! 
 
 "And all Malha is rejoicing," he said, with a con 
 temptuous backward toss of his head. 
 
 "All but Hilwe." 
 
 This was uttered by her in a low sad voice, scarcely 
 audible. 
 
 Hassan s face had assumed a hard, drawn expression, 
 and his eyes were full of pain as he looked beyond 
 Hilwe into the far distance. 
 
 "Roses and rejoicing," he muttered, as though he 
 had heard her not.
 
 260 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 She lifted her eyes deprecatingly to his face, but 
 she could not catch his averted glance. 
 
 " And soon it will be barley-harvest." 
 
 " Yea. And what of that ? " he said. 
 
 " Oh, Hassan ! And hast thou forgotten the words of 
 Abd-el-nour to my uncle Ismael? " 
 
 He roused himself with an effort, and drew himself 
 into a more erect posture. 
 
 " Nay. That could not well be. Didst thou think I 
 could forget?" Then, as though he were recalling and 
 repeating some unpleasant lesson, he went on in a 
 monotonous key : " He said the crop of roses would be 
 abundant, the barley-harvest early and good, and, count 
 ing what the lentils, wheat, olives, grapes, and all would 
 bring him, together with what he already had saved, 
 that, by the time the doura was ripe and garnered, he 
 would have the full amount he had promised for thee. 
 Have I forgotten aught of that thou didst tell me?" 
 
 " Verily and indeed thou hast remembered every 
 word." 
 
 A strange awe rilled her at his rigid manner. 
 
 " Oh, Hihve, little dost thou know how, night and day, 
 those words have been before me ! How I have broken 
 my heart against them ! " 
 
 " Forgive me for speaking about it, and if I have 
 wronged thee." 
 
 " Didst thou think I took it too easily? Or didst thou 
 imagine I was beginning to forget? Too heavy would 
 the reproach be for that. If I have leaped like a wolf 
 into the fold, if I have broken through like a thief in the 
 night, was there no excuse for me? And even then, did 
 I take aught that was not mine own, or was not freely 
 given me? Or did I offend against custom till Nature 
 cried within me and I could not help myself; or till I 
 had tried every other means I could think of, without 
 avail? I brought peace-offerings, and spake pleasant 
 words to thy kinsfolk. And my daysman never man 
 spake sweeter words or more movingly than did Chalil. 
 But they put their ears to sleep. They would not listen. 
 They were as the deaf adder that will not hear the voice 
 of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. They re-
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 261 
 
 warded me evil for good. They drove us forth with 
 curses and violence. They spilt my blood." 
 
 " It is true ! It is true ! " 
 
 Hilwe s head dropped on her breast for shame. 
 
 " The evil that they would do unto me, mayhap it will 
 fall upon their own heads; for they had no pity. As for 
 me, I have not offended against my nature. But if I 
 have committed wickedness in this that I have done 
 though I cannot think that I have then let me be 
 judged. But let me be judged by Allah." 
 
 As Hassan, drawn up to his full height, his hand 
 slightly raised heavenward, solemnly and impressively 
 spoke these words, it might well be thought next to im 
 possible for any one beholding him and gazing in his 
 handsome face to pronounce him guilty of any deadly 
 sin or malign act. The entire attitude of the man repelled 
 the idea. 
 
 " Thou art innocent innocent and spotless as the 
 daylight ! " was all Hilwe could say in an agony of 
 remorse. 
 
 " If thou hast thought; me hard to thee, Hilwe, and I 
 may have been hard at times, it was not through unkind- 
 ness, it was because of my love, and that my thoughts 
 were troubled on account of thee, so that I was jealous, 
 and I steeled myself to face what might be coming, and 
 to guard thee from evil." 
 
 " O Hassan, I have done wrong and misjudged thee ! " 
 she moaned. " But I never would have spoken were it 
 not that I feared the worst at the hands of my kinsfolk. 
 I know not what they may do, they are so cruel. Ever 
 since Amne s disappearance they have looked with sus 
 picion upon me and shown me no favours, but acted 
 bitterly towards me, threatening and oppressing me. 
 My life may be in danger. The people of Malha are 
 exasperated, and ready for any mischief. They with 
 Amne s folk questioned me closely, and took me before 
 the sheik, thinking I had concealed the truth ; but I could 
 only repeat what I had told thee. How could I know 
 more than that? Yet they do not believe. Thou know- 
 est how I have suffered about Amne. And now the 
 sheik is wroth, and he has forbidden even the old women
 
 262 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 to carry water into Jerusalem. Doubtless thou hast 
 heard, for it has made much talk and trouble." 
 
 " Yea, I have heard, and that he charges the old 
 women with taking backsheesh to betray the young girls. 
 It looks bad. But as for thy people putting thy life in 
 danger I cannot believe that." 
 
 Then, as if to draw Hilwe s mind from the graver sub 
 ject, Hassan continued to speak of the water: 
 
 " They say the people of Jerusalem complained to the 
 pasha of the sheik withholding the water, but received 
 no satisfaction," he said. " It is a good thing for the 
 people of Ain Karim. The water there will now be in 
 greater demand than ever; and also the sheiks of the 
 Mosque of Omar will reap goodly profit from the water 
 of the Great Sea, as they call it, and the other vast cis 
 terns under the pavement of the sacred inclosure. So 
 it comes to pass that the misfortunes of some are for the 
 benefit of others." 
 
 " It seems with us as if one trouble followed upon 
 another." 
 
 " It is even so. I have watched and waited, hoping 
 for deliverance. I have wasted the night hours trying to 
 think out and find some opportunity which would work 
 to our advantage. But in vain. I have feared harm to 
 thee did I take some open and decided step before the 
 time had come. Again I thought, while I am contriv 
 ing who knows what Allah hath determined in our 
 behalf? " 
 
 " It may be as thou sayest," she replied. " Doubtless 
 thou art right." 
 
 " Hast thou never heard of what happened with Azrael 
 and Suleyman? " 
 
 "Nay; how should I hear it, unless thou didst tell it 
 me." 
 
 " Then hearken," said Hassan : " Azrael, the angel of 
 death, in an assumed visible shape, once passing by 
 Suleyman, and looking steadily at a man who was sitting 
 with the king, the man asked who it was. Whereupon 
 Suleyman informed him that it was the angel of death. 
 He seems to want me, said the man, alarmed. I 
 beseech thee, therefore, order the wind to carry me from
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 263 
 
 hence into India. This accordingly was done, for 
 Suleyman, the wisest of men, was skilled exceedingly in 
 magic and enchantment. Then Azrael, turning to Suley 
 man, said : I looked so earnestly at the man out of 
 wonder; because I was commanded to take his soul in 
 India, and found him with thee in Palestine. Thus may 
 it not be so with us? instead of bettering matters, may 
 we not make them worse by meddling with them ? Have 
 we not had experience of this? " 
 
 " The story is a profitable one," said Hilwe. " I shall 
 take it to heart." 
 
 "It is a good while yet till the doura harvest," Hassan 
 resumed. " By that time I would have laid up sufficient 
 to make no unworthy present to thy uncle; and then, 
 when all was told, when he knew all, he would give his 
 consent, and Abd-el-nour would yield, at last would 
 be obliged to give thee up." 
 
 " And there are the people of Bettir," she said. 
 " They would have to be pacified." 
 
 " True. But that is comparatively as nothing an 
 easy task. I do not trouble myself with it. Between 
 Chalil and the sheik, his father, I hope to make the way 
 smooth and peaceable." 
 
 " Pray Allah it may be so." 
 
 Then Hassan s eyes brightened. The happy, boyish 
 look returned to them while he softly smiled. 
 
 " Did I not point out to thee from afar the habitation 
 of my father and of my mother in Bettir? It is my in 
 heritance, and will now be our dwelling-place mine 
 and thine, even as it has been theirs. Shall we not be 
 happy there, Hilwe?" 
 
 " Surely, surely. Be it according to thy word ! " 
 
 " It is a pleasant place," he continued, with the easy 
 transition to the agreeable and acceptance of the optim 
 istic natural to the Oriental. " Pomegranates and figs 
 to thy hand. Grapes, apricots, melons, almonds, peaches, 
 and the golden quince and purple mulberry more than 
 you can gather; besides vegetables of every kind that 
 can be mentioned. There are not such gardens in all 
 Palestine." 
 
 " Ah, yes ! "
 
 264 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Hilwe s heart was swelling with suppressed emotion, 
 and this was all she could say. 
 
 " Then the flocks and the herds, the honey dripping 
 from the honey-comb, the olive groves and the fields of 
 grain," he continued. " Well may it be called a land 
 of corn, wine and oil, and flowing with milk and honey. 
 And the water springing out of the solid rock ! Ah, 
 that is something to boast of! Not as at Malha, where 
 thou hast to go far to draw it, but close to thy very 
 door ; and then it is living water, fountains of water, 
 cool and sweet." 
 
 What a gentle, loving, genial fellow he was, and how 
 full of life ! Carried away with his recital, he swayed 
 his body to and fro, and he laughed fondly, and bent 
 his knees, from time to time, suddenly springing them 
 back, quite as effectively as, and much more naturally 
 than any of the young bloods of our most exclusive 
 set, after their manner, when, under similar impulses, 
 yielding themselves to the fascinations of some pleasant 
 story. 
 
 Man is man, however he may be garbed, to whatever 
 race he belongs, in whatsoever station he may be found ; 
 he cannot conceal his sex; and his nature will reveal 
 and declare itself, often unconsciously, and spite of 
 circumstances. 
 
 "Would to Allah it were accomplished ! " 
 
 Passionate tears dimmed Hilwe s charmed gaze as 
 she spoke. She adored him more than ever as she 
 looked upon him, so handsome, so strong, so kind, and 
 cared for nothing but his love. 
 
 " It will all come in good time, Hilwe. Do not be 
 disquieted or cast down. Two hearts united can remove 
 a mountain, they say. Nor needest thou think thou 
 shalt be lonely at Bettir," he added, misunderstanding 
 her tears, and with the obtuseness of man when dealing 
 with woman s keener sensibilities. "Thou soon wilt get 
 familiar with the women of the village. Moreover, when 
 thy housework is done, thou canst follow me to the field 
 or the pasture, and we shall be together, and I shall help 
 thee, as before, to prepare and gather the fuel." 
 
 The reaction caused by the happy pictures Hassan
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 265 
 
 had presented, were too much for Hilwe s feelings. The 
 tears ran down her cheeks, and she broke into a fit of 
 sobbing. 
 
 " I cannot help it," she said in a choking voice. 
 
 " There, there ; weep not. Bismillah in the name 
 of God, let me comfort thee. Let me wipe the tears 
 from thine eyes." 
 
 Catching up the drapery of her headdress he wiped 
 away her tears, then taking her in his arms, he tenderly 
 embraced her, kissing her again and again. 
 
 " Is not a lover more kind than a father?" he asked. 
 " Am I not better to thee than ten husbands? Do I not 
 love thee more and better than any one else could? Let 
 not thy heart fail thee. Be of good cheer. All will yet 
 be well. And yet, in days of sweet quiet and repose, 
 we shall sit beneath our own vine and fig-tree." 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 BY this time the soft primrose-coloured radiance which 
 flooded all the horizon behind Malha and the 
 hills to the westward began to fail and fade. The sun 
 set, that at its high tide had swept over the banks of 
 day, was reluctantly ebbing. But though the shades of 
 evening were fast approaching, Hassan and Hilwe still 
 lingered, loath to part. 
 
 Suddenly on the clear, still air rang out the clang of 
 a horse s hoofs, sounding nearer and nearer as they 
 smote in rapid succession upon the rocky roadway. 
 Hassan and Hilwe arose, and, peering into the distance, 
 made out the figure of a single horseman. He swung 
 forward at a furious gait, in the rhapsody of delight of 
 a skilled equestrian, and would soon be near at hand. 
 He seemed to come flying on the wings of the wind, 
 out of the sunset ; and the cloud of dust surrounding 
 him was like a golden mist or halo. 
 
 As he came up, he of necessity slackened speed, for 
 the road was very rough and broken at that place.
 
 266 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Catching sight of Hilwe, he at once drew rein, and made 
 the customary salutation. 
 
 " Whom have we here ? " he cried. 
 
 Then, with the perfection of ease, flinging himself 
 from his Arab mare, he made pretence to tighten the 
 saddle-girth, as an excuse for his halt. And as he did 
 so, most attractive he looked, in his dark-blue uniform 
 turned up with red. 
 
 Hilwe immediately recognised him as the young aga 
 or captain of zaptiehs whom Amne and she had met in 
 Jerusalem, and who, with that peculiar mingling of 
 badinage and egotism, offensive to the stately religious 
 conception, had given his name as Kiamil or " Perfect " 
 to the daughter of the English ecclesiastic. 
 
 The gay captain was now in all his glory, and in the 
 full exaltation and bravery of his equipment, which 
 probably no one could appreciate more than he could. 
 He estimated, without doubt, at its full value, the effect 
 produced on the ordinary mind by his fine figure ar 
 rayed in his military trappings and accoutrements. 
 
 Slipping the bridle over his arm, with a word of en 
 couragement to his blooded gray mare, he left the road, 
 and, sword by side, with measured step, approached 
 the spot where Hilwe stood. 
 
 " Ah, I perceive thou art the fair damsel whom I met 
 in Jerusalem with the flowers ! " 
 
 He paused, trying to recall her name. Meanwhile he 
 had fastened the mare to a thorn-bush. 
 
 Hilwe did not attempt to reply, but, yielding to the 
 feminine weakness, kept her eyes fixed on the superb 
 specimen of the genus homo, magnificent in his closely- 
 fitting uniform, the glittering buttons and gold braid 
 having their usual effect and completing the result. 
 Yet, withal, she was alarmed. 
 
 " Amne ? No, Hilwe ! Thou perceivest I remember 
 thee. I returned that day, as I promised ; but could 
 not find thee. Thou hadst left." 
 
 He now stood opposite to her, and so close that she 
 felt his hot breath on her cheek; and, abashed, she 
 stepped back a few paces. 
 
 " There is no need thou shouldst be afraid, most
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 267 
 
 comely of damsels. I shall not do thee harm. That 
 be far from me. Am I so very frightful to her I 
 love? " 
 
 As he spoke, he smilingly followed her, which brought 
 him face to face with Hassan, who, filled with inarticu 
 late rage, had thrust himself between. 
 
 "And who art thou?" asked the baffled aga, who 
 now for the first time perceived Hassan, he having 
 hitherto been partly hidden in the shadow of the rock 
 under which he stood, and the gaze of the young zaptieh 
 having been so thoroughly concentrated upon the fair 
 Hilwe as to have left him but little sight for aught else. 
 
 "I might rather ask who thou art; and why thou 
 breakest in upon us to molest us," was the natural but 
 impolitic reply. 
 
 Hassan was beside himself with jealous anger, and 
 forgot the respect mingled with dread which the peasant 
 almost invariably has for the zaptiehs and bashi- 
 bazouks, arrogant, dangerous people, whom he would 
 not venture to treat insolently. The nizam, or regular 
 military forces, excite no such fear or detestation as do 
 those marauding, rapacious irregulars. 
 
 From the moment the young officer appeared in 
 Hassan s sight, not a single movement of his well- 
 trained and handsomely-fashioned limbs escaped the 
 notice of the young shepherd, to whom each and every 
 one of those elegant postures was an unspeakable tor 
 ture and insult. His brain was afire. His heart was 
 sore. The erect centaur-like display horse and rider 
 seemingly one, the carelessly-easy dismounting, the 
 studied leaning pose in tightening the girth, the debon 
 air manner and fascinating stride in approaching Hilwe 
 with sweet words oh, the insupportableness of it all! 
 It was maddening detestable! The more handsome 
 the captain looked, the more Hassan hated him. That 
 well-kept pampered body was at once a reproach and 
 menace. His entire presence was an affront. 
 
 The first impulse of the zaptieh was to resent Has 
 san s attitude and words, so contrary to the usually 
 submissive spirit of the fellaheen in the presence of 
 their oppressive tyrants. But the young officer had, on
 
 268 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 occasion, the useful gift of being cautious. Doubtless 
 it was of selfish origin. This made him hesitate ; while 
 it suddenly flashed through his mind that this fellah 
 would not have dared to take the stand he did, had 
 he not some of his people near at hand to support 
 him. 
 
 " Who knows what those rocks conceal ? There may 
 be a band of his followers with their guns, ready to 
 pick me off, this evening in this lonely place ; and no 
 one would ever get at the bottom of it. Or they might 
 knock out my brains, and, sending my horse loose, to 
 find her way home, when my body was discovered, make 
 it appear I had been killed by a fall from her." 
 
 This rapid reasoning had a decidedly sobering effect 
 upon Kiamil Aga, especially when taken into considera 
 tion with the resolve, which was really uppermost in his 
 mind : " I shall not fail to pay him off for this, another 
 time." 
 
 So the discreet and dissolute captain smoothed his 
 ruffled feathers, while he moderated his speech. Of 
 course, he knew the game was up. His fire was 
 quenched. 
 
 " Mayhap the woman is thy wife? Thou wilt bear 
 me witness that I did not know," was his conciliatory 
 rejoinder. 
 
 " Though she were my wife, what is that to thee? " 
 
 " Forsooth, everything. Were there no such tie 
 betwixt ye, might I not avail myself of it to share the 
 right to admire her? Desire is no fault in the young; 
 or, at least, it is pardonable." 
 
 " Thou very well knowest that such an one as thou 
 art doth not mate with such as we are." 
 
 "And why not? " 
 
 " Because there are bounds between, which cannot be 
 passed ; or, if passed, not without danger." 
 
 Hassan ceased, both the speakers steadily gazing in 
 each other s face. 
 
 As the zaptieh caught the clear penetrating glance of 
 those wonderful hazel eyes of the young Shepherd, he 
 was, on the instant, strangely moved. Something of 
 Nature stirred within him. It was that sign, that token
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 269 
 
 of kinship which makes us all brethren, whether we 
 acknowledge it or not. 
 
 From the first, Hassan had held out his hand, repel 
 ling and warding off the zaptieh. The latter now, 
 with fitful impulse, seized it, and held it in his own. 
 
 " There," he said, " let us not quarrel about it. I 
 meant thee no wrong. We are both young men, and 
 should understand one another. Whatever a man does 
 who is afflicted with love, he is to be excused for it, 
 they say." 
 
 He then quoted an old proverb of the country, more 
 apt than nice. 
 
 It was impossible for Hassan to resist such condescen 
 sion and overture, reinforced with the accepted wisdom 
 of the land in the shape of that coarse old proverb. 
 Those so-called " perfumed words " or " musk-words," 
 such as had been used by the aga, but which we are 
 excused from giving, are generally the occasion of 
 establishing good-humour between men, breaking up 
 reserve, and seeming to place them on an equal footing. 
 The handsome giant yielded. How could he do other 
 wise? 
 
 " Verily, it is not for me to gainsay thy words," he 
 said. "Why should I not accept them in peace?" 
 
 It was done. The trouble was over, at least for the 
 present, to all outward appearance. 
 
 Many of these turbulent dissensions in the East are 
 like a summer squall, rising suddenly without much pre 
 monition, raging furiously while they last, but passing, 
 after a few moments violence and threatening of 
 imminent destruction, leaving the sky clearer than 
 before. 
 
 It was now growing dusk. There was no time to 
 linger, with such rough riding before one. The zaptieh 
 suddenly remembered that he had appointed a rendez 
 vous with his men at the Convent of the Holy Cross, 
 where they might gather, so as to enter Jerusalem 
 together in martial array, a point gratifying to his 
 vanity, and which he always, where possible, insisted on. 
 They must long have been awaiting his coming. 
 
 He turned and unfastening his horse, led it into the
 
 270 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 road. Twisting his fingers in the flowing mane, he 
 lightly vaulted into his seat with the aplomb of the 
 expert horseman that he was, without waiting for Has 
 san, who came up offering to hold the stirrup. 
 
 Once mounted, Kiamil felt an immediate exaltation 
 an access of his confidence, his courage and superior 
 ity. Again their relative positions were defined. He 
 was the proud Kiamil Aga once more ; Hassan the 
 despised fellah. It rankled in his breast to think that 
 this miserable peasant had thwarted him had got the 
 better of him. He, the Osmanli, the zaptieh, the aga, 
 to be humbled, and that in a love-affair, and by a 
 fellah ! He could not forget it. It touched him where 
 he felt the keenest where the sensitiveness of such a 
 man as he was chiefly resided. Looking down at him 
 from his lofty position, he muttered, under his breath, 
 the words : 
 
 "When the snake s hour of death comes, he goes 
 upon the highway." 
 
 Hassan heard not the words, but he saw the look, 
 and he remembered it. 
 
 The aga had commenced to ride off, when something 
 seemed to occur to him. It was with him even as the 
 Orientals say: "If a bad man would repent and reform, 
 his lust will not permit him." He returned to where he 
 had left the young shepherd standing and looking after 
 him. 
 
 " What is thy name? " he asked. 
 
 " Hassan." 
 
 " And the village where thou dwellest?" 
 
 " Bettir." 
 
 " H m. It is well." 
 
 The next moment the aga struck spurs into his horse, 
 and the noble animal, responding to the unnecessary 
 pressure, sprang forward with grandly-lengthened stride 
 into the evening shadows. 
 
 The aga s legs clasped tightly her heated swelling sides 
 in order to keep his seat. His blood boiled. He gave 
 loose to his depravity, and unpent himself. A torrent of 
 lava-like words burst from his lips. Again and again he 
 sent the cruel rowels upward, till they entered the flesh
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 271 
 
 of the beautiful creature. It seemed, in some sort, a 
 gratification of the fierce passion that raged in him to 
 do this, and to feel her rise and plunge beneath him at 
 their touch she who would have obeyed with pleasure 
 his slightest word. 
 
 The blood stained her dappled skin that glistened 
 like velvet. Her sweat mingled with it. The breath 
 of her nostrils was as smoke. Her muscles and veins 
 stood out like cords. She was driven to the utmost. 
 But still her slender tapering legs went out with regular 
 rhythmic motion, sure and certain, as if she flew over the 
 ground without touching it. 
 
 " I am on fire of Sheol," he said. " And to think 
 that miserable dog should come between me and my 
 pleasure ! I ought to have killed him." 
 
 He cursed and swore, drunk and maddened with the 
 rage of his disappointment. 
 
 " They may say what they like," he said, " but love 
 is the same with desire ; or, if it is not, I know nothing 
 about it." 
 
 He took no thought, in his wild riot, of the hollows 
 and broken places in the way. Many a time his brains 
 would have been dashed out, had it not been for his 
 mare s sure-footedness, preserved under such trying 
 cdds. 
 
 Her intently staring eyes, piercing the darkness, saw 
 what he could not see. 
 
 " Poor fellow," she thought, " he does not perceive ; 
 he cannot know. But I can see and know for him. I 
 am his good genius, and like his wife." 
 
 She believed in him; she loved him that was the 
 beautiful part of it and often had she risked her life 
 for him. 
 
 He, too, loved her, and, in general, did not abuse her. 
 But now the besottedly bestial appetite in him stirred 
 him to his unholy depths, and made him unworthy of 
 her and of the image he bore. 
 
 Still he drove the spurs into her with the sensual fury 
 of a satyr. 
 
 " It is a case of life and death," she thought. " I 
 must carry him swiftly and surely. He rides for his
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 life. It is in jeopardy. Everything depends on me. 
 But I shall save him." 
 
 When they came toward the end of the valley, to the 
 place where the torrents of centuries of " rainy-seasons" 
 had washed away every particle of soil, and left the 
 entire road-bed a mass of huge cobble-stones inter 
 spersed with boulders, she knew they must hold up, 
 and go slowly, or be dashed to pieces. Even in the 
 daylight no living creature of her kind could pass 
 unhurt through that horrible experience without the 
 greatest care. It was now pitch dark. Cautiously the 
 sagacious animal steered her way; not without many 
 a slip; but she always recovered herself, and saved 
 herself from the worst, never so entirely losing her 
 footing as not to be able to regain it. On reaching the 
 end of the dangerous defile, she gave a snort of relief 
 and satisfaction, and prepared to ascend the slope. 
 
 "It went hard with me; but I am over the worst," 
 she thought. 
 
 Turning a bend in the road, they saw a light. It 
 proceeded from a fire which his men had made, for the 
 comfort of it, to keep off the chill of the evening air, 
 and also as a guide for their captain, so that he might 
 the easier find the place in the darkness. 
 
 At a few paces farther, there loomed up before them, 
 magnified by the broad effect of the massed shadows 
 and the reflected firelight, the huge bulk of the Convent 
 of the Holy Cross. 
 
 It resembled a mediaeval stronghold rather than a 
 peaceful monastic institution, and, like many another re 
 ligious building in Palestine, has the appearance of hav 
 ing been built to resist a siege defence against violent 
 entrance being a necessary precaution in the days in 
 which they were erected. Around it, and especially in 
 the rear of the convent, where the clay soil, the accum- j 
 ulated washing of the hills, is red, and rich to fatness, 
 rise up, terrace above terrace, abundant and well-kept 
 olive-groves. These and other fruit-trees caught the 
 light on their plumy branches, showing like burning I 
 bushes against the blackness of the night. 
 
 Within the pile of buildings is the chapel, which, tra-
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 273 
 
 dition says, covers the spot where grew the accursed 
 tree from which the cross was made upon which Christ 
 was crucified. The place belongs to the Greek Church, 
 and has long been held in pious veneration; and upon 
 the walls and pillars of the chapel, with its rude and 
 broken pavement, are depicted, in fresco, the figures, 
 hideously gaunt, of many a saint and holy man, the 
 most of them being evidently reduced to the last stages 
 of mythical ascetic emaciation indeed seeming to be 
 almost walking skeletons, pitiable to behold even in 
 effigy. 
 
 But their brethren of to-day afford no such evidences 
 of austerity. It is far otherwise with them, though, 
 on this occasion they keep quite invisible, close within 
 their walls, not venturing to show themselves to the 
 zaptiehs, those irreverent and dangerous fellows. Door 
 and gate are securely locked and barred, while the 
 long-haired monks, in their high hats and black sweep 
 ing robes, keep watch from their lofty windows. 
 
 The men had gathered around the fire, joking and 
 laughing, and, in the absence of the aga, addressing 
 each other as " Aga," after their wont ; and not scrupling 
 to speculate in decidedly ribald terms as to what adven 
 ture had detained their captain. 
 
 But when he rode up among them, all this was soon 
 changed. A glance at his face told them he was in no 
 mood to be trifled with. Each man sought his horse 
 where he had picketed it, and silently prepared to 
 mount. After a short pause and a few words of in 
 quiry, he gave the word of command, and with more 
 or less promptness all of them were in their saddles. 
 
 It was astonishing to see the action of the Arab mare 
 from the moment that she came up, and found herself 
 with the rest of the troop. Grievously taxed as she 
 had been all day, especially severe as had been her 
 handling in the last miles of the journey, her pride 
 asserted itself, and, though almost worn out and ready 
 to drop, she tossed her head and arched her neck, 
 blowing the foam from her nostrils, switching her tail, 
 pawing the ground and curvetting, as if she was not the 
 least tired, but was ready and fresh for another run. 
 
 18
 
 274 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Her aristocratic blood was stirred. It was as if she 
 said : 
 
 " It would never do to let those inferior-bred things 
 those scrubs see me blown and used up. I would 
 rather die first." 
 
 That was how the high-spirited creature felt. It 
 deceived her master. It would have deceived any one. 
 
 " How many thousands of ants, beetles, flies and 
 grubs I have crushed to death under my hoofs during 
 this ride ! " she thought. " Who knows or cares any 
 thing about them? They were made to be stepped on. 
 What is their life to us? What is life, anyway? Who 
 knows? I only know that I am a blooded mare of the 
 desert. That is enough to know. I am of importance." 
 
 It was the philosophy of Louis XIV. in a horse. 
 
 She had one other trial to endure before the day was 
 ended, and that was the climb up the heights in front 
 of the convent. The summit formed the dividing ridge, 
 separating the waters that emptied into the Mediter 
 ranean from those which emptied by way of the Gihon 
 and Cedron valleys into the Dead Sea. Here the road, 
 if such it may be called, went up the face of the rocky 
 precipice, steps being cut into the steep acclivity, so 
 that it resembled a rough and bulging staircase strewn 
 with stones and boulders. 
 
 The aga, from necessity, gave the mare her head, 
 laying the bridle on her neck. The darkness rendered 
 the ascent doubly dangerous. But the sure-footed 
 mare carried the aga safely through, though several 
 of his men came to grief, some receiving bad falls 
 before reaching the top. 
 
 After this horror, the road, though still bad, seemed 
 comparatively easy. 
 
 Ahead, they soon began to see, at intervals, the lights 
 of Jerusalem dimly gleaming in the distance. They were 
 approaching the abrupt descent into the Gihon Valley. 
 
 As they passed the tall windmill on the left, a promi 
 nent landmark, Kiamil Aga called one of his troopers 
 to his side, entering into conversation with him in a low 
 tone. He was the young man of about his own age 
 named Assad, whom we have already met, and who,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 275 
 
 having proved useful to him on more than one occasion, 
 when involved in difficulties, had become a favourite of 
 his in consequence. Through the influence of Kiamil, 
 Assad had been promoted; and now they were more 
 than ever together. 
 
 " Assad," presently said the Aga, " dost thou know 
 a fellah of the name of Hassan? " 
 
 " How should I know the man thou meanest, Aga?" 
 
 Assad accompanied his reply with the usual sugges 
 tive click of the tongue and backward movement of the 
 head, conveying the impossibility of his possessing the 
 desired information. 
 
 " But hearken, Assad. It is important. I am anxious 
 to know, and I am sure thou canst tell me." 
 
 " How can that be?" 
 
 "Now, hold thy peace, while I show thee till I de 
 scribe him whom I mean. He is a young man; his 
 name is Hassan, as I have told thee ; and he dwells at 
 Bettir. He is tall, uncommonly tall and large, and 
 well-built. If I mistake not, he is a shepherd. Thou 
 hast been much in that part of the country of late. 
 Thou shouldst know him." 
 
 " Verily, Aga, thou speakest truth. I know him well." 
 
 " Now, what canst thou tell me of him? " 
 
 " He is a man of Bettir, young and well-favoured, 
 and has kept the accounts for the sheik. And, again 
 thou art right, Aga, he keeps sheep." 
 
 " Is he married? " 
 
 " No more than thou art, or than I am, Aga." 
 
 "What dost thou mean?" 
 
 " Surely, that should be known to thee, Aga." 
 
 Assad laughed low and deep. It was the mellow 
 chuckle of a man who can afford to be familiar with his 
 superior, and who feels he has said something good or 
 telling, and enjoys what he has said. 
 
 " Nay, speak plainly. We want no parables. Is he 
 married?" 
 
 " He is not married." 
 
 " There ! " 
 
 " Though that, doubtless, has been no hindrance to 
 him."
 
 276 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 "And is that all thou canst tell me of him? Hast 
 thou had no trouble with him? Have the taxes been 
 paid on the land and trees, the sheep and cattle? Has 
 he resisted or evaded? Or hast thou aught to com 
 plain of him? " 
 
 "Nay, forsooth, I have no more against him than 
 against others." 
 
 " Thou hast evil to complain of him, then." 
 
 " For that matter, all are in one condition. All are 
 naked in one bath, as they say. They are all alike. One 
 is as bad as another. They are quick to resist and evade, 
 if possible. It is their nature. They hide their flocks 
 and herds in caves when they learn we are coming. 
 Even, as thou knowest, some of the more obstinate of 
 them have cut down their olive-trees rather than have 
 to pay the tax. The people of Bettir are not worse than 
 those of other villages on this side. They who give us 
 the worst trouble are in the country beyond the men 
 of Hebron. They are possessed of Shaitan ; they are 
 full of the very devil." 
 
 " Assad, I asked thee for testimony against this man 
 Hassan ; and lo, thou speakest in his favour. Yet hast 
 thou said enough to convict him. What though others 
 are as bad as he is, that does not excuse his evil-doing. 
 And I am determined to make an example of some of 
 those people. Why should it not be he? He deserves 
 it for his insolence to me this day." 
 
 The compliant Assad at once perceived what was 
 expected of him. 
 
 " Excuse me, Aga; I did not understand. Doubtless 
 it is as thou sayest. He is worthy of punishment. It 
 can be proved." 
 
 " Now thou speakest sensibly, and after mine own 
 heart. I tell thee, the dog s death approaches when he 
 defiles the mosque ; and when the hour of the game is 
 come, it runs in the way of the hunter." 
 
 They had now crossed the Gihon into the main road, 
 by way of the ancient aqueduct, which carries the water 
 from Solomon s pools into the Temple Enclosure ; and 
 the entire troop of zaptiehs, falling into order, pushed 
 on more briskly as they ascended the west flank of
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 277 
 
 Zion s Hill, the battlements of Jerusalem with the frown 
 ing citadel, spectral-like in the semi-darkness, rising 
 high above them on the right, a few scattered olive-trees 
 relieving the severity of the slopes. 
 
 As they drew near the Jaffa Gate, Kiamil Aga, who 
 had kept the useful Assad beside him, turned to him 
 confidentially, speaking in so low a voice no one else 
 heard. 
 
 They smiled significantly, each into the other s face. 
 They were fitting associates. Assad nodded his head 
 acquiescently; and Kiamil added: 
 
 " Come to my quarters to-night. I would speak 
 with thee further about this matter." 
 
 " I am at thy disposition, Aga." 
 
 " Thou knowest the old proverb : I have only one 
 heart and many desires ; to which of them shall I give 
 that heart? 
 
 Assad laughed. 
 
 " Right well do I know it." 
 
 As the aga turned aside he muttered. 
 
 " Desire is the same as love. Or if it is not, it is 
 much to be blamed." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 WHEN Kiamil Aga, the smooth and vain captain 
 of zaptiehs, in all the glory of his martial trap 
 pings, had departed, after his short but animated inter 
 view with Hassan and Hilwe, near Malha, he left behind 
 him a disturbed and unhappy condition in the relations 
 of the lovers, due to his advent on the scene. His was 
 a malign influence. 
 
 It was impossible for a man like Hassan, with his 
 
 sensitiveness on the subject, to overlook the undue 
 
 familiarity with Hilwe of the sultry-souled aga, and 
 
 I especially, his knowledge of her, and his reference to 
 
 their having met previously in Jerusalem. 
 
 The latter was the more damaging circumstance, as it 
 had so happened that in all that had been said con-
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 nected with Amne s disappearance, Hilwe had made 
 no mention of Kiamil Aga s presence. She had con 
 sidered it as a subordinate incident of the unfortunate 
 affair, or as being not actually related to it. But now 
 all that poor Hilwe could say in explanation failed to 
 disabuse Hassan s mind of the disagreeable impression 
 it had received. 
 
 " There is neither patience in the heart of a lover nor 
 water in a sieve," says the Eastern proverb. 
 
 He broke out into violent language, upbraiding her, 
 using Amne s fall as an ensample, a case in point, and 
 reminding her of the advice and warning he had given 
 her. He could not contain himself. 
 
 He had used words considered inadmissible in that 
 land words, once spoken, not easily recalled. They 
 parted in anger. 
 
 " Truly, love is the cause of a thousand suspicions ; 
 and jealousy is the rage of a man," murmured Hilwe, 
 in the suffering she had to endure in secret. 
 
 Hassan s heart was sore within him. He had spoken 
 unadvisedly with his lips, but his stubborn will and 
 rampant heat would not permit him to confess it. He 
 longed with an unutterable longing for Hilwe. But his 
 pride had him in strong possession, and would not let 
 him give way. He would not take back what he had said. 
 
 During the last days of the rose harvest, he lingered 
 about the neighbouring hills, from where he could see 
 her in the distance. He haunted the place. He could 
 not help it, though despising himself for it. 
 
 He tried to persuade himself that he was in the right, 
 that his anger towards her was just ; thus, only add 
 ing to his distress and pain. 
 
 Even the rejoicings of the Malhaites over the unusual 
 earliness of the rose harvest and the abundance and 
 fineness of the flowers, were offensive to him ; and it 
 stung him to the quick that Hilwe should participate, 
 though he knew well she had no choice in the matter, 
 but must be there to do her share in the work. Yet 
 such is the unreasonableness of a man whose heart is 
 gnawed by jealousy, and who does not know how to 
 get what he wants, and have his own way.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 279 
 
 Despite his angry feelings that would not let him see 
 it, it was a rarely lovely sight that wide sweep of 
 freshly-opened blossoms. The great piles of the crim 
 son flowers grew pyramidally larger as, in the cool of the 
 early morn, the maidens emptied the fragrant contents 
 of their baskets on them, amid the vines, and under the 
 shade of the olive-trees. 
 
 The men helped, or acted as guards. And as they 
 worked and gathered the blooms, they all sang together 
 a quaint old song of the place, in praise of the rose. 
 They called it "The Chaunt of the Rose." 
 
 The air in its primitive setting had, in its monoto 
 nous motive, abrupt rhythm and crude simplicity, a 
 strange resemblance to the Wedding Song in Wagner s 
 " Lohengrin." The words caught from this fantastic 
 melody a magic perfume and a fine rare colour like a 
 reflected rosy glow. 
 
 THE CHAUNT OF THE ROSE. 
 
 Fair is the rose, 
 Born out of heaven ; 
 No other flower 
 Is like unto her. 
 See how she sits, 
 High on her throne, 
 Serenely august, 
 The Queen of the World. 
 Smile of the morn, 
 Light of the dusk, 
 Long hath she worn, 
 Warm in her breast, 
 The last blush of the sun 
 As he sinketh to rest, 
 Kissing the one 
 He loveth the best. 
 Sweeter than musk, 
 Or spikenard most rare, 
 Or cassia from far, 
 Is the breath of her lips. 
 The branch of the rose, 
 Wherever it grows 
 Wherever it blows, 
 Is always a rose 
 Is always a rose.
 
 280 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 The song was meant (perhaps only in a blind, inco 
 herent, half-felt way) to typify the blooming of the 
 flower. At first, there was no semblance of rhyme ; 
 then dawned a faint hint of it; after, came imperfect 
 rhyme, then the perfect form, finally bursting into the 
 luxuriant, lavish, superabundant display of it the full 
 blown rose. 
 
 The last verses formed the refrain, and they were 
 invariably carolled more loudly, and by all the combined 
 voices, with evident gusto, and much clapping of hands 
 and posturising. 
 
 The strains floated up to Hassan, softened and sweet 
 ened by the distance. How pleasant and gladsome 
 they had once been in his ears ; but now he heard 
 them with a pang. They brought him many memories ; 
 for it is the habit of the people of Palestine to sing at 
 their work. Even labourers in excavating, and carrying 
 off the rubbish in their collapsable straw baskets, or 
 masons in building a house or a wall, have their own 
 peculiar songs, more or less archaic and quaint, which 
 they sing or troll, to aid them in their work, in a way 
 often more like intoning than singing. 
 
 Others of these lyrical efforts are Laments. These 
 may, some of them, in their original form, be as old as 
 the times of Saul and Jonathan, a fragment of whose 
 elegy, with that grand refrain : " How are the mighty 
 fallen ! " written by David, is found in the Second Book 
 of Samuel; the entire, entitled "The Bow," being con 
 tained in the lost Book of Jasher, not likely now to be 
 recovered. 
 
 With what hungry eyes Hassan watched the women 
 of Malha, in hopes of catching a stray glimpse of Hilwe. 
 The figures of the men and women, clapping their 
 hands, as they passed in and out among the grape 
 vines and rose-bushes, the olive-trees and pomegran 
 ates, made an animated and attractive picture. The 
 tall hawthorn-trees lining the roadsides were sheeted 
 with creamy-white blossom, in fine contrast to the car 
 mine of the Provence and damask roses, the rich warm 
 scent of which, graciously saturating the air, ascended 
 to mingle with the cool fragrance of the hawthorn.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 281 
 
 Whiffs of perfumed breezes were wafted to the disconso 
 late young man, who, eating his own heart, did not let 
 himself enjoy them or anything else, he was so miser 
 able. He saw Hilwe s uncle Ismail and the hateful 
 Abd-el-nour exultantly gathering in the spoils of the 
 harvest, and was wroth. 
 
 Kadra, with her usual penetration, had noticed Hilwe s 
 dejection, and surmised the cause. She also had seen 
 something of Hassan s actions, which confirmed her 
 suspicions. A few adroit questions drew the secret of 
 the jealous trouble from Hilwe. 
 
 " Kadra, I am sick to death about it." 
 
 Then Kadra overflowed with advice. Of course, she 
 offered her mediation. 
 
 " When we get the last of these roses into Jerusalem, 
 I shall find opportunity to see him," she said. " He 
 loves thee, or he would not be jealous of thee. Did 
 he not love thee, he would not mind such a matter as 
 that." 
 
 They had to be most careful in their conversation, 
 that they might not be overheard. Abd-el-nour and 
 Hilwe s uncle were constantly present, in the grounds. 
 But as they came and went, watching the handling of 
 the roses, Kadra managed to convey to Hilwe many a 
 word of encouragement. 
 
 It was strange how the old village gossip had taken 
 up the cause of these two young people, and how it had 
 enlisted her sympathies, and, to some extent, changed 
 her character, or rather called forth the best that was 
 in her. 
 
 "But, for that matter, why not go to him thyself?" 
 she said to Hilwe. " He is a comely and brave man, 
 and he loves thee. Why not speak to him the sweet 
 words thou art wont to say to him. A pleasant voice 
 brings the snake out of its hole ; and the poisonous 
 adder is charmed with music. His heart will incline 
 :o thee when he sees thee." 
 
 But Hilwe s courage failed her; she did not know 
 vhy. And then there was so much connected with the 
 ose harvest demanding her time and attention, she 
 elt she must wait till it was over.
 
 282 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 For all that, she probably would have obeyed her 
 heart s promptings and gone to Hassan, had she not 
 been so closely watched. There were too many ene 
 mies present to permit her to carry out her purpose 
 unobserved. 
 
 In the evenings the women performed the shawl 
 dance ; and then the sword dance, in which they gave 
 the penetrating ear-splitting war-cry, " El-el-el-loo " 
 used in the battle to incite the men to the charge, 
 and stimulate them to more active and deadly 
 combat. 
 
 Hassan was outside it all. He, the great strong 
 son of the soil, had no place in the sports. Though 
 he saw the flash and heard the reports of the men s 
 guns in the "fantasia," as their horses plunged forward 
 in the mimic encounter, he was a prohibited element. 
 
 As the shades of evening gathered more thickly, 
 Hassan s desires and anxieties became too much for 
 him. He could not keep away. 
 
 "I am a fool," he said. 
 
 Something compelled and drew him to the place. 
 He could not help it. He slipped from rock to rock 
 and from tree to tree, till at length he was on forbidden 
 ground in the enemy s country. He stood concealed 
 behind a huge fig-tree fronted with pomegranate shrubs 
 and rose-bushes. 
 
 He was now very near the revellers, and could hear 
 Hilwe s voice and see her distinctly. The young 
 man s heart throbbed and plunged and swelled within 
 him as he saw her mingle with the various groups. 
 
 How beautiful she looked ! None of the daughters 
 of Malha or Bettir compared with her. 
 
 "But she thinks not of me," he said. " I must stand 
 here concealed, like a contemptible fellow, not daring 
 to show myself, while they make merry with her." 
 
 This filled him with darkness, jealousy, and rage, 
 the thunder and lightning of the soul. 
 
 There were moments when, in spite of the folly of 
 it, he would have broken out upon them, had not better 
 thoughts prevailed. 
 
 At the close he saw them lead Hilwe forward, with
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 283 
 
 exultation and clapping of hands, and loud cheers, as 
 they brought in the last basket of roses. 
 
 They had made ropes and chains of the crimson 
 flowers which they twined around her, and on her head 
 was a smaller basket, like a crown, filled with the 
 finest of the blossoms, which, overflowing, mingled 
 with her hair, and hung down upon her neck. She 
 was the Queen of the Flowers. 
 
 Again they sang the " Chaunt of the Rose," as they 
 danced around her and led her to her throne, with 
 admiring cries, amid showers of roses. They seated 
 her by a bonfire which they had built, so that Hassan 
 beheld her more plainly than ever. 
 
 The young man, shaken with his passion, stretched 
 out to her his hands with vehement gesture. He flung 
 himself upon the ground, and hid his face, tortured to 
 madness. His love had conquered him. 
 
 But the flame of the bonfire soon died out; and 
 they all departed, leaving him alone in the darkness. 
 
 He could hear their shouts of joy, and he watched 
 the gleam of their torches, as they went upon their 
 winding way, up the tell to Malha. 
 
 At last the rose harvest was over. 
 
 "It has come early, and not lasted long," the people 
 said, wishing it had been twice as long. 
 
 Only here and there, a straggling late bloomer hung 
 its lovely blushing face behind stone fence or hedge, 
 as if ashamed of being belated, when Kadra brought 
 H il we a message from Hassan. It was not much. Barely 
 a few words. But they were everything to Hilwe: 
 
 " In the Wady Bettlr, in the place where thou 
 knowest, I shall await thee on the morrow. Fail me 
 not." 
 
 Hilwe s eyes shone brightly through a mist of tears 
 as she heard the words. 
 
 "I am greatly beholden to thee, Kadra," she said 
 feelingly. "Blessings be upon thee for that thou hast 
 done this day." 
 
 "Belike thou wouldst have done as much for me, had 
 I stood in need of it. I trust I shall soon see thee 
 clean escaped out of thy trouble."
 
 284 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " Allah reward thee ! " 
 
 Hilwe paused. It was evident she would have made 
 further inquiries had not her modesty prevented. She 
 hung her head and sighed. 
 
 "And Hassan, how did he seem?" at last she 
 managed to ask. 
 
 "To judge by the woe-begone visage of the lad ant 
 his eagerness to bespeak my good offices, not to mentior 
 other and more particular signs, I doubt not he ha^ 
 had as much punishment as he could well endure, 
 quoth the cynical woman of Malha, who could not 
 resist taking hold of the humorous side of the predica 
 ment in which Hassan had found himself. 
 
 There was a certain tone of drollery as well as oi 
 triumph in her voice, testifying as to her sympathy 
 with her sex under the circumstances, which was illu 
 minative. 
 
 "And I was the cause of it," said Hilwe sadly. 
 
 " Nay, he brought it upon himself. Besides, it will 
 do him good, or at least no harm. He is big enough 
 to stand it. There are none of them but would find 
 it wholesome discipline. Yet, no doubt, it has gone 
 hard with him ; for when I tried to make light of it, 
 and told him in sport I would take a kiss from him 
 to thee, he would not see the pleasantry of it, but 
 answered contemptuously, and grimly as a dervis: 
 Doth one send a kiss by a messenger? But my heart 
 went out to him for all that, and for all my mocking 
 words. I could not refrain. At first I told him he 
 was making himself much trouble for nothing ; and 
 that the knife does not cut off its own handle ; and I 
 expected better of him than to make himself such a 
 fool." 
 
 "And thou didst tell him that," exclaimed Hilwe, 
 horrified. 
 
 " Yea. He listened very willingly to me, also. He 
 was only too glad and anxious to be reconciled. I 
 never saw a man so ready and willing as he was." 
 
 Hilwe was indignant. 
 
 " How couldst thou treat him so ? " she cried. 
 
 But Kadra only laughed.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 285 
 
 " He would have given me, out of gratitude, one of 
 his best sheep ; but, Allah be good to me, I could not 
 take it from him. I considered he would need it to 
 make up the present he must give to thy uncle for 
 thee. Besides, what good would it do me? When 
 they beheld the sheep in Malha, they would know 
 whence I had it, and would set their faces against me 
 harder than ever. So, to please him, I told him to 
 keep it yet a little while for me, and some day we 
 should have a feast with it. And, peradventure, it 
 may be so." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THAT night was a long and wearisome one for 
 Hilwe; and gladly did she hail the dawning of 
 the day which should reunite her to Hassan, in 
 which she should see him, eye to eye, face to face, and 
 he should smile upon her. 
 
 Some of the women of Malha were going in the 
 direction of the hill near the Wady Bettir for fuel; 
 Hilwe arranged to accompany them. It was but a 
 little way farther to where Hassan kept his sheep. 
 
 She could hardly have patience to wait for the 
 opportunity to steal away unnoticed; and, rapidly as 
 her feet carried her, they seemed to her slow, and she 
 longed for wings, that, like a bird of the mountain, she 
 might fly to her beloved. 
 
 Kadra was too sagacious to unduly push an advan 
 tage. But her admonitory advice to Hilwe was alto 
 gether unnecessary. 
 
 "Thou must not expect too much from him. Nor 
 that he should humble himself before thee." 
 
 This was to moderate or qualify the exaggerated 
 impression her account of her clever conduct and 
 management of the affair might have had upon Hilwe. 
 
 But the indignant exclamation of the latter should 
 have been sufficient to set at rest any erroneous ideas 
 on the subject :
 
 286 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " Nay, nay. That be far from me. Who am I that 
 I should exalt myself above him? " 
 
 That Hassan should be humiliated or wounded by 
 her was utterly repugnant to Hilwe s feelings. It 
 would have lowered him seriously in her estimation, 
 and was not to be thought of. 
 
 She had brought with her a little bread, a few figs 
 and olives, and especially some of the dried cakes 
 made of the juice and pulp of the grape, in which are 
 embedded seeds of sesame and pine, which comestible, 
 as already mentioned, will keep for many years, and is 
 greatly esteemed by the people. It was the old idea 
 of a present or peace-offering, which has been the 
 habit of the land for thousands of years. 
 
 While she was yet a good way off, Hassan saw her, 
 and hastened to meet her. And so he brought her 
 back with him. 
 
 Oh, hungry eyes, and hungrier heart, and arms ach 
 ing to embrace the beloved, what a feast of love is 
 prepared for you! Poor, chafing, impatient Hassan, 
 and gentle, enduring Hilwe, has it not come true, 
 the saying of the seer ; " Sorrow may endure for a 
 night; but joy cometh in the morning?" 
 
 Both of them were too glad at heart to feel aught 
 but love between them, or to remember with bitterness 
 the days which had separated them. If there was any 
 allusion to those days, it was wrapped in some endear 
 ing expression, completely absorbing or transmuting it. 
 
 "Surely my soul longed and hungered for thee, " 
 Hassan would say. " The days were dark without thee ; 
 and at night thou didst hold the slumber from mine 
 eyes." 
 
 "And verily my heart fainted for the light of thy 
 countenance," was Hilwe s reply. "Did not mine 
 eyes wait upon thee, till thou shouldst beckon me to 
 thy side? " 
 
 They wandered all over the well-known ground, fol 
 lowing and tending the sheep, and happy at being 
 together. 
 
 It was the beautiful old pasturage which had belonged 
 to Hassan s forefathers before ever the Israelites had
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 287 
 
 come into the land of Canaan. Many an ancient 
 landmark in the shape of a block of stone set into the 
 ground, or a heap of boulders, denoted the boundaries, 
 some of which had remained unmoved from generation 
 to generation, for time out of mind. 
 
 "Cursed be he who moveth his neighbour s land 
 mark " is an archaic malediction. 
 
 Near by was the fenced inclosure where Hassan had 
 slain the leopard, and beyond was the cave, while 
 midway between was the spring of water gushing out 
 of the rock and forming the little pool where Hassan 
 had bathed and by which he had prayed on that event 
 ful morning. They visited all these places with much 
 more interest and delight than if they were new to 
 them, and had much to relate of the various incidents 
 connected with each, which they were never tired of 
 dilating on. 
 
 "I am happier than ever," Hassan kept repeating. 
 "Only the true lover knows the joys of love." 
 
 It was the season of the " latter rain. " But the 
 showers had not fallen with their usual abundance. 
 
 " Unless we have more rain soon, the ears of corn 
 will not fill with grain," the fellaheen began to 
 murmur. 
 
 " Nor will the cisterns be filled with sufficient water," 
 others said, who were dependent on this resource for 
 their supply. 
 
 Since the "former rain," that of the autumn and 
 winter, which had been copious, the rainfall had been 
 scant, confined to light intermittent showers, alto 
 gether insufficient for the perfect maturing of the prin 
 cipal crops. But otherwise the season had been 
 favourable, advanced and warm ; and certain fruits, 
 vegetables and other products of the soil were un 
 usually early, as we have seen in the case of the roses. 
 Those lands susceptible to irrigation were, of course, 
 largely independent of the rainfall, and were compara 
 tively flourishing, of which the gardens of Bettir were 
 i striking example. 
 
 For several days past, Hassan had watched the clouds 
 is they had gathered in great masses overhead, promis-
 
 288 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 ing the welcome downpour. They were the true nim 
 bus, heavy with blessing. But day after day they 
 had dispersed, or drifted off, carrying their precious 
 contents with them undischarged, and disappointing 
 the hopes of thousands. 
 
 There are few lands, if any, in which certain meteor 
 ological phenomena can be studied to greater advan 
 tage than in Palestine. Among the more interesting 
 of such spectacles is the action of the dry air-cushion 
 as there manifested during the rainy season. This is 
 seen to perfection around Jerusalem. Often, for sev 
 eral days together, enormous volumes of cloud will 
 gather, commonly from the direction of the Mediter 
 ranean, till the entire dome of the firmament is occu 
 pied by them ; but owing to the intervening cushion of 
 dry air, they cannot discharge their contents upon the 
 earth. The dry air-cushion continues to absorb the 
 moisture, and until it is completely saturated no rain 
 can come through to descend upon the thirsty land. 
 
 The clouds are frequently seen to gather for three 
 days before the result is produced. Not seldom a 
 longer period is required. 
 
 In a country so denuded of its forests and so spar 
 ingly under cultivation as is Palestine, the gentle 
 mediation of tree and shrub, spear of cereal, and acu 
 minate leaf of all kinds, is to a serious extent wanting, 
 en masse, or is so restricted as to be of little positive 
 effect. As is well known, through those simple anc 
 beautiful agencies, thousands upon thousands of gallon. 
 of water are pumped daily into the atmosphere. Here 
 the unsaturated air-cushion is almost entirely deprivec 
 of this aid, or receives comparatively inappreciable 
 moisture from beneath. Hence an additional factor ir : 
 the protracted character of the phenomenon. 
 
 Were the forests renewed, and were there mon 
 liberal planting of olive groves, fig orchards, and vine 
 yards, with general cultivation of the land, doubtles; 
 the rainfall would be more abundant and more equabh 
 distributed, and not be confined to special seasons o 
 subject to paroxysmal and injurious outbursts alternat 
 ing with droughts.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 289 
 
 As the hours went by, the sultriness of the morning 
 had passed into an oppressive oven-like glow, accom 
 panied by an ominous stillness which, to Hassan, ex 
 perienced in weather signs, as he turned his cheek 
 to catch the aerial premonitions, was of threatening 
 import. 
 
 "We shall have the rain this time," he said to 
 Hilwe. "A storm is brewing. The clouds have been 
 gathering these many days." 
 
 A distant rumble of thunder, shortly succeeded by a 
 nearer concussion, confirmed his words. 
 
 Suddenly it grew quite dusk. 
 
 " I shall gather the sheep together into shelter, so 
 they shall be in good shape for it." 
 
 This he at once proceeded to do. 
 
 The clouds, hanging low, till their ragged edges 
 seemed to trail upon the ground, now assumed a greenish 
 and copper-hued glare, which gave to everything a 
 ghastly complexion. Beyond, thick skirts of darkness 
 enveloped them. 
 
 There was the tenseness of anxiety in Hilwe s face 
 which was more expressive than words as to her 
 apprehensions. 
 
 " I fear it," was all she said. 
 
 "Nay; the rain is sorely needed. It will do good." 
 
 But though Hassan spoke thus confidently, to reas 
 sure her, it was evident he was not without participat 
 ing in her anxiety, at least to some extent. 
 
 There was a slight, breezy sound and stir in the 
 boughs of a group of olive-trees which stood near. It 
 was just enough to show the white underside of the 
 leaves, which, thrown against the black and coppery 
 menace of the horrible body of cloud, gave the trees 
 the effect of crouching and blanching with fear at what 
 was coming. 
 
 Soon a hot puff of sirocco-like wind, as if it came 
 from a cannon, struck the faces of the man and woman. 
 A blinding flash of lightning rent the vapoury curtain, 
 and sprang out towards them like a golden viper; 
 while almost instantaneously, a deafening detonation 
 shook the heavens and the earth till they trembled.
 
 290 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Heavy drops of rain now began to fall thick and fast. 
 
 " Hasten, Hilwe ; we shall yet reach the cave before 
 the worst comes," cried Hassan, as he caught her 
 hand to help her forward. 
 
 The first blasts of the almost hurricane-like wind 
 nearly carried them off their feet, and took away their 
 breath. The dust of the ground was caught up into a 
 whirling column. They had scarcely reached the 
 mouth of the cavern when the rain descended, no longer 
 in drops, but in broad sheets, as if rivers of water 
 were pouring out of the sky. At the same time the 
 entire atmosphere and the ground seemed afire with 
 the incessant flashes of the electric fluid, which were 
 accompanied by as incessant thundering. 
 
 Neither Hassan nor Hilwe had ever been exposed to, 
 altogether, so fearful a storm. It could only be likened 
 to the description in the old psalm, which originally 
 must have been a transcription of a similar scene. 
 
 What a grand panorama is disclosed ! the fire run 
 ning along the ground, and hail mingled with fire. 
 The Lord thundered. " The earth shook and trembled ; 
 the foundations of the hills moved and were shaken. . . . 
 He bowed the heavens also, and came down ; and dark 
 ness was under his feet. . . . He did fly upon the wings 
 of the wind. He made darkness his secret place; his 
 pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick 
 clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before 
 him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of 
 fire. . . . He shot out lightnings. The channels of 
 waters were seen, and the foundations of the world 
 were discovered." 
 
 Now, like many another cave in Palestine, in the 
 case of this one (which, as has been mentioned, was 
 largely used by Hassan as his temporary quarters, as 
 a refuge in bad weather, and sometimes as a sleeping 
 place), the entrance sloped abruptly downward as it 
 passed inward, so that the level of the extreme inner 
 end was considerably lower than that of the mouth. 
 Outside was a mound-like barrier, composed partly of 
 the debris of crumbling rock from above, accumulating 
 through ages, partly of the cleaning out of the cave.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 291 
 
 This served as a perfect protection against the ingress 
 of ordinary rains and floods, so that during the entire 
 time of Hassan s occupancy of the place it had remained 
 clean and dry, and free from all danger from such 
 sources. 
 
 But this was no ordinary storm. The windows of 
 heaven were opened. It was a vast cloud-burst sweep 
 ing everything before it. From the cliffs above the 
 waters poured as a cataract. They rushed in a torrent 
 down the steep incline. They leaped like a foaming 
 wild beast over the mound-like barrier, and broke in 
 an irresistible flood into the cavern. 
 
 The effect was instantaneous. 
 
 Before Hassan and Hilwe comprehended the nature 
 of the danger, or, indeed, knew what had happened, 
 they were smitten, seized and overwhelmed by the 
 mighty wave, and dashed backward against the rocky 
 rear wall. He reached forward to try to save Hilwe, 
 but it was in vain. 
 
 Bewildered, stunned, blinded, gasping for breath, 
 Hassan lost consciousness for a moment. He was 
 powerless in the grasp of such a force, till in its 
 recoil it yielded, having satisfied itself. 
 
 Thereupon, with the instinct of self-preservation 
 inherent in all living creatures, hardly knowing what 
 he did, he clutched with his hands and feet the rough 
 projections of the rocky wall, and thereby lifted him 
 self above the water, that now was rising rapidly, 
 being already of dangerous depth. 
 
 He shook the clinging moisture from his eyes and 
 hair, as a dog shakes himself dry, and looked around 
 him in the semi-darkness. He perceived the character 
 of the terrible calamity which had overwhelmed them ; 
 and he missed Hilwe. 
 
 "Oh, Hilwe, I cannot see thee! Where art thou?" 
 he exclaimed in loud and lamentable entreaty. 
 
 There was no response, other than the hollow rever 
 berations of the cave. 
 
 "Where art thou, my beloved ? " again he called. 
 
 Then, receiving no answer, he lifted up his voice in 
 that piteous cry, the most deplorable sound in nature,
 
 292 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 the agonised outburst of a man s grief. There were 
 no words in it, it was only a cry. But those who 
 have heard such, care not again to hear it. 
 
 Hilwe, in the rebound and wild eddies of the water, 
 had been borne away from the spot where Hassan 
 clung. After a few useless struggles, confused and 
 baffled, her strength nearly expended, she had suc 
 cumbed to the inevitable, and sank in the dark flood. 
 
 But life scarcely ever yields itself to death without 
 repeated effort for deliverance. Is it the love of the 
 soul for the body it has so long dwelt in? Or what is 
 it? There is a salvatory force within that gathers 
 itself for resistance. Twice had Hilwe striven with 
 her untoward fate, rising to the surface of the water, 
 unseen by Hassan, for he was dazed and stupefied by 
 his own experience, and the gloom of the cavern had 
 thickened. When, the third time, with a feeble dying 
 effort she again rose, the insistent, searching, heaven- 
 taught eye of love, piercing the darkness, found the 
 object of its quest, Hassan saw her. 
 
 Without a thought, without an instant s pause, he 
 plunged into the water and faced the inrushing torrent, 
 which was shutting out the light more and more. 
 
 Strong must the arms be to buffet such a force, 
 brave the heart to face such a danger. But " perfect 
 love casteth out fear." 
 
 With difficulty he made headway. More than once, 
 in spite of all his efforts, he was borne backwards ; 
 and repeatedly the angry spirit of the current frus 
 trated his attempts by snatching the sinking form of 
 Hilwe when almost within his grasp and whirling it 
 in an opposite direction. More than once he dived 
 deep for her, in vain. But at last he reached her, and 
 clasped her in his arms, lifting her head upon his 
 breast above the swell. 
 
 "I have saved thee!" he exclaimed. "Now am I 
 glad." 
 
 At length he worked his way, bearing her lovingly, 
 triumphantly, thoughtless of himself, with a few brave 
 strokes, to a place in the cave where rudely-cut notches 
 in the rock led up to a chamber-like recess in the rear.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 293 
 
 In fact it was Hassan s sleeping-place, and where he 
 kept his stores. 
 
 The water had now risen much higher; for the inrush 
 was far greater than any of the existing outlets, which 
 were partially blocked, could carry off. Slowly and 
 carefully he climbed with his precious burden. She 
 still clung to him with the despairing grip of the 
 drowning. 
 
 " Save me ! " he heard her murmur. 
 
 There was much danger, in the crowding darkness, 
 of slipping and falling into the murky depths. How 
 strong his arms were to hold her to him ! He gloried 
 in them and in his strength to deliver her. How sure 
 were his feet to clasp the ribbed rock! Only one of 
 his hands was free. Her head hung over his shoulder. 
 But he gained the hollowed recess, with a sob of praise 
 to Allah, and with the thrill of joy that only the 
 natural man can feel in all its rude intensity of 
 fulness. 
 
 "Thou hast saved me," she whispered, her lips close 
 to his, and then she was silent. 
 
 Proudly, lovingly, those strong arms of his, finely 
 rounded as in an antique statue, held her to him in long 
 embrace. What a giant he was, a Colossus of love ! 
 All his restrained, accumulated longing asserted itself. 
 He kissed her, he whispered to her words of endear 
 ment. There was no one like him. Who could love 
 as he could love? 
 
 But there came to him no reply. 
 
 "Oh, my Hilwe," he cried, "why wilt thou not 
 speak to me? Art thou ashamed? When one is in 
 love, what shame remains ? " 
 
 He held his mouth to hers, but she did not kiss him ; 
 he could not feel her breathe. 
 
 "Hilwe, my beloved, my little love, it is I thine 
 own Hassan ; wilt thou not say one word to me? " 
 
 He repeated this, over and over. 
 
 Then, in an agony of fear, he thought that her flesh 
 was growing cold. 
 
 "O God! is she dying? Is she dead? Have I slain 
 her with my love? " he sobbed.
 
 294 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 He had found the corner where was his simple bed, 
 the bed he had so often slept in, a few armfuls of 
 dried grass and a mat. He had laid her there with the 
 greatest tenderness. He now searched out his earthen 
 lamp, and with flint and steel struck a light ; and hav 
 ing lighted the lamp, set it in the little niche made 
 for it. 
 
 Small as was the room-like recess partly cut in the 
 rock, the flickering flame barely illuminated its narrow 
 bounds, and showed that, according to the very modest 
 ideas of the Palestine peasant, Hassan had provided it 
 only with what was necessary for his temporarily abid 
 ing there. 
 
 When he saw the death-like pallor of Hilwe s face, 
 he was greatly moved. He tore off the rent remnant 
 of her drenched garments that the waves had left, and 
 commenced charing her limbs. How sacred the fair 
 body was to him ! It was his. It could not be more 
 to him. He knew the desperateness of the case, and 
 that no time must be lost. 
 
 The morning had been so warm that, fortunately, he 
 had left his abai with other of his raiment here. He 
 wrapped her in the warm folds of the striped robe, that 
 was like an old friend, and never ceased his exertions 
 over her. 
 
 "O Allah, the Most Merciful, if I have done evil, 
 and this is the punishment, forgive me ! " was his 
 supplication ; " or if not, lay thy hand in judgment upon 
 me alone, and save the innocent ! " 
 
 He heard the lapping and surging of the wild water, 
 and knew it had now risen within a few feet of this, 
 their last retreat. 
 
 "If Hilwe is dead I care not to live," he said. 
 "Let us both perish together! My darling, my life, 
 I shall die with thee ! " 
 
 Then, when the horribleness of their fate presented 
 itself, he murmured: 
 
 " And was it this which was written from the begin 
 ning? Was this, all the time, to be the end? " 
 
 The roar of the relentless storm as it still raged 
 without and within, made the walls of the cave to
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 295 
 
 reverberate and shiver. The water was now smiting 
 the very threshold of their retreat, and seemed to hiss 
 in his ears the words: "There is no hope. Of what 
 good is all thy labour ? If thou bringest her back to 
 life it is only to die miserably, to drown with thee. " 
 
 "Yes, even then," he replied, "I should die happy, 
 if she should but smile in my face once more. But, 
 who knows ? Allah may have mercy upon us at the 
 last, and the waters may abate." 
 
 In his passionate distress he caught her to him once 
 again. 
 
 " Let me warm her back to life ! " he said. " O God, 
 hear me ! Take my warmth and my strength to save 
 her ! Take my life, and put it into her, that she may 
 live; and let me perish out of the land of the living, 
 if it be thy will !" 
 
 While yet the petition was upon his lips, the newly- 
 returned soul trembled within his arms. He felt the 
 heart beat against his heart, slowly and softly at first, 
 and then more surely; and all the warm pulsation 
 awoke throughout the body. The breath of life touched 
 the mouth. The eyes opened, and looked into his 
 eyes with fond recognition. The arms went up and 
 closed about his neck, and drew his lips to her lips. 
 
 Great tears were coursing down the cheeks of the 
 magnificent young giant. 
 
 " Where am I ? " she asked. 
 
 "You are with me," he said. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 f I ^HE storm continued to rage into the night, but 
 J_ with lessened fury. Still the water did not cease 
 to pour into the cave, the result of the overflow of the 
 vast watershed ; and Hassan anxiously watched, as the 
 level rose with a constancy which was maddening. 
 
 He tried to keep the truth from Hilwe ; but it was 
 impossible, and she became a sharer in his distress.
 
 296 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 It was a terrible heart-searching ordeal one which 
 tries the souls of men. As he held his feeble lamp-light 
 over the black mass of water filling the cave, and saw 
 the stealthy creeping up upon them of the cold dark 
 snake-like death, it was enough to chill the life, and slay 
 the courage of the bravest. 
 
 But Hilwe was by his side. 
 
 Yes, his joy and comfort, and his sorrow. 
 
 How he tortured his mind in trying to plan some 
 means of escape, before the worst should come, and ere 
 the waters closed in upon them, and overwhelmed them. 
 He, so big and strong, so full of life and force, so power 
 ful, and yet so helpless. At times he felt as if he could 
 rend the rocks with his hands, and make a way of 
 deliverance for Hilwe and himself. He could hardly 
 believe that they must perish. 
 
 His mind wandered. 
 
 " I shall make a dash with her through the fierce 
 waters," he said. 
 
 Yet he remembered with what difficulty he had 
 stemmed the flood for even that short distance, when 
 unencumbered, in rescuing Hilwe, and he knew it would 
 be impossible for them to make the mouth of the cave 
 against such a tremendous power. 
 
 How it went through him like a sharp arrow as Hilwe 
 asked him: " Does the water still rise, Hassan?" 
 
 He would shake his head, but make no other reply. 
 
 At last, when the flood began rolling over the floor, 
 and the night close at hand, he felt the end had come. 
 
 " Yet will I not despair," he said. " Despair is 
 infidelity." 
 
 He drew Hilwe to him ; and when a stream of water 
 ran up to where they sat, this great natural man moved 
 her away, to a higher part, where the bed was, and hid 
 her face in his bosom, so she might not see, and covered 
 his eyes with his hand. 
 
 " Thou art not afraid to die with me, Hilwe? " 
 
 The words were on his lips ; but he did not speak 
 them. 
 
 " It is enough for one to know the evil," he said. " I 
 shall conceal it from her till the last."
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 297 
 
 He rolled some of his spare garments into a pillow, 
 and, placing it under her head, tried to make her lie 
 down. 
 
 " Sleep, thou art weary, and nigh worn-out," he said. 
 " I will watch while thou takest rest." 
 
 " Nay, but thou wilt then be alone," she protested, 
 refusing. " Let me stay by thee." 
 
 So he consented ; otherwise he knew it would pain 
 her ; and they sat together, as before, her face hidden 
 in his bosom. And as they thus sat, each succeeding 
 moment he expected to feel the stinging lash of the 
 climbing wave, as it broke in upon them, overwhelming 
 them. And repeatedly, in torturing iteration, as before, 
 rang in his ears the taunt: "Of what use is all thy 
 labour? There is no hope. If thou bringest her back 
 to life, it is only to drown with thee." 
 
 At length it became as a dreamy lullaby sung in the 
 ears of a drowsy child, who does not want to go to sleep, 
 and yet cannot keep his eyes open. The air of the cave 
 was close. His head nodded, and at last, after a few 
 vain struggles, fell forward on his breast. Hilwe already 
 had been overcome. They both slept, for very fatigue 
 and the heaviness of the air, in presence of their great 
 danger. 
 
 And yet the consciousness of it and of his sleep was 
 upon him. But he could not deliver himself, though he 
 attempted it, in broken moments. 
 
 He dreamed he was tangled in a net which held him 
 fast; and that the more he struggled, the more inextri 
 cable became his position. Finally it was impressed 
 upon him that to lie still, to succumb, was his only 
 chance of escape. It was part of the fitful dream. So 
 he gave way and, in consequence, fell into a deep 
 slumber. 
 
 How long the uneasy trance born of weariness and 
 the closeness of the air (for it was that rather than sleep) 
 was upon him he did not know; but it was already 
 night. 
 
 Suddenly he was awakened as if by a supernatural 
 voice. 
 
 The words came to him distinctly :
 
 298 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " Awake, Hassan ! The waves are upon thee." He 
 started up with a hideous sense of culpability of 
 betrayed trust. He was certain they were engulfed. 
 
 The lamp was flickering and spluttering, on the verge 
 of going out. 
 
 He seized and lifted Hilwe in his arms ; and, as he 
 went to replenish the expiring light from his store of oil, 
 the feeling of being flooded so impressed him, he im 
 agined he was wading with her through the water. 
 
 In the motion given by his movements to the air, the 
 lamp went out. But he blew upon the smouldering, 
 smoking wick until the flame leaped back, and, re-fed 
 with oil, blazed up anew. 
 
 As, lamp in hand, he peered about the cell, he was 
 greatly astonished, not only to find no water, but also to 
 see that the floor was mostly dry, and that even the 
 stream which had poured in at one end had returned 
 whence it came, as if drained off. 
 
 Setting down Hilwe, he ran to the opening. 
 
 " Surely the waters have not advanced," he thought. 
 " They have not prevailed ; but, if at all changed they 
 have abated." 
 
 Yet he feared he but fancied it, and would not trust 
 himself to tell Hilwe, lest he should raise her hope to 
 disappoint it. 
 
 Presently he went again and surveyed the black 
 depths. 
 
 Hilwe noticing his intense earnestness, asked him, as 
 before, " Do the waters still increase upon us, Hassan ? " 
 
 "Allah be praised; but, as I live, I believe they 
 recede. Come hither, Hilwe, and judge for thyself. See 
 if I mistake not." 
 
 She flew to his side, and perceived it was even as he 
 had said. 
 
 " Thou art right," she said exultantly. " They are 
 falling." 
 
 " Then thou art saved," he exclaimed, showing that, 
 throughout, his chief thought was for Hilwe, and to save 
 her. 
 
 Taking her hand in his, he led her backward to the 
 bed.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 299 
 
 " Now thou canst lay thee down and take thy rest in 
 peace. Allah the Most Merciful hath delivered us. 
 Praise be to his holy name." 
 
 And so, relieved of the intense strain which had 
 tortured them, in the sudden reaction they found the 
 sweet slumber of the weary, and, like two lost children, 
 slept into the morning watch. 
 
 They dreamed they were in Paradise, as well they 
 might, so great was the contrast with the horror they 
 had so lately escaped. And when their eyes were 
 opened, when they woke on the morrow, they could 
 not understand, for some moments, what had happened, 
 and how they were together in the cave. 
 
 The place was doubtless one of the resorts or abodes 
 of the ancient Canaanites, before the building of houses 
 had been adopted. Who could tell but that Hassan s 
 ancestors, those mighty men of Anak, had occupied this 
 very cavern with their wives, their children and their 
 cattle? 
 
 The abundance of such dens and retreats in Palestine 
 sufficiently attest their use in the prehistoric age, their 
 occasional or partial occupation continuing to the 
 present day. Great is the interest and importance 
 attached to them from their historic associations and fre 
 quent mention in Bible times. There were caves of 
 sepulchre, as, for instance, Machpelah, which Abraham 
 bought from Ephron the Hittite, at Hebron, that he 
 might bury Sarah. There were caves of refuge, to 
 which in time of war or other trouble the people had 
 recourse, hiding themselves therein, till the danger was 
 passed. Obadiah concealed one hundred prophets in a 
 cave on Mount Carmel ; Elijah lodged in a cave on 
 Mount Horeb; and the cave of Adullam, to which 
 David retreated and to which all that were in distress or 
 discontented or disaffected resorted, till soon he had 
 four hundred followers, has it not become a proverb 
 among the nations? Even the Holy Temple was built 
 over the cave and threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, 
 from whom King David purchased them. Christ was 
 born in a cave. 
 
 Hassan was up betimes that morning. As the sun
 
 300 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 rose, the slanting rays entered and smote the surface of 
 the water, making a dancing network of reflected light 
 upon the roof, so that he knew the weather was fair; and 
 he greatly rejoiced with Hilwe. 
 
 Yet had they to remain within their prison for another 
 day and night. It was not till the following or third day 
 that the waters were sufficiently abated to permit him 
 safely to carry Hilwe out. 
 
 But they were far from murmuring at this. It, more 
 over, seemed to them that it was a confirmation of their 
 destiny an establishment of the relations which had 
 arisen between them. It was written it was fate 
 the will of Allah that they should be man and wife. 
 
 Hilwe, with the sweet and patient nature of unselfish 
 woman, took pleasure in setting things to rights, and 
 keeping them in order, and in preparing their slender 
 meals from Hassan s frugal store. They began to feel 
 as if it had long been so with them. It strengthened 
 their hearts ; for usage sanctions, and wont substantiates. 
 She gathered together the few simple vessels of pottery, 
 such as are in use all over the country, and in which he 
 had kept his provisions or which he had employed in 
 partaking of his food, and she cleansed and arranged 
 them, as a housewife should, laughing, meanwhile at 
 Hassan s carelessness in the keeping of them, and ridicul 
 ing his negligence and ignorance in domestic duties, to 
 his great delight. 
 
 Added to Hassan s trial had been the fear that his 
 scanty supply of food might not be sufficient to last 
 them. It assuredly would not were they detained beyond 
 a certain very brief period in the cave. How carefully 
 and cunningly he abstained from fully satisfying his 
 appetite, so that the few cakes of bread and few hand- 
 fuls of figs and olives might be eked out to the utmost, 
 and, at the same time, that Hilwe might not notice his 
 friendly stratagem ! 
 
 Hassan repeatedly tested the depth of the water, and 
 when the morning of the third day dawned, he con 
 sidered it best no longer to postpone the attempt to 
 escape. Though in the deeper places he was submerged 
 to his loins, he bore Hilwe on his broad shoulders
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 301 
 
 through the dark flood, yet not without many a stumble, 
 to dry land outside. She bore on her head, made up into 
 a bundle, such of their garments and other effects as 
 they required. 
 
 The first sensation they experienced was one of ex 
 treme thankfulness, as they inhaled, once more, the clear 
 free air of the mountain-side. The next moment a 
 pitiful cry of surprise and pain burst from Hassan s 
 lips, which Hilvve s echoed. Lifting up their eyes they 
 had seen at a glance the woful devastation, the work of 
 the storm. 
 
 "Oh, my sheep, my poor sheep!" he exclaimed. 
 "What has become of them? They are destroyed! 
 Utterly wiped out. The sheep of my pasture." 
 
 " Allah have pity ! " cried Hilvve, and wrung her hands 
 and wept. 
 
 " I led them in and out," continued Hassan, " they 
 knew my voice, and followed me whithersoever I went. 
 And they were to me as my life. I fed them in the 
 green valleys, and on the pleasant hillside, and brought 
 them where there was abundant water. There was none 
 like to them. They were well-favoured. They wanted 
 for nothing. They were white as the snow on Mount 
 Hermon, and beautiful to behold. And now where are 
 they?" 
 
 It was a cry out of Nature rather than a human 
 utterance. 
 
 Hassan s head fell forward on his breast. After the 
 first agonised outburst, his voice was silent he was 
 dumb. Hilwe stood behind him, speechless in the 
 presence of such a woe. 
 
 In every direction the sheep lay scattered drowned, 
 wounded, maimed, dead. Some of the lifeless bodies, 
 washed down into the gullies and hollows of the rocks, 
 were floating in deep pools of water, for every cleft 
 and depression and crevice had been turned into stand 
 ing water, and brimmed level, and to overflowing in that 
 passionate rage of the elements which had mocked and 
 smitten the place. 
 
 Flocks of crows, vultures and ravens had gathered in 
 unusual numbers, and either had entered already on
 
 302 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 their hideous task, or crowded the rocks in anticipation 
 of what they had come to do. 
 
 Hassan, noticing a vulture tearing a dead sheep which 
 had been a favourite, rushed towards it in a frantic rage 
 he could not control, and drove the unclean fowl away. 
 It slowly rose, and alighted on an adjoining rock, ready 
 to resume its work. 
 
 " Hilwe," he said, " I am a poor man. I have lost 
 everything. And those also who trusted their sheep to 
 me, and gave them into my hand, have been deprived of 
 them. We are all destitute together. What shall I say? 
 What shall I do ? How shall I render account or answer? 
 What shall become of us?" 
 
 Hilwe did not dare reply. It was not expected she 
 should speak. What could she say? She sank upon 
 the spot where she had stood. She hid her face in her 
 hands, and mourned as though her heart would break. 
 
 This somewhat recalled Hassan to himself. He re 
 sumed his seat upon the rock beside her, and would have 
 comforted her. 
 
 Slowly his thoughts gathered strength they gathered 
 themselves together, even as a river which, in some 
 convulsion of nature, has forsaken its bed, leaving it 
 empty and dry and desolate, despoiled of all beauty 
 and grace, returns once more to the places it formerly 
 had made pleasant and glad, and again fills the arid 
 courses with life. 
 
 It was a silent but steady process. 
 
 He sat with hands clasped before him, his eyes gaz 
 ing steadfastly out beyond the surrounding desolation. 
 His lips, moving slightly, gave forth no audible words. 
 
 Islam. The very name of their religion means resigna 
 tion submission to the will of God. 
 
 While he held his peace and mused, his heart grew 
 mellow within him, and at length he spoke, and made 
 confession with his tongue : 
 
 " It is Allah. It cometh from his hand. Who am I 
 that I should question the judge of all the earth, or say 
 he doeth not all things well? He hath given. He hath 
 taken away that which he gave, and which was his own 
 to take. Let me hide my mouth in the dust; but let
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 303 
 
 me not reproach the Creator and him who made me. 
 Shall I not yet praise his holy name for the goodness he 
 shall do unto me? " 
 
 The pained expression had gone out of his eyes. He 
 gathered his raiment about him, and with the air of one 
 whose mind is made up, he turned to Hilwe. 
 
 " Arise," he said. " Let us be going. It is time 
 we should depart. Must I not see thee on the way to 
 thine home and thy people, where even now they con 
 sider thee as one dead." 
 
 Hilwe arose as he spoke, and made preparation to 
 follow him. 
 
 " It is well," was her simple reply. 
 
 " Hadst thou not thought otherwise, Hilwe, and that 
 it were not best at this time, I surely would have taken 
 thee to my own dwelling-place, even to Bettir. I would 
 have dared do it. Yet perhaps thou art right. Thine 
 is the more prudent way, especially in the great trouble 
 which hath befallen us." 
 
 As they passed from under the sheltering rocks and 
 into the main pathway, they came into full view of the 
 Valley of Bettir. 
 
 Looking up the winding wady, crowned at the head 
 with its stately tell, expecting the glad and pleasant 
 sight which had always met their gaze when bent in this 
 direction, they both suddenly stood still, appalled and 
 as if turned to stone. 
 
 The beautiful valley which, in all its loveliness, had 
 blessed their eyes when last they looked upon it, was 
 utterly transformed ruined. They could scarce be 
 lieve that they saw aright. The Angel of Destruction 
 had been there also had stretched his hand over 
 height and hollow, dingle and slope ; the wild tempest- 
 blast and cloud-burst had swept the length and breadth 
 of the place, and this was the result. 
 
 The fast-maturing corn and other crops were entirely 
 torn away; many of the fruit-trees were uprooted, 
 they had been drifted about like feathers ; and the fair 
 fields and pastures which had smiled so peacefully 
 three days ago, were laid bare and naked in the sight 
 of Heaven. The overcharged aqueduct had burst,
 
 304 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 carrying all before it and devastating the lower lands. 
 The bottom of the valley was a pool of standing water, 
 filled with the debris, and the havoc was as heart-rending 
 as it was complete. The besom of Euroclydon, the 
 storm-wind, had done its work thoroughly; the very 
 earth was swept and washed away by the tropical rain 
 deluge the work of years blotted out in a moment. 
 
 Hassan and Hilwe stood, side by side, almost mo 
 tionless. Their eyes were fixed upon the scene of 
 wrath and terror, as if it had hypnotised them. 
 
 " Little do we know," at last spoke Hassan. " We 
 are as fools, and know nothing. Verily I thought my 
 affliction which had come upon me grievous and hard 
 to be borne yea, intolerable; and now, behold, it is as 
 nothing to this unspeakable calamity. We sat and 
 lamented our loss, almost within sight of this great and 
 terrible overthrow, and we knew it not. O my people, 
 ye are indeed afflicted ; and the home of my fathers is 
 desolate ! Solitary as a widow, tears are on her cheeks. 
 She hath none to comfort her. Stripped and peeled 
 and smitten, how shalt thou, O Bettir ! stand before this 
 trouble, to endure it? " 
 
 They could see, scattered here and there among the 
 uprooted fruit-trees and the soaked and untimely reap- 
 age of the grain fields garnered by the storm, the 
 dead carcasses of sheep and cattle. This touched 
 Hassan to the quick. He groaned in spirit. 
 
 " The flocks and herds of Bettir were beyond all 
 others beautiful, they were above praise," he murmured. 
 "They filled the pastures of the valleys and the hillsides 
 with gladness, and their lowings and bleatings rejoiced 
 the heart. Where shall we seek them, or the like of 
 them? The anger of the heavens hath devoured them. 
 As for me, I have no sheep to tend. But who am I 
 that I should speak of myself when all are suffering? 
 And now " 
 
 He could say no more. The words, broken against 
 his grief, refused to come. 
 
 That inexpressible pain the agony of agonies 
 the torture which seizes the man overwhelmed with mis 
 fortune and loss, whose heart is too strong to break,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 305 
 
 compressed as in a hand of iron the heart and brain of 
 poor Hassan. 
 
 His brain reeled, if his stalwart legs did not tremble. 
 What could be expected of him? The man of high 
 gifts and culture, and of religious training in the doc 
 trines of Christ, has bent, supine and despairing, in such 
 a trial as this. Hassan, fellah of the fellaheen, peasant 
 of peasants, with peculiar environment, narrow horizon, 
 his knowledge of the world limited, and his expe 
 rience of life outside of the simple daily routine of 
 the Palestine shepherd restricted and contracted, how 
 shall we judge him? 
 
 But his faith did not fail him. 
 
 " Yet are we in the hands of God, the All- 
 Merciful." 
 
 This was his refuge, and these the words upon his lips, 
 even when all was dark about him, and his feet had 
 well-nigh stumbled out of the way. 
 
 " I am as a man who sleeps and dreams," he said, 
 " who sees strange and unaccountable things, and does 
 that which is regrettable, or who beholds appalling 
 sights, so that the hair of his body stands on end, 
 his heart is affrighted, and his knees are bowed with 
 apprehension of that which is coming upon him, and 
 v. hich there is no escaping. He awakes, and lo, it is 
 a dream only a vision of the night! But / do not 
 wake. Or if I wake I know not, for the dread thing is 
 still before me! Touch me, Hilwe! See if I sleep. 
 Or dost thou, too, perceive that which I behold?" 
 
 The tears were pouring down Hilwe s face, and sobs 
 were choking her, so that she could not make herself 
 understood. 
 
 She laid her hand in his that useful clever little 
 hand of hers, that had done so much work and good, 
 lay nestling, like a brown bird, in the broad generous 
 palm of the handsome young giant. 
 
 "Allah comfort thee ! " she whispered. 
 
 The next moment they were clasped in each other s 
 arms. 
 
 " Yea, Allah hath sent thee, as his angel, to speak 
 peace and comfort to my soul. Weep not, Hilwe. I
 
 306 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 have forgotten myself, and am no man. Why should I 
 lay my burden upon thee? Why should I be cast 
 down? Let me praise Allah and take courage. May 
 hap it is not as bad as it seems. Some of the flocks 
 and herds must have been driven into the houses, and 
 are saved. And the upper caves could not have been 
 flooded, and must have sheltered others." 
 
 In this last, in the midst of his anguish, he spoke 
 against his judgment, to soothe the grief of his 
 beloved. 
 
 There was that in the sweet loving nature of the man 
 which rose above his personal trouble, and lifted him 
 into the region of compassion compassion for others. 
 
 As they walked together towards Malha, his mind 
 was filled with the thoughts of what he would do to aid 
 the stricken, and restore as much as possible the dam 
 age which had been done by the storm. " When thou 
 art safe in Malha," he said, " I shall return at once to 
 Bettir, and do what I can to help and console them." 
 
 This was the burden of their conversation. They 
 touched little upon themselves, and how all this which 
 had happened would reflect disastrously upon them. 
 Yet no one knew better than they did how much more 
 hopeless than before was their cause, and how almost 
 insuperable were the difficulties to be surmounted in a 
 country so welded to ancient custom, and where the 
 possession of the bride is obtained only through the 
 presenting of heavy gifts to her family and the pay 
 ment of a sum enormously extravagant for a people 
 comparatively so poor. 
 
 " Yes, I must do all I can to help them," he said. 
 
 Men, as well as nations, are truly great when, unsel 
 fishly, they rise to their emergencies, and deal with 
 them in the spirit of the God-Man, who to-day walks 
 the earth, perhaps nearer than ever before to the real 
 isation of his birthright his kingdom.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 307 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 WHEN Hilwe entered Malha, she found, as Hassan 
 had said, her people lamenting her as one who 
 had ceased to live. At first they almost looked upon 
 her as a spirit, and their superstitious feelings did not 
 wear away for several days. 
 
 They closely questioned her regarding the incidents 
 connected with the time in which she had been absent. 
 And though she made the best of the peculiar circum 
 stances, describing her great peril, and her narrow escape 
 from death, through her rescue and shelter in the cave 
 with Hassan, there were grave surmises, and openly ex 
 pressed condemnation as to her conduct, while they 
 could not deny the necessity of the case. 
 
 It is probable she would have fared worse at their 
 hands, and have experienced the more severe rigour of 
 their inquisitorial methods, had not the concurrence of 
 other and more important events engrossed their atten 
 tion. 
 
 The chief of these was also connected with the storm, 
 and was of the most fatal character, involving the loss of 
 many lives. In some of its features it resembled the 
 catastrophe which had overtaken Hassan and Hilwe and 
 had devastated Bettir. 
 
 A party of men, women, and children, all Moslems, 
 and the larger number pilgrims returning from celebrat 
 ing the feast of Neby Moussa, the prophet Moses, 
 from the reputed tomb of the great lawgiver, to es 
 cape the sudden violence of the storm, had taken refuge 
 in a cave situated in a narrow rocky pass. In the tre 
 mendous conflict of the elements, they were congratulat 
 ing themselves on having escaped the worst, and at having 
 found a place of refuge, when there occurred what was 
 described as the bursting of a waterspout. It appeared 
 to be the centre of the storm which had extended to 
 Bettir. Confined to the contracted defile, the immense 
 body of water rushed headlong in what had all the char 
 acter of a raging river between high rocky banks ; and,
 
 308 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 without a moment s warning, broke into and rilled the 
 cave like a deluge. 
 
 It was a piteous but swift agony. 
 
 A fearful struggle ensued, amid the shrieks and screams 
 of the women and children. Heroic efforts were made to 
 save life, but in such fearful odds even the strongest 
 men were but as straws and rubbish, dashed about at 
 the mercy of the flood. 
 
 When all was over, thirty-five dead bodies were taken 
 out. 
 
 The news of this sad event had reached Malha before 
 the arrival of Hilwe, and made a great impression there, 
 and also on the surrounding country, where a number 
 of those who had perished had either lived or were 
 known. 
 
 As the accounts of the disasters which had overwhelmed 
 Bettir came in, day by day, they also served to distract 
 attention, and were received with a grim satisfaction 
 which occasionally expanded into notes of triumph, born 
 of the old enmity and hatred. Malha itself had escaped 
 with but slight injury, and so could look down 
 upon Bettir as being the special subject of Divine 
 wrath. 
 
 Then followed renewed reports of the approaching ar 
 rival of the long-expected Palestine regiment. It had 
 been detained to subdue a revolt; but would enter Jeru 
 salem, doubtless, in a day or two. They must go forth 
 to meet it, with due preparation, and manifestations of 
 respect and welcome. 
 
 So Hilwe was comparatively overlooked. 
 
 Hassan, according to his intention, had immediately 
 returned to Bettir, where he proved to be an invaluable 
 aid in the work of restoration. The harvest, indeed, had 
 been swept away, the vineyards washed out, and of the 
 great flocks and herds, the famous sheep and cattle, 
 but few remained to testify as to what they had been. 
 The people were impoverished. But of the fruit-trees, a 
 large number could be replanted. Many of them were 
 but slightly shifted, others were only bent over, or had 
 the branches broken. With proper attention, the ma 
 jority of them could be saved.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 309 
 
 " Let us come up to the help of Bettir," was the rally 
 ing cry of Hassan. " Let her sons be united to deliver 
 her, and make the desolate places straight." 
 
 Who could refuse? 
 
 It was astonishing what a renewed aspect the place 
 had put on in a short time. The aqueduct had been 
 repaired, and the water confined to its proper channels. 
 The rubbish had been cleared off and burned. The 
 vineyards had been replanted, the fruit-trees in great 
 part restored, and the fields and gardens set in order. 
 In all this Hassan had been the leading spirit; and, sec 
 onded by the sheik and Chalil, the people obeyed him 
 willingly. 
 
 He saw the ruined fields in which lately the crop had 
 been whitening already to harvest, and sadly recalled the 
 joyous sowing of the grain in the early days of the year. 
 In Palestine they sow and plough at the same time. They 
 cast the seed, and turn the furrow upon it. How plainly 
 he saw and heard the peasants as they scattered the 
 wheat broadcast before the plough, singing their chant, 
 " Feed us, O Lord, and all thy creatures ! " 
 
 Alas for that unreaped harvest ! 
 
 The whirlwind had gathered it. 
 
 " Let us trust God and take courage ! " was Hassan s 
 cry in the presence of the people. 
 
 So keenly did he suffer from the loss of the sheep 
 which had been intrusted to him, that he felt he could 
 not do enough to make amends. Yet he had not been 
 to blame. 
 
 The greater part of the sheep had not been Hassan s, 
 but had belonged to the sheik, Abou Chalil. As every 
 one knew, Hassan had taken great pride in the flock, 
 which, through his incessant care and skill, had in 
 creased unto a multitude, and was noted for its beauty 
 and fine condition. 
 
 But, much as the losses and disaster meant to the 
 grand old patriarch, not a murmur fell from his lips. 
 He had been well brought up, and for many a year 
 had been trained in that school of experience of good 
 and evil, of prosperity and adversity, that he believed 
 Allah had appointed, and that tries the souls of men, and
 
 jio Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 moulds character. The only change visible in him was 
 that he was kinder and gentler in his manner. 
 
 Especially did he show this to Hassan, as if to assure 
 him that he cherished no bitterness towards him. When 
 ever he addressed him now, it was " Hassan, my son." 
 
 The young man s heart was touched, and, with all his 
 pride and strength, he could have bent and kissed the 
 sheik s feet. 
 
 Hassan and Chalil occupied, as heretofore, the old 
 stone house which had been the dwelling of the former s 
 father and mother. As, wearied from their toil, both the 
 friends at night lay down to sleep together, with the un 
 restrained familiarity which had existed between them 
 from boyhood, Chalil referred to this action of his sire : 
 
 " Didst thou not hear my father call thee his son, 
 Hassan?" 
 
 "Verily I did. And it warmed and gladdened my 
 heart, so that I well-nigh forgot my losses and my 
 trouble. He knows I loved the sheep, and would 
 have given my life for them." 
 
 " Yea ; and that the loss was through no fault of thine. 
 Did they not fare alike on this side? And was not a 
 goodly share of them thine own?" 
 
 " Yet I blame myself. I cannot help it. Though it 
 is doubtful that aught I might have done could have 
 availed to save them. Thy father is a good man. He 
 bears the trouble well." 
 
 " He bears it well. But he suffers ; though, in his 
 pride, he lets no one see it. There are those who will 
 not be persuaded but that he hath a hoard, a buried 
 treasure. But believe it not. It is not true. He was ever 
 more than generous with his means, and never withheld 
 help from him who needed it. He never refused bread 
 to the hungry, nor turned away from him who asked of 
 him. He laid not up treasure. He is indeed stripped 
 and peeled ; and who is there to give unto him ? " 
 
 "True, true. We are all ruined together. It will go 
 hard with us till the earth once more yields her strength 
 and her increase, and gives us bread to eat. And now I 
 must spare the oil and quench the light. The poor man 
 puts out his lamp early in the night."
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 311 
 
 Saying which, Hassan extinguished the feeble flicker 
 ing flame, leaving the place in darkness. 
 
 "Yea, we are all poor together. But thou and I, 
 Hassan," added Chalil, "we stand by one another. 
 Naught has ever come between us to divide us, or 
 break our friendship, neither poverty nor riches, sor 
 row nor joy. And shall it not ever be so?" 
 
 " It is easy for me to agree to that. I owe thee much, 
 Chalil ; and that which I can never pay thee. All thou 
 didst suffer at Malha - 
 
 " Nay, mention it not. The accounts of friends are in 
 the heart. Doth not the old proverb say that a sincere 
 friend ought to suffer the bite of a snake for his friend? 
 Thou speakest, too, as if the weight was on one side of 
 the balance, and dost not remember all that I owe to 
 thee. Didst thou not save my life once? " 
 
 So they argued, and in such gentle contention fell 
 asleep. 
 
 The next morning, at early dawn, they were awake, as 
 usual, and hastened to return to their labours. Unless 
 they had given their constant supervision to the work 
 but little would have been accomplished. Among no 
 people is watching so necessary as with the Oriental. 
 Unless incessantly watched, workmen and employees 
 loiter over their tasks, or sit down to smoke. It is a 
 perfectly-understood fact, which is supplemented by an 
 other, it takes such a large number of persons to do 
 a very trifling thing. Some one must always be present 
 to direct them in the most simple operations As al 
 ready has been said, the Oriental has plenty of time in 
 which to do nothing. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 OUT of the wreck and ruin of Bettir, Hassan had 
 one possession preserved alive. It was a pre 
 cious one indeed. It was his horse, an Arab of the 
 purest blood, of that renowned breed claiming descent
 
 3 12 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 from the horse of the Prophet Mohammed himself, on 
 which, as is believed by every true Moslem, he had 
 performed that miraculous midnight journey from Mecca 
 to Jerusalem. 
 
 Besides the stone house in the village which had been 
 his father s, and the division of land apportioned to him 
 as his individual share of the tillage held in common, 
 the horse was all of any great value that was left to 
 Hassan. 
 
 Without the least exaggeration, this superb animal 
 might be said to be worthy of an emperor s stud. It 
 had never been sold. Money would not purchase the 
 noble creature. It was a present to Hassan from a 
 Bedawe sheik whose life he had saved at risk of his 
 own. In recognition of his inestimable service, the horse 
 had become Hassan s, and was prized accordingly. 
 
 He had called him Al Borak, " The Lightning," 
 after the suppositions mystic steed already mentioned, 
 on which, moreover, it was further held the Prophet had 
 ascended to the seventh heaven and the presence of God, 
 returning to Mecca the same night. 
 
 The horse loved Hassan. Before he was very long in 
 the young shepherd s possession there could be no doubt 
 of the singularly affectionate feelings the beautiful and 
 sagacious animal possessed for him. 
 
 The joy that Al Borak exhibited when his master 
 mounted him was at once noticeable, and was shown 
 in numerous ways. He seemed at such times a differ 
 ent creature, inspired with a rapturous force that took 
 him outside of himself. The very weight of Hassan upon 
 him gave him delight. The pressure of his master s 
 legs upon his sides sent a wild thrill of pleasure through 
 the horse, which carried the beloved burden with a glad 
 ness that love alone could inspire. 
 
 Al Borak could not bear that any one else should 
 mount him, and resisted the act, at length carrying the 
 hostility so far as to attack and injure those who per 
 sisted in attempting to employ him in this way. 
 
 Of late, owing to his close occupation in tending the 
 sheep, Hassan had not been able to use the horse as 
 often as he formerly had done. But when he had to go
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 313 
 
 a great distance, or take a journey, Al Borak was imme 
 diately called into requisition. He delighted too, as 
 occasion permitted, to display his equestrian skill be 
 fore Hilwe, whom the horse soon came to know, Hilwe 
 cultivating his friendship by bringing him pieces of 
 bread and other dainties. 
 
 Hassan taught him many pretty tricks and clever 
 ways, especially in connection with Hilwe; and the 
 horse quickly learned to bend low to receive her on his 
 back, at Hassan s word. 
 
 When the disaster befell Bettir, sweeping away their 
 crops and herds, and plunging the villagers into such 
 great distress that many of them would have lacked the 
 necessaries of life, had not others, but little better off, 
 come to their assistance, Hassan had said to his friend 
 Chalil : " It is not proper that I who am no other than a 
 beggar should keep a horse that is fit for a prince." 
 
 He had made up his mind what he would do ; but 
 he did not tell Chalil till he had obtained the latter s 
 opinion as to the propriety of parting with Al Borak. 
 
 " I have to admit that thou art right," was the reluc 
 tant admission of Chalil. " Pity that it is so." 
 
 " Ay, pity that it is so. Al Borak was a present to 
 me. That is the only thought that holds me back. The 
 Bedawe who gave him to me was a prince a sultan 
 the owner of five thousand camels. It is not every one 
 I should care to see the horse with." 
 
 The next morning Hassan met the sheik, and, repeat 
 ing what he had said as to the unsuitableness of such as 
 he, a poor shepherd without his sheep, owning a horse 
 fit for a prince, presented Al Borak to the sheik. 
 
 He had caparisoned the royal stallion in his finest 
 trappings. He looked glorious. 
 
 " The horse is for thee, O Sheik. I would honour 
 thee with a present. To thee only would I give him ; 
 and he will be with us, to do us credit ; and it will not 
 be as though he belonged to another village, or to a 
 stranger. Art thou not worthier than a prince? Hast 
 thou not been a father to thy people? " 
 
 In Palestine it is almost impossible to refuse a gift. 
 It is difficult to do so anywhere.
 
 314 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Abou Chalil was deeply moved, so that the expres 
 sion of his countenance changed, and for a space he 
 was unable to speak. He took Hassan s hand in his 
 own, and pressed it to his breast. 
 
 " My son Hassan, how shall I praise thee?" at last 
 spoke the sheik. " Thou bringest me a present such as 
 one king might give to another king. Thou honourest 
 me when my head is in the dust, when the shadow of a 
 great misfortune hath fallen upon me and upon my 
 people. Not out of thy abundance dost thou bring 
 this lordly gift, for thou thyself hast been stricken, and 
 laid low with us, and we all are poor, poor indeed, and 
 well-nigh naked ; but out of the richness of thy gener 
 osity and love, out of the noble thought of thy heart, 
 that penury could not impoverish, hast thou done this 
 thing. And now, my son, if I have found grace in thy 
 sight, hearken to me ; and be not offended, and take it 
 not amiss, nor imagine that I think any the less of thee, 
 because I cannot accept thy gift." 
 
 Hassan stood before him with bowed head. 
 
 " Speak, my father," he said, " thy servant heareth." 
 
 " Far be it from me to tell thee what thou shouldst do 
 with that which is thine own. Yet why should I not 
 show my heart to one who hath dealt as thou hast with 
 me? Am I not situated even as thou art as regards the 
 horse? Is he not beyond my condition and the poor 
 estate into which I have fallen? It is not as though he 
 were accustomed to work the land. He hath never 
 passed under the yoke. It would break his proud heart 
 to be put to the plough. Neither thou nor I could see 
 it. Ah, no ! But were the horse indeed mine, to do 
 with according to my best judgment, I should take the 
 price of him and distribute it among my people who are 
 in want of seed and of food, or to repair the damage 
 done by the storm, and repay the money borrowed of 
 the usurers for are we not helpless and in the hands 
 of the money-lenders, who are without mercy, and know 
 not compassion?" 
 
 " My father, I will do as thou sayest. Thy words are 
 the teachings of wisdom. The horse is thine, to do with 
 according as thou hast spoken."
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 315 
 
 As the words passed the lips of Hassan, the aged 
 sheik fell upon his neck and kissed him. 
 
 " Blessed be thou, my son, and God reward thee as I 
 cannot," he said. " But neither I, nor my son, nor his 
 son s son shall forget to thee and thine the thing that 
 thou hast done this day. God do more to me and more 
 also, if I fail to do as I have said." 
 
 " Say no more, my father. The gift is naught as 
 compared to the honour I bear thee. Do with the 
 horse as seemeth good in thine eyes." 
 
 " A certain man from Jerusalem was here, not many 
 days ago, seeking such a horse as is thine. He had 
 heard of Al Borak, and came to see him. He gave his 
 name as Selim, and said his master was rich and was 
 willing to pay a goodly price for the horse if he was 
 pleased with it. And how can he help but be pleased? 
 There is not such another horse in all this part of the 
 country. Would it not be well for thee to see this 
 man s master without delay? Let him see Al Borak. 
 That will be enough. We told the man, as we believed, 
 that thou wouldst not part with the horse for any 
 money." 
 
 " I am at thy disposition," replied Hassan promptly. 
 " I will do in all things as thou hast said. I will see the 
 man this very day, in Jerusalem. Is not Al Borak ready 
 prepared to my hand to show him in fine condition 
 and fully caparisoned?" 
 
 " Yea, he is in good shape. I never saw him look 
 better." 
 
 " In all, save one thing, will I obey thy voice. I can 
 not take back my word. I have given the horse to thee. 
 He is thine. And whether the price be great or small, 
 into thy hands it shall be paid, to do with it as thou 
 wiliest; and to thee shall I render account." 
 
 Hassan had no difficulty in finding Selim, who forth 
 with ushered him into the presence of his master, the 
 Count Leone Spollato. The ride from Bettir to Jerusa 
 lem had put Hassan and Al Borak into excellent spirits, 
 and the Count hardly knew which to admire more, the 
 superb horse, or the fascinating young peasant.
 
 316 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 The native on horseback feels like a prince a 
 changed and exalted being; and he shows this. To 
 Hassan, so handsome already, it was not easy to add 
 another beauty point; but, mounted on the horse, it 
 was accomplished. 
 
 The young men were at once drawn together, and 
 became particularly friendly and confidential. Leone 
 took especial pains to please and entertain Hassan, who 
 was easily beguiled into telling about himself and his 
 experiences, in return for Leone s condescension of a like 
 character. 
 
 When Hassan told of his love for the horse, it made 
 Leone hate to deprive him of it. 
 
 Then they rode out together, Hassan displaying the 
 fine points of Al Borak to perfection, and Leone, carried 
 away, determining to own the beautiful creature if money 
 could buy him. 
 
 When Leone demanded the price he would take, with 
 the characteristic Oriental finesse, that nice blending 
 of the polite and the politic, Hassan left all that to 
 Leone s honour. 
 
 In the end, Hassan received a larger amount than he 
 had expected, though not more than he had appraised 
 as the value of Al Borak. 
 
 Leone paid him in gold, as is usual in the Holy City; 
 in twenty-franc pieces, mostly napoleons and louis 
 d or, with a few Austrian, Italian and Greek coins of 
 the same value interspersed. 
 
 It made a nice little pile upon the table ; though 
 Hassan wondered how it could be an equivalent for Al 
 Borak. 
 
 He poured it into a small canvas bag, which he se 
 curely tied with cord, feeling like a criminal. 
 
 Presently he poised the weight in his hand, and 
 smiled as he thought of the good old sheik, and then 
 dropped the bag into the bosom of his vest. 
 
 There was still the backsheesh, which Leone willingly 
 added when it was explained to him. 
 
 Hassan took out the bag, opened it, and dropped in 
 the additional coins. 
 
 The Oriental, when you have completed your busi-
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 317 
 
 ness with him, and paid him, invariably asks for back- 
 shcesh a present or gift over and above the price 
 agreed upon. It is an immemorial custom. So the 
 Irish, in seeming relationship, under similar conditions, 
 ask for something to " boot." " Backsheesh " and 
 "boot" are synonymous terms in this respect; the 
 " pour-boire " of the Frenchman is akin. The English 
 man, on such an occasion, looks at you, and thinks, but 
 says nothing, unless, at great exertion, he manages to 
 stammer out with half-guilty blush the request, " some 
 thing for luck." 
 
 Still Hassan lingered. 
 
 There evidently was something weighing on his 
 mind. 
 
 Leone proposed that they take another ride. 
 
 Hassan agreeing, they went to the stable. 
 
 It was a much finer home than any Al Borak had 
 been accustomed to, from his youth up till now. But 
 Hassan thought it confined and close ; and told Leone 
 to let in all the air possible, and to give Al Borak all 
 the freedom and exercise he conveniently could. 
 
 This Leone promised to do, adding that he probably 
 would soon take him on a long journey to Damascus, 
 the Lebanon, Ba albec and Beirut. 
 
 "Ah, that is what he likes!" exclaimed Hassan. 
 "You will make him love you." 
 
 " If I possibly can." 
 
 " This time, let us exchange ; you will ride Al 
 Borak," suggested Hassan, " while I take your horse." 
 
 " All right," said Leone, well pleased. 
 
 " You ride well. But not exactly like us. He will 
 soon get accustomed to you, though." 
 
 Hassan stood at Al Borak s head while Leone 
 mounted. 
 
 With his usual temper, the horse turned, resenting 
 that another than Hassan should take this liberty with 
 him. But Hassan stroked his nose, and bending over 
 him whispered some Arabic words in his ear. 
 
 Leone took his seat handsomely; and, after a further 
 admonitory word to Al Borak, Hassan mounted the 
 other horse.
 
 318 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 They rode out quite a little distance, Leone manag 
 ing the horse admirably. He did not worry him by too 
 much handling, but gave him his own way. 
 
 With the Oriental worship of beauty, Hassan looked 
 at Leone approvingly. 
 
 " You are a well-made man," he said, speaking in 
 English. " You are by nature like Al Borak. You 
 have in you what will make him love you. Since I 
 have to part with the horse, I am glad that a man like 
 you will be his master." 
 
 When returning, they took it more slowly. Hassan 
 had many things he wanted to say to Leone about Al 
 Borak, and yet it was with difficulty he spoke. He 
 was unable to say all he wished to say ; the words stuck 
 in his throat, and seemed to choke him. 
 
 And now they were again in the stable. 
 
 Hassan had no longer any excuse for delaying. The 
 moment for parting had come. 
 
 Leone had dismounted. The two young men stood 
 together, side by side, but were silent. 
 
 Hassan stepped forward a single pace, and put his 
 arm about Al Borak s neck, speaking to him in a low 
 tone, as if only for the horse to hear. 
 
 " We have been brothers, these many days," he said. 
 " We love one another. Faithful and good hast thou 
 been to me ; and I have tried to be kind to thee as I 
 was able. We were friends together, though I was the 
 master and thou the willing slave. I brought thee out 
 of the desert which was thy home, into a strange coun 
 try; but thou didst cleave to me all the closer, and 
 never failed me. And now it has come to pass that we 
 must part. I who was thy master am so no more. I 
 am become so poor, I am no longer able to own thee. 
 Another is thy master, and thou must love him and 
 serve him, and and forget me." 
 
 He could control himself no longer, but, hiding his 
 face against the horse s neck, sobbed like a child. 
 
 Al Borak turned his head inquiringly, and then 
 rubbed it gently against Hassan, as if to comfort him. 
 He also leaned against him, throwing his weight upon 
 him, as though he would embrace him. Hassan patted
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 3*9 
 
 the neck and shoulder of the horse while he spoke a 
 few remaining words to him that were scarcely audible. 
 Then, taking Al Borak by the bridle, he led him to 
 Leone. 
 
 " This is thy master," he said to the horse. " He will 
 love thee. Love him and serve him as thou hast loved 
 and served me." 
 
 Then, putting his arm around Leone, he whispered to 
 him some Arabic words. 
 
 " These are the words that the Bedawe spoke when 
 he gave the horse to me. I have never spoken them 
 aloud ; and see that you do not. Nor use them need 
 lessly. If ever you are in a strait, whisper them to him. 
 He will then die for you." 
 
 Leone bowed his head. 
 
 "Have you got them? and will you remember 
 them?" 
 
 " Yes, I have them ; and I shall be sure to remember 
 them, and do as you have said," answered Leone. 
 
 " Now speak the words to him. Speak them softly 
 in his ear. Let me see thee do it." 
 
 Leone put his lips to the horse s ear, and whispered 
 the Arabic words. 
 
 They were as a spell upon Al Borak. 
 
 It was like betraying him; and Hassan knew it. It 
 was giving him over utterly to Leone. 
 
 In an instant the proud fond horse was transfigured. 
 His eyes flashed fire; he flung up his head, shaking out 
 his flowing mane ; and drew in the air through his dis 
 tended nostrils as if he were sniffing the winds of the 
 desert ; while he stretched out his limbs as though 
 spanning with them the level sands. 
 
 " It is well. He will obey you, even to the death." 
 
 Hassan had placed the bridle in Leone s hands ; and 
 he now turned to leave. As he reached the door, the 
 horse looked on him a wistful look, almost agonizing 
 in its intentness, and then sent out a long tremulous 
 whinny that was like the cry of a human being in dis 
 tress. It was as if he said : 
 
 "And art thou leaving me thus I who have loved 
 thee so well and so long? Ah, no, no ! "
 
 320 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 It was too much. Hassan stopped. An incoherent 
 sound like a groan burst from his lips. 
 
 " I thought I could do it," he said. " But I cannot ! " 
 
 His heart beat fast. His hand went down into his 
 bosom. He drew out the bag of gold. 
 
 Then, when he thought of the noble old sheik, and 
 the sufferings of the impoverished people, and the 
 cruelty of the money-lenders and tax-gatherers, and how 
 all the sheep the sheik had intrusted to him were lost, he 
 dropped the bag back again, covered his face with his 
 hand, and went out. 
 
 Amne, looking through a lattice, had seen Hassan 
 come and go, and said to Leone : 
 
 " The young man who was with thee, and whose horse 
 thou hast bought, Hassan of Bettir, is he who would 
 have married Hilwe, but for the Thar between his peo 
 ple and the people of Malha. And now they will make 
 her marry Abd-el-nour, an old man who has already 
 three wives, but who has many flocks and herds and 
 other possessions. I greatly feared the young man 
 should see me, and hid myself from him, lest the people 
 of Malha should hear where I am." 
 
 Leone did not greatly notice her words, and made 
 her a trivial reply; his mind was taken up with his 
 recent purchase, and the thought of the impression he 
 would make when mounted upon Al Borak. Especially 
 did he think of Miss Warren in this connection. For 
 the fair American, having carried her point, had re 
 turned to Jerusalem, as she had promised, and was still 
 lingering there. It was openly said that Leone was the 
 occasion of this, and he believed it he knew it. 
 There is no doubt that she gave him what most men 
 would consider great encouragement. Flattered by this, 
 he again had been led on into such demonstrations and 
 attentions as were unmistakable signs of his feelings 
 towards her. 
 
 It fanned the flame of her vanity to have in her train 
 a titled cavalier of so distinguished a presence. How 
 much deeper were her emotions, we need not consider. 
 Perhaps she herself was not quite conscious of all she
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 321 
 
 felt. And when she arranged to visit Syria, Damascus, 
 Ba albec, and Beirut, Leone was included in the party. 
 
 It was for this journey he had been so anxious to pro 
 cure Al Borak. And when, one morning, the hand 
 somely mounted and equipped cavalcade rode out the 
 Jaffa Gate, and turned into the Damascus road, for that 
 long trip to the northward, Al Borak and his rider were 
 the cynosure of all eyes. 
 
 They expected to make the journey leisurely, taking 
 abundant time to see and investigate everything of in 
 terest, and there is much to interest. They had planned 
 to be gone a long time. They had no reason to hurry, 
 and they did not hurry. Leone had taken Selim with 
 him for his special attendant. Everything had been 
 made as comfortable as was possible under the circum 
 stances. They were travelling like royalty. 
 
 But Leone, afterwards, never cared to refer to this 
 episode in his life. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 THE reports as to the return of the Palestine regi 
 ment had, this time, proved true. Hebron, Bettir, 
 Malha, Lifta, Ain Karim, and all the country round 
 about were stirred to their very depths, and sent forth 
 a mixed multitude, composed of men and women and 
 not a few children, to meet the braves " the sons of 
 the Sultan," as figuratively they may be called who 
 having completed the term of their military service, 
 were now to be disbanded in Jerusalem. 
 
 The day was bright and clear, indeed almost oppres 
 sive with that piercing glare which is a peculiarity of 
 the land, and of blinding tendency; and the heat was 
 of that suffocating quality which made people remark 
 that the sirocco had begun to blow. 
 
 There were about one thousand soldiers, with slight 
 individual differences, all generally of much the same 
 appearance and character short, thick-set men, with
 
 322 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 broad and often rounded shoulders, upon which their 
 coarse and rather savage-like heads were so closely set, 
 they seemed to have very short, or no necks. They 
 were strong, tough-looking fellows, accustomed from 
 their youth up to sleep in the open air, capable of en 
 during much exposure and hard usage, but ungainly 
 and clumsy in their movements. They evidently were 
 for business, not for ornament. There was something 
 brutal in .many of the faces. Perhaps their army life 
 had not improved them. And there too was that about 
 their entire physique a condensation of endurance, 
 which seemed almost a threat which said : "We come 
 of an old potent stock, and shall not fail to project our 
 selves into the future generations." 
 
 They presented a remarkable sight, as, covered with 
 dust from their long march, they filed in at the Jaffa 
 Gate, and through David Street, following their red and 
 their green sacred flags, and their tall, leather-aproned 
 axebearers, past the Tower of David, to the Barracks 
 on Zion s Hill. 
 
 They were accompanied by a vast concourse, com 
 posed of relatives and friends as well as sight-seers. 
 These mostly followed closely in the rear, calling and 
 shouting, clapping hands, and with other exhibitions of 
 wild joy, participating in the eager demonstration. 
 
 Some of them ran along by the side of the soldiers, 
 talking to them asking them questions, and giving 
 them information of events which had occurred in their 
 absence. Others held up their children to show them, 
 some of the babes having been born while their fathers 
 were abroad. Many a touching scene might be wit 
 nessed, the heart breaking down under the strain of its 
 emotions. 
 
 Of course the soldiers marched on, of necessity ap 
 parently regardless of this, scarcely turning their 
 heads, and keeping step to the querulous droning minor 
 of the Turkish band, which kept reiterating, with per 
 sistent distracting monotony, sounds uncanny to the un 
 accustomed ear, and having the effect of a melancholy 
 
 jig- 
 It was difficult for the women in the exuberance of
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 323 
 
 their feelings to understand all this. It was hard for the 
 men to carry out the part of indifference their discipline 
 prescribed. The youngsters babbled and crowed, stretch 
 ing out their arms; or, frightened at the strange men, 
 shrank back, screaming and crying, on their mothers 
 breasts. 
 
 On, on, marched the men, and continually disap 
 peared through the yawning doorway of the barracks, 
 which, like a hungry mouth, swallowed them up. Close 
 pressed the crowd, from behind and from the sides. 
 And when the last soldier had vanished from sight, it 
 seemed as if, simultaneously, the entire square was one 
 mass of human beings, so densely packed that one could 
 have walked upon their heads. 
 
 Nor is this merely a figure of speech. Here and 
 there, up on high, men, unable to penetrate the crowd, 
 might be seen stepping from head to head and shoulder 
 to shoulder to reach some desired place. The space the 
 soldiers had passed through was blotted out in a flash, 
 occupied by the surging mob of gesticulating peasants 
 and townspeople the fellaheen and the belladeen, now 
 inextricably mingled. 
 
 The windows were filled and the walls and roofs cov 
 ered with spectators, till the surrounding buildings might 
 be said to be alive with people. 
 
 There was a momentous pause, a delay impatiently 
 borne by those outside, in which, especially, a certain 
 process was passed through by the soldiers within the 
 barrack yard, which to those who beheld it must have 
 been a highly amusing if not edifying spectacle. 
 
 It is not every day that one thousand men can be seen 
 all at once disrobing, for the purpose of passing from 
 the comparatively modern dress of the European soldier 
 into a garb having an antiquity of four thousand years. 
 Yet this grand divestiture was the sight presented be 
 hind those blank walls, beneath the open heavens, in 
 the drill yard. 
 
 The Turkish officers stood by, directing the operation, 
 the suspiciously sedate and even grave expression of 
 their countenances occasionallyrelaxing under the provo 
 cation of some unusually mirth-provoking incident.
 
 324 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 It was more than curious to see those soldiers who had 
 passed into the barracks in their full military uniform, 
 shedding the coarse, dark-blue coat and trousers and 
 red fez, presently emerge in the unconfined fellah garb, 
 the striped abai enveloping all alike. It was difficult to 
 recognise them as the same men. No doubt it was a 
 great relief to most of them to put off the tight-fitting 
 modern pantaloons and jackets, and get back once 
 more into their flowing easy garments, though the 
 pantaloons of the Turkish army, especially in the case 
 of the common soldiers, are made a rather looser fit 
 than ordinary, it is to be presumed to render them 
 more acceptable. 
 
 The meetings and kissings of the male relatives and 
 friends afforded a demonstration such, probably, as is 
 seldom or never beheld in any other country. Only the 
 men are seen to kiss never, at least openly, do the 
 women participate in this peculiar osculatory privilege. 
 
 Some of the poor peasant women had come many 
 miles to meet their husbands, sons, and other relatives, 
 and in many cases had brought food with them to satisfy 
 the hungry soldier after his weary, hot, and dusty march. 
 One old woman had brought a cooked chicken, with 
 olives, rice, figs, and cheese, as well as cakes of bread, 
 for her son returned. They might afterwards have been 
 seen, sitting together on some steps in the street, eating 
 with much joy and satisfaction the simple, but to them 
 luxurious, repast. 
 
 It was the same woman who, on the earlier report of 
 the return of the regiment, had said rejoicingly to the 
 Malha women, her companions, that the son of her 
 strength would be given back to her. 
 
 As her son appeased his hunger, she kept up a contin 
 ual chatter, giving him all the news of the village and 
 surrounding country, and a perfect chronicle of what 
 had occurred since he left. 
 
 Naturally they had much to say upon the subject of 
 the feuds and faction fights. 
 
 "There goes one of the Yemani," she exclaimed with 
 some bitterness, as a slender young man with a conceited, 
 defiant swagger, passed by, wearing the distinguishing
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 325 
 
 badge of the Yemani, a white silk turban striped with 
 pink. 
 
 Her son, who belonged to the Kais side of the faction, 
 and consequently wore a turban with dark red and yellow 
 stripes, hardly deigned to raise his eyes, much less to 
 turn his head, to look at the man. 
 
 " Poor stock," he muttered. 
 
 " Ay. Thou mayst well say it. Didst thou note his 
 pale face, not dark and healthy like the Kaiseyeh, and 
 his effeminate air?" 
 
 " There is no strength to them," he managed to artic 
 ulate between his mouthfuls. 
 
 " Verily thou art right." 
 
 "There is no doubt of that. The wonder is that our 
 side has not cleared them off the face of the earth long 
 ago, and that they continue to come back at us." 
 
 " I have heard that they came out of the southern 
 desert, like the locusts and other evil things. But that 
 was years ago ; and I know not." 
 
 " They come of Shaitan himself," was her son s em 
 phatic retort; "and are of no good." 
 
 " They have got much of our land from us." 
 
 " Yes ; but if we had only half tried before they got a 
 footing, we could have driven them out. As I told thee, 
 they have no strength in them. How could they, with 
 their pale faces? Well may we boast of our darker 
 skins." 
 
 " Allah be praised ! " 
 
 " Is it not so in everything? Thou canst see for thy 
 self. The dark-coloured horses have more vigour than 
 those of lighter colour; the murky and swarthy cattle 
 are the strongest and the best ; and thou knowest right 
 well that in our villages the black and the dark-brown 
 cocks have the loudest crow, and lord it over and drive 
 before them those weaklings of paler hue ; and the white 
 ones cannot stand up before them." 
 
 Thus was quietly settled the inferiority of the Yemani, 
 a widespread faction, which, in opposition to the Kaise 
 yeh, divided even the narrow limits of the village of 
 Malha. 
 
 " But here comes Kadra," said his mother. " Thou
 
 326 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 hast seen her already. The same as ever. Let us speak 
 comfortably to her, and offer her a morsel of bread and 
 a draught of the water, lest she turn upon us an evil eye." 
 
 Hardly had she ceased speaking when Kadra stood 
 beside them. 
 
 "Wilt thou not taste a morsel of bread, Kadra, and 
 quench thy thirst from our bottle? " 
 
 " Ay, that I will, at thy generous offer: I thank thee 
 kindly," replied Kadra, as she squatted beside the mother 
 of the young soldier. 
 
 " And is there any news, Kadra? Thou always hast 
 the latest." 
 
 " News there is," was the reply; " and no good news." 
 
 " Sayest thou so? " 
 
 " Verily and indeed." 
 
 " Tell us it, Kadra." 
 
 " Thou seest, over against the castle, those two men 
 of Bettir, Hassan and the young sheik, Chalil." 
 
 "I see them." 
 
 " They have just told me that there is a war in Crete, 
 or somewhere, and that more soldiers are required. 
 The Reserves are to be called out, and there will be a 
 conscription, or I know not what." 
 
 " It must be a mistake," said the soldier. " If it were 
 so we would know of it." 
 
 " They seemed to have it straight enough. They said 
 the information had only just arrived, and that there 
 would be a proclamation by the Pasha in a day or so." 
 
 " Then why did they disband us?" 
 
 " I know not, unless it was that thou hadst fulfilled 
 thy time of service." 
 
 " That would not have stood in their way in case of 
 necessity. Besides, they have held us already for several 
 moons over our time." 
 
 " Then thou mayest thank thy stars that they knew 
 not of this trouble until they let thee go, or thou wouldst 
 not have got off so easily. Peradventure they may even 
 yet stretch forth their hand and take thee." 
 
 " It is an evil day ! " cried the poor mother, wringing 
 her hands. " Oh, those Turks, how they abuse us ! We 
 like not them, and they hate us. They deal unrighteously
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 327 
 
 with us. They tax our lands and our crops, our flocks 
 and herds, and our trees, whether they bear or not ; all 
 that we have is theirs ; and then they are not satisfied. 
 They take our husbands and our sons from us, and place 
 them in the front of the battle, so that they may get 
 killed. They put them where they themselves would 
 not venture. Shall there not be retribution for this ; and 
 will not Allah take vengeance? " 
 
 " There, there, mother. Speak not so loud. Those 
 zaptiehs are listening to thee." 
 
 " Nay, my son, I spake not against our Lord the Sul 
 tan ; that be far from me," the frightened woman hurried 
 to explain. " Thou knowest we are always willing to 
 render to him the things that are his, even to our lives. 
 But we are an unhappy people, through unlawful dealing 
 and oppression ; and there is none to speak for us, or 
 plead our cause to our Sublime Ruler, the Padishah." 
 
 The zaptiehs referred to were two who stood immedi 
 ately opposite, leaning against the stone parapet guarding 
 the foss at the base of the Tower of David, or the Castle, 
 as they called it. They were no other than Kiamil Aga 
 and Assad, his sergeant, and they were evidently on the 
 watch for some one. 
 
 By this time the immense concourse of people which 
 had rilled the square had begun to disperse, each man 
 returning to his own home. The old historic spot which 
 David had captured from the over-confident Jebusite was 
 fast resuming its normal appearance. 
 
 The people descended from the roofs. Group after 
 group went by. 
 
 At length, as Hassan and Chalil passed, Assad called 
 the aga s attention. 
 
 " That is he, Aga. Is it not? " 
 
 " It is he." 
 
 " I thought, from the description, I could not be 
 mistaken in the man." 
 
 " Thou art right, O most sagacious of zaptiehs ! 
 But who is that with him ? " 
 
 " That is Chalil, the son of the sheik of Bettir." 
 
 " Thou sayest. Mark him well, Assad. We shall 
 have more to say to him, also. Didst thou not tell me
 
 328 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 that it was reported the sheik had a large treasure of 
 silver buried?" 
 
 "Yea; it is so reported, Aga." 
 
 " No doubt the old man will be willing to pay us a 
 goodly ransom for his son, and to escape our over 
 hauling. What thinkest thou ? " 
 
 " It is most likely." 
 
 " But keep a close watch on them." 
 
 " Thou mayest depend I shall." 
 
 " Let them not escape us. That Hassan is full of 
 cunning. Remember that I regard thee as responsible 
 for him. I shall hold him, ransom or no ransom." 
 
 " He is of comely build, and will make a fine soldier. 
 Didst thou notice his stature?" 
 
 " Ay. It is not that I consider. I have other ends 
 in view. He would make excellent food for powder. 
 It is a sin to allow such a man to waste his time tending 
 sheep, or settling down, contented with married life, 
 and the begetting of children, when he might be serv 
 ing his country by helping to defend her against her 
 enemies. What sayest thou, Sergeant ? " 
 
 " Thou speakest wisely, Aga." 
 
 " Take heed to my words ; it will go hard with me 
 but I shall accomplish it. He should be willing to give 
 his life for his country. It would be a crime not to put 
 him where he can be of the most use." 
 
 The docile sergeant smiled appreciatively. 
 
 " He would make a conspicuous figure in the front 
 of the battle, Aga." 
 
 " There is where I should like to test the courage 
 and lustihood of the bulky brute." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 IT was in the midst of the rainless season, those six 
 torrid months when not a drop of rain falls in 
 Palestine. 
 
 The hot, ancient, and malodorous dust lay several 
 inches thick on the streets, roads, and byways of Jeru-
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 329 
 
 salem and Judaea. One waded through it as if it were 
 a dry unclean snow. It clung to the feet and clothes 
 with a persistency that was intolerable, and made one 
 long to shake it off, in a Scriptural or any other sense, 
 as a testimony against the unrighteous mephitic city. 
 
 The day was unusually oppressive sweltering 
 seething. 
 
 That depressing southeast wind, the dreaded and 
 loathed sirocco, blowing insidiously and unremittingly 
 from off the burning sands of the Arabian desert, like 
 the breath of Tophet, added the last weight of misery, 
 making life a burden. All things shrank, warped, col 
 lapsed, and withered at its touch. The heart fainted 
 before it, the brain grew dizzy. It penetrated every 
 where, even to the inner chambers, and there was no 
 escape from it 
 
 Looking from the top of Mount Zion, a constant 
 steam could be seen rising from the surface of the 
 Dead Sea, four thousand feet below, as though it were 
 a boiling caldron, or the crater of a half-extinct volcano ; 
 suggestive of the day when " the Lord rained upon 
 Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire out of 
 heaven." So the sulphurous steam ascends. The pur 
 ple of the Moabite Hills is blotted out. Not a vestige 
 of them is left. 
 
 In the narrow tortuous streets of Jerusalem there was 
 scanty comfort all day. 
 
 Out in the country parts it was but little if any 
 better. 
 
 The ancient high-places, and the exposed rocky tells 
 with their crowded villages, palpitated in the blaze of 
 light and heat, blinded by the glare, hopeless of de 
 livery, accustomed to endure. 
 
 In the depths of the glen and wady of Urtas the hot 
 air, without a current to stir it, lay packed, sultry and 
 still, immovable, and as if full of sullen purpose. In all 
 the arc of heaven not a cloud floated to relieve the mo 
 notonous blue. It looked downward upon the earth, 
 implacable, inexorable, like the eye of some monstrous, 
 unconcerned deity who would not help, even if he 
 could.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Crossing the northwesterly ridge, through scrub and 
 brushwood, and by rocky pathways, two men might 
 be seen, coming from the direction of Bettir, and walk 
 ing rapidly, despite the heat. They were men of the 
 country, of the people of the land, and did not 
 seem to suffer from the excessive temperature as did the 
 stranger and the townsmen of mixed blood ; but, like 
 the ancient high-places and the exposed tells, were ap 
 parently dumbly accustomed to it. 
 
 They were Hassan and Chalil. The detested con 
 scription was urgently being carried out, and with un 
 usual severity ; and both the men had received friendly 
 notice, that morning, that, just at present, they had 
 best not be found in Bettir. 
 
 The reported insurrection in Crete had proved to be 
 true. All the soldiers which could be spared from 
 Jerusalem and Jaffa were at once sent forward ; and two 
 regiments, in addition, must be raised with as little 
 delay as possible. 
 
 The peasantry were greatly excited, and were resist 
 ing with all their might the enforcement of this most 
 unpopular levy. They did not hesitate to resort to the 
 most extreme measures in such a cause. 
 
 The zaptiehs, or bashi-bazouks, employed to bring 
 in the men were often unnecessarily severe and not 
 seldom cruel in the execution of their duty. They were, 
 as is well known, universally feared and abhorred by the 
 people. 
 
 The feeling between the Syrians and the Turkish 
 Government is far from friendly. There is little or no 
 concealment about it, even in the face of the danger of 
 openly expressing opinion under the circumstances. 
 
 The statement is continually repeated, that the Syrians 
 are hated by the Turks, and in war-time are put in 
 the front of the battle, so that few of the men return. 
 
 The prejudice was so strong after the Crimean War, 
 the Syrian regiments suffering severely, that to pacify 
 the natives, and in some degree counteract this bitter 
 feeling, and turn aside their wrath, they were told it was 
 the Christians Russians especially who had killed 
 their relatives and friends. So that to this day in cer-
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 331 
 
 tain parts of Palestine the animosity of the Moslem 
 peasants towards the Christians is intensified. The 
 regiment from Hebron having been almost entirely 
 cut off, the feeling of that ancient city as regards Chris 
 tians is decidedly ferocious and fanatical. 
 
 Yet while most positively objecting to leave the 
 country and enter the army, the peasants usually are 
 loyal to the Sultan and Islam, and quite willing to fight 
 for both within the limits of Palestine, though in general 
 they have but little knowledge of the Moslem religion, 
 many of them living in a state approaching to semi- 
 barbarism. 
 
 Most of their manners and customs are peculiar to 
 themselves. These with certain ethnological character 
 istics and traditions, together with their language, which 
 differs from pure Arabic, would seem to point to a 
 Canaanitish origin. However, they are careful to follow 
 the ordinary observances and to keep the chief festivals 
 of the Mohammedan faith. 
 
 On descending the spur of the hill, Hassan and Chalil 
 found themselves not far from the celebrated " Sealed 
 Fountain" which feeds the Pools of Solomon, and 
 which also supplies the aqueduct which carries the 
 water to Bethlehem, and into the Temple Enclosure at 
 Jerusalem, where, at last, the pure cool stream ascends 
 into the so-called Fountain of the Cup, which stands 
 amid the ancient cypress trees, before the Mosque of 
 Omar, and, with apparent probability, is supposed to 
 occupy the position of the Brazen Laver used for the 
 ablution of the priests in the symbolical ceremonial of 
 the proud old Hebrew worship. 
 
 Both the men paused, and looked around them cau 
 tiously. Not far beyond the " Sealed Fountain " rose 
 the grey battlemented walls of the Castle el-Burak. 
 Below lay the three wonderful pools, the work of the 
 wise king, majestic, venerable, unspeakably grand, 
 gleaming fitfully in the broad sunshine, as the warm 
 breeze passed over their surface, rippling it into mur 
 muring waves as if they were miniature seas. 
 
 They fill the entire breadth of the upper reach of the 
 Valley of Uriels, each successive pool lower than the
 
 332 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 preceding one, and they are separated by massively 
 constructed dams, solid earthworks, running at right 
 angles across the valley, pierced with connecting con 
 duits. Large enough to float a frigate of the line, 
 tradition has it that Herod the Great instituted the per 
 formance of mimic naval battles upon them. From the 
 third or lowest pool the water is distributed to irrigate 
 the gardens, farther down the valley, which are believed 
 to be those referred to by Solomon when he says, in 
 Ecclesiastes : "I made me great works; I builded me 
 houses ; I planted me vineyards ; I made me gardens 
 and orchards, I planted trees in them of all kinds of 
 fruits : I made me pools of water, to water therewith 
 the wood that bringeth forth trees." 
 
 At the present time, the earliest and best fruits and 
 vegetables in the Jerusalem market are brought from 
 these gardens of El Fureidis, the Little Paradise, as 
 they are called, and which is the very name applied to 
 them by Solomon in his lament. 
 
 The appellation Urtas seems to be a corruption of 
 the Latin Hortus, a garden, the name naturally given 
 the place by the Romans, who had here a military post. 
 
 Etham appears to have been another name for this 
 place, and which Josephus uses in his fascinating de 
 scription of Solomon s visits to these gardens. 
 
 Stating that the king was possessed of fourteen 
 hundred chariots and twenty-two thousand horses, the 
 historian continues : 
 
 " These horses also were so much exercised, in order 
 to their making a fine appearance, and running swiftly, 
 that no others could, upon the comparison, appear 
 either fairer or swifter ; but they were at once the most 
 beautiful of all others, and their swiftness was incom 
 parable also. Their riders also were a further orna 
 ment to them, being, in the first place, young men in 
 the most delightful flower of their age, and being emi 
 nent for their largeness, and far taller than other men. 
 They had also very long heads of hair hanging down, 
 and were clothed in garments of Tyrian purple. They 
 had also dust of gold every day sprinkled on their hair, 
 so that their heads sparkled with the reflection of the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 333 
 
 sunbeams from the gold. The king himself rode upon 
 a chariot in the midst of these men, who were still in 
 armour, and had their bows fitted to them. He had 
 on a white garment, and used to take his progress out 
 of the city in the morning. There was a certain place 
 about fifty furlongs distant from Jerusalem, which is 
 called Etham, very pleasant; it is in fine gardens, and 
 abounding in rivulets of water; thither did he use to 
 go out in the morning, sitting on high in his chariot." 
 
 What a vivid burning glimpse of the wise yet vo 
 luptuous king in all his glory! 
 
 To Hassan and Chalil, looking down upon the well- 
 watered valley, it was a familiar scene. Since their 
 early boyhood, it had been their habit to cross the hills 
 from Bettir and visit the pools. They had learned to 
 swim in them. They had played about their margins 
 for many a pleasant hour, mere youths, before the 
 serious side of life had begun to assert itself for them. 
 They remembered the fruits the grapes, figs, apricots, 
 and peaches, the pomegranates, melons, nectarines, and 
 almonds that the sheltered gardens brought forth so 
 abundantly. It was enchanted ground ; and they longed 
 to tread it once more in each other s company. 
 
 The greater the distance Hassan and Chalil had 
 placed between themselves and Bettir, the more secure 
 they felt. It was at Bettir they would be searched 
 for ; and there they would be watched and waited for, 
 expecting their return. They felt comparatively safe 
 elsewhere. 
 
 " For that matter we can find hiding-places anywhere," 
 Hassan remarked. 
 
 " Yea; and we know every inch of the ground," was 
 Chain s response. 
 
 " And the zaptiehs are afraid to venture where we 
 would go." 
 
 " As well they may be." 
 
 Besides, they did not attach sufficient importance to 
 the warning they had received. While partly obedient 
 to it, it did not seem to impress them as of immediate 
 consequence. 
 
 The gleam and flash of the silvery water beckoned
 
 334 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 like a friendly hand from out the past their boyhood 
 days, when they had spent so many happy hours pad 
 dling in the refreshing flood or playing along the banks. 
 
 " The Pools of Suleyman the Wise." 
 
 As Chalil uttered the words, softly and gently, they 
 seemed like a sigh from his heart, a tribute to sweet 
 memories, the days that were gone. 
 
 " Ay," came the response from Hassan. 
 
 Each understood the feeling. Not another word was 
 required in explanation. 
 
 " Let us go down to them," urged Chalil, presently. 
 " We can find plenty of hiding-places beyond ; and we 
 need not go near the castle." 
 
 " I will do as thou hast said," assented Hassan. 
 
 They made a wide detour, and came out below the 
 further end of the first great pool. 
 
 The soothing sibilant murmur of the water as it broke 
 against the sides of the pool reached them in a low 
 continuous hum. The vast reservoirs are partly cut 
 out of the solid rock, partly constructed of masonry, 
 and, in places, are lined with the hard cement similar 
 to that used, from ancient times, in the structure of 
 cisterns, throughout the country. 
 
 " Hearest thou the voice of the waters?" asked 
 Hassan. 
 
 " That I do. It reminds me of the day when we were 
 little fellows, before I was able to swim, and when I fell 
 in and came near drowning, as I surely would have 
 done, had you not leaped in and saved me." 
 
 " I remember it well." 
 
 " We both came near drowning. You barely were 
 able to reach the stone steps with me. Shall I not 
 always remember thou didst save my life, and at the 
 risk of thine own, Hassan ? " 
 
 " It seems, as thou tellest it, as if it was only yester 
 day, and that we still were boys. It makes me sad 
 when I consider all the trouble which hath befallen us 
 since that time, Chalil. And yet methinketh we had 
 our troubles then too." 
 
 As they passed through the brushwood covering the 
 slopes, Chalil noticed some scrubby little terebinths,
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 335 
 
 pushing up among it. They had escaped the greedy 
 quest of the goats. 
 
 " See the terebinths," he said, calling Hassan s atten 
 tion to them. " There must have been many oaks here 
 once. What thinkest thou? " 
 
 " Doubtless in the days of Suleyman, and perhaps 
 since that, all these slopes and ridges were covered with 
 oaks and many other kinds of trees." 
 
 " But that was so long ago thousands of years ago 
 it is difficult to understand it. And they say he made 
 the gardens and these pools of water to water them." 
 
 "Ay; so he did; and many other marvellous things 
 made he. Is it not written in the books he wrote and 
 in the chronicles of the kings?" 
 
 By this time they had passed the second pool, and 
 were approaching the third and last, which was at a 
 considerably lower elevation than either of the other 
 two. It was also at a different angle, corresponding to 
 the curve in the valley. Therefore were the young 
 men more out of sight of the usually travelled way, and 
 they felt more secure. 
 
 When they had reached the third pool, they saw that 
 several of the fellaheen were bathing in it. Seeing 
 Hassan and Chalil, though not recognising them, they 
 called to them repeatedly, 
 
 " Come in ; the water is just right. It is soft and 
 pleasant as milk," they cried. 
 
 "Strange, how like a frog a man looks swimming in 
 the water," said Chalil. 
 
 " I have often thought of that," said Hassan, " and 
 how in other ways, also, men are like to frogs." 
 
 On the great terminal dam, the strongest and highest 
 of all, and a magnificent piece of work, some more of 
 the peasants were gathered, and were rapidly divesting 
 themselves of their raiment, one after another, and 
 plunging from the height into the pool. They, too, 
 invited the new-comers to join them, while those in the 
 water continued their eulogies of the delights they were 
 experiencing, 
 
 " Come bathe in the sweet waters, and cool thyself. 
 They are like unto the waters of Paradise."
 
 336 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 " Let us have a swim," urged Chalil. " It will cool 
 and refresh us for the rest of the day." 
 
 The heat, and the sight of the others bathing, made 
 the temptation too great to be easily resisted. Both 
 the friends joined the men on the dam, and were soon 
 prepared for the bath. 
 
 They all praised the beauty of the elegant curve 
 made by Hassan as he plunged from the highest point 
 into the water; and they wondered at his diving he 
 coming up at so great a distance from the place where 
 he had entered. 
 
 They thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and all 
 added their praises to those of the former eulogists of 
 the bath, in the extravagant language of the East. It 
 was like bathing in liquid gold, the sun shone down so 
 lavishly, so royally. 
 
 A few of the men who had had enough of the pas 
 time, had climbed out, and were running to and fro, on 
 the top of the broad dam, drying themselves in the sun 
 shine, before resuming their clothes ; but the majority, 
 including Hassan and Chalil, were still in the height of 
 their enjoyment in the pool, when a sudden alarm rang 
 out over the water. It came from the men on the dam. 
 
 " The zaptiehs are coming ! " 
 
 In an instant the splashing and the play ceased. The 
 laughter and the voices were silent. For a moment all 
 was so still the rippling treble of the wavelets could be 
 heard. Then a strong voice rolled out the words, 
 
 " Where are they? Which way do they approach?" 
 
 It was the unmistakable bass of Hassan. 
 
 " They are even nigh at hand," came back the answer 
 from the men on the height, who were hastily putting 
 on their garments. 
 
 " Come, Chalil; we have no time to lose ! " exclaimed 
 Hassan. 
 
 They at once swam toward the steps cut in the rock 
 the same steps where, so many years ago, Hassan had 
 saved Chalil s life; and now, reaching them first, he 
 helped the young sheik out. 
 
 Standing together, dripping from the water, the glori 
 ous specimen of manhood turned upon his friend all the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 337 
 
 loving pity of a father s glance. With wonderful pres 
 ence of mind in that trying moment, Hassan, knowing 
 that he would be singled out for capture, had thought 
 out a plan of escape. 
 
 " Chalil, we must separate," he said. " It is our only 
 hope. Thou must go one way, I the other." 
 
 " Nay, Hassan ; rather we will die together." 
 
 " Do as I tell thee, for the love of God ! We may 
 yet escape to where thou knowest." 
 
 Chalil felt the agony of the words, and was obedient 
 
 Then, in that torment-laden interval, so full of danger, 
 lowering with the portents of what might come, they 
 drew very close together, cheek to cheek, shoulder to 
 shoulder, breast to breast, thigh to thigh, foot to foot, 
 their hands clasped in the form of the grip of the Great 
 Lion of the Omnipotent Power in that symbolic em 
 brace and attitude that mystic acknowledgment of 
 the natural brotherhood of man, handed down from 
 countless generations from the time of him who had 
 builded these vast pools and the Holy Temple yea, 
 from the days when that eager multitude, in their proud 
 hope, gathered on the Plain of Shinar to lift aloft upon 
 the face of the earth that haughty Tower whose top 
 might reach unto heaven. This special embrace meant 
 much more than words could say, though esoteric words 
 were not wanting, in whispered utterance. 
 
 It all was done at the supreme danger-point so 
 gently, so promptly, so noiselessly, that the men crowd 
 ing from behind out of the water, struggling and 
 scrambling upon the steps, scarce witnessed it. 
 
 It was the sacred touch of man to man, the allegiance 
 of fellowship, the grip of faith. It gave fresh courage 
 to Hassan and Chalil, who found in it renewed assur 
 ance of constancy, even to the death, if need be. 
 
 Oh, the brotherhood of man, how much it means ! 
 What happiness, what joy, what exaltation, what devo 
 tion, what love ! 
 
 When they reached the bank and the dam there was 
 a hasty seizure of such of their clothes as they could 
 find. They did not attempt to delay to dress. Hassan, 
 in the confusion, had been able to find but his abai,
 
 338 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 and this he had thrown around him. He had pointed 
 out to Chalil the direction he should take, while he 
 himself took a different one. 
 
 The policy of distracting the attention of the zaptiehs 
 by taking different routes was unquestionably a wise 
 one, as well as an unselfish one on the part of Hassan. 
 
 His noble stature at once made him a conspicuous 
 object, and he evidently was singled out for special 
 attack, as he had expected. He had gone but a short 
 distance when he found himself confronted by two of 
 the troop, who attempted to take him. 
 
 There was a desperate struggle, in which Hassan 
 knocked down one of the men; the other grappling 
 with him, and laying hold of him, while still others were 
 coming up, he left his garment in the soldier s hands 
 and fled from them, naked. 
 
 How swift ever had been his feet upon those hills ! 
 and now he was fleeing for his life. It were strange if 
 he could not foil those men and find some place of 
 concealment. 
 
 Once he turned to look after Chalil, and saw him 
 disappear from sight, down a declivity. 
 
 " It is well. He is saved." 
 
 He murmured the words beneath his breath, and 
 with a look of satisfaction, which was almost a smile, 
 upon his lips. He knew that the diversion of attention 
 which he had caused had been the means of delivering 
 his friend. 
 
 " Thank Allah," he exultantly repeated ; " he is 
 saved, though they should take me. But why should 
 they take me? Am not I also to escape from their 
 clutches?" 
 
 While he spoke with gasping utterance, springing for 
 ward with renewed hope and fortitude, there rang out 
 the sharp report of a rifle, and a ball came whizzing 
 over his head, dangerously near. 
 
 They had fired to intimidate him, or perhaps careless 
 as to whether they killed him. 
 
 He only bounded forward more swiftly than ever. 
 
 Yes, after all, he felt he was escaping from them. 
 
 He knew of a cave in a certain ravine, a secret place,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 a harbour of refuge. He saw it now, as he thought of 
 it, as plain as if he were looking at it : The huge gray 
 rocks heaving and piercing through the earth, or in sav 
 age confusion, scattered around ; the narrow obscure 
 opening concealed by brushwood ; the solitariness of 
 the region, on the borders of the desert. No one that 
 did not know of it could guess there was such a den there. 
 He would make for that. Who could discover him in 
 such a retreat? He had told Chalil of it. He, too, would 
 find his way to the place. 
 
 How rapidly the thoughts coursed through his brain 
 as he ran, more rapidly than the motion of his feet 
 over the ground, urgently as they smote it. He imagined 
 himself already with Chalil, secure in the place of safety. 
 When this passing trouble was over, they could return. It 
 would be but for a little while. Then all v/ould be well. 
 
 Thus he innocently reasoned, but he little knew what 
 was in store for him. 
 
 He had hardly turned the curve of the hill when im 
 mediately he was surrounded with zaptiehs. It seemed 
 as if they sprang out of the rocks and brushwood, or as 
 if the boulders had turned into armed men. 
 
 Then began a miserable scuffle, hopeless for Hassan. 
 
 He broke away from the soldier who had laid hold of 
 him, and, having dealt him a severe blow, made a brave 
 fight. But what could his strength and courage avail 
 opposed to so many? He was soon overpowered. 
 
 Held securely by soldiers on both sides of him, they 
 brought him to their captain, who stood slightly apart, 
 eagerly watching the scene. That officer was no other 
 than Kiamil Aga. 
 
 A look of ineffable satisfaction mingled with scorn sat 
 on the face of the proud aga as they brought Hassan 
 before him. He lifted his eyes with an insolent air of 
 superiority, and calmly surveyed the unfortunate young 
 man from head to foot with a stony, unfriendly stare, 
 ending in an insulting smile meant to reflect on Hassan s 
 peculiar condition. Yet every limb, member, and mus 
 cle of the young giant was a reproach and a subject of 
 envy to the aga. 
 
 Hassan was drawn up to his full height. There was
 
 34 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 not the least air of shame or of the suppliant about him. 
 Only at his brow and in his eyes there was a pained 
 expression. 
 
 He stood naked before his enemy, naked in the 
 eyes of man, but in the eyes of God clothed as an arch 
 angel, in the robe that covereth a multitude of sins, 
 in the wondrous body which the Creator had pronounced 
 good, " the image of God," as the old Hebrews unques 
 tionably believed. 
 
 What a beautiful thing is the human integument ! 
 How suffused with exquisite colour ! How suggestive 
 of the high nature of the royal creature within, the 
 heavenly inhabitant ! The naked man, the son of 
 man, the son of God. What has he to be ashamed 
 of? When God reveals himself in his work, where is the 
 creature who has occasion to blush? "Who told thee 
 that thou wast naked ? " demands the Creator. " Have 
 I not clothed thee in this beautiful robe?" 
 
 Standing opposite to each other in such strange dis 
 parity, they both continued to remain silent for a space, 
 Hassan feeling that every eye was fixed upon him. But 
 there was no faltering or flinching in a single fibre of the 
 princely man. 
 
 In a great treasure-house of art, in the City of the 
 Flower, the Queenly Lily, ever blooming, as she keeps 
 her stately seat upon the Arno, beautiful, beloved 
 Florence, in the centre of a noble hall, lifted on high, 
 on an unusually lofty pedestal, all alone, as unapproach 
 able in its magnificence, stands the glorious, colossal 
 David of Angelo a naked man. All eyes that be 
 hold him, salute and admire ; for he is clothed with the 
 light immortal, the light that is divine. And none 
 finds fault. No fault can be found, for in such a pres 
 ence there is no place for the wicked or the small. 
 
 Hassan might have posed as the model for the David. 
 
 " Ha ! Thou art at last in my power," muttered the 
 aga, after his cruel silence. 
 
 The captured man spoke not a word. 
 
 " Dost thou remember me?" 
 
 There was an ominous and bitter threat in the words, 
 and especially in the tone in which they were uttered.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 341 
 
 Hassan replied not. 
 
 " Answerest thou not? Dost thou know me? " 
 
 " I remember thee well, O Aga ! " 
 
 " And that day near Malha? " 
 
 " Yea. Thou didst speak comfortably and kindly to 
 me then." 
 
 " Thinkest thou that I forget thy insult and thy thwart 
 ing of me? Besides, I have since found that the woman 
 who was with thee was not thy wife." 
 
 " Let me speak to thee, Aga, as one man speaks to 
 another, as thou didst speak to me that day. The woman 
 who was with me was my promised spouse ; yea, more 
 than that, was even as though she was my wife." 
 
 " Then thou hadst already forestalled me." 
 
 " I understand not what thou meanest, Aga." 
 
 " No ! And thinkest thou not what I shall do to thee, 
 now that I have captured thee in thy high-handed re 
 sistance to authority? I might have slain thee had I 
 chosen." 
 
 " Kismet." 
 
 Hassan replied with but the single word; yet there 
 was a volume in it. 
 
 " Kismet ! Yea, it is written. And the writing is not 
 to thy advantage. What hast thou to say for thy 
 self? " 
 
 " Here I stand before thee, Aga, poor and naked, 
 stripped of all I once had. Yet am I not thy fellow- 
 man? Thou wilt not deal unmercifully with me." 
 
 " Thou hast no right to expect mercy." 
 
 " I only ask that thou shouldst deal with me as thou 
 wouldst have me deal with thee didst thou stand in 
 my place this day and I in thine." 
 
 " That is easily said. Thou well knowest that I should 
 not stand in thy place. And it is because thou standest 
 where thou dost, that thou art worthy of condign punish 
 ment. Thou art self-condemned, and without excuse." 
 
 As Kiamil Aga spoke the words, his eyes once more 
 were turned upon the young man before him. A pecu 
 liar influence gradually possessed and strangely moved 
 the captain of the zaptiehs. He encountered those 
 mysterious hazel eyes. They appealed to him. He
 
 342 
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 could not remove his gaze. He felt himself sympathis 
 ing with his prisoner. He was drawn to him. 
 
 After all, how comparatively trifling was the personal 
 grievance of the aga ! How wrong it was to cherish it ! 
 And as to Hassan s resistance of the government and 
 attempt to escape, such incidents were of everyday 
 occurrence. Why should he be singled out for especial 
 punishment? It is true he had given them more than 
 ordinary trouble. But what a handsome fellow he 
 was ; of what noble stature and grand proportions, and 
 what superb thews and sinews he was endowed with ! 
 Why should he hate him? Why should his beautiful 
 body be bruised and punished? What offence had it 
 committed? It would be cruel; it would be wicked to 
 hurt it. Once before the aga had felt this influence. 
 What might it be? Was it a touching of soul and soul, 
 the recognition of a kinship higher than any earthly 
 relation? Once before he had partially succumbed to 
 it. Now it was stronger than ever upon him. He was 
 ashamed of his severe treatment of Hassan. He began 
 to feel with him in his unfortunate condition, almost 
 to love him. His hand went out to touch him, to take 
 hold of him, to clasp his hand. He would have spoken 
 to him gently, kindly. But suddenly with a violent 
 effort he recovered himself, he wrenched himself away. 
 The spell was broken. The evil principle triumphed 
 over the good. 
 
 Had they been alone, had they not been surrounded 
 by so many, it might have been different. They might 
 have come together, obedient to the voice of nature, 
 which is the voice of God. 
 
 " If thou woutdst expect any mercy," said the aga, in 
 a strained, unnatural voice, " thou must inform us as to 
 the whereabouts of thy companion, the young sheik." 
 
 " I know not where he is, Aga." 
 
 " Thou knowest not ! Bethink thee. Where is he 
 hiding?" 
 
 " Surely, I know not, Aga. It is as I have told thee. 
 But " 
 
 "But what? Speak and tell what thou knowest." 
 
 " If I knew, I should not tell thee. I am satisfied, yea,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 343 
 
 am glad that my capture should have been the means of 
 his escaping." 
 
 " Take heed what thou sayest. Thou art injuring 
 thyself." 
 
 The wrath of the aga was rising to the dangerous 
 point. Yet was there a lingering of the kindlier influ 
 ence, the last flicker of the taper s flame ere it leaps 
 back and disappears, lost in its origin. 
 
 Hassan held his peace, inflexible. 
 
 " If even now thou wilt confess, and reveal the young 
 sheik s place of concealment; and and if thou wilt 
 promise to cease from all further efforts to escape, and 
 submit thyself it may yet be well with thee." 
 
 "I cannot, Aga. I can promise thee nothing." 
 
 The words of Hassan rang out defiant and clear, so 
 that those who were standing around heard him. 
 
 " Then thy doom be upon thine own head." 
 
 It was the turning-point. The aga looked towards 
 his sergeant, Assad, who, with others of the troop stood 
 near, and exclaimed : " What use is there of any further 
 parley with him? Ye have heard what he says." 
 
 " Yea, Aga, we have heard," replied the sergeant. " It 
 is even with him as with one who knows not his own 
 good, and when he is dealt with mercifully. His fortune 
 is gone, but his pride remains. Surely it is unprofitable 
 to hammer cold iron ; and an ass cannot be made a horse 
 by beating. There is nothing to be had of him. It 
 may well be said he has neither property for the court 
 to take from him nor religion for Shaitan to take." 
 
 Thus reinforced in his judgment, the aga felt mortified 
 at his former weakness in yielding to his sympathies and 
 better feelings. And now, all the more, did his accursed 
 hate take possession of him. The recollection of his 
 baffled purpose again was in the ascendency, and raged 
 within him. His strongest passion urged him to requital. 
 His unsated desire cried to him. 
 
 " Knowest thou not that thy life is in my hand? " 
 
 The aga s face was darkened with anger as he ad 
 dressed his captive. 
 
 Hassan stepped forward a single stride ; then bent and 
 said something to the aga which no one but themselves 
 heard.
 
 344 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Whatever the words were, they convulsed the captain. 
 
 " Kelb dog ! " he cried. 
 
 " Dost thou call me kelb? " 
 
 " Ay. Shemmel-ni ya kelb turn to the left, thou 
 dog ! Get out of my way ! " 
 
 This is the contemptuous expression sometimes used 
 by the Moslems when, in pride of power, meeting on the 
 walk Christians and other unbelievers in the Mohamme 
 dan faith. It was an intolerable insult to Hassan. 
 
 "Then art thou no true son of Islam to call one of the 
 faithful kelb as though he was a giaour a kaffir. 
 Art not thou thyself the kelb, and worse than a kelb ; 
 for the dog knows his own kind ? " 
 
 Then the aga drew his sword and smote Hassan with 
 the flat of it, and made as though he would run him 
 through. 
 
 But the eyes of Hassan those eyes which had looked 
 in the fierce orbs of the leopard that fiery terror 
 and quelled it those gateways of his soul sent forth a 
 power that restrained the infuriated captain. 
 
 The next instant, maddened by the insult of the stroke, 
 Hassan sprang upon him. But he was at once seized by 
 Assad and two others of the zaptiehs. 
 
 " Take him and bind him securely, and put him with 
 the other prisoners, to be dealt with presently," com 
 manded Kiamil Aga, collecting himself sufficiently to 
 give the order. " He is a dangerous man," he added. 
 " We will scour the country for the young sheik. He 
 cannot be far off." 
 
 What if Hassan was, as he declared, under the regula 
 tion age, and not yet liable to military service ? his great 
 size and entire appearance were against the supposition ; 
 and under any circumstances those high-handed men 
 would not care would hesitate at no such impediment. 
 They laughed in his face. He was in their power, and 
 they did with him as they willed.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 345 
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 TO the fellah of Palestine it is like death to be taken 
 from home to serve in the Turkish army. It 
 would be difficult to exaggerate his feelings in this re 
 spect, for there are no bounds to them. To the free 
 natural man, with all his generous impulses and ways, 
 roaming at large over his native mountains and through 
 glen and wady, by green pastures and still waters, almost 
 as untrammelled and unrestrained as the wild creatures 
 of the land, the life of the Turkish barracks is impris 
 onment, and the irksome routine of military drills and 
 parades little short of unbearable. The loss of his ancient 
 customs and habits, and the change in his diet, and from 
 his unconfined easy dress into the tight-fitting uniform 
 of the soldier, are everyday miseries to which it is next 
 to impossible to reconcile him. 
 
 The peculiar circumstances existing in the case of 
 Hassan, and connecting him with Hilwe, only intensified 
 the general objections and dislike to army life as regarded 
 the young shepherd of the hill country of Judaea. He 
 thought with agony and shame of how he had promised 
 to deliver her ; and now now he was leaving her in a 
 state worse than ever. 
 
 His desperate resistance had ensured for him a more 
 than ordinarily severe punishment; and, as may be 
 supposed, the hate of Kiamil Aga had not tended to 
 ameliorate this. The jealous captain gloated over his 
 prey, and used him abominably. 
 
 Such comfort as Hassan had taken in the escape of 
 Chalil was of but short duration. The young sheik had 
 been captured the very next day. They were both pris 
 oners together. 
 
 " When bad fortune becomes one s companion, he will 
 be bitten by a dog although mounted on a camel," had 
 been Hassan s remark to his friend on their sorrowful 
 meeting. 
 
 Yet they could not deny that they were a consolation 
 to each other in their misery.
 
 346 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 "Do not be cast down, Hassan," was Chalil s reply; 
 " I am happier to be with thee than if I were free. Even 
 in despair there are many hopes." 
 
 "Thou art right," responded Hassan, always ready to 
 look on the bright side; and, referring to their wretched 
 ness, he added : " Perhaps this very egg, born of darkness 
 and sorrow, may put forth feathers and wings, and become 
 a phoenix." 
 
 But in their hearts they felt it was like hoping against 
 hope. 
 
 " Were it not for Hilwe and thy father I could bear it 
 well," was the constant expression of Hassan. 
 
 Bitter had been the distress of Sheik Abou Chalil. It 
 was now he felt the anguish and thorough depth of his 
 impoverishment. The village had not enough money to 
 meet the taxes which were overdue, and the payment of 
 the amount of compensation required for exemption from 
 military service was out of the question. Even had the 
 old man been able to raise, by some extraordinary means, 
 the sum necessary to redeem his son, his sense of honour 
 and of right prohibited his taking such a step. Besides, 
 Chalil would not permit it. 
 
 " How could I endure the shame of it, to see Hassan 
 and others of our people go to the front, and I, bought 
 off, remain at home?" 
 
 No ; it was plainly an impossibility on every account. 
 
 The idea that the sheik had a treasure of money 
 buried somewhere in the village had excited the rapa 
 city of the zaptiehs, and was the cause of their pressing 
 their claims all the more urgently, with the hope thus 
 to tap his secret hoard. Such cases of hoarding silver 
 secretly burying it were so common, they would 
 not believe the protestations of the sheik, and his re 
 peated denials. 
 
 " Come now, O Sheik, and let us reason together," 
 they said to him. "Why dissemble? If thou hast 
 money thou hast no occasion for this trouble, and no 
 necessity to resist, or to lose thy son, or, for that matter, 
 any of thy friends." 
 
 But he had been a father to his people, and had not 
 oppressed them ; he had ministered of his own means to
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 347 
 
 the wants of all who were distressed and needing help, 
 and had taken naught of any man, and the terrible 
 calamity which had lately befallen Bettir had exhausted 
 his resources. 
 
 "Think ye that, had I the treasure, I should hold 
 back, and not ransom my son and my people?" was his 
 repeated answer. 
 
 But they believed him not. 
 
 At last the day came for transporting the conscripts 
 and the recruits, including the prisoners, to Jerusalem, 
 that they might receive their outfit, on the way to their 
 destination. This latter the destination the authori 
 ties had tried to have kept secret, though it was well 
 understood, or, at least, was generally supposed, to be 
 Crete. 
 
 The men were brought into the city in small bodies, 
 or companies, as they happened to arrive, guarded by 
 mounted zaptiehs, and securely fastened together, half- 
 a-dozen or more in a bunch, with stout ropes. They 
 were dressed in the native garb ; and, in some cases, the 
 sacred green flag or guidon was carried before them ; 
 while, with the hope of ameliorating their lot, they made 
 much ado, clapping their hands, shouting and chanting 
 in a loud voice the praises of Mohammed and the Sultan, 
 feigning a joy which their captive, bound condition and 
 forcible seizure manifestly contradicted. 
 
 Cries of " Allah yansoor es-Sultan ! God give vic 
 tory to the Sultan ! " continued to rise from them, 
 though frequently drowned in the shrieks and lamenta 
 tions of the women, who with the male relatives closely 
 followed them into the city, sometimes to the very gate 
 of the barracks. 
 
 Not a few of the men, however, maintained a sullen 
 silence. There were certainly two among them Has 
 san and Chalil who did not feign joy. 
 
 With few exceptions, the conscripts were hurried out 
 of sight of their relatives and friends into the barracks, 
 whence some of them presently emerged, having under 
 gone the strange metamorphosis the substituting of the 
 soldier s uniform for the discarded peasant s dress. It 
 was noticeable how awkwardly they moved about in
 
 348 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 their lately-adopted and generally ill-fitting habiliments. 
 The coarse dark-blue cloth of which these were made 
 was not seldom threadbare and ragged. They were old 
 uniforms for which the officers charged the government 
 as though they were new. 
 
 Abou Chalil, as he beheld his son, captive and bound, 
 and in the hands of the soldiers, ran forward, and fell 
 on his neck, and kissed him again and again. Then he 
 turned to Hassan, and embraced and kissed him likewise. 
 
 Lifting up his voice, the aged sheik lamented, 
 
 " O Chalil, my son, woe is me that I should live to 
 see this day ! Helpless to help thee, poor and broken, 
 what shall I say? What can I do? It were well that I 
 had died that I had given up the ghost rather than 
 that I should live to see this evil come upon thee and 
 me." 
 
 " Do not take it to heart, O my father ! " said his son. 
 " It will be more bearable than thou dost think. I sor 
 row not for myself. All my grief is that thou shouldst 
 be left alone, in the end of thy days, without Hassan 
 and me to comfort and assist thee in thy troubles and 
 affliction." 
 
 "Allah give thee aid, and restore thee fourfold, hon 
 oured Sheik," added Hassan. 
 
 " O Chalil ! O Hassan ! Allah hath afflicted and 
 humbled me in these my darkened days. The crown of 
 my honour and my glory was taken from off my head. 
 My pride rebelled. I could not bear it. I was ashamed. 
 I covered my head with ashes. I hid my face in my 
 mantle. I hid it from my neighbours and friends and 
 my own people. Little did I think that worse should 
 befall me. Alas, alas, there is an evil behind the evil, 
 and there is a sorrow that cannot be measured, and that 
 the mind cannot take hold of! " 
 
 Here the guards stepped forward and laid hands on 
 Chalil and Hassan to remove them. 
 
 The old man, desperate, and blinded by his feelings, 
 threw himself between, and tried with all the power 
 remaining in him to prevent the removal. 
 
 "O Chalil, my son, can I not save thee? O Chalil, 
 my son, my son ! " cried the poor father.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 349 
 
 Roughly pushing him off, the soldiers proceeded to 
 carry out their orders. The proud old sheik struggled 
 with them for a moment; then, as they brushed him 
 aside, as if he had been a fly, he staggered backward, 
 trembling in every limb, his brain throbbing wildly. 
 
 Futile were all his efforts. He saw the two young 
 men led away. Helpless, baffled, overwhelmed, in the 
 agony of his despair he lost consciousness, and fell pros 
 trate on his face to the ground. 
 
 Beholding this, Chalil and Hassan made a dash to 
 rush to his aid. But they were checked and brought 
 back, and immediately were marched, between set bayo 
 nets, within the walls of the barracks. 
 
 The venerable sheik, prone upon the ground, bereft of 
 friend and son, was truly a pitiful sight. 
 
 Presently one brought word to Yusef, the young lad 
 of Bettir who formerly had waited upon Hassan and 
 helped him keep the sheep : " Behold the sheik 
 hath fallen upon the earth, and is as one who is 
 dead." 
 
 Now Yusef with some others, at an early stage, had 
 been driven away by the soldiers, who had been greatly 
 annoyed and obstructed by the crowd. But on this in 
 formation he ran to where the sheik lay, and raised him 
 upon his knees, chafing his hands, and bathing his tem 
 ples with water, which some of the women, ministering 
 to him, had brought. 
 
 Under this care the afflicted father soon revived, 
 though he had been stunned by a blow he had received 
 upon the forehead, from the sharp stones he had fallen 
 upon, and which had left a slight wound. 
 
 In the East it is rare to find the aged treated with dis 
 respect or slighted. They are generally singled out as 
 entitled to peculiar regard and honour. No one inter 
 fered to disturb Yusef in his kindly work, and several 
 offered him assistance. 
 
 When the sheik was quite restored, Yusef suggested 
 to him the necessity of returning to Bettir. 
 
 " Certain of our people, overheard by me, as I stood 
 lately by the Jaffa Gate, spake of returning betimes," he 
 said to the sheik. " Had we not better join ourselves to
 
 350 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 them? The country folk are departing. There is no 
 place here where thou canst very well stay ; and the 
 kahn is overcrowded." 
 
 The sheik turned on him a bewildered look. It was 
 difficult for him to collect his thoughts, or make up his 
 mind to leave. 
 
 " Chalil I want to see Chalil," he said. 
 
 " But thou knowest they will not let thee see him. If 
 thou returnest in two or three days, perchance they may 
 let thee talk with thy son and Hassan, as then they will 
 be in their uniform, and will doubtless be led out to 
 drill and for other exercise." 
 
 Others speaking to the same effect, the old man con 
 sented to return. 
 
 With a heavy heart he passed down the road by the 
 lower pool of the Gihon, words of sorrow and lamen 
 tation upon his lips strangely mingled with calls for 
 resignation. 
 
 Outside the Jaffa Gate there was an unusual number 
 of camels collected, crunching their juiceless and dusty 
 provender of chopped straw, a scanty amount of barley 
 mixed with it. As the drivers loaded some of them, 
 the discontented animals grumbled and growled and 
 spit, after their fashion. 
 
 "Why so many; and whence come they?" some 
 one asked. 
 
 " They are lately arrived, and are intending to leave 
 for Jaffa," was the answer. No one thought of their 
 being connected with the movement of the troops, 
 though continuing to remark about them. But the 
 sheik noticed them not. 
 
 When he came to the spot where the lepers, both 
 men and women, sat by the wayside begging of all who 
 passed by, the miserable creatures clamoured for alms 
 in their croaking husky voices, and, to excite pity, 
 exhibited the marks left upon them by the loathsome 
 disease. 
 
 " Howadji, backsheesh ! Howadji, backsheesh ! " went 
 up the distressful wail continuously. 
 
 It was so horrifying, it almost shut out any sympathy 
 with them the dread of the abominable thing is so
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 351 
 
 overpowering. It was like the opening of the mouth 
 of Hades, and letting out the fiends. 
 
 The women lepers that are with them too corrup 
 tion shamelessly mating with rottenness they raised 
 their shriller voices. 
 
 " Woe, woe ! Unclean ! Unclean ! " 
 
 It was the yelping of the damned ! 
 
 Invisible power of goodness, love, and graciousness, 
 can these be women, these festering masses of abject 
 misery; this uncouth alliance of the foul and the grimly 
 ludicrous; these horrors of deformed hideousness? Oh, 
 the ghastly terror, the unmitigated loathsomeness of it ! 
 The unspeakable, hell-born suggestiveness of the thing! 
 
 " How can there be a merciful God, and permit 
 such?" exclaims the unaccustomed stranger, as he 
 holds his breath in passing them, lest he inhale the 
 contaminating, pestilential atmosphere. 
 
 And they come together these accursed and ab 
 horrent men and women. With all that putrid repul- 
 siveness ; in the very face of despair, they find an 
 allurement. They produce their kind. And the feet 
 of the little child-leper patter over the floor. And the 
 baby voice, that shall never know joy-laughter, already 
 cries with thickened impeded utterance for a respite it 
 shall never have till the hand of death is laid upon it. 
 
 Of course, not one of them is allowed to pass inside 
 the walls of Jerusalem. Hospitals, far outside the city, 
 have been built for these outcasts, where they are pro 
 vided for, or would be taken care of, and where they 
 should be confined. But they prefer to come here and 
 beg. Even the humiliating contact with the world that 
 this is, they cling to with the superhuman grip of the 
 desperate. And the Turk, to whom the word " order " 
 is untranslatable, and regulation an unknown quantity, 
 is lax, loose, and lenient in dealing with these noisome 
 degenerates. Hence the result. Here and at St. 
 Stephen s Gate, that leadeth down to the Garden of 
 Gethsemane, on the spot where tradition says the first 
 Christian martyr saw Heaven opened, and was stoned 
 to death, are their favourite haunts. 
 
 The sheik had seldom or never gone by without
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 bestowing some gift of food or money upon these un 
 fortunate wretches; but now, with bowed head, he was 
 passing as though he heard them not. 
 
 One of the most importunate of the lepers, a great, 
 burly, middle-aged man, beardless and hairless from 
 the disease, rushed forward, determined not to lose the 
 opportunity indeed, demanding alms as a right. His 
 manner and words implied that the sheik in not respond 
 ing with a gift was committing an unpardonable wrong. 
 His chest was bare, exhibiting unmistakable signs of 
 leprosy, as did his inflamed and swollen face ; and he 
 held up, more threateningly than beseechingly, his 
 hideously deformed hands, from which all the fingers 
 except the stumps had dropped off. 
 
 He came unpleasantly and perhaps dangerously near; 
 and his sinister manner was decidedly offensive. His 
 thick, choking utterance was simply disgusting. As he 
 almost blocked the way, the sheik was obliged to stop. 
 
 " Poor and wretched as thou art, thou beholdest one 
 still poorer and more wretched," said the sad old chief, 
 in such a tone and with so awful a mien, it struck terror 
 into the leper. 
 
 " Allah have mercy upon us," the diseased wretch 
 ejaculated, falling back slightly. 
 
 The silvery hair and beard of the venerable sheik, as 
 they floated on the breeze, his strong, commanding 
 features, and lofty bearing, gave him the character of 
 one of the ancient patriarchs or prophets of the country. 
 He leaned upon his long staff, much taller than himself, 
 and which he carried not more to support his steps 
 than as his wand of office. It was the insignia of the 
 sheik s rank from the days of Abraham, who was, him 
 self, naught else than a sheik. 
 
 He stooped and plucked the leaf of a mandrake plant 
 which had thrust itself up through the red clay on the 
 border of the road. 
 
 " They say a green leaf is a beggar s present," he 
 said, holding it out to the leper. " It is all I have to 
 give thee." 
 
 The leper recoiled, not understanding. 
 
 " The sheik s mind wanders," remarked Yusef, aside,
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 353 
 
 to those of their company who stood near. " His 
 trouble has been too much for him." 
 
 " Yea ; his sorrow is breaking his heart," was the 
 reply. 
 
 Yusef gently took his hand to lead him on the way. 
 
 " Trouble him not," he said, addressing the leper. 
 "Dost thou not perceive his affliction? His people 
 have been ruined ; he and they have been stripped of 
 all they possessed ; and his son, this day, hath been 
 taken from him." 
 
 But the sheik still held out the leaf toward the leper. 
 
 " Nay, take it," he said. " It will make thee potent 
 in love," with sarcastic reference to the imputed aphro- 
 disiacal virtue of the mandrake. 
 
 A smile broke out on the faces of the men at the 
 cutting irony of the palpable point. 
 
 " Let us be going," they said, and began to resume 
 their journey. 
 
 " Allah have mercy on him who begs from a beggar," 
 murmured the sheik, as he went with them. 
 
 Many times he had to rest by the way. Then, over 
 come with fatigue, he would say : " Bettir is far ; but 
 hope is farther." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 THAT night a sudden and secret order was sent to 
 the garrison in Jerusalem. It was to the effect 
 that the new regiment should be marched to Jaffa im 
 mediately. It was at a moment s notice. There was 
 to be no loss of time. They were to set out that very 
 night. 
 
 There were many conjectures as to the reason for the 
 order. Some said it was in consequence of information 
 received that there would be an organised attempt made 
 to rescue the men on their way to the coast, which it 
 was intended to anticipate. Others, that there had 
 arisen urgent necessity for the presence of the troops
 
 354 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 in Crete. It is true Crete was generally in a chronic 
 state of rebellion ; but this was a revolt of extraordinary 
 proportions. Again, not a few declared the action was 
 simply due to the fact that the military governor, wish 
 ing to reduce his expenditures, had ordered the regi 
 ment out of the country as soon as possible ; and that 
 it was cooler and better for the men to travel at night. 
 
 All of these reasons may have entered into the causes 
 originating the order. At any rate, in the pitch dark 
 ness of the night, the men, awakened out of their brief 
 slumber, were marched through the Jaffa Gate, out of 
 the sleeping city. Without bugle, fife, or drum, unless 
 the latter were of the muffled sort, they went upon their 
 winding and dusty tramp, accompanied by several com 
 panies of regulars, and a band of mounted zaptiehs 
 those ubiquitous horsemen, who might be said to have 
 turned every way pervaded all quarters to keep the 
 new men within bounds, and prevent desertions. Not 
 till they were well under way, beyond the first watch 
 tower on the Jaffa road, did the grotesque, melancholy 
 music begin. Then the bugles, trumpets, drums, and 
 fifes made up for lost time, blaring out their notes into 
 the night, till the hills and the valleys reverberated. 
 
 The next morning, wearied and overcome as he had 
 been by the cruel experiences of the preceding day, 
 Abou Chalil arose with the sun, and began to make 
 preparations for again visiting Jerusalem. 
 
 The men of Bettir, and especially Yusef, employed all 
 their persuasions to influence him to postpone his visit 
 till he had recovered from the effects of what he had 
 suffered. 
 
 " Thou art more likely to have a favourable opportu 
 nity of seeing thy son and Hassan by waiting a day or 
 two longer," argued Yusef. 
 
 But in vain. The sheik had resolved to set out. 
 
 " I am fully persuaded to visit Jerusalem this day. I 
 must see my son. I must be near him for the little while 
 he is here. It was wrong of me to leave yesterday. We 
 should have made arrangements to remain. Besides, I 
 have been warned in a dream, in a vision of the night.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 355 
 
 It came to me in the midnight watch, when all was 
 dark and still. Did I not hear the drums beat and the 
 trumpets blow? Yea, the sounds came soft but distinct, 
 borne on the breeze over the hills. And then methought 
 I saw Chalil beckoning to me; and I heard him say, 
 Father, come, if thou wouldst see me before I go. " 
 
 The old man paused ; the sweat stood in beads on his 
 forehead ; in his earnest anxiety he trembled. 
 
 "I woke and found it was a dream," he continued; 
 " yet wilt thou believe me? I could still hear the sound 
 of the drum and trumpets, faint, faint, and very distant 
 and fine, like spirit music, from beyond the hills. Thou 
 mayest know that I am determined to go to Jerusalem. 
 Even if it kills me, I shall obey the voice." 
 
 Seeing it was useless to argue further, they gave way. 
 
 He had chosen Yusef to accompany him, and all along 
 the road he kept referring to Chalil, and how, once more, 
 he should embrace him. He could speak and think of 
 nothing else. He recalled the days when his son was 
 a little child, and he related many an anecdote of him, 
 and told of what a comfort he had ever been to him. 
 
 At last they had passed the plain of Rephaim, and 
 stood on the brow of the hill overlooking the Gihon 
 Valley as it curved into the Valley of Hinnom, sweeping 
 the southerly flanks of Mount Zion. Doubtless many 
 a king and warrior, priest and prophet, had paused here 
 for the view before making the descent. The Holy City 
 was in sight, facing them, crowning the heights, the 
 towers of the citadel rising on the left 
 
 " When I think he is within those towers I scarce can 
 contain myself, Yusef. I feel as if I must fly to him, to 
 be with him." 
 
 It was astonishing to see the sheik, as he uttered the 
 words, quicken his pace, with renewed strength, inspired 
 by his feelings. 
 
 " I can scarce keep abreast with thee," said Yusef, 
 flattering the old man. " Thou art like a young roe upon 
 the mountains. But spare thyself, O Sheik ! Thou hast 
 plenty of time before thee." 
 
 " Not when I am going to see my son. I care not to 
 lose a minute. Would that I might stay the shadow
 
 356 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 upon the dial, or make it move backward, as they say 
 once happened to the good King Hezekiah in this very 
 city even the same king who stopped the upper water 
 course of the Pool of Gihon, which is named the 
 Mamillah, and brought the water straight down by the 
 underground conduit to the west side of the city of 
 David, and so into the pool which is called Hezekiah s, 
 as my father told me, and as thou seest it remains unto 
 this day in Jerusalem. Praise be to the All-Merciful, we 
 are not without His help. He will make me strong to 
 bear what I have to bear. My heart is made glad that 
 I shall see my son this day." 
 
 So the noble old sheik held converse with his young 
 companion until they entered into the city. 
 
 Hardly had they proceeded a few paces within the 
 walls when one met them, an acquaintance of Yusef. 
 With the intuitive mind of the native, the man conjec 
 tured the object of their visit. 
 
 " Thou art too late," he said. " The regiment left 
 last night for Jaffa." 
 
 The words were like a blow to the faithful Yusef. But 
 Abou Chalil heard them without a tremor. He did not 
 comprehend them. He was absorbed in the thought of 
 seeing his son. 
 
 Yusef drew the man aside to learn more of him, cau 
 tioning him to speak low, so that the sheik should not 
 hear. 
 
 " How shall I break the bitter tidings to him?" he 
 said, when he had learned all. 
 
 The sheik grew impatient at the delay. 
 
 " Thou art wasting the precious time, Yusef. Why 
 lingerest thou here babbling, when I want to see my 
 son? I would see Chalil." 
 
 The eager, irritable words only further distressed and 
 unnerved Yusef. 
 
 They were standing before the ruinous entrance of 
 the great public oven on David Street. Broken stone 
 steps descended into the yawning arched mouth of the 
 dark den gloomy as the dwelling of Erebus and Nox. 
 In the rear was the baking place. It was a Rembrandt-like 
 interior a few high lights amid a thousand shadows.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 357 
 
 The one thought possessed Yusef to postpone as 
 long as possible the evil news. 
 
 " I find there will be some trouble in this matter of 
 seeing thy son," he replied. " Sit thou here ; I shall 
 get thee a place to rest, while I go yonder to inquire; 
 and presently I shall bring thee word." 
 
 While yet Yusef spoke, he took the sheik s hand, and 
 without giving him time to consider, led him down the 
 steps into the musty, archaic bakery. 
 
 After a few words with the baker, the latter pointed 
 out a stone bench near the mouth of the den, where the 
 old man might sit till Yusef returned. 
 
 With a sorry countenance and sad heart the lad went 
 up out of the murky place into the strong sunlight of 
 the street, leaving behind the sheik, who was half minded 
 to follow him. 
 
 As he got out of sight, Yusef smote his head and 
 his breast with his hand. 
 
 " Woe is me," he said ; " I am sorely perplexed this 
 day. How shall I tell this father what hath befallen 
 him? Let me think; let me ponder. He surely will 
 know soon enough his affliction. I do him no wrong if 
 I delay telling him. There too may be some mistake. 
 Chalil may still be here." 
 
 He turned to the right and went up the slope of Zion s 
 Hill, past the citadel, towards the Turkish barracks, in 
 quiring more particularly of those he met as to the facts. 
 The answers he received were invariably to the same 
 effect as the information already heard. 
 
 A soldier, sent on some errand by his officer, came 
 shuffling down the hill in his loose slippered shoes and 
 stockingless feet, his clumsy ill-fitting uniform of rough 
 blue cloth, ragged and patched, making him resemble 
 more a scarecrow than a soldier. The tassel was gone 
 from his scarlet fez. Poor dumb Son of the Sultan, it 
 was two years since he had received any pay. 
 
 " When I shall get any, Allah alone knows," he had 
 said, sorrowfully but resignedly. 
 
 His heavy dull face had little of responsiveness in it. 
 How could it have aught but the reflection of the shame 
 less treatment he had received ? Where was the image
 
 358 Hassan: a Fallah 
 
 of God left in him? He had been beaten oft, and used 
 worse than a dog. No wonder if what his fellow-man 
 had done to him had turned him into a brute. 
 
 " I shall ask him ; he will know for sure, and I shall 
 let that suffice." 
 
 So spoke Yusef, and as he and the soldier met, the 
 decisive question was put. 
 
 It was Sorrow interrogating Misery. 
 
 The stolid face of the soldier relaxed. The coarse 
 mouth parted to aid in his comprehension of the case. 
 There was the sympathetic click of the tongue and 
 hopeless shake of the head. Then the answer came : - 
 
 " Yea, it is even so. The whole regiment marched 
 for Jaffa last night, Chalil, Hassan, all. There was 
 not a man of them left behind." 
 
 Abou Chalil sat on the stone bench at the entrance to 
 the bakery. He grew restless and impatient, yearning to 
 see his son, and wondering at the detention of Yusef. 
 
 " I am aweary waiting to see Chalil," he muttered. 
 " Allah be good to us." 
 
 The details and incidents connected with the ancient 
 house of bread for a while drew his attention. He 
 watched the people as they brought, on flat square boards, 
 borne on their heads, the dough moulded into cakes of 
 bread, ready for baking. Others were seen carrying 
 away with them in a similar fashion or in collapsable rush 
 baskets and coarse sackcloth bags the baked loaves. 
 The baker was busy the entire time keeping his oven 
 heated and attending to the bread. The peculiar fuel 
 employed by him was, as usual in Jerusalem, the refuse 
 of the olive, which is preserved for the purpose after the 
 extraction of the oil. 
 
 The old man watched him like a child as he kept feed 
 ing his fire, running in batches of the cakes with the flat 
 shovel or spatula, and, when they were baked to a turn, 
 drawing them out and piling them on one side, in 
 golden-brown heaps, which sent out an appetising odour. 
 
 These flat round cakes what memories they hold ! 
 Ever since the days when Sarah at Mamre made cakes 
 upon the hearth for Abraham s heavenly visitants they 
 have been the unleavened bread of Palestine. This too
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 359 
 
 was the bread broken by the Redeemer in symbol of his 
 body at the Last Supper when he kept the Passover, the 
 Feast of Unleavened Bread. But such high significance 
 as it might possess was all unknown to the sheik of 
 Bettir. For he knew not the Christ. 
 
 Hungry from his journey, the sight and savour of the 
 fresh warm bread woke within Abou Chalil a natural 
 craving. Yet he thought not of satisfying it. He 
 sat so silent he might be supposed to be dumb. 
 
 The baker saw there was some peculiar trouble in the 
 case, and brought him a small cake of the bread. He also 
 lowered a porous bottle of water from where it was sus 
 pended in the current of air and gave him to drink, tell 
 ing him it was from the renowned Well of Moses, from 
 the Temple Enclosure, the coolest, purest and best water 
 in Jerusalem, sold by the shereefs of the Mosque of Omar 
 at a high price. 
 
 The fevered old man drank of the water gratefully, and 
 out of courtesy he broke off small pieces of the bread and 
 tried to eat of them. But he swallowed them with diffi 
 culty. The fever was evidently stronger than his hunger, 
 and there was still a stronger desire than that of the de 
 vouring fever, the hunger of the heart, which required 
 other food to satisfy it. 
 
 At last Yusef appeared. The sheik hastened to meet 
 him. 
 
 " Where hast thou been? And why hast thou been so 
 long absent? Where is my son?" 
 
 " Father, how can I have the heart to tell thee? All 
 our efforts are for nothing. Thy son and Hassan and 
 the entire regiment have departed for the coast. They 
 left last night." 
 
 " Tellest thou me this? How canst thou speak so 
 falsely? Hast thou no shame to deceive me as thou 
 hast and to betray me? I must see my son. The officer 
 will not refuse me." 
 
 " Verily it is as I tell thee, Sheik." 
 
 " Oh, what time hath been lost! Yet, if thou speak- 
 est truth, even now it is not too late. Thou mayest yet 
 redeem thyself. Saddle me the ass ; we shall assuredly 
 overtake them."
 
 360 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Yusef perceived the sheik s trouble had been too much 
 for him, and had disturbed his mind. 
 
 " Thou art not in Bettir," he said. " And thy white 
 mule and ass, fit for the sons of kings, as thou knowest, 
 O Sheik, are dead ! Besides, thou art not able to undergo 
 the fatigue of the journey." 
 
 " Thou knowest not \vhat I can endure. Wilt thou not 
 obey my voice? Get thee to a neighbour, he will lend 
 me a beast. But, alas, I perceive my strength and my 
 authority are gone, or thou wouldst not treat me thus ! " 
 
 " Say not so, honoured Sheik. Have I not promised 
 to abide with thee till the last. And though I cannot 
 restore thy son to thee, I would help thee bear the loss." 
 
 " I crave thy pardon if I have wronged thee, Yusef. 
 Forgive me. I know not what I say," replied the sheik, 
 as he went up the shattered steps from the public oven, 
 leaning upon the lad. " But help me to find him." 
 
 Once out upon the street, they caught sight of a bin- 
 bashi, or major of the Turkish army, who happened to go 
 by. The old sheik, in whose mind lingered the hope 
 that there might be some mistake, that Chalil was still 
 in the city ran to the officer and, falling at his feet, 
 caught his hand and kissed it. 
 
 " I beseech thee, most noble Bin-Bashi, in the name 
 of Allah let me see my son. Salam aleikom, peace 
 be upon thee ; thou art too merciful to prevent a father 
 speaking to his son." 
 
 The heart-rending cry of Abou Chalil was unintelli 
 gible to the bin-bashi ; but Yusef, hastening up, made 
 explanation. 
 
 "Ah, I perceive thy son is the friend of the young 
 giant from Bettir who gave us so much trouble. Then I 
 can only inform thee he is by this time well advanced on 
 the road to Jaffa." 
 
 The words of the bin-bashi were a doom. The last 
 hope of Chalil s being in Jerusalem was gone. 
 
 The sheik sank in a heap upon the pavement. His 
 tarboosh and turban had fallen from his head, baring 
 his silvery locks in the sight of all who were near. His 
 lips moved, but no sound that Yusef could distinguish 
 proceeded from them, though his arms were about the
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 361 
 
 old man and he held the venerated head against his 
 breast, bending close to catch the slightest word. 
 
 A crowd of men had gathered. They were kind and 
 helpful, and one of the men found a peasant from beyond 
 Bcttir, who, having sold his produce, was returning with 
 two unloaded donkeys and offered to take the sheik 
 home. 
 
 As soon as he had sufficiently revived, they placed 
 him upon one of the beasts, Yusef walking beside and 
 supporting him. 
 
 " Thou art taking me to Chalil," he murmured. 
 
 Yusef had not the heart to undeceive him. 
 
 The old man s strength had almost given out as they 
 reached Bcttir. 
 
 Racked with pain and fever, he lay on his bed in the 
 plain, ungarnishcd village house, which had been the 
 home of the family for generations ; but as to the fact of 
 his suffering, the All-Merciful had cast the mantle of 
 oblivion upon him. 
 
 " Thou surely art taking me to Chalil," the bereaved 
 father still murmured. " But go more quickly. Spare 
 me not. I can bear it well." 
 
 And they that ministered to him hid their faces for 
 sorrow, and spoke comfortably and assuringly to him, 
 fearing he had not long to live. 
 
 Yet the decree had gone forth : " This sickness is 
 not unto death," - though it was many days before the 
 sheik recovered. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 HASSAN, having made more than one attempt to 
 escape since his capture, had been subjected to 
 the most severe discipline and punishment, in which the 
 element of cruelty was not wanting. Turkish officers, 
 even at the best, and under the most favourable circum 
 stances, are not noted for their kindness or forbearance. 
 On the night in which the regiment left Jerusalem, he
 
 362 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 was marched as a prisoner, disgraced, bound, and under 
 strict surveillance. His captain had determined to 
 break the proud spirit of him, and to make him an ex 
 ample, so as to strike terror into others. 
 
 Though a large number of friends and relatives so 
 journing around the city, had received hurried notice 
 of the exodus, and followed the regiment over the hills, 
 there was a gradual falling away; so that by the time 
 Kolonieh was reached, where the first halt was made, 
 comparatively few of those camp-followers remained. 
 Even of these, the greater part returned whence they 
 had come, by way of the valley and Ain Karim. The 
 village of Ain Karim, the birthplace of John the Bap 
 tist, is in full sight, nestling amid its terraced olive- 
 groves and fig orchards, its vineyards and gardens, 
 distinctly visible from Kolonieh through an opening in 
 the little glen. It is one of the most charming retreats 
 in Palestine, and seemed to invite the stragglers to 
 come back that way. Of the few women who did not 
 now take their departure and return to their homes, 
 there were but two who were not the wives of soldiers. 
 One of the two was Kadra, the other was Hilwe. 
 
 After Hassan s capture, with the exception of two 
 brief interviews, Hilwe had failed in her attempts to see 
 him. She had learned of the sudden removal to Jeru 
 salem barely in time to reach the city late that day. 
 Kadra and other women had accompanied her; and as 
 they had failed in their object of seeing the soldiers, who 
 were by that time in barracks, they determined to re 
 main, at least, till the morrow. Thus they were at 
 hand when, in the dead of night, the regiment marched 
 out. Sleepless in their sorrow, they heard the tramp 
 of the many feet, and were among the first to perceive 
 what it meant. 
 
 On reaching Kolonieh, Kadra, knowing the desper- 
 ateness of the undertaking, had counselled Hilwe to go 
 no farther, and advised that they join the women who 
 were returning to their homes. But this Hilwe refused 
 to do; and, seeing her determination in the matter, 
 Kadra had remained with her, thinking that when 
 they had come to Bab-el-wad, where a longer halt
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 363 
 
 would be made, she would change her mind, and 
 return. 
 
 In all her efforts to communicate with or see Hassan, 
 Hilvve had been defeated. This it was which so 
 strongly moved her. 
 
 " Had he been thy husband," remonstrated Kadra, 
 "it might have been different thou mightest have 
 some colour for this; but now art thou without excuse, 
 and wilt become a reproach in the eyes of all men." 
 
 But Kadra s argument fell on ears that would not hear. 
 
 " Either my body shall reach my beloved, or my soul 
 leave my body to go to him," the hapless Hilwe had 
 answered, in the impassioned language of the East. 
 
 " Truly he serves out water with a sieve who argues 
 with one whose mind is already made up. Yet will I 
 continue with thee a while longer, though thou 
 shouldst be taught if thou dost not know the danger to 
 which thou art exposed." 
 
 " Could I but see him to speak a word to him, I 
 would be satisfied." 
 
 " Thou canst do naught to help him ; and all his 
 efforts are worse than naught. They have left him in a 
 sorrier plight than in the beginning. The caravan pro 
 ceeds in spite of the barking of the dog. It is as well 
 to admit it. All thy tears are of no avail. What is the 
 use of asking pity from him who has no pity. To his 
 superior the Turk is a cringing hound ; to his inferior 
 he is a ravening lion. Dost thou expect to find grass 
 in the market at the end of the year? Thou shalt find 
 it sooner than thou shalt find pity in the breast of the 
 Turks we have to deal with." 
 
 So spoke the wise and cynical woman from Malha. 
 
 " Thou hast been kind and compassionate with me, 
 these many days, Kadra. What benefits can such as I 
 am render to thee for all thy goodness? Have patience 
 with me yet a little longer. Leave me not. Else there 
 is none to have feeling for me." 
 
 Hilwe s eyes were full of sorrow and anxiety, and 
 Kadra made a show of relenting. 
 
 " Fear not," she said, taking Hilwe s hand, and lead 
 ing her down the descent, " I shall abide with thee
 
 364 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 yet a while. Who knows? mayhap till the last. 
 Though thou must remember I have warned thee ; and 
 the blame of what shall happen must be upon thine 
 own head." 
 
 The night was clear, and the stars shone with unusual 
 brilliancy. How those planets glistened, and those 
 stars, which are suns, burned and blazed, scintillated and 
 glowed on high, bejewelling the firmament with their 
 priceless splendour! though there were those among 
 the company who, as they halted at Kolonieh, called at 
 tention to the fact that the constellation Pisces, which 
 was held to be closely connected with the destinies of 
 Judaea, was surrounded with and partly obscured by a 
 watery haze. The numerous small, diamond-like stars 
 that formed the glittering scales of the celebrated 
 Fishes were mostly blotted out. It was taken as an 
 unpropitious omen, and much comment was called 
 forth by it. 
 
 There was now but little water in the stream that ran 
 through the bottom of the deeply-scoured valley, but 
 in the stillness of the night it could be heard chafing in 
 its rocky bed and mingling its murmurs with the rust 
 ling of the trees in the gardens surrounding the wayside 
 khan near the bridge where the halt was made. The 
 multitude of stones and pebbles, laid bare in the wide 
 channel, gave evidence that at certain times and seasons 
 a formidable stream must course through the banks. 
 Not far from here is the place where David chose the 
 five smooth stones out of the brook, with one of which, 
 when slipped from his shepherd s bag into his sling, he 
 slew Goliath of Gath. 
 
 The halt was brief, scarcely sufficient for a rest ; and 
 soon again the regiment and followers were in motion. 
 
 Up the heights, by the steep zigzag roads, there was 
 many a weary climb for poor disconsolate Hilwe and 
 the other women. At last they reached the summit of 
 the hills, from which, in the daytime, the Plain of Sharon 
 and the Mediterranean can be seen, and from which 
 proud eminence is a general descent, with occasional 
 interruptions, for the remainder of the way, till the 
 great plain is well entered on.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 365 
 
 The abrupt craggy ridges and many narrow valleys, 
 huge masses of gray weather-beaten limestone rock 
 cropping out on every side, present a variety of bold 
 contrasts, perhaps in some respects heightened by the 
 darkness of the night, grotesque and spectral effects 
 which would, in a measure, vanish at the touch of day 
 light. It was like a nightmare to Hilwe; and even the 
 resolute Kadra, though sufficient unto herself, and boast 
 fully superior to sentiment, was subject to the spell, 
 and carried her wilful head with a subdued air. But 
 she spoke less of turning back. 
 
 Kadra had become, in some sense, a leader with the 
 other women ; and several of them besides Hilwe looked 
 to her for counsel and protection. She took a pride in 
 this. There was a wonderful attraction too in the 
 novelty of accompanying the soldiers. There was yet 
 another and a secret incentive. She had never seen the 
 sea. And now that she had travelled so far towards it, 
 the desire to satisfy her curiosity strengthened in her. 
 
 " Thou wouldst not turn back now, Kadra?" 
 
 When Hilwe, still anxious on the subject, put the 
 question in this form, Kadra admitted the position. 
 
 " Nay, nay," she said, " I have made up my mind to 
 continue with thee, as I have told thee. Thou knowest 
 I have never seen the mighty waters ; and whenever I 
 heard that foolish Fatima boast of having sojourned by 
 the Great Sea, I always felt it a reproach to me that 
 such an one as she is should have the advantage of me 
 in this thing. No, I shall not turn back." 
 
 Yet perhaps a nearer and a dearer reason than any 
 of those mentioned was one that Kadra would not 
 admit : she had formed an extraordinary attachment for 
 Hassan ! Yes, ridiculous as it might be. 
 
 The next halt, a brief one, was near Bab-el-wad, at a 
 wely, the tomb of a Mohammedan saint, where there 
 is a spring of water the special attraction and some 
 fine trees, the latter overshadowing the stone platform 
 and domed roof of the wely. Situated in the bottom 
 of the deep and narrow ravine, with massive rocks 
 towering in perpendicular cliffs on each side, it is 
 perhaps one of the most romantic and interesting, if
 
 366 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 not one of the most picturesque spots on the entire 
 route. 
 
 The small hours of the morning were already advanc 
 ing, though still it was night, and darkness reigned 
 supreme in the depths of the rock-curtained valley. 
 The pale gray light of the dawn was stealing over the 
 heavens, from the eastern horizon; and by the time the 
 regiment reached Bab-el-wad the first cold gleams of 
 daylight began to make objects visible, bringing to 
 everything, as in the creative beginning, its own partic 
 ular blush of colour, of which the night had robbed it. 
 
 Bab-el-wad the Gate of the Valley has been 
 appropriately named. It is, indeed, the gateway to 
 Jerusalem, through which, for ages, all warriors and 
 pilgrims and travellers by way of Jaffa, whether of high 
 or of low degree, have pressed forward in order to reach 
 the Holy City. Nature has marked significantly the 
 important position. Imposing upheavals of rock, eido 
 lons in stone, rise in defiant guardian crags on both 
 sides of the entrance to the defile through which the 
 road from the Maritime Plain breaks and ascends. 
 
 It is, without doubt, a veritable gateway. 
 
 What history surrounds this grand portal ! Here the 
 Crusader hosts, with kings and princes, and representa 
 tives from all civilised nations, fought their way against 
 the Mohammedan power. Here Richard of England 
 the Lion-hearted met Saladin in battle. And back 
 in the days when the children of Israel first possessed 
 the land, they and the natives races and peoples, and 
 especially the Philistines, had often encountered each 
 other in deadly combat at this point, at adjacent Ajalon, 
 and along these bristling ramparts. Through this noble 
 gate were hauled the cedar beams for Solomon s 
 Temple, the verd-antique and other precious marbles 
 and materials brought by Herod for the third and last 
 great Temple, and the timbers of English oak which 
 King Edward IV. piously sent, so many centuries ago, 
 to replace the roof (originally of cedar of Lebanon) 
 of the Basilica of Helena, the mother of Constantine 
 the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, and which 
 oaken rafters still remain there, sound and perfect, to
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 367 
 
 this day. The Roman legions came and went over this 
 via of vias, as the Greeks had before them. It has ever 
 been the pathway for the delivery of all sacred gifts and 
 all merchandise for Jerusalem landed at Jaffa. The mind 
 grows weary in recalling the honour and the power and 
 the glory, the cohorts, the armies and the cavalcades of 
 all kinds that, from remote periods to the present 
 generation, have swept through this strait and narrow 
 way between these flanking pillars of rock, of Nature s 
 erecting, which, like immortal gods, have looked down 
 upon it all, unmoved. 
 
 How small yet how vast a thing is life ! How 
 mysterious ! How incomprehensible ! These rocks, 
 begotten beneath the antediluvian waters, have endured 
 through it all with a persistency which appals the human 
 being. He envies them for their very obduracy. Yet 
 within the man is the eternal, the divine, the universal 
 soul God! Fretful man, he walks upon the earth, for 
 his little day in the body, without knowing himself, or the 
 birthright which he has despised and forgotten. He 
 denies a soul to the everlasting hills, and even to the 
 living creatures which he considers beneath him. Often 
 he denies it to himself. He is God ; and yet you can 
 not persuade him that his life does not depend upon a 
 meal of victuals. But, for all that, he has a good 
 opinion of himself; he " feels his oats," and with the 
 aid of his heart, or his liver, or what not, he is able to 
 love intensely and is so conceited as to imagine that his 
 particular love-affair is the all-important question of the 
 universe. Thus, it comes to pass, he is a life-giver, 
 almost without intending it. 
 
 The new regiment, with its attendant guards, after 
 leaving the wely, made no pause as it marched through 
 the sublime gateway, but, presenting a picturesque enough 
 spectacle with its outflying zaptiehs, it poured through 
 into the open, as if its officers and watchful convoy 
 had gladly shaken off the incubus of the ravines and 
 dangerous passes and at length found a breathing- 
 space. Here, on the last subsiding slopes of the Judaean 
 range of hills, is another lonely khan, at which the 
 traveller from Jerusalem stops to rest and partake of
 
 368 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 his luncheon which he has brought with him from his 
 hotel, while the horses are watered and fed ; for the 
 point, being one of the regular stopping-places from 
 time immemorial, it would be impossible for a native to 
 neglect the custom. 
 
 The halt of the regiment was made immediately below 
 the khan, upon the gentle slope, where only a few rocks 
 pushed their snouts through the soil. A short way be 
 yond, a spur of the Shephalah, a lower range of hills, front 
 ing the loftier ramparts, runs at nearly right angles across 
 the road, the last high land before entering on the 
 plain ; and between this and where the regiment halted 
 is a shallow depression, with a stream, now reduced to 
 a trickling rivulet, or almost dry, at the bottom of it. 
 
 Camp fires were lighted, and the preparation of food 
 for the hungry men was at once begun. For that 
 matter, the Moslem peasant is always hungry always 
 ready to eat. Wake him up out of sleep in the dead of 
 night, and the first thing he expects to do is to eat. 
 The great fast of the Ramadan is, doubtless, account 
 able for some of this. The man, abstaining from food 
 all day, is aroused by cannon in the night, that he may 
 gorge himself. 
 
 So the smoke curled upward to heaven ; and presently 
 the fumes of food permeated the atmosphere, that 
 " sweet-smelling savour," so acceptable to the nostrils of 
 savage man that he fancies it must be equally acceptable 
 to the deity, and so makes the burnt sacrifice a part 
 of his religion. 
 
 The laggards were brought in by the zaptiehs, 
 who made it the occasion for a display of their superb 
 horsemanship, which is only inferior to that of the 
 Bedawin. 
 
 Last of all, at a safe distance, came the villagers, 
 among them the poor dejected women, dragging them 
 selves along with weary step. At first they did not 
 venture near. But, after a while, they gathered at an 
 overhanging crag, in the rear of the camp, where some 
 of the soldiers were so friendly as to share their bread 
 with them. 
 
 And now they learned about their relatives and
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 369 
 
 friends, and, through Kadra, Hihve received information 
 of Hassan. 
 
 " Yea, he is a prisoner, and under punishment," was 
 the reply to her inquiries. 
 
 Further questioning elicited some minor particulars in 
 regard to him, but they were far from being satisfactory. 
 
 " Thinkest thou we could venture near enough to speak 
 to him? " was asked by Kadra of one of the more friendly 
 soldiers. 
 
 " Nay. That were impossible," was his unequivocal 
 reply. 
 
 From some of his remarks the man evidently took her 
 for Hassan s wife, in which Kadra did not undeceive him, 
 accepting it as a compliment. 
 
 Hihve did not dare ask all the questions she would 
 have wished to ask, nor could she prompt them, as it 
 attracted attention to her from the supposed spouse. 
 
 " Art thou too his wife? Or or art thou his sister? " 
 inquired the soldier, looking upon her with hungry eyes. 
 
 He had evidently noticed Hilwe s painful solicitude ; 
 and her melancholy beauty had appealed to him and 
 touched him. 
 
 Poor Hilwe hung her head and blushed, grievously 
 confused, not knowing what to say. 
 
 " His sister," replied Kadra, promptly coming to her 
 rescue, and not hesitating to lie in such a case. 
 
 " It is well," he said ; and, exhibiting his pleasure at 
 the intimation, showed himself not unwilling for further 
 parley and acquaintance. 
 
 " Couldst thou take a message to him?" ventured 
 Hilwe. 
 
 " Ah, that would be difficult and dangerous work ! " 
 
 After a short search, Hilwe produced a little ornament 
 carved out of mother-of-pearl. It resembled a star, but 
 was meant for an asphodel flower with its six expanded 
 petals. She looked at it earnestly as she held it in her 
 hand, as though it were very precious to her. She then 
 kissed it. It was the work of Hassan. He had made it, 
 patiently working upon it, during those happy days which 
 they had spent together in their love dalliance, in that 
 garden-nest on the hillside, among the narcissus blooms, 
 
 24
 
 370 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 the asphodels and anemones ; and the nacre was not 
 unskilfully cut. She had watched him make every point 
 of it. 
 
 " Couldst thou not take him one little word ? " pleaded 
 Hilwe insinuatingly. 
 
 " He is closely guarded," was the soldier s reply. " I 
 see not how it might be done." 
 
 But the man was evidently yielding to her influence. 
 
 Hilwe held out to him the carving of the star-like 
 asphodel. 
 
 " Perchance, in passing him, thou mightest drop this 
 into his hand, and say that she who sent it was near by, 
 and saluted him, sympathising with him, and bidding 
 him take courage." 
 
 What depths of love were in her translucent glance ! 
 Her soul floated in it. 
 
 The man, in his conceit, thinking the love was meant 
 for him, was greatly moved as he took the simple carving. 
 His eyes were fixed on her with more than ordinary 
 admiration. 
 
 " If it be possible, I will do even as thou hast said. 
 For thy sake, and out of regard for thee, will I risk 
 doing it." 
 
 He would have spoken further, revealing his passion ; 
 but just then, lifting up his eyes, he beheld what caused 
 his sudden departure. 
 
 " I see the zaptiehs coming this way," he said. " I 
 can no longer stay. But thou canst rely I shall do as I 
 have promised, even if I die for it." 
 
 " Allah bless thee for it, and reward thee," she said, 
 as he disappeared. 
 
 " I shall say his sister sent it," were his last words. 
 
 She was greatly delighted at what she had done. 
 
 " He will know his own work," she kept repeating, 
 " and when told that I am near, he will be comforted. 
 Yea, he will come to me." 
 
 She felt she had accomplished something by her mes 
 sage, and a load seemed lifted off her mind and heart. 
 
 " When he gets it, if he can, he will come to me. 
 Do I not know he will." 
 
 Doubtless the soldier meant to do as he had promised.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 371 
 
 Twice with warm heart, but clumsy action, he went to per 
 form the duty he had undertaken, and each time failed to 
 find the opportunity, Hassan was so closely guarded. 
 
 " I shall put it off till to-morrow," he said, with the 
 procrastination which is such a favourite expedient of the 
 Oriental. " They will be less watchful then. Yes. 
 Boukra to-morrow." 
 
 That evening, in gambling with a fellow-soldier, he 
 had found himself at the end of his resources. 
 
 " Allah is against me, O Murad ! " he said. 
 
 "Ha, ha!" 
 
 The mocking, triumphant laugh of the victor, Murad, 
 rankled in the unfortunate man s breast. What would 
 he not give, at that moment, for the most paltry coin? 
 It might retrieve his luck. 
 
 " Try ; thou surely must have something left," urged 
 his adversary. 
 
 The words were tauntingly said, and galled the fleeced 
 man, who, under that scorching smile of Murad, made 
 the semblance of fumbling and feeling for what he knew 
 he had not. 
 
 He searched vainly in several places in his clothing for 
 a single coin of the Turkish or any other realm. The 
 flush of shame deepened on his brow. 
 
 At last, thrusting his hand down deep into the pocket 
 of his trousers, he felt there the ornament of mother-of 
 pearl which Hihve had given him for Hassan. He drew 
 it out. There was no hesitation. With it was a shabby, 
 battered metalik. 
 
 The passion of the gamester, inveterate in his race, was 
 upon him. He hardly gave a second glance at the starry 
 asphodel, so carefully and skilfully carved with loving 
 thought in the shell the memento of those blissful 
 days of Hassan s and Hilwe s devotion, when it was like 
 heaven on earth. He staked it with the metalik, and he 
 lost. 
 
 " Allah is against me, O Murad ! " he repeated, with a 
 stupefied expression of countenance. 
 
 " And he is with me," said Murad, as he swept the 
 stakes into his pocket.
 
 372 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Thus it was decreed that Hassan never should receive 
 the message from Hilwe. It was a long story made short. 
 And the pearly talisman, carved by the hand of love, 
 and so precious to Hilwe, lay in the bottom of the pocket 
 of a strange man. 
 
 Oh, the irony of fate ! 
 
 That selfsame evening, as Hilwe was lingering near the 
 outskirts of the camp, hoping to catch a glimpse of the 
 one man who filled her heart and her life, and with a 
 vague idea of receiving some result from her message 
 there suddenly passed before her a tall soldier bound 
 with ropes, driven by two guards who had used upon him 
 the butts of their muskets. 
 
 How wan and dust-begrimed was the poor wretch ! 
 
 That tall man O Allah ! She could not be mis 
 taken. There was but one like that. 
 
 He turned as he went by, and looked upon her, in his 
 humiliation. Their eyes met. It was he ! Hassan ! 
 
 Oh, woe of woes sorrow of sorrows ! Has it come 
 to this? 
 
 " Hassan ! " 
 
 " Hilwe ! " 
 
 The next instant he was lost from her sight in a dense 
 body of troops which opened to let him pass, then closed 
 behind him. 
 
 It was like a flash of lightning in the night-time, which 
 suddenly reveals some horrible sight, and then drops it 
 back into the impenetrable darkness. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 r I^HE lengthened halt near Bab-el-wad had been un- 
 JL expected by the soldiers, and was a surprise to 
 them and to every one but the commanding officers, who 
 were in the secret and who had contemplated it from 
 the beginning. But the following day the reason for 
 the detention was made manifest to all, when a body of 
 prisoner conscripts, captured since the regiment left
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 373 
 
 Jerusalem, were brought in. They had been pushed 
 forward in a forced march, and a woe-begone looking 
 crowd they indeed were, as they entered the camp ; 
 though, so far as their discontent was concerned, they 
 found there abundant company in their misery. 
 
 A further delay was necessary to rest them. But with 
 this addition to its strength, the regiment in due time 
 resumed its march to the sea, the breezes from which 
 had come to it each evening, like a benediction from 
 Heaven. The motley crew followed. 
 
 As they crossed the spur of the Shephalah, they saw 
 the vast level of the plain of Sharon stretch before them 
 without a break. Here and there the rolling surface had 
 a billowy aspect; but there was nothing approaching 
 a hill or knoll to disturb its ocean-like character. The 
 plain was a sea, condensed, solidified. It now was of 
 a pale yellowish green, deepening occasionally into a 
 golden glow, but melting in the misty distance into a 
 tender blue fringed with silver, which last, in reality, was 
 the Mediterranean itself. 
 
 To reach the level was a relief. Its very monotony 
 had a charm for the people accustomed to the rocky 
 roughness of the hill country. Above all, it made 
 travelling much more easy. Yet to leave the hill coun 
 try was their great grief, for that country was their home. 
 
 Looking backward to the region they had left, the 
 hills rose out of the plain with the appearance of an 
 island rising out of the sea, light hazy mists hiding their 
 base. To the credulous fellah the change was ominous. 
 
 In many respects Palestine is of an insular aspect and 
 character. It is an island with the sea on one side, a 
 desert or wilderness on its other boundaries. The desert 
 is, indeed, a sea of sand having its own peculiar storm- 
 phenomena constantly agitating its surface, which is 
 cast up in spray and waves, and in whirling columns 
 resembling water-spouts. It has its navies too cara 
 vans, where the camel, the " ship of the desert, " is 
 the argosy laden with its cargoes of merchandise. The 
 mirage-like atmosphere adds the required glamour. 
 
 Those simple peasant soldiers, marching to the sea, 
 to be transported to a land unknown to them, what
 
 374 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 wonder if their hearts were heavy as they beheld their 
 beloved hills the place of their birth and of their life 
 metamorphosed before their gaze, changed till they 
 become as an enchanted island, and finally melt away 
 into nothingness, never again to be seen by them, as 
 their superstitious fancy conjured. 
 
 Then, as they approached Ramleh, to certain of the 
 men it seemed as if it were a city starting by magic out 
 of the ground its minarets, mosques, convents, palms, 
 gardens and fountains, all the work of necromancy. 
 
 Here another halt was made. 
 
 The reputed home of Joseph of Arimathea, Ramleh, 
 now wizened and decayed, must have been, in former 
 ages, a place of some importance. In many of the little 
 workshops which are wretched stalls, may be seen 
 the beautifully carved capitals of the marble columns 
 which must have belonged to more than one magnifi 
 cent building long gone to ruin, and ploughed under. 
 Some of these capitals are of large size, and of the 
 Corinthian order. To-day they are used as horse-blocks, 
 and also are employed as stands or work-tables by shoe 
 makers and other artisans, a single specimen filling the 
 centre of one of those box-like little rooms, where such 
 a glorious antique is assuredly entirely out of propor 
 tion and place. 
 
 Amid their squalid surroundings, these ancient 
 marbles from some shattered temple, dug out for this 
 degraded use from their necropolis, where they have 
 remained entombed and mouldering for centuries, are 
 a homily on man and his ambition. Crumbling arches, 
 rubbish heaps and ruined walls abound ; and the be- 
 stained dyer, the busiest craftsman in town, may be seen 
 plying his calling chiefly indulging in the dark blue 
 colour, so favoured by the fellaheen for their garments 
 above these quarries of antiquities, these sepulchres of 
 fine carved work. 
 
 Thus history is made and buried ; and man walks 
 over the silent graves without a blush, or a touch of 
 shame at his petty deeds and trifling thoughts, or the 
 poor transient vexations which rend him with their 
 undue importance.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 375 
 
 During the halt at Ramleh, Hilwe had redoubled her 
 efforts to see Hassan and to communicate with him, 
 but without success. Ever since she had sent him the 
 pearl talisman with the simple but touching message, 
 she had dwelt with renewed hope upon the probability 
 of his finding some opportunity for their meeting. She 
 had great confidence in the resources which he ever had 
 been so fertile in developing. 
 
 " He has got my message and will come to me," she 
 said. 
 
 Even after the sight of him in his pain and subjection 
 which had so afflicted her and filled her with anguish, 
 she did not despair. To be near him meant so much. 
 She could not explain it to herself, but the feeling was 
 there. 
 
 She hoped, too, failing to meet Hassan, that at least, 
 through Chalil, they might communicate. She did not 
 know that the officers, fearing collusion and co-operation 
 on the part of the friends, had adopted the precaution of 
 separating them, and that for some time they had been 
 kept well apart. 
 
 As for Hassan, the sight of Hilwe had so worked 
 upon his feelings, he was well-nigh beside himself. A 
 species of frenzy took possession of him. He lost 
 patience and control of himself in the presence of such 
 a temptation. As his mind dwelt on the dangers and 
 indignities to which she was exposed in being brought 
 in contact with such rude unlicensed soldiery, it tended 
 to infuriate him. 
 
 Chalil had acquiesced and submitted after his capture, 
 and so had escaped the more severe and cruel punish 
 ments administered to the recalcitrant and obdurate. 
 
 "You may break me, but you cannot bend me," Has 
 san had said. 
 
 From the first he had refused to promise he would 
 make no further attempt to escape ; and to this position, 
 though so unsuccessful in all his efforts, he had adhered 
 to the last. 
 
 "Thou wouldst do well to submit thyself, Hassan," 
 Chalil had advised him, when first brought in from a 
 futile dash for liberty. " Why not promise what they
 
 376 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 ask of thee? They will not then so cruelly afflict and 
 torture thee." 
 
 But this, Hassan scorned to do. 
 
 " I promise them nothing," he said. " Why should 
 I? It is ever in my mind to free myself from them 
 to escape out of their hands. The dream of the garden 
 never leaves the heart of the nightingale." 
 
 " Alas, they have thee in their power. Thy fate doth 
 worsen. They will rive the soul out of thee. And then 
 what canst thou do? " 
 
 " Were I dead it were another thing. But while the 
 life is in me how can I cease to make effort? Were I 
 as thou art, Chalil, mayhap I should have done as thou 
 hast. But how can I leave Hilwe to her fate? My 
 God, it sets me on fire it maddens me when I think 
 of it. It is true I have failed ; but how do I know that 
 I shall not be successful the next time? Although a 
 mountain be high, it has a road to the top of it. Yes, 
 I have failed. One door is shut, but a thousand doors 
 are open." 
 
 Now that he was deprived of the gentle ministry and 
 advice of Chalil, it fared worse with Hassan. He grew 
 more restive and reckless. When they halted below 
 Bab-el-wad, in the region of the Shephalah, his eyes 
 had scrutinised every feature of the ground, searching 
 out caves and hiding-places to which he might flee, and 
 where he might be concealed. He saw with but one 
 intent the brushwood and scrub, the purple thyme and 
 stunted terebinth which screened in dense masses the 
 hollows and crevices in the limestone cliffs. The deep 
 tortuous ravines were pleasant in his sight. They 
 seemed kith and kin like brothers to him, beckoning 
 with friendly interest. If he lost this opportunity, it 
 might be his last. He was leaving the kindly hills be 
 hind. Then would come the naked plain where all was 
 disclosed, like an open hand. There would not be a 
 shelter for miles around. 
 
 The hum of the honey-laden bees murmured in his 
 ears ; the song of the crested lark came to him lustily, 
 cheerily out of the sky ; the smell of the wild herbs was 
 sweeter than incense in his nostrils. They were the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 377 
 
 sounds and the odours amid which he had spent his life. 
 The cries of the free wild creatures taunted him. Why 
 should he be bound and driven? Why deprived of his 
 liberty? If to be a slave is to be miserable, how much 
 more so is it for him who has roamed, unlicensed, moun 
 tain and valley, with none to question him, or to ask him 
 Whither goest thou ? or Whence comest thou ? He turned 
 to the terraced heights which in ancient days had been 
 vineyards or planted with olives ; he saw the waste un- 
 fenced places and the desolate glens with revived hope. 
 They were the gateways to freedom. 
 
 " Is not Allah opening a way before me?" he said. 
 
 Above all, the glimpse he had had of Hilwe burned into 
 his brain. He knew she was near. Why should he not 
 go to her? He heard her call him, speaking that one 
 word, " Hassan," with the heart-breaking accent in 
 which she had uttered it when she beheld him in his 
 debasement, in the hands of the brutal guards, smitten 
 by them while bound, struck with the butts of their 
 pieces. Oh, the cruel shame of it ! 
 
 " She has the right to call for me," he said. " I have 
 the right to go to her." 
 
 Suddenly there sounded in his ears the roll of drum 
 and blare of trumpet; and pouring out of the hillside 
 through that marvellous gateway of the ages marched a 
 body of soldiers. They were in Turkish uniform. They 
 came towards the camp. What could it mean? 
 
 They were the captured conscripts from Jerusalem, 
 as already mentioned. Swiftly yet reluctantly they came. 
 The gay music mocked them. 
 
 Every eye was turned towards them. The vigilance 
 of Hassan s single guard was relaxed. He pressed for 
 ward in the throng to see what the commotion meant, 
 and was carried away with the crowd. The unexpected 
 blast and swirl of sound, all-pervading, dominant, was 
 electrifying, and absorbed the attention of the host. 
 
 Hassan was alone. 
 
 Again that voice came to him. 
 
 Something seemed to snap and give way within his 
 head. A light flashed from his eyes. It flamed at his 
 feet. He followed it.
 
 378 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 On, on he went. He knew not whither. No one no 
 ticed him, though he walked through the midst of them. 
 
 The consciousness of freedom was upon him. He was 
 outside the lines. There was no one to hinder him. He 
 thought he was free. He believed he was free. He 
 knew he was free. He walked untrammelled on the 
 hillside. Where were his fetters? No shackles bound 
 him. His faith had delivered him. 
 
 Perhaps, in some degree, it was a realisation, however 
 imperfect, of the divine principle which is all in all, 
 that within him was Allah, through whom he lived and 
 moved and had his being ; that his soul was the life of 
 Allah, was Allah ! 
 
 Yes, he was free. Who could separate him from the 
 love of Allah? 
 
 The voice of voices had come to him, echoing down 
 the spiritual heights that know no time or space, but yet 
 through centuries almost two millenniums of human 
 sound, as men count : " Fear not them who kill the body, 
 but are not able to kill the soul ! " 
 
 It seemed to him as if he had heard the words long 
 ago, as if they told him something he already had 
 known or ought to have known, as if they were a sacred 
 reminiscence of an earlier existence. The sense of free 
 dom filled him as never before. He walked as a new 
 man, allied to all the heavenly powers, and in the exul 
 tation of his freedom he was glad. 
 
 O Liberty, divine angel from heaven, woe be to the 
 man who attempts to clip thy glorious wings and bind 
 thee in the dust ! Happy is the people upon whom thou 
 smilest, and blessed the nation with whom thou dwellest. 
 Daughter of God, no wonder that men, recognising in 
 thee the likeness and image of the Most High, fall 
 prostrate and worship. 
 
 It was but a short time before an alarm was raised. 
 The guards turned out. Hassan was soon surrounded 
 and brought back. In the brief interval he had searched 
 in vain for Hilwe. He had not even caught a glimpse 
 of her. Nor had she seen him. 
 
 On this occasion the guards were incensed against him, 
 and in their exasperation used him unmercifully. They
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 379 
 
 struck him, they mocked him, they swore at him, setting 
 him at naught, and in other ways abused him. 
 
 " Allah ylaano, - God d n you," cried the soldier 
 who had been left in charge of him, with a profanity 
 quite equal to that of the Occidental, for it is alto 
 gether incorrect to suppose there are no oaths or swear 
 ing in the Arabic or among the Orientals. " Didst 
 thou think to escape me? Why give me this trouble? 
 Wouldst thou spit towards heaven?" 
 
 They bound him more securely, which meant more 
 painfully, than before, and drove him in before them as 
 they would have driven a donkey or other beast. 
 
 " Istaagel Hurry up," they cried, as he stumbled and 
 fell. 
 
 " Id-roub-hou, beat him." 
 
 " He is lazy." 
 
 " Give him a touch of the kourbaj." 
 
 They did not hesitate to lay upon him their heavy 
 whips, such as the zaptiehs carry. 
 
 " Art thou not a fool to think thou couldst outwit us 
 and get away?" they yelled. 
 
 " He endeavours to extract oil from sand," another 
 mockingly added. 
 
 To most of this abuse Hassan replied nothing. He 
 seemed stupid, overwhelmed at his repeated failures. 
 Yet was there a strange, enrapt expression about him 
 which puzzled them. They could not understand his 
 immense power of endurance. It angered them. 
 
 " What aileth thee that thou attemptest the impos 
 sible?" they asked. "We shall hang thee by the wrists 
 till thy nails drop off." 
 
 Once he replied in a dazed way to their taunts : " In 
 the time of necessity, when there is no chance of escape, 
 the hand will lay hold of even a sharp sword by the 
 blade." 
 
 This was received with shouts of derision. 
 
 "There, you see what he is." 
 
 " He understands not his own good," said one. 
 
 " He is insane," quoth another. 
 
 "What doth an ass know of the value of saffron?" 
 contemptuously remarked the first guard.
 
 380 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 " Yea," assented a stout little soldier, the very anti- 
 pode of Hassan, and therefore calculated to appreciate 
 inimically his excessive proportions. " What can you 
 expect from such as he is? That only leaks from a 
 vessel which it contains." 
 
 It was like the ass kicking his heels in the face of the 
 expiring lion. 
 
 Bound and bent and exhausted from their abuse, the 
 noble frame of the young giant of Bettir lay prostrate at 
 their feet. They had fastened his arms behind his back. 
 His legs were fettered. He was at the mercy of his tor 
 mentors. They had dragged him far inside the lines, 
 where there was no hope of his escaping. 
 
 " Let him alone now," said one of the officers on 
 coming up and seeing his state ; " he has to march to 
 Ramleh. He has had enough for the present. When 
 we get there, we shall have another halt, and we can 
 give him thorough punishment then, or when we reach 
 Jaffa." 
 
 After this, they took extraordinary precautions in 
 guarding Hassan; and so it was that all Hilwe s hopes 
 of seeing him at Ramleh were disappointed, and all her 
 attempts to communicate with him were frustrated. 
 
 Not only at the various halting-places, but all along 
 the route the officers had continued to drill the men, and 
 put them through the ordinary evolutions ; so that by 
 the time Jaffa was reached they had acquired a pro 
 ficiency in this direction which, considering the circum 
 stances, was highly creditable. 
 
 More weary than ever, perhaps largely because less 
 hopeful, were the two women from Malha, who fol 
 lowed far behind, foot-sore and heart-sore, drifted hither 
 and thither by every changing circumstance, yet, in 
 their greater trouble, heedless of their lesser misfortunes. 
 
 Kadra, seeing the pitifulness of Hilwe s condition, re 
 frained from noticing it to her. She spoke as cheerfully 
 as her own unhappy state would permit. 
 
 " Truly t is a weary way, Hilwe," she said ; " yet 
 every step we take brings us nearer to Jaffa." 
 
 " And then the sad end," returned Hilwe. "But if I 
 see him to speak to him once more
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 381 
 
 " Yea, if thou couldst speak to him once more, thou 
 vvouldst be comforted." 
 
 The other women of the company paid but little 
 attention to them, being absorbed in their own sorrows. 
 
 " Yea, if I but see Hassan, face to face, I shall be 
 satisfied," Hilwe, along the dusty highway to Jaffa, kept 
 murmuring to herself, in that inward voice that is the 
 heart s register. 
 
 Love, that greatest of all things, sustained her. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 EST thee, rest thee. Thou art sick unto death, 
 Hilwe; and thou hast given thyself no peace 
 since we reached Jaffa." 
 
 " How can I take rest, or have any peace? They are 
 not for such as I am." 
 
 " Thou hast done what thou couldst to find him. If 
 thou hast failed, it is not thy fault. Besides, he must 
 have got thy message. And Chalil must be with him. 
 Lay thy head in my lap, Hilwe, and take a little sleep. 
 Have mercy upon thyself, or thy life will go out." 
 
 " How can my eyes slumber or sleep, and how can I 
 take comfort when I consider that Hassan may at this 
 very moment be in torment, or perhaps dying, or dead ; 
 or may shortly be carried whither I know not, and where 
 I never shall be able to see him? The transports have 
 come. They may take him away to-morrow. O Kadra, 
 I have cried to Allah in the daytime, and he has heard 
 me not, and in the nighttime, and he has answered not ! 
 Woe is me ! He hath added grief to my sorrow. I am 
 faint from sighing, and I find no rest. I am but a 
 woman ; I have no prayers that are acceptable to him, 
 as have the men. Yet in my heart have I besought him 
 that he would have compassion." 
 
 " O Hilwe, thou wilt weep the eyes out of thy head ! 
 Heed what I speak to thee, and have pity upon thyself, 
 else thou wilt not be able to sustain that which is coming
 
 382 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 upon thec. Thou sayest we women have no prayers as 
 have the men. It is true. The Khateeb doth not teach 
 us as the Kasees doth the Nazarene women. Yet, though 
 we have not been taught the prayers of our Prophet in 
 the Koran praised be his name ! I am persuaded 
 there is that within us which Allah doth not despise. Is 
 he not the Most Merciful? Is not his pity over all 
 things? He knows that we poor women have no help 
 but from him. He knows we have not been taught. Our 
 prayer is like the cry of the wild things on the hills. 
 Therefore the speechless voice of the heart reaches him 
 sooner than the loudest prayers. Dost thou believe 
 me?" 
 
 " I will try to believe thee, Kadra; I must, I must ! " 
 
 " Then come hither. Let me break with thee this 
 morsel of bread. And see, I have filled my water-bottle 
 with pure cool water, freshly brought up, by the wheel 
 yonder, out of the ground." 
 
 Kadra drew Hilwe aside under the shelter of a wide- 
 spreading olive-tree, on the border of an extensive 
 orange-grove, the proprietor of which had allowed her 
 to help herself to the clear sparkling water raised in such 
 glorious abundance by the sakieh or na ura. This 
 machine, known in the Spanish as noria, and in many 
 respects similar to that of Spain and to the ancient Per 
 sian water-wheel, is a wooden wheel with swinging, re 
 versible earthen vessels attached, which, as it revolves, 
 empties their contents into a great stone tank, from 
 which the water is distributed, in branching cement- 
 lined conduits, to all parts of the grove and gardens. 
 This is the method of irrigation employed in the cele 
 brated orange-groves and gardens at Jaffa, where water 
 is found in surprising quantity only a few feet beneath 
 the sandy soil. 
 
 Kadra, with kindly tact, had called Hilvve s attention 
 to their remarkable surroundings, hoping to relieve the 
 poor girl s mind from the severe strain and heavy bur 
 den which oppressed it. From where they sat, they 
 could hear the creaking of the wheel and splashing of 
 the water, and, through the branches of the orange- 
 trees, caught glimpses of the ox and ass the simple
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 383 
 
 motive power as they went their monotonous round, 
 the unconscious origin of the force. 
 
 The calm, benignant air was saturated with tropical 
 fragrance, affording that fulness of satisfaction and 
 assurance of peace and quiet which is indescribable. 
 The allied aroma of orange, citron, lime and lemon, and 
 the perfume of thousands of cultivated blossoms of the 
 parterre mingled with the sweet breath of the yellow- 
 flowered acacia, sometimes known as the opoponax, and 
 which thorny shrub, planted with the prickly pear cactus 
 of enormous size, formed dense impenetrable hedges on 
 each side of the narrow lanes and roads, protecting as 
 effectually the wide plantations of the golden fruit as 
 did the enchanted dragon the fabulous gardens of the 
 Hesperides. 
 
 A sea-like expanse of orange groves surrounded the 
 spot where the two women sat. Amid the lustrous 
 green of the leaves and the silvery bridal blooms shone 
 a lavish wealth of the golden globes, each an auriferous 
 world in miniature. At frequent intervals groups of the 
 date palm lifted their stately tapering trunks, crowned 
 with broad feathery leaves, high in air, with saintly 
 assurance. These great branchy leaves were the trophies 
 of the victor given to him that overcometh; and they 
 seemed conscious of their ancient honour. Beneath 
 their gently swaying curves tenderly outlined against 
 the cloudless blue of the sky, to which they are akin, 
 sumptuous clusters of the date-fruit, some crimson, some 
 honey-yellow, hung in generous profusion. That fine 
 far-off deeper blue is the Mediterranean itself, the 
 great sea, across whose sapphire background may be 
 detected the sunny gleam of flitting sails, while, seated 
 on her mount of rock and sand, crouching at the water s 
 brink, with many a dome and pinnacle and suggestive 
 minaret, Jaffa, the quaint old town, which tradition says 
 was founded before the Deluge, looks down with jealous 
 pride upon the whole entrancing scene. No wonder 
 that Kadra, catching sight of the breezy, crispy blue of 
 the sea, under the unwonted spell, was carried away with 
 the rare splendour of it. 
 
 " O Jaffa Yafa the beautiful/ as well thou art
 
 384 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 named, thou art even as the Eden that Allah planted for 
 the first man and woman." 
 
 She tried thus to rally Hilwe, and coax her out of 
 her grief into admiration of the place, but in vain. 
 
 " I know it is fair and excellent," she replied ; " but " 
 she shook her head sadly "it cuts me to the heart, 
 Kadra, when I think of Hassan." 
 
 She hid her face against Kadra s bosom, weeping 
 bitterly. 
 
 Kadra herself broke down, and mingled her tears with 
 those of the sorrowing girl. 
 
 " Would to God we saw it with a happy heart," sighed 
 the pitying woman, folding Hilwe in her arms. 
 
 " Ah, would it were so ! " 
 
 "Yea, Hilwe; thou art right; the beauty of the garden 
 is enjoyed by him whose mind is at ease." 
 
 " I see not the roses for the pain of the thorns. I can 
 give myself no rest, nor take any peace till I have found 
 him." 
 
 " Alas, in a world like this, one must be under obliga 
 tion to a hundred thorns for the sake of one rose," mused 
 Kadra. 
 
 Afterwards both the women, for heaviness of heart, 
 were silent for a long time. Then Hilwe roused herself 
 
 " Art thou rested, Kadra," she asked in a soft voice. 
 
 " Yea, as much as I shall be," returned the brave 
 woman. 
 
 "Then let us be going." 
 
 " Ah, I knew where thy mind was ! Truly I am ready. 
 It cannot be but that this time we shall find him." 
 
 That night, as they were slowly and sadly returning, 
 weary and dispirited, from another fruitless effort to reach 
 Hassan, they wandered out of their road, and became 
 utterly bewildered in their attempts to find the way. 
 The darkness that had quenched the scarlet of the pome 
 granate blossom filled the whole breadth of the firmament 
 with blazing, palpitating, starry suns that chanted with 
 unceasing voice their unheeded prophecy to man. 
 
 " More worlds ! more light ! more life ! " they cried, 
 as they had done for centuries of millenniums, even before
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 385 
 
 that epoch when the earth was formless and void, and 
 blackness was upon the face of the vague abysm. 
 
 It is a glory and a horror too much for the poor 
 human heart. And yet man staggers on because he 
 must, looking tip occasionally. 
 
 Many a time did Hilwe stumble. But it was more 
 from exhaustion than from obstacles encountered in the 
 darkness. And the dimming blur or mistiness which 
 hid or obscured from her the nearer surrounding objects 
 was not caused by the condition of the atmosphere, but 
 by the tears which filled her eyes. 
 
 The too sweet breath of the orange groves was heavy 
 to oppressiveness in the night. The sighing of the breeze 
 was like the whispering of mystic voices, warning, plead 
 ing. The strange and awful shapes assumed by the 
 trees and other natural forms in the imperfect light filled 
 both the women with superstitious horror. 
 
 They heard the challenge of the pickets. Just then a 
 soldier passed near them. They lay low till he had gone 
 by, and then resumed their tramp with dread. 
 
 " It is plain," said Kadra, " we wander more and more 
 out of the way. When one is in trouble he becomes 
 bewildered and silly, and goes round and round, follow 
 ing not a straight course, till he is bewitched and lost." 
 
 "Then we are lost," said Hilwe. "Thou dost not 
 know where we are." 
 
 " It is even so," admitted Kadra. " But what wonder? 
 Wandering about in the night, worse than that might 
 easily have befallen us. The jinns the evil spirits are 
 abroad to do mischief on such occasions as this." 
 
 As she spoke they heard a doleful sound as of some 
 one in distress and groaning. This added to their alarm. 
 
 " Hearest thou that? " asked Hilwe in a low voice. 
 
 " Ay. Did I not tell thee ? " 
 
 Involuntarily turning their eyes, though with much 
 foreboding, in the direction of the sound, they beheld 
 what terrified them still more. They saw, not twenty 
 paces off, what seemed the form of a man with out 
 stretched arms, fastened to a crooked, distorted tree. 
 Lifted up against such scant and scattered light as still 
 lingered in the western sky, the strangely exposed body, 
 
 25
 
 386 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 to their affrighted vision, had a preternatural aspect and 
 almost gigantic proportions. 
 
 In her delicate, feeble, and weary condition, Hilwe, 
 perhaps less courageous than Kadra, had hardly trusted 
 herself to cast more than a momentary side glance at the 
 fearful object. It was enough. Her imagination did the 
 rest. 
 
 The horror of the superstitious in the presence of what 
 they suppose to be the spectral or supernatural, is not 
 easily measured. Even steadfast minds, as well as those 
 who deny the existence of spiritual agencies and the 
 Supreme Being, have been known under the pressure 
 of some unwonted ordeal, to give way in this direction. 
 With their peculiar belief as regards spirits, afreets, jinns, 
 gnomes, and all the ghostly paraphernalia connected 
 with the unseen or unknown world, the peasants of 
 Palestine are exposed in an unusual degree to the sus 
 ceptibilities thereby engendered. Those imponderable 
 creatures of the air are to them very real existences of 
 everyday conversation. They are feared, are the sub 
 ject of prayer, and are guarded against by numerous 
 well-known precautions, and the employment of various 
 devices in the shape of spells, talismans, and amulets 
 innumerable. That other world, not far from any of us, 
 is very near these simple people. But it is the malign 
 side of it that has the strongest hold on them. They 
 feel the wings of those unfriendly phantoms brush them 
 in their unholy flight, hear their passing voices, some 
 times see their fearful shapes, and regard them unques 
 tionably as agents of Ibices, the Evil One. 
 
 The two women remained spell-bound, trembling with 
 fear, not daring to move from where they stood. 
 
 " It is a ghoul who has assumed this shape in order to 
 lure us to destruction," whispered Kadra. " Be careful, 
 Hilwe. Do not stir or make any noise, lest we attract 
 his attention." 
 
 As she spoke she drew through her fingers the blue 
 bead suspended from her neck, regarded as a potent 
 fetich to ward off disaster especially the " evil eye " 
 and repeated inaudibly some pagan form of incantation. 
 
 Hilwe bowed her head, but uttered not a word. An
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 387 
 
 inexpressible, unaccountable awe thrilled her. Her heart 
 beat fast with an undefined mingling of ecstasy and pain. 
 She knew not what it meant. The stillness and the 
 gloom, and the pervading odours from the orange groves 
 and hedges of opoponax were more oppressive than ever. 
 The very air and the darkness weighed upon her as a 
 burden. But the life leaped strong within her, in sym 
 pathetic recognition. 
 
 Again came that agonizing groan of weariness and 
 distress. How strangely it moved her ! 
 
 Then she heard a voice a man s voice and words : 
 
 " O Allah, Allah! Hast thou forgotten me? Wilt 
 thou leave me to perish? " 
 
 The cry went to her heart. It was as the voice of her 
 life ! A cry out of the infinite ! Soul calling unto soul ! 
 
 She sprang forward, raising her eyes without fear or 
 hesitation to the figure so cruelly bound upon the tree. 
 
 She knew it ! Ah ! did she not? She knew, for she 
 loved every atom of that tortured body. He had saved 
 her from the dark waters. She had lain in his bosom. 
 He had given her life. He was her all. 
 
 " Merciful God, it is Hassan ! " she cried. 
 
 The next moment she was beside him. 
 
 She bent herself beneath his feet, to relieve the tension 
 upon his strained and outstretched arms. 
 
 " My Hassan ! My Hassan ! " 
 
 She embraced and fondled the sacred knees. She 
 kissed the precious feet. Oh, the pity and the love ! 
 
 His head had fallen forward on his chest. Sorrow and 
 pain had drunk the light out of his glorious eyes, now 
 languid and sunken ; yet still they looked into her eyes 
 with the love that is immortal that is the lord and giver 
 of life. It seemed a last effort. 
 
 Both head and feet were bare. His ghastly face was 
 stained with the blood which flowed from a wound on 
 his brow. The hair of his head and face were matted 
 with it. His torn and scanty garments, far from sufficient 
 to cover him, and half stripped from him, the result of 
 many a desperate struggle, were splashed with the same 
 red stream. The great thews and sinews of the man, 
 his muscular force, his inveterate power the majestic
 
 388 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 beauty of his entire body, broke through the rents and 
 the scraps and patches of the miserable raiment that 
 could not conceal or degrade him, and manifested 
 themselves despite the soiled and ragged fragments of 
 the poor and shabby uniform into which his guards had 
 thrust him. 
 
 All the exalted pity of the woman s nature arose in 
 desperate rebellion at the sight. 
 
 " Alas, my Hassan, that I should have sought thee to 
 find thee thus ! " 
 
 But though she spoke to him so tenderly, so softly, 
 within her was gathering the concentrated rage of a fury. 
 She seized the ropes that bound him, and tried to loosen 
 or break them. She tugged at the knots with her teeth, 
 to undo the shameful bonds and release him. 
 
 When Kadra came up, she eagerly assisted in the 
 work. 
 
 But knots fastened in this country, and especially with 
 such a purpose, are not easily unloosened ; and the 
 women made but little progress. 
 
 "The knots are accursed, and so be those who made 
 them," vociferated Kadra, in her wrath. 
 
 They searched in vain for something to sever them 
 with. 
 
 " Thou wilt have to leave me to my fate, Hilwe. The 
 guards will soon return, and find thee ; and then " As 
 Hassan feebly spoke the words, the damp as of death 
 was on his brow. " I would rather die I would rather 
 see thee dead than see thee in their hands." 
 
 Called away by some sudden alarm, the soldiers in 
 charge of him, having bound him with unusual care, 
 suspending him by the wrists, had confidently left him 
 alone, intending shortly to return. They had evidently 
 been detained longer than they expected. Thus Hilwe 
 and Kadra had found him. 
 
 "Keep courage, Hassan; we shall do our best to 
 relieve thee," replied Hilwe, redoubling her exertions. 
 
 " Yea, we shall not cease till we release thee," added 
 Kadra. 
 
 " Surely the knife has reached the bone," he said in 
 his agony. Then, in a paroxysm : " What am I thinking
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 389 
 
 of? and what does Allah intend? I cannot let thee 
 stay. Thou art in grievous peril." 
 
 At last they had loosed the knots which suspended 
 him by the wrists to that abhorrent contorted tree. 
 
 " Truly it is as accursed as it is crooked ! " said Kadra. 
 
 Slowly and carefully they lowered the body, Hilwe 
 receiving it in her arms. Every movement was torture 
 to him ; but not a groan escaped his lips. Was he not 
 in the arms of his beloved? 
 
 The glorious being, in all his grand proportions, late 
 replete with manly force like one of the young gods 
 in his strong vitality now helpless as an infant, lay 
 stretched upon the ground. He seemed larger than 
 ever more than ever to Hilwe, who supported his head 
 upon her bosom, her face pressed to his. The supreme 
 joy of having him usurped every other feeling for the 
 moment. All he had suffered made him tenfold dearer 
 to her. Their tears mingled. 
 
 " I scarcely dare tell Hilwe," murmured Kadra; " but, 
 unless certain help is given, the pangs of death are upon 
 him, or I am mistaken. Not one in a thousand could 
 stand what he has gone through, and live. Yet must we 
 do what we can to save his life, and not despair." 
 
 She gave him water to drink, while Hilwe chafed his 
 hands. This revived him somewhat. The great soul- 
 full eyes turned to thank them. Kadra, who had no 
 little knowledge of herbs and the simple remedies of the 
 country hence her surname of " wise woman " 
 hastened to apply certain of them which she was usually 
 provided with. She bathed and dressed his wounds 
 with the coolness, assurance, and considerable of the 
 skill of the hakim or regular physician the Arabic 
 word for doctor being synonymous with "wise man." 
 She evidently craved to take possession of him, and 
 minister to him. It was part of her nature. And 
 Hassan submitted to it, as if he were a child, without 
 a question, or a thought of impropriety. 
 
 "Truly I may say my body is full of wounds," he 
 said ; " where shall I apply a plaster? " 
 
 But, with all her show of stoicism, Kadra was full of 
 sympathy for him. Indeed, it may as well be admitted,
 
 390 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 her feeling for him was one of love. Nor was this of a 
 day s growth, though only of late had she recognised it. 
 
 The tears filled her eyes as she bathed his wounded 
 head, his lacerated back, and the welts that scored his 
 loins. 
 
 " No wonder that there is not left even a sigh in his 
 heart," she said. 
 
 The peculiarities of the marriage relation under Mo 
 hammedanism are such as permit on the part of the 
 man of a division of the heart to an extent unknown to, 
 or at least not openly acknowledged in Christian 
 countries. Kadra s love for Hassan would have been 
 ludicrous had it not been pathetic. At any rate, as it 
 was totally unreciprocated, it was not such as to make 
 Hilwe jealous, or the least uncomfortable. 
 
 " It is strange. He does not think of me that way," 
 Kadra would say musingly. 
 
 Yes, Hassan s indifference towards her was among the 
 unaccountable things to Kadra as, no doubt, he was a 
 * true believer," she reasoned, and naturally quite as 
 capable of dealing with the subject as was any other son 
 of Islam. Besides, she considered he had shown some 
 preference for her. She recalled his present to her of 
 the sheep, and other more delicate if less tangible atten 
 tions in the shape of expressed admiration and good 
 will, and innumerable compliments. They had not 
 brought the desired result, it is true. Yet still they 
 remained facts. And facts are stubborn things. 
 
 In this she had not the least intention of encroaching 
 on Hilwe s rights and prerogatives ; and, as we have 
 seen, both the women remained the best of friends. 
 
 " The law allows the man four wives and many concu 
 bines," Kadra would say ruminatively, and with an 
 aggrieved spirit. 
 
 But it did not enter Hassan s head that the "wise 
 woman," of grotesquely grim aspect, had any serious 
 intentions towards him matrimonially. Neither did such 
 an idea enter Hilwe s brain. How could it? Nor did 
 the fact of her love in any sense detract from the kindly 
 spirit and ministrations of the elder woman, assigning 
 them to a selfish motive. If her heart had betrayed her,
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 391 
 
 and carried her further than she intended, she was not 
 to blame. She could not help it Her secret was her 
 own. There was no sin in it. 
 
 Kadra s healing touch was in this case the touch of 
 love. Therefore it should have carried twice the potency. 
 It seemed efficacious with Hassan. Life, while sometimes 
 as transient as a vapour, has, again, a tenacity that 
 exceeds expectation ; and the vitality lodged in the 
 stalwart young shepherd was of no doubtful or evanes 
 cent sort, though the body had been put to such an 
 extreme test, it had scarce power to retain it. 
 
 The passionate nature of the man was not without its 
 influence. 
 
 " Art thou better? " asked Hilwe anxiously. 
 
 "Yea," he replied. Then, as if in contempt of his 
 weakness, he added : " When the heart has become 
 faint it ought to be removed from the breast." 
 
 " Say not so, Hassan," she said, shaking her head 
 sadly. 
 
 " When a man s strength is gone, Hilwe, of what use 
 is he? He is not fit to live." 
 
 " Ah, my Hassan, if only I had thee with me, I would 
 soon nurse thy strength back to thee ! But but they 
 will take thee from me." 
 
 Hilwe burst into tears and was unable to proceed. 
 
 Hassan too was silent. Then, with a choking sob, 
 he said : 
 
 " Alas, my Hilwe, what a number of desires have 
 come to naught ! Little did we think, that happy day, 
 in the paradise on the hillside, that this should be the 
 end. I, who should have been thy comfort and stay, 
 am helpless, and unable to defend thee. How can I 
 leave thee to thy fate? It was the thought of that 
 made me desperate. I broke away from them, again 
 and again. But the very stars in the heavens were 
 against me. Did I not see our stars the Palestine 
 cluster the glittering Fishes of the East blotted out 
 with watery haze? I might have known. They were 
 turned from me. I was unfortunate from the be 
 ginning." 
 
 " It is I who have brought all this trouble upon thee.
 
 392 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Had it not been for me thou wouldst have submitted 
 peaceably." 
 
 " Rather it is I who have brought trouble upon thee, 
 Hilwe. Yet what is the use of lamenting that which is 
 done, and cannot be recalled? And now, Allah help 
 thee and me, I must bid thee farewell, and beseech of 
 thee to leave me. The guards may return at any 
 moment." 
 
 " O Hassan, I cannot I cannot go ! " 
 
 "Hark! What is that sound? Methought I heard 
 approaching steps. Perhaps it is the pickets. We 
 must speak softly not to attract attention. It even is 
 with us as with the jackal, his cry when in trouble is 
 his greatest misfortune, for it discovers him to his 
 enemies. We cannot give voice to our grief, Hilwe. 
 We must bear it without lamentation." 
 
 " There is no voice left in us," said Kadra. " We 
 have poured out our souls with weeping. We promise 
 we shall make no noise of lamentation. And suffer us 
 now to remain with thee to the end, or, at least, till the 
 guard comes. We would not be ignorant of what hap 
 pens to thee." 
 
 Thus adding her importunities to those of Hilwe, 
 Hassan could no longer contend with them, but of ne 
 cessity and inclination gave way, though much against 
 his judgment. 
 
 " And thou wilt stay, Hilwe?" he said. 
 
 " Yea, I will stay. They may take thee from me, 
 but I shall not leave thee." 
 
 Hilwe threw herself into his arms, and wept upon his 
 breast as a sorrowing child w r eeps upon the mother s 
 bosom. 
 
 "Wilt thou break my heart, Hilwe? Alas, alas! 
 How shall I console thee? Bismillah, let me kiss thee 
 once more, my beloved." His voice faltered. He 
 could scarce proceed. "This is our farewell. Allah 
 be kind to thee this dark night and for evermore ; and 
 may he watch between thee and me when we are 
 parted." 
 
 Kadra, whose soul was torn within her, had with 
 drawn some time previously, out of sight and hearing,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 393 
 
 into the deeper shade, where she flung herself behind 
 a tree, sobbing bitterly. 
 
 " Ay, leave them to themselves," she had said, ad 
 dressing herself. " No one may intermeddle with a 
 grief like theirs. Do I not know how it is?" 
 
 " I am troubled, and greatly fear for thee, Hilwe," 
 Hassan continued. " I may not tell thee." 
 
 Again and again he pressed her in his arms, sooth 
 ingly. 
 
 " Fear not for me," replied Hilwe bravely. " I think 
 not of myself. All my fears are for thee." 
 
 He lowered his voice, and whispered to her many an 
 endearing word lovers words that are so lief and 
 satisfying. 
 
 " How I have loved thee ! " he said. " My whole life 
 was given to thee. I would have spent myself upon 
 thee. Rememberest thou the days that are past how 
 I folded thee in my abai, and told thee it was large 
 enough for two?" 
 
 " Yea, yea; how could I forget? " 
 
 "Mashallah praise be to God! When I think of 
 it, I am again among the lilies and the asphodels, and 
 the gold and silver blooms ; and the day is sweet and 
 shining; and thy love hath made me blest; and the 
 world is kind and beautiful ; and all is well. When I 
 recall it, I am a man and strong once more I am 
 strong and free. Were it not that it would be worse 
 than madness, I would, even this moment, again at 
 tempt to escape. But it would be folly; they have 
 their pickets placed all around. As I am now, we 
 could not evade them. I know not how it was that 
 they did not intercept thee. It was Allah brought thee 
 to me." 
 
 " Yes, it was Allah brought me to thee," she softly 
 echoed, with her lips to his. 
 
 " And now, Hilwe, wilt thou not have mercy upon 
 thyself? Wilt thou not heed the words I spake to thee, 
 for the sake of thine unborn child? Would that thou 
 wast- in a place of safety ! Did I only know that thou 
 wast safe, I should not care what hardship and trouble 
 befell me."
 
 394 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Before she could make reply, they heard the tramp 
 of approaching feet. This was followed by the flash of 
 a lantern through the branches of the nearer trees. 
 
 " They are coming ! They are even here ! " cried 
 Kadra, rushing out of her place of retreat, and taking 
 her stand beside Hilwe. 
 
 " Fly, Hilwe ! Fly, while there is yet time ! Save 
 her, Kadra ! " exclaimed Hassan. " Take care of her, 
 and be good to her." 
 
 The next instant the lantern was turned full on 
 them, and they were quickly surrounded by the guard. 
 
 " Hah ! Another attempt to escape," said the officer 
 in command. 
 
 " Nay, thou art mistaken," exclaimed Kadra. " We 
 found him dying almost dead ; and we loosed him to 
 save his life." 
 
 " That sounds well. Verily that may be so," was the 
 mocking retort. " He looks very much alive now, at 
 any rate. But how comest thou here? " 
 
 It was a moment of terror. The horror they had 
 been anticipating had fallen upon them. 
 
 "Wilt thou not have mercy? " pleaded Hilwe. " In 
 deed it is we who are to blame." 
 
 She wrung her hands in despair as she spoke the 
 words, which were unheeded, and hardly knowing what 
 she said. 
 
 " Do your duty, men ! Take him ! " rang out the 
 order. " We have no time to lose. We can risk no 
 more in a case like this. Bring him along ! " 
 
 The women were promptly thrust aside by the sol 
 diers, while they seized Hassan. 
 
 They closed around him, and dragged him off with 
 them, though he was scarcely able to move. 
 
 This was the last Hilwe saw of him. 
 
 The guards with Hassan passed through a larger body 
 of troops, with the action of a machine. 
 
 The darkness and the unknown had swallowed him 
 up. 
 
 All was so inexorably sharp and swift, it was like a 
 heart-thrust from a rapier the cleaving of souls in 
 sunder.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 395 
 
 Only a few minutes afterwards, a pencil of light 
 pierced the gloom, and returning footsteps were heard. 
 It was the officer with one of his men, carrying a 
 lantern. 
 
 "Where are those women?" excitedly asked the 
 former of the latter. " Was it not here we left them?" 
 
 " Yes, it was here," was the reply. 
 
 "Then, where are they? " 
 
 " God knows." 
 
 They spent some time carefully but unsuccessfully 
 searching over the ground. 
 
 " I cannot find them." 
 
 The soldier spoke with provokingly stolid manner. 
 
 " No, thou canst not. The more the pity." 
 
 Then, the officer giving vent to his disappointment in 
 more than one malediction, they departed whence they 
 came. 
 
 Hilwe and Kadra, at the first glimmer of the return 
 ing lantern, had taken warning and, hand in hand, fled 
 under the friendly shadow of the palms and orange- 
 trees, spending the remainder of the night in safety be 
 neath an opoponax hedge. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 HASSAN had indeed fallen upon evil days. The 
 light had faded from his eyes. Those great 
 luminous eyes were like eclipsed planets whose light 
 is turned to shadow. 
 
 His fears for Hilwe s safety were maddening. He 
 tried to steady his mind and think, but he could not. 
 
 What was that hammering, that throbbing? Was it 
 in his heart or in his brain? It kept saying, "Where is 
 she? Where is she? Where is she? Thou coward, 
 why dost thou not save her?" 
 
 The narrow room, or rather cell, in which Hassan was 
 placed that night could scarcely be considered inviting. 
 From its appearance it would be difficult to say whether
 
 396 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 it belonged to a monastery, or a jail, a barrack, hospital, 
 or fort. It was scarcely eight feet square, and its entire 
 furnishing consisted of a few handfuls of straw and a mat, 
 the substitutes for a bed, which lay in a dark corner upon 
 the stone floor. The walls were of the extraordinary 
 thickness of ten feet. 
 
 The cell, whose smallness did not prevent its being 
 lonely, evidently overhung the sea ; for, through the loop 
 hole at one end, the damp, saline breath of the Mediterra 
 nean blew in with incessant sighing and a coolness which 
 was not unrefreshing to Hassan in his fevered delirious 
 state. He could hear, in the obscurity of the night, the 
 surf raving and complaining in its unknown tongue, which 
 it had learned before ever there was human voice, or the 
 spirit of God had moved upon the face of the void. How 
 it swells and breaks against the rocks beneath and sends 
 up dashes of spray, smiting the foundation and lower 
 parts of the building with an angry hissing threat! 
 
 " I shall rive the soul out of me, or I shall have thee," 
 it seemed to say. 
 
 Perhaps it was the reincarnation of the dread sea 
 monster slain by Perseus, fiercely vindictive, still vent 
 ing its spite, gnawing at the rocks and the work of man s 
 erection in its attempts to devour the land, which it man 
 ages to nibble off, bit by bit. 
 
 And to-night was there not in Hilwe another Androm 
 eda? Where was the Perseus to save her? 
 
 Then, too, thundered in his ears, to him that unwonted, 
 boundless, untamable sound, the trampling of the sea 
 upon the outer reef, those myriad voices, the noise 
 of many waters. It was the proclamation of the domin- 
 ancy of the great deep. Human voices were still. He 
 was alone with those mighty powers, the darkness 
 and the sea. He was alone with his thoughts, and 
 even they were treacherous. 
 
 While Hassan had hung in torture upon the accursed 
 tree, overwhelmed, degraded, stripped of love, friends 
 and all, what thoughts filled his breast, who could 
 tell? who could know? 
 
 How can a man preserve his integrity under such 
 pressure?
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 397 
 
 The poor overpowered body may yield, for the flesh 
 is weak and has its limits, no matter how willing may 
 be the spirit. The flesh may succumb, the body may 
 swoon and carry the mind with it, was it not so with 
 Savonarola, Galileo, and many another great one? but 
 there is something which remains unsubdued, untainted, 
 unaffected. 
 
 The soul ! The universal soul ! 
 
 And the mind itself can prove worthy of its high 
 estate, of its kinship with God and the angels, and so 
 may triumph despite the subjugation of the body. 
 
 The strait he was in was sore, desperate, almost 
 too much for mortal endurance. Death would have 
 been a blessed relief. 
 
 Those who had placed him there, exposed, aloft, stood 
 around and laughed and derided. They pointed at and 
 criticised his parts. His weakness and nakedness and 
 distress were a scoffing and a byword with them. His 
 very self seemed to turn and mock him. Surely he was 
 humiliated and set at naught, racked with pain and 
 misery inexpressible. 
 
 When he raised his great eyes, heavy with sorrow, full 
 of the languid utterance that words fail to convey, their 
 mute appeal, intensifying their beauty, might have wrung 
 pity from a stone, and should have woke the heart of 
 ordinary humanity to compassion, if not to love. 
 
 Was there no kindly response? None. 
 
 How cruel can man be to man ! Has it not been writ 
 ten with a finger dipped in blood? 
 
 Once, being in great agony, he prayed, " My God, my 
 Father, thou knowest my tears in the night, when I was 
 hidden in the darkness, and there was no eye to see me 
 but thine. My heart is in thine hand, to crush it or to 
 restore. I have naught to hide from thee : if I would 
 conceal it, I could not. Amen. Do what thou wilt with 
 me. Thy will be done." 
 
 His strength was ebbing, his mind wandering. 
 
 All the perplexities and trials he ever had been in 
 volved in came back to him in a strange panoramic 
 vision. He saw himself an innocent little boy, play 
 ing with pebbles and flowers, wrongfully blamed and
 
 398 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 punished ; then he was a lad, a muleteer, exposed to 
 hardships and privations and dangers ; afterwards came 
 that mixed experience at school. At length he was a 
 young man, filled with the pride, the passion and in 
 stincts of his sex, almost before he knew it. Hilwe 
 came upon the scene. What joy ! What volume of 
 life ! What love ! How the temptations, perils, and 
 responsibilities multiplied ! How many hairbreadth es 
 capes he had had ! What conflicts and secret dealings 
 with himself! What strife with others ! He recalled his 
 fight with the leopard and the onslaught of the people of 
 Malha. 
 
 How real in feeling, form, and colour they all ap 
 peared. Many of them were grievous and hard to be 
 borne at the time, yet now they seemed as nothing. 
 His present troubles were the momentous overwhelming 
 weight. 
 
 But these, too, perhaps would pass. All things had 
 an end. Life itself was but a transient dream, and, like 
 a vision of the night, would vanish and become as though 
 it had not been. 
 
 This he tried to tell himself. But his thoughts were 
 
 blurred and incoherent. His sufferings were not to be 
 
 ignored. The wrench his body and mind had received, 
 
 were receiving, was but too present with him to be 
 
 eluded. 
 
 Then came a drowsy aberrant interrogation of him 
 self: 
 
 " Dost thou fear to go to sleep? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Then why shouldst thou fear to die? It is no more 
 than falling asleep." 
 
 It was as if some one else spoke the words, and he was 
 an unconcerned listener. 
 
 He now was past thinking. And still he hung upon 
 the tree. 
 
 Again the compelling anguish drove him to the utmost 
 stress, to the point when he felt his life must depart. 
 It was better so. The world reeled before him and went 
 out like a candle. He must go with it. All was dark. 
 There was nothing left the senses to grapple with. His
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 399 
 
 heart beat slowly, more slowly still. Now the senses 
 themselves were gone. His eyes closed. He drew a 
 few feeble breaths in gasps. He knew no more. 
 
 The mystery attaching to unconsciousness, sleep, death, 
 is one of the impenetrable things with which we have to 
 deal. It has always puzzled the few who have thought 
 about it. It is a horror to the many. Not one of the 
 explanations is satisfactory. It has ever been inex 
 plicable, and bids fair to remain unsolved for man. 
 God wills it so. It is best. 
 
 The suspended animation in Hassan s case was of but 
 short duration. The passionate force of the man was 
 inveterate in him. It awoke him. It came to the rescue 
 and conquered. But how sad was his state. Without 
 immediate succour it was apparently the last effort of 
 which he was capable. Weak and helpless, and torn 
 with agony, he hung suspended, when that faint despair 
 ing cry to Allah burst from his parched lips. 
 
 " Allah ! God ! Jehovah ! Where art thou ? " 
 
 But even then the angels of deliverance were near, 
 and came in the shape of Hilwe and Kadra, bringing 
 him sweet if only temporary comfort. 
 
 His condition had certainly not been improved by his 
 being dragged through the dusty lanes and over the 
 heights to his cell in Jaffa. The hakim in attendance 
 had placed him on the sick list, and had given a pre 
 scription ; but that was all the benefit that Hassan de 
 rived from it. The medicine never reached him. In 
 the confusion it was forgotten. Perhaps it was as well. 
 
 In the early dawn of the following day he thought he 
 heard a voice some one wanting him, calling him. 
 He awoke from such fitful slumber as he was able to 
 get through the night, and, though racked with pain from 
 head to foot, arose from his bed, and, looking through 
 the loop-hole which served as a window, he saw with 
 renewed wonder the wide expanse of the Great Sea. 
 
 " Taieeb ! " he exclaimed. " It is long since I have 
 seen thee." 
 
 How miraculously blue and beautiful it was ! Liquid 
 lapis lazuli.
 
 400 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Under the shelter of the rocky reef which ran all 
 along in front, lie tossing and rolling a number of the 
 smaller shipping; but there is no regular harbour or 
 breakwater not any more than when King Hiram, of 
 Tyre, landed here, three thousand years ago, his cedar 
 for Solomon s Temple. It would not take a great 
 stretch of the imagination to see the Tyrian sailors 
 heaving and hauling, through those narrow channels, the 
 huge cedar-beams from Mount Lebanon. Those dark 
 isolated masses of rock rising at intervals out of the 
 seething waters, in long, curving line, are asserted by 
 tradition to be the remains of the vertebrae of the myth 
 ical monster which would have devoured Andromeda, 
 had it not been slain by Perseus. It is classic ground. 
 Greek myth mingles with Bible story, both of them 
 jostling modern history ; and there are those who be 
 lieve with Pliny that Jaffa was in existence before the 
 Deluge, and witnessed the commencement of that great 
 spectacle when the waters of the flood were upon the 
 earth, when all the fountains of the great deep were 
 broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. 
 
 Hassan gazed long and eagerly, watching the large 
 heavily-lumbering barges pass to and fro through a nar 
 row passage in the rocks. The transports lay outside, 
 in deep water, far from shore. A lull in the wind had 
 been taken advantage of to resume the embarkation of 
 the troops, which would early be completed. The out 
 going boats were filled with soldiers ; and he knew his 
 time soon would come. 
 
 " I must live, whether I am happy or not," he said 
 with a sigh. 
 
 He hitherto had seen little of his keepers, but no\v 
 they brought him some coarse food, which he ate 
 greedily and with a relish, as he was famishing from his 
 long fast. 
 
 The food put new strength in him. He felt better. 
 
 There was much noise and commotion in the vicinity 
 of his cell. The officer of the day, in making his rounds, 
 was pushing matters, annoyed with the slow movements, 
 and the constant urging and personal attention necessary 
 to get anything done properly and with dispatch.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 401 
 
 Noticing the wretched condition of Hassan s uniform, 
 he called attention to it with a severe censure. 
 
 The officer thus rebuked was nettled, and made an 
 unsatisfactory reply. 
 
 " The collar is better than the dog," he ended with 
 saying. 
 
 " Nay," said his superior, " rather should I say, the 
 dog is worthy of a better collar. His clothes do not 
 cover his nakedness. It is indecent. The pasha and 
 kaimakam will be present to see us embark. Wouldst 
 thou shame us, and at such a time as this, with every 
 eye turned upon us?" 
 
 " It is his own fault," returned the younger man. " He 
 is insubordinate. He has broken away repeatedly, and 
 torn his outfit, and has " 
 
 " I care not to discuss the matter," interrupted the 
 other. " See at once that he is provided with a proper 
 uniform." 
 
 The order was duly conveyed. 
 
 " Bring several, from which to choose," he added. 
 
 Knowing too well the aptitude to postpone, prevari 
 cate, or evade, inherent in the Oriental, he waited till the 
 uniforms were brought, from which one was selected for 
 Hassan. Meanwhile, attracted by the young giant s re 
 markable appearance, he entered into conversation with 
 him. There was an unmistakable glow of admiration in 
 his glance as, drawing near, his eye measured the grand 
 proportions, the well-built limbs and muscles of this 
 rare specimen of manhood, who obediently arose, 
 saluted, and stood before him in his miserable rags. 
 
 Probably there was a sense of pride in the bin-bashi, 
 or major, as he thought and felt that, to a certain ex 
 tent, he was his lord and master that the man who 
 stood before him was in his power, to do with as he 
 willed. But there was also a stronger and a better feel 
 ing the bond of sympathy and kindred, that, without 
 words or voice, appeals to the nature and tells a man : 
 " We are of one flesh. I am thy brother. Are not thy 
 members, thy feelings, thy thoughts and thy passions 
 the same as mine? Why should we be as enemies or 
 strangers? Should we not be friends and brethren? " 
 
 26
 
 4 2 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Though the bin-bashi may not have put it to himself 
 in exactly this shape, not to say in so many words, the 
 sensation was there something deeper than speech or 
 thought. 
 
 He was an easy-going man, of some education and 
 much knowledge of the world, solidly built, and with a 
 pleasant face and genial expression. But, though fully 
 up to the standard height, and well set off by his re 
 splendent regimentals and military bearing, beside Has 
 san he seemed comparatively of moderate proportions. 
 
 His critical eye had taken in the subject at a stroke. 
 
 " Whence art thou? " 
 
 He questioned Hassan in a low voice and in a friendly 
 tone. 
 
 " From Bettir, O Bin-Bashi ! " 
 
 " They seem to know how to build men of a goodly 
 stature there." 
 
 " Ay. From of old, Bin-Bashi," responded Hassan, 
 with so sober and earnest an air it brought a smile to 
 the major s lips. 
 
 "If only thou hadst proper dress, and carried thy 
 self more obediently, thou wouldst be a pride to the 
 regiment." 
 
 It was the first kind treatment Hassan had received 
 from officers or men. He looked down, silent and 
 shamefaced, at the rents which discovered his naked 
 ness. His large dark eyes then turned to the bin- 
 bashi so wistfully, seeking his consideration his 
 approval, it made him feel it should be difficult to be 
 cruel to the big handsome fellow. Their soft pathetic 
 appeal that unconsciously languishing glance, largely 
 the result of his suffering, more fascinating, and enthrall 
 ing, and compelling than that of any woman, staggered 
 the will, and swayed the rather susceptible major in his 
 favour, despite the disparaging remarks which the 
 younger officer continued to make, aside, though audi 
 bly, and his prejudiced and exaggerated account of 
 Hassan s escapades. 
 
 " I could take him to my heart," thought the major. 
 
 "I would put my heel on his neck," muttered the 
 lieutenant.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 403 
 
 How true are the words, which, though he had some 
 what of their spirit, probably the bin-bashi had never 
 heard : 
 
 " If man to man be all he can, 
 A very god is man to man." 
 
 "There are times when, under severe stress of trouble, 
 a man becomes mystified stupid," the major finally 
 answered. " He drives headlong, without calculation 
 without rudder without compass. One idea has taken 
 possession of him. It dominates him. He cannot 
 deliver himself from it. At length he knows not what 
 he does." 
 
 " And thinkest thou it is the case with this man? " 
 " It seems to me so. There is some trouble weighing 
 on the man s mind, or he would not act in such a way as 
 thou hast said. The treatment he has received has made 
 him worse. These fellaheen have more in them than 
 thou thinkest. Hast thou never noticed the fine-mettled 
 horse? Whipping sets him beside himself. This man 
 is of too fine a mettle to be chastised as he has been. 
 Under proper treatment he will make a good soldier." 
 " Mayhap. But he will have to improve his ways." 
 " Is he married ? It may be the man is leaving a wife." 
 " Nay, Bin-Bashi," was the answer. " He is not 
 married." 
 
 By this time the uniforms had been brought; and one 
 having been found, not without some difficulty, to fit 
 Hassan, he divested himself of his rent and ragged suit, 
 and transferred his lordly bulk to the more agreeable 
 habiliments. The major, greatly amused, stood by the 
 entire time, to see they did right by the young conscript, 
 who bore the trying ordeal with admirable dignity. 
 
 He was immediately ordered out to join the company 
 to which he belonged ; and they were marched, without 
 further delay, to the landing, where they were rapidly 
 embarked. 
 
 All was done so quickly, and they were kept so con 
 stantly occupied, Hassan had scarcely time to think of 
 his personal griefs.
 
 404 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 The boatmen who conveyed the soldiers to the trans 
 ports managed their heavy, unwieldy-looking barges with 
 consummate skill. They were noted for their tact and 
 ability in contending with the treacherous Mediterranean ; 
 and some of them were said to have their peculiar gifts 
 by inheritance, and to be the descendants of the ancient 
 Phoenicians who ages ago had plied their seafaring 
 business at this place and along these shores. These 
 water-dogs were true sons of Neptune, or of Dagon, if 
 you will have it so, and were more at home on the wave 
 than on the land. There were no boatmen like to them. 
 They were of remarkable strength, and full of the manly 
 nature that God loves. They swam like fishes. And 
 many a shipwrecked vessel received timely aid through 
 their noble, unselfish, and courageous ministry. Human 
 life had been saved by them repeatedly, at the risk of 
 their own lives. How glorious is a brave man ! Any 
 one might be proud to call them brothers. 
 
 They stood up to their huge oars, and strode to and 
 fro as they wielded them. They reminded one of the 
 rowers in the ancient galleys of historic Greece and Italy. 
 It was nice work, shooting through the narrow opening 
 in the rocks, as if between Scylla and Charybdis, where 
 the oars could not be used, and with the heavy swells 
 from outside rushing and breaking, and the spray drench 
 ing everything. 
 
 Inside, many feluccas, with their long yardarms and 
 lateen sails, are still rolling and pitching in their poor 
 shelter off the shore this morning. 
 
 What a fearful wonder it was to Hassan to find himself 
 upon the palpitating flood, lifted high heavenward one 
 moment, plunged downward the next, carried off upon 
 it he knew not whither ! 
 
 They had reached the transport before he noticed it. 
 The enormous dimensions of it were appalling. It seemed 
 to have suddenly risen out of the deep by the stroke of 
 the magician s wand a phantom ship. It added to the 
 mystery and his perplexity. It was already moving, 
 belching out its black breath, and triumphantly snorting, 
 eager to carry him away to a land he knew not of. 
 
 Horror and grief were contending within him. Between
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 405 
 
 the lurches of the boat, he half-climbed, and was half- 
 pushed, up the hanging steps at the vessel s side. 
 
 He was on board. They were under way. All was 
 over. His silent grief was suffocating him. But he gave 
 no sign. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 " T WENT in search of love, and lost myself," saith 
 
 _1 the Eastern proverb. 
 
 The women had been kept in ignorance of the sudden 
 and early embarkation, which had been commenced 
 quietly the day before, and it was advanced well toward 
 completion before they discovered the state of things. 
 Then there was sound of weeping and wailing. 
 
 There may be a love passing the love of woman we 
 see it referred to in Holy Writ but when it comes to 
 patient, daily devotion, who shall compare with her, 
 the woman whom God has given to be with us ? She is 
 the angel of man s deliverance from his everyday cares 
 and pains, who, loving him, sits by his home-fire, and 
 protects his peace and comforts, keeping his heart fresh 
 and warm, pure and joyous, and giving him courage for 
 the conflicts of life. No matter how much a slave he 
 may be among other men here he is master. 
 
 The poor, distraught creatures, these simple peasant 
 women, with dishevelled hair and raiment, little caring 
 how they looked, some of them bearing in their arms the 
 suckling infant or astride their shoulders the children 
 of greater age, rushed with passionate words and barbaric 
 cries across the intervening space, which in their eager 
 ness they would gladly have annihilated ; swarming 
 impetuously up and over the heights of Jaffa, through 
 the crooked, ill-paved streets, till, fearful, longing, and 
 despairing, yet hoping in their despair, they reached the 
 entrance to the landing-place, where the embarkation 
 was proceeding steadily, remorselessly. 
 
 They came with fainting heart and trembling limbs, 
 Hilwe and Kadra among them, but only to be denied
 
 406 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 admittance. The gates were closed in their faces. For 
 them there was no incoming. They were shut out with 
 their misery. 
 
 In the madness of their disappointment, they and the 
 men with them became desperate. 
 
 " Let us break the gates down," they screamed. " Why 
 should they keep us from our husbands and our kith and 
 kin? They are leaving us. Our loved ones are taken 
 from us. We shall never again behold them." 
 
 There was a wild, incoherent struggle. 
 
 But the guard, stationed there with fixed bayonets, 
 kept the way. It was useless to attempt to force an 
 entrance. 
 
 One of the women, who made an impetuous onslaught, 
 trying to reach the gateway, was accidentally wounded 
 by a bayonet. 
 
 " The guard will fire upon us," some one shouted. 
 
 Others of the women repeated the words. 
 
 There was at once a panic. 
 
 They fell back, in complete disorder, trampling each 
 other. Their bitter cries stained and poisoned the air. 
 Their words were broken with their weeping. 
 
 " Woe, woe be to the day on which all this misery and 
 sorrow and unspeakable calamity hath befallen us ! 
 Where is our help? There is none to pity us." 
 
 "Yea, there is none to pity us," came back in an echo 
 ing chorus or refrain. 
 
 They beat their breasts and rent their garments, tear 
 ing their hair as they cried aloud. 
 
 Then one suggested a move that was eagerly accepted : 
 
 " Let us go around, and on by the beach." 
 
 " Ah ! why did we not think of it? " 
 
 Suddenly they were all hurrying in that direction, as 
 though possessed by some superhuman agency. 
 
 They came out at a place near to where, tradition says, 
 the great fish cast forth Jonah. The spot where the 
 discontented prophet was so unceremoniously landed is 
 immediately north of Jaffa. There is an unoccupied 
 sandy space, with occasional tufts of coarse sea-grass, and 
 a slightly incurving shore, to the northward of which is 
 a short, blunt point.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 407 
 
 The aspect in some degree is desolate. Yet peculiar 
 to these barrens, one of Nature s compensations, a deli 
 cate, creamy-white lily, eucharis-like, is found in its 
 season, toward the close of the flower-year, beautifying 
 the place. There are other flowers there, flowers that 
 men call weeds ; but those lilies ! how they grow ! 
 How virginal they are ! Ah ! How shall such as I tell? 
 They are beautiful enough for the dear Christ, the 
 anointed, to have been born among them, born 
 among the lilies, as some say he was. But no, he was 
 born in a herdsman s cave, among the cattle of the field. 
 He, the Good Shepherd, began his shepherd s work 
 early. He was born at Bethlehem, the House of 
 Bread. And is he not the Bread of Life which came 
 down from heaven, of which if a man eat he shall 
 live forever? 
 
 As the wind blew over the lilies they seemed to whis 
 per this. It was a holy mystery. 
 
 But that anxious band of men and women regarded 
 none of these things. How should they, the troubled 
 souls? They crossed with hurrying feet the low wind- 
 tossed dunes of yellow sand, and, reaching the shelving 
 beach, ran along it to where it fronted the upper end of 
 the town and grew narrow, scant, and at last was want 
 ing altogether; the lofty wall of rock, crowned with flat- 
 roofed houses, gradually sweeping out into the sea, and 
 ultimately cutting off further advance. They could not 
 reach the landing-place with its great stone steps, lashed 
 by the wave, and green and slippery with confervoid 
 growths ; they could not even see it, though so near. 
 
 Yet they were near, as near as they could get. That 
 was something. Also they could see the barges, loaded 
 with soldiers, shortly after leaving the landing. 
 
 One of the boats had already passed through the nar 
 row opening in the reef. Soon another came in view 
 from behind the rocky scarp. The word was passed 
 that this was the last load. One of the transports was 
 already under way. It was that on which Hassan had 
 been placed, though Hilwe did not know it. The other 
 transport was preparing to weigh anchor on the arrival 
 of the approaching boats.
 
 408 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " Yea, it is the last boat," the shifting group of peas 
 ants moaned, in despairing confirmation of the fact. 
 
 As the barge, loaded down almost to the gunwales, shot 
 forward, there arose from the women, who had flung 
 themselves upon the ground, a great and exceeding bit 
 ter cry, lamentation, and weeping, and mourning that 
 would not be comforted. 
 
 " They are bound for Crete," remarked one of the men. 
 
 " It seems so. They head that way," returned an 
 other. 
 
 "There is an insurrection there; and, mark you, not 
 many of these Syrians will come back. They will put 
 them in the battle front." 
 
 The women took up the cry. It was the old story, 
 old when the bloody David ordered the noble Hittite, 
 Uriah, " set in the forefront of the hottest battle " that 
 he might be slain. Was it ever to be trieir fate? 
 
 " They will not return. They will be slain," was their 
 repeated lament. 
 
 To them, besides, Crete was a terra incognita, a 
 place of mysterious dread, thus adding to their horror. 
 
 Those poor dejected disconsolate ones found, in the 
 very simplicity as well as the gravity of their affliction, 
 their incapacity to deal with it. It presented no oppor 
 tunity of attack. It was one great inert mass of incom 
 prehensible wretchedness which it was out of their power 
 to handle or contend with. They flung themselves upon 
 the ground and cast dust upon their heads. The joy had 
 gone out of their lives. 
 
 Yet the shadow on the awful dial of time moved for 
 ward, unheeding. All things went their accustomed way 
 as though nothing especial had happened. How hard it 
 is for those bowed with sorrow to find that Nature has no 
 sympathy with them ! 
 
 The sea lay dimpling and sparkling off Jaffa as its an 
 cient gray and white houses, with an occasional dome 
 and minaret, enshrined amid orange and lemon groves 
 and stately palms, lifted themselves high above it in the 
 calm, dignified beauty of repose so peculiarly Oriental. 
 The sunlight flashed with unequalled power and splen 
 dour as if it tried to pierce into every place, into every
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 409 
 
 nook and corner, such blinding sunlight as is unknown 
 in western lands, making one think of the burnished blaze 
 of glory that we are told illumines the streets of the 
 heavenly city, proceeding out of the great white throne. 
 
 A squadron of war vessels, lying off the town, lifted 
 their black hulls out of the celestial blue of the waters. 
 How ominously their grim visages loomed in profile 
 against the horizon ! They were broadside to Jaffa. 
 What embodiments of power ! They could easily blow 
 the whole place to pieces in a few minutes. But now the 
 great bulldogs lay silent and quiet enough, their hoarse 
 voices unheard all day except when they saluted the ad 
 miral in his going and coming. They were the visible 
 presence of England, for they belonged to her navy. 
 
 But were they of help to interfere to protect these poor 
 peasants of Palestine, now dragged and driven by a power 
 they hated but must obey? 
 
 Oh, no ! Why should it be expected? It was all the 
 other way. Ostensibly they were friendly to the Otto 
 man power. It is the peculiar compelling shape of 
 things which brings this to pass. For they love not the 
 Turk ; and the Turk, knowing this well, and openly say 
 ing that the pretended friendship is all for a selfish pur 
 pose, loves not them. 
 
 Few, indeed, love England, excepting her own sons. 
 But is not their loyalty, their love and devotion sufficient 
 return for the most exacting of mothers? 
 
 The grand old lioness looks out of her island den with 
 whetted talons and bloody fangs, mighty from many a 
 conflict, and a proud light gathers in her unblinking 
 eyes, and the joy of strength fills her dauntless heart, 
 where perhaps sometimes the pitiless thought comes, 
 " Shall I not have my hest? " And again, "They hate, 
 because they envy," or "What care I for the hate of 
 others while I have sons such as these to love me and 
 defend me? God and my right. Evil be to him who 
 evil thinks." 
 
 Those sable floating batteries, thrust in imperial evi 
 dence against the serene sky, with their sultry meteor 
 flags, blood-red, with dark-blue unions bearing the 
 sacred sign of the triple crosses, which have gone into
 
 4io Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 every sea, carrying civilisation before them, they are, 
 indeed, the symbol, the manifestation of the pride, 
 strength, honour, and justice of the greatest power upon 
 earth, the Mother of Empires, whose protection of the 
 weak and helpless is her glory and boast. How those 
 sombre stately masses of potential wrath could flame 
 out, at the word, loud-mouthed with defiant protest. 
 
 But what could be said or done, felt or known in such 
 a case as this? What pretence was there for appeal to 
 arms or for diplomatic or any other interference? 
 
 Because a poor peasant of Palestine is violently 
 wrenched by his lord and master, the Sultan of Turkey, 
 out of his quiet, simple Judaean life, that he might ren 
 der to the State the military service which he owes it, 
 must the heavens fall? must the dogs of war be loosed? 
 and must the peace of Europe be menaced? 
 
 Alas, what was of such cruel and fearful import to 
 poor Hassan, the rending and breaking up of his life- 
 prospects, perhaps the ruin or the death of Hilwe, 
 was scarcely of more moment to the great world than 
 the ripple-mark left by the wave upon the beach, or the 
 fall of a leaf into an autumn brook, ruddy as claret with 
 its crimson trophies of the forest ! 
 
 How rapidly the transports disappeared ! They be 
 came as specks on the horizon. Then nothing was seen 
 of them but a hazy patch of smoke, like purplish vapour, 
 as if they and all upon them had been dissolved in the 
 opaline atmosphere and finally had evaporated and been 
 utterly disseminated throughout the universe. 
 
 The women gradually left in groups of twos and 
 threes. Only Hilwe and Kadra remained, they knew 
 not why. In vain had Kadra sought to comfort Hilwe 
 and lead her away. 
 
 " Take it not so much to heart, Hilwe," the elderly 
 woman had said. " Wherever there is a rose, there is a 
 thorn. Every sunbeam casts a shadow. Wilt thou kill 
 thyself ? Hassan will come again." 
 
 " How can he come?" said Hilwe. 
 
 " Even in like manner as he went will he return. Will 
 not the ships bring him? Why shouldst thou break thy 
 heart?"
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 411 
 
 Hilwe answered not. She only shook her head and 
 kept gazing in the direction which the transports had 
 taken, a hopeless vacancy draining the light from her 
 eyes. 
 
 " Alas, I perceive my words avail not to give thee 
 solace ! " said Kadra. " I have no power to help thee. 
 What I say to thee is as naught. It is like one pome 
 granate and a hundred sick." 
 
 She withdrew a space, and seated herself beneath a 
 weather-beaten bush, on a sandbank. 
 
 " It is best to leave her alone awhile," she said. " I 
 see it torments her to be spoken to. There is not a tear 
 in her eye. Her heart is turning to stone. Allah pity 
 her and me. Mayhap she will weep and recover herself 
 if left alone. It is but one heavy heart trying to lighten 
 another." 
 
 Hilwe walked listlessly along the beach, to the farthest 
 point where the high scarp of rock jutted out, cutting 
 off advance. Facing the hard black insurmountable 
 obstruction, mechanically she looked upward. The 
 massive stone houses of ancient build were a prolon 
 gation of the cliff or precipice, carrying it skyward, in 
 one sweep, at the sea front upon its very verge. She 
 happened to stand beneath the building, her eyes 
 resting upon it, where Hassan had been confined the 
 night before, though she knew it not. 
 
 Early that morning, while yet the darkness contended 
 with the grey dawn long before the rising of the sun 
 from behind the mist-shrouded Judaean hills she had 
 arisen and stolen down, all alone ; and, as she wandered 
 with the wild passionate hope of seeing Hassan, some 
 occult influence had guided her feet to this selfsame 
 spot ; and, as now, she had lifted her eyes to the same 
 building with a vague incomprehensible desire, undefined 
 and nameless, seemingly more allied to the unreasoning 
 instinct of the animal, than to the promptings of the 
 educated soul. 
 
 " If only I could see him," she kept saying. 
 
 Hassan had heard her voice, and started from his sleep. 
 He was within that storm-scourged eyrie then, though 
 no cognizance of the complete fact had reached her
 
 412 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 jarred and troubled mind. Even when he looked 
 through the narrow loophole of his cell, neither of them 
 could see the other. Yet some fragmentary inchoate 
 suggestion of his presence affected and moved her. It 
 had detained her there till she saw the preparations for 
 the resuming of the embarkation ; and it was she who 
 had been the means of conveying the information to the 
 other women and the rest of the party. 
 
 Again, when they had failed to gain admittance to the 
 landing, it was Hilwe who had proposed to go around, 
 and on by the beach the only opportunity left them of 
 obtaining a last look of their departing loved ones. 
 
 Now her mind seemed to have become dulled and 
 numbed from all she had suffered. Though she saw 
 surrounding objects, it was without appreciation of the 
 fact ; as when the eye scans an entire page of a book, 
 and the preoccupied intelligence takes no note of the 
 subject treated of. 
 
 The long olive-brown streamers of the frilled and 
 fluted sea-tangles, twined and massed with green and 
 crimson ribbons, and feathery fringes of maroon, puce 
 and erubescent algae, and silvery coral-like fronds the 
 flowers of the deep lay heaped in windrows at her feet : 
 she saw, and yet she saw them not. Nor did she notice 
 the murex, whose pallid shell for ages held the sump 
 tuous secret of the Tyrian purple the voluptuous dye 
 that flamed and revelled with unholy pomp in the im 
 perial robe, to gorge the aesthetic lust of emperors and 
 kings. And yet, had she but noticed, she might have 
 seen that strange ensanguined lachrymation peculiar to 
 it, and thought that the little creature within that pearly 
 tenement wept in sympathy with her, shedding as it 
 were, telltale tears of blood, like to the sacred ichor - 
 that ethereal fluid which, they inform us, flowed in the 
 veins of the gods. 
 
 Thus Hilwe stood, lingering on the sands under the 
 rocky cliffs of the stolid macrobiotic town. Her eyes 
 were now turned from its mouldering walls, and were 
 fixed on the spot where the last trace of the smoke of 
 the transports had left its fast-vanishing blur upon the 
 sky.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 41 3 
 
 Yes, the last vestige of men and ships had now dis 
 appeared. There was nothing left to mark the place 
 where they had gone out, and down sunk out of sight. 
 Even the faint fugacious tinct upon the heavens had 
 died away. They were not. So it appeared to Hilwe. 
 
 A convulsive sob shook her breast and broke on her 
 lips. 
 
 "O my Hassan," she cried, " thou art lost to me! 
 Shall I never again behold thee? " 
 
 Over the waters came, clear and penetrating, as if in 
 response, the melancholy cry of the seafowl, so un 
 earthly, so far-reaching. It was startling to her to whom 
 it was unfamiliar. Out of a large flock of grey and white 
 gulls disporting themselves in the vicinity of the reef, 
 alighting on the swell, plunging into the crest of the surf, 
 one had separated himself from his fellows, and, with 
 easy sweep of dauntless resolute wing, swiftly approached 
 the spot where Hilwe stood, till he hung poised above 
 her head. That note of shrill alarm, that challenge 
 heroic, yet heartrending as a coranach, who that has 
 ever heard it does not recall how it made the soul thrill 
 and vibrate? It is one of the weirdest sounds in nature 
 the sadder for coming out of so fearless a breast. 
 Does the spirit of some dead corsair inhabit the bird? 
 
 At the same instant, that dominant seventh-born 
 master-wave, lording it over his fellows, leaping every 
 barrier, came foaming in, from the deeps outside, rushing 
 and roaring in his virile impetuosity, and, running up 
 to her, kissed her naked feet. 
 
 In her overwrought state, these things were as answers 
 to her, messages from the departed. The tears, at 
 last, rolled down her cheeks. She wrapped her head in 
 her garment, and utterly gave way to her grief. 
 
 Kadra s arms were around her. 
 
 " It is all over, Hilwe. Come with me." 
 
 " O Kadra, he is gone ! They have taken him across 
 the Great Sea, I know not whither. What will become 
 of him? And what will become of me without him?" 
 
 " Have courage, Hilwe; thou art not altogether alone. 
 Am I not with thee? Do I not remember the last words 
 Hassan spake to me? Did he not say to me, Save
 
 414 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 her, Kadra. And I will save thee with the help of 
 Allah." 
 
 " Ah, how good and brave he was, Kadra ! Even in 
 his extremity he thought not of himself, but of others." 
 
 "Do I not know it?" 
 
 The tears were coursing each other fast down the 
 tanned weather-beaten visage of Kadra as she leant 
 aside and murmured to herself something which was 
 inarticulate to Hilwe. 
 
 " Allah bless thee, Kadra ; thou art kind to me past 
 all kindness ; and may the All-Merciful reward thee as 
 I cannot." 
 
 "Why should I not remember Hassan s last words?" 
 said Kadra. " Shall I not do as he said?" Then she 
 added, aside, " Ah, she little knows how I love 
 him ! " 
 
 The salty breeze from off that immaculate ultramarine 
 and viridescent water blew the loose dampened wisps 
 of her dark hair in her eyes, partially veiling the grim, 
 gaunt face that, at times, was apt to look rather repulsive. 
 She did not brush the Medusa-like locks aside. They hid 
 her tears. That high-arched nose, of aquiline contour, 
 which gave her an aristocratic mien, those piercing black 
 eyes that were capable of striking fear of the " evil 
 influence " into the hearts of her enemies, and the thin- 
 lipped sarcastic mouth of sardonic curve the lips like 
 twin snakes what holy change had come upon them? 
 The sweet, motherly expression in her face made her 
 almost beautiful, as, clasping Hilwe to her breast, she 
 murmured, in tones like the cooing of the dove, consoling 
 little words and gentle assurances such as the Arabic 
 tongue and the native thought abound with : 
 
 " Little lamb, we have wandered far from the fold. 
 We are as lost sheep. We have strayed many days from 
 our pasture. Let us return." 
 
 She led Hilwe across the billowy sands, through the 
 lilies which no man had planted or cared for which 
 were the planting of the Lord. And as she went she 
 sighed and said : 
 
 " I have seen enough of Jaffa and its orange-groves 
 and palms, its pomegranates and melons, and the Great
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 415 
 
 Sea in its garment of sapphire. Give me the hill-country 
 give me Malha. It is my home. I want no other." 
 
 At the mention of the hill-country and Malha a great 
 fear filled Hilwe s heart. 
 
 " How shall I show my face there?" was what she said 
 secretly. 
 
 She trembled at the thought. 
 
 That day the sun went down off Jaffa like a chariot of 
 fire with horses and horsemen of flame. He sank in 
 the sea, just at the spot where the transports had disap 
 peared. The glory of the Lord shone round about ; and 
 the sea, and the land, and the heavens above were exult 
 ant because of it. 
 
 But the poor peasant women returned to the hill- 
 country of Judaea whence they came, sorrowful, weep 
 ing, broken, their lives darkened, and their hearts 
 heavy with their trouble. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 LONG had the time elapsed which had been men 
 tioned in the agreement between Abd-el-nour and 
 Ismail, Hilwe s uncle. Month after month had passed 
 away since the doura and all the other crops enumerated 
 in the marriage contract had been gathered in, and 
 Abd-el-nour, the formerly expectant and eager bride 
 groom-elect, remained silent, dark, and glum, though 
 surely he had saved more than the portion he had prom 
 ised for Hilwe. 
 
 True, this was but the latter phase of the affair. Until 
 lately he had been exacting and importunate in the 
 matter; and, in urging his suit, had caused Hilwe no 
 little trouble, dread, and annoyance, through her uncle 
 and Fatima. 
 
 Kadra had spoken her mind freely on the subject: 
 
 " It is better for a young woman to have an arrow in 
 her heart than the man she hates by her side," she said. 
 
 But her words were unheeded.
 
 416 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Hassan and Chain s appearance upon the scene in 
 Malha had at the time only strengthened Abd-el-nour s 
 case ; though, doubtless, certain suspicions were aroused 
 which were not easily laid. But the episode of the great 
 storm and flood, and the detention of Hilwc in the cavern 
 with Hassan had given rise to unpleasant doubts which 
 rankled in Abd-el-nour s breast, and not without reason. 
 
 It had been her uncle s policy to make light of it, lest, 
 otherwise, Abd-el-nour might raise objections and cast 
 her off. 
 
 " It is an unfortunate accident which might befall any 
 one," he said. 
 
 " Yea perhaps," the other had replied, in a non 
 committal spirit. 
 
 The additional amount promised by Abd-el-nour had 
 increased the uncle s cupidity, and intensified his anger 
 at any danger of disappointment. But his prudence kept 
 his wrath within bounds. 
 
 So the months passed by. The harvest was over, the 
 summer was ended, the autumn gone, and the winter 
 was far advanced. 
 
 " He claims her not," quoth the uncle, anxiously. 
 " He is deceitful." 
 
 Various pointed hints dropped by Ismail had failed to 
 be noticed by Abd-el-nour. Provoked at his studied 
 indifference, Ismail openly broached the matter, calling 
 attention to the original contract and the sum in excess 
 promised, in the excitement of the moment, at the time 
 of Hassan s visit to Malha. 
 
 Abd-el-nour was equal to the emergency, and replied 
 in language more pronounced than delicate, considering 
 the subject. 
 
 " A bitter answer will only stir up strife," thought 
 Hilwe s uncle, and, after some mollifying expression, 
 added, " Surely thou wilt keep thy promise." 
 
 "Where is her lover from Bettir? Hath he deserted 
 her?" 
 
 The words were spoken by Abd-el-nour with a sinister 
 accent that was unmistakable. 
 
 Further pressure applied by Ismail only drew more 
 splenetic and offensive retorts.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 417 
 
 " The lion does not eat the dog s leavings," was the 
 final and cutting response of Abd-el-nour. 
 
 " Lion, indeed ! No lion, but a mangy and cowardly 
 dog art thou ! " was the instantaneous, unforgivable 
 reply of Ismail, now furious at the insults heaped upon 
 him. 
 
 The older man, wrapped in his miserliness, feeling he 
 had the better of the argument, turned with a sneering 
 laugh, and went upon his way. 
 
 " I have my money in my purse, and not paid out for 
 a wanton," he muttered. 
 
 That laugh and the contemptuous looks and words 
 were maddening to the disappointed and humbled Ismail. 
 
 " Every dog that barks in his own village street thinks 
 himself a roaring lion." 
 
 Unable longer to control himself he hurled the exas 
 perating sentence at the retreating Abd-el-nour, who, 
 evidently fearing that the angry words would be followed 
 by blows, was hastening off as fast as his shuffling gait 
 would permit. 
 
 As soon as he reached his own door he paused, and, 
 facing about in the direction of Ismail, made a peculiar 
 movement with his fingers and hand to avert the evil 
 influence which the latter might be supposed to exert 
 against him. 
 
 The wily Malhaite was steeped in superstition, and 
 was a slave to the traditional beliefs and customs which, 
 to a greater or less extent, have taken the place of reli 
 gion with the more ignorant of the fellaheen. On the 
 wall of his house, near the doorway in which he stood, 
 might be seen, conspicuously displayed, the impress of 
 an upright open hand, considered an effectual charm to 
 ward off the baleful sorcery of the " evil eye." Stand 
 ing beside this potent spell, and within his own door, his 
 courage revived sufficiently to permit him to gratify his 
 hateful temper in a further volley of abuse. 
 
 " Verily, I believe he thought to obtain my money for 
 that which he is unable to deliver," he exclaimed. " Go 
 to! How know I what he giveth me? But I am not 
 such an oaf as he supposes. He counts the sands ot the 
 desert on the rosary of his fingers." 
 
 27
 
 4i 8 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Ismail was beside himself with rage. Yet what could 
 he do? How could he help himself? 
 
 " What is the use of arguing with a liar, or with him 
 who breaketh his covenant? " he said, as he turned away. 
 " It is but waste of breath. The voice of the crow and 
 the kite and the song of the nightingale are all alike to 
 such as he is." 
 
 It may well be supposed that, under these circum 
 stances, Hilvve s life in her home, hitherto sufficiently 
 dreary, now became almost unbearable. She seldom 
 had peace. Her uncle looked upon her as the cause of 
 his losing the handsome marriage portion promised by 
 Abd-el-nour. It was not to be forgotten or forgiven. 
 She had been the cause of the breaking of the contract 
 made with Abd-el-nour, which, whether written or verbal, 
 among these simple people as with most Moslems, is all 
 the ceremony required to constitute a marriage. Worse 
 than this, she would be a shame and a reproach to her 
 family and to her people a disgrace and a dishonour 
 ing not to be contemplated. 
 
 Hilwe s only relief was, when opportunity was afforded 
 her, to escape to the outdoor life and labour, in company 
 with Kadra : the hard work was to her a blessing. 
 
 The usual long dry season of six months, in which not 
 a drop of rain falls in Palestine, had been succeeded, 
 toward the close of autumn, by what, to this day, are 
 called, from olden time, the " former rains," which fell 
 in sufficient abundance to permit early ploughing. 
 
 The consequent general activity was a temporary res 
 pite for the unfortunate young woman, though at no 
 time was she entirely exempt from the cruel strain her 
 peculiar condition and circumstances brought upon her. 
 
 Yet a few bright days were vouchsafed to her, when 
 the natural cheerfulness of her disposition partially tri 
 umphed over her heaviness and trouble. 
 
 When she joined the women in gathering in the last 
 of the olives, beating the boughs and collecting the fruit, 
 which they called " milking the trees," somewhat of her 
 former spirit revived in her, and, stimulated by memo 
 ries of other years, and under Kadra s inspiration, the 
 feelings and customs of olden time were entered into
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 419 
 
 and indulged in by most of the wives and daughters of 
 Malha, glad for the occasion to break away from their 
 gloom. They sang their simple songs, and repeated the 
 ancient sayings and proverbs ; and they told of former 
 doings, and unexampled incidents, passing belief, as they 
 entered into their labours. 
 
 Many of the sayings had pretty, double meanings, and 
 were like parables relating to the trees. 
 
 " Till thou shakest the tree the olives will not fall," 
 one would chant. 
 
 " Though the oak be strong, he gives us but acorns," 
 rang out the recitative. 
 
 " The trees that bear fruit bear a burden as well," an 
 other would reply. 
 
 " The cypress from its uprightness was made free ; it 
 is always green," Kadra sang with a triumphant air, for 
 her own name was in it, Kadra meaning " green." 
 
 As they stripped the olives from the limbs, Kadra 
 reminded them of the old habit, not to glean them the 
 second time : 
 
 " When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not 
 go over the boughs again : Spare the fruit on the top 
 most limbs ; it shall be for the stranger, for the father 
 less, and for the widow. Spare it, lest the tree bear not 
 again." 
 
 The words had been made into a rude chant, like a 
 psalm. None of them could tell how old it was. And 
 they invariably left, at least, a few olives among the top 
 most branches. 
 
 " It is according to the custom of our forefathers," 
 they said. " It is best to adhere to it." 
 
 In due time followed the making of the oil, an impor 
 tant work, in which the women largely participated, the 
 olives being crushed and ground in the old-fashioned 
 stone oil-presses of the country, used from time imme 
 morial. In all the processes, to the running off the oil 
 into the roughly-hewn stone trough, and thence empty 
 ing it into jars or skins, ready for sale or home use, the 
 ancient customs and ceremonies were kept up, and there 
 was much rejoicing, the people clapping their hands, 
 and shouting for joy.
 
 420 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 But Hilwe took pleasure in none of these things. At 
 most, she regarded them as an escape or refuge from 
 what long had ceased to be, if ever it had been, home to 
 her. 
 
 When no other outdoor occupation offered, there 
 always remained the fetching the water from the ain, or 
 fountain. Of all Hilwe s tasks this was the one which 
 appealed most to her. In traversing the ground, she 
 passed over the way endeared to her by memories of 
 Hassan places closely associated with him and their 
 love ; and, as much as possible, she lived over again the 
 feelings and incidents connected with him, so deeply 
 embedded in her life, and which had revolutionised her 
 character. Her very sadness and grief in this were a 
 species of happiness. It was a holy grief, a sacred sor 
 row; and though the tear often overflowed, it was a re 
 lief, and the indulgence of feelings which could find no 
 other satisfaction. 
 
 Nor was she so engrossed with her own troubles and 
 sorrows that her mind did not revert to Amne, who had 
 so often been the companion of her rambles, dwelling on 
 the mystery of her disappearance. 
 
 " Poor Amne ! What can have become of her?" she 
 would ask. 
 
 Kadra and the other women latterly had ceased to 
 speak on the subject. It no longer was a novelty or a 
 wonder. They frowned at mention of the lost girl s 
 name. 
 
 Once, in reply to a question of Hilwe s, the grim face 
 of the wise woman assumed the grimmest aspect: 
 
 "As for Amne, she is lost," she said. "She cannot 
 be found. And it is best for her that the people of 
 Malha cannot find her. Allah be merciful to us. To 
 judge from what some say, she would fare ill at their 
 hands, should she fall into their power." 
 
 The words had an ominous and terrible meaning for 
 Hilwe. Her face turned deathly pale. 
 
 "Dost thou think they would harm her? " she asked. 
 
 " I am certain they would." 
 
 "They would not kill her, surely?" 
 
 Kadra looked cautiously around before replying.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 421 
 
 "Indeed! Would they not? Thou little knowest 
 them, if thou thinkest that. They would stop at 
 nothing." 
 
 Hilwc shuddered. She pondered what Kadra had 
 said. It seemed to her a warning. 
 
 " Allah withdraw not his protection," she murmured. 
 
 Her trouble was assuming overwhelming proportions. 
 
 " I am in danger of my life ; I must fly," she said. 
 " O Hassan ! why art thou not here? " 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 A IN KARIM, the Eye of the Village, or the Foun 
 tain of the Village, as it may be translated, let it 
 be remembered, is the birthplace of John the Baptist. 
 It is now a small but pleasant village, situated in one 
 of the most interesting and attractive of the valleys in 
 the vicinity of Jerusalem; and its fountain, as we know, 
 is celebrated for the purity and coolness of its water. 
 
 Here stood the house of the priest Zacharias, of the 
 course of Abia, and his wife Elizabeth, who was of the 
 daughters of Aaron the father and mother of the 
 Baptist ; and this is the place of" The Visitation," where, 
 nearly two thousand years ago, the aged Elizabeth re 
 ceived the visit of the Handmaid of the Lord as well 
 she called herself her beautiful young cousin, the 
 Blessed Virgin. 
 
 The entire situation is full of the most picturesque 
 features, olive groves, fig orchards and vineyards 
 abound; the surrounding hills look down like guardian 
 spirits on the gentle place ; and I do not wonder that 
 the children of faith feel that the very air is saturated 
 with a sanctity peculiar to so highly-favoured a spot. 
 The Salutation of Mary seems to ring in one s ears. The 
 fastnesses and heights overflow with Heaven s melodies ; 
 and the valleys answer back. Oh, holy Motherhood, 
 pure as the dew upon the untrodden mountain ! Taber 
 nacle of the Highest ! " Blessed art thou among women ! "
 
 422 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 And, from out the nearer distances, resound anew the 
 words: "The dayspring from on high hath visited us, to 
 give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow 
 of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace." 
 
 Peace peace. It is all peace where such are. 
 Mary! Could she ever forget the voice of the angel? 
 " He shall save his people from their sins." She hid 
 those sublime mysteries in her heart, pondering, that 
 loving heart over which already hung the sword that was 
 yet to pierce it. 
 
 What sweet converse those holy women must have 
 had in walking together these village paths, visiting the 
 fountain, drinking from it, as we drink from it to-day ; 
 looking forward into the wonderful future that was 
 opening before them ! For Mary abode here with her 
 cousin for three months, before returning to her own 
 house in Nazareth. 
 
 Previous to the birth of " The Forerunner," Elizabeth 
 had hid herself for five months, as told to us by St. 
 Luke. The narrative is unadorned and terse, yet suffi 
 cient for its purpose. 
 
 Such action, arising probably from her womanly 
 modesty, may not have been remarkable under the cir 
 cumstances, nor uncommon in the country. But it is 
 possible the visit of Mary may have been connected with 
 this incident, that, with her noble unhesitating obedience 
 to the divine will, and her heavenly-mindedness she 
 might strengthen the faith of the older and pious but 
 less exalted and less devoted woman. 
 
 And now, in these latter days, under desperate cir 
 cumstances, sorely pressed, and fearing for her life, 
 Hilwe, having fled from Malha, hid herself, in this same 
 place, knowing naught of the saintly women who, so 
 long ago, had their abode here. 
 
 Her gentle heart, shadowed by that which was com 
 ing upon her, might well have failed her, for at such a 
 time Death walks hand in hand with Life, and her case 
 was one of special trial. Yet she kept her courage 
 with the faith that God in such a crisis specially endows 
 all his creatures with even the wild goats of the rock 
 when they bow themselves, and cast out their sorrows.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 423 
 
 She was alone with the supernal voices, and multitu 
 dinous cries of Nature the unwritten language of God. 
 They were the sounds born of these very hills and dales, 
 rocky mountain-cliff, seamed scaur and smooth plateau ; 
 and were harmoniously returning and sinking back into 
 the matrix where they had been conceived and nour 
 ished. They were the modulated rejoicings and ulula- 
 tions of the untamed living creatures which the Creator, 
 in his plenitude of love, had made free and gracious and 
 beautiful upon the open hills. They were the songs of the 
 wind, out on some tumultuous abandonment the sob 
 bing of the west wind, drenched with tears, lost in 
 some desolate gorge of the valley. 
 
 Poor Hilwe ! The pangs of maternity were upon her. 
 The great and glorious Angel of Light and Life stood 
 by, with his flaming sword of pain turning every way to 
 keep the way to his invaluable treasure the Tree of 
 Life. That other angel also was there Azrael the 
 dreaded, with veiled face, too beautiful for man to look 
 upon and live. More than once, in her anguish, did 
 Hilwe stretch out her hands to him ; more than once 
 were his loving arms extended to receive her ; and her 
 straining eyes seemed to penetrate the veil which con 
 cealed the heavenly lineaments of him whom men call 
 Death. For her heart fainted within her, and her 
 strength ran low, and the dreaded one became pleasant 
 to the eye, and to be desired. 
 
 But the Angel of Life trumphed, and, with the shout 
 of the victor, lifted on high his trophy : 
 
 " A man child is born into the world ! " 
 
 It was the echo of the creative voice when, at the 
 birth of the universe, the morning stars sang together, 
 and all the sons of God shouted for joy. 
 
 Now was she glorified in her pain. Now was she 
 succoured and saved. The aureola of motherhood 
 shone round about her, and sanctified her. Now was she 
 more than ever akin to Nature and to God. She had 
 given pledges of her divine birthright ; and her title to 
 womanhood had received Love s highest sanction. 
 
 " Allah hath had mercy on me," she said. " He is no 
 longer angry with me. He is reconciled."
 
 424 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 O Redeeming Love, Spirit of regeneration, blessed be 
 thou, forever and forever ! 
 
 The first longing wish of Hilwe s heart, on clasping 
 her babe to her breast, was for Hassan. 
 
 " Oh, that Hassan was here to see him ! " 
 
 And as she thought how far off Hassan was, and how 
 impossible it was for her to have her wish, great tears 
 filled her eyes. 
 
 " No, he cannot see him," she said. " I am weak and 
 light-headed ; it was wrong for me to ask for that which 
 I cannot have. I must be satisfied. In good time it 
 may come to pass that he shall see him." 
 
 So she comforted herself. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the village is a glen where 
 there are many caves and ruins. It was a favourable 
 locality to hide in, isolated, and little resorted to, and 
 she was not molested by the people in the place she 
 had selected. This was a small cave, fronted with the 
 dismantled remains of what in former ages had been a 
 religious building, but the few broken walls of which 
 now bore little resemblance to .such a structure. 
 
 Here her child was born : and here Kadra, who was 
 in possession of her secret, visited her repeatedly, bring 
 ing her supplies, and using great precaution lest she 
 should be discovered. 
 
 It was plain from her actions that Kadra knew more 
 than she disclosed to Hilwe ; and that her fears for the 
 latter s safety were only too well founded. 
 
 " I now always feel as if they were tracking me," she 
 said to Hilwe. " It enrages me to think of it. I that 
 came and went freely, with no one to say me nay, to feel 
 that I am watched, and to be obliged to use deceit in or 
 der to circumvent them." 
 
 They were seated in the open air as she spoke, in a 
 spot to where Hilwe had formed the habit of taking her 
 child, that he might have the benefit of the fresh breeze 
 and sunshine. With the inclination to gossip and in 
 trigue inherent in the natives, Kadra had great enjoy 
 ment in those secret meetings, notwithstanding the risk 
 connected with them ; yea, perhaps, to a large extent, 
 rather because of that risk or danger. She enjoyed re-
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 425 
 
 citing to Hihve, who naturally longed to hear, all the 
 sayings and doings in Malha, the tittle-tattle of the vil 
 lage, and the happenings, great and small, not only of 
 the men and women, but even of the sheep and cattle, 
 the goats and donkeys, down to the dogs, hens and 
 chickens. 
 
 Kadra, too, had been a mother, though her children 
 had died while yet little ones ; and at sight of Hassan s 
 child the motherly instincts revived and awoke in her. 
 She, consequently, had much advice to give Hilwe as to 
 the care and nurture of the boy, who, from the first, was 
 large for his age, and who grew and waxed strong 
 rapidly. 
 
 Thus the days had passed by, not without many an 
 ameliorative touch for the banished Hilwe, to whom her, 
 so far, undisturbed abode in the peaceful valley had 
 given almost a sense of immunity in general, as well as 
 security from special danger, in despite of threatful 
 warning. 
 
 Even Kadra felt the sweet influence of the place and 
 hour, as they sat thus in the open, beneath some unin- 
 closed olive-trees, and began to think she might have 
 exaggerated the evil intentions of the men of Malha. 
 So that when Hilwe said : " Mayhap they speak worse 
 than they would do," Kadra replied "Yea. God grant it 
 be so ! " 
 
 The little child beguiled and led their thoughts into 
 pleasant channels. 
 
 " Is he not like Hassan?" 
 
 Hilwe lifted up her son, loosed of his swaddling 
 clothes, as she spoke. 
 
 " He is his express image," exclaimed the childless 
 Kadra, as she seized the infant and folded him to her 
 breast. 
 
 A passionate love for their children is a high and 
 stanch characteristic of the people. It partakes of the 
 wild animal s devotion for its young. 
 
 " Ay, I see him in every limb." 
 
 "What name hast thou given him, Hilwe?" 
 
 " Ah ! Have I not told thee ? " 
 
 Now this was a slight evasion, for the subject was a
 
 426 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 delicate one with Hilwe, and she felt shamefaced about 
 it. " Yet why should I ? " she thought. 
 
 "Nay, thou hast not told me," replied Kadra. 
 
 Hilwe kept her eyes fixed upon the ground, and 
 remained silent. 
 
 "Thou hast not told me," reiterated Kadra. "But 
 doubtless thou wilt call him Hassan, after the name of 
 his father." 
 
 Hilwe suddenly raised her eyes, and looked full at 
 Kadra, at the same time reaching her hands out for the 
 boy, and pressing him to her. 
 
 " His name is Talmai," she said. 
 
 "Talmai, sayestthou?" 
 
 "Even so." 
 
 "There is none of his kindred that is called by this 
 name is there? " 
 
 " Hassan said that if ever he had a son he should call 
 his name Talmai; and so it is his name." 
 
 Doubtless to Hilwe there could be but one Hassan; 
 she did not wish to share the name even with his 
 son. 
 
 Kadra, expressing her astonishment, and repeating 
 her question, Hilwe added, - 
 
 "Hassan told me it was his father s name, and the 
 name of his father s father." 
 
 Whereupon Kadra confessed her satisfaction. Cus 
 tom had not been violated. 
 
 "Thou wilt, then, call him Talmai ibn Hassan 
 Talmai son of Hassan," she said. 
 
 To this Hilwe tacitly acquiesced. So the boy was 
 named accordingly. 
 
 While they were yet speaking, and fondling the 
 child, they heard a noise of footsteps and voices, 
 mingled with other sounds, in the road below. A 
 drove of camels went by with their awkwardly majestic 
 stalk, tinkling bells, and grimly-gaunt faces, woe 
 begone to comicality, their labour-marked bodies 
 padded by nature, as if for man s convenience, on 
 which principle indeed their whole structure seems 
 carried out. Was ever such a mixture of the grand 
 and the grotesque ?
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 427 
 
 "See there," cried Hilwe pointing to them in 
 alarm, and clasping her child closer to her. 
 
 " Let us keep very quiet till they go by," said Kadra. 
 "They may not notice us." 
 
 She drew Hilwe down beside her. 
 
 " I have always thought," she added, "that the camel, 
 the Jew, and the olive-tree are of one breed. They all 
 have in their natures the same stubbornness. It wearies 
 one. It is the unbounded obduracy of them, worse 
 than obstinacy. I know not how to call it." 
 
 It would be impossible to render in cool English the 
 warm, high-coloured tone of her Arabic, as she dilated 
 on the subject. 
 
 "Do we not speak of the enmity of the camel," she 
 continued, "when we want to describe inveterate 
 hatred ? It never forgets its revenge, should a man 
 happen to hurt or displease it. If it lived for one hun 
 dred years, it would still watch its opportunity to kick 
 back, or spit at him, or, Allah preserve us, take off the 
 top of his skull, at one bite. See how the hump 
 backed, the crooked-necked ones, the vindictive, how 
 they seem to sniff us out as they go by. What dis 
 dainful eyes they turn on us, as though they wanted to 
 attract attention to us! And as for the olive-tree, 
 what hardihood and endurance it has! If beaten, it 
 bears all the better; if neglected or cut down, it still 
 puts forth leaves and new growths. Give it the least 
 chance, it is flourishing as well as ever. Shouldst 
 thou burn it, or grub out the stump, the ungrafted 
 roots would send up wild saplings, as if in defiance and 
 contempt of thee, and as though it said, Thou hast 
 punished thyself. But when I come to the Yahoodi 
 the Jew!" (Oh, what a volume of disgust was in 
 her utterance of the word!) "When I come to the 
 Yahoodi! Ugh! what shall I say? He is beyond all, 
 for those qualities. They call themselves the people of 
 God. Some, like the Turks, call them the people of 
 Moses. To my mind, they are the children of Shaitan. " 
 
 "Yet there is some good in all three, the olive, 
 the camel and the Jew, " interposed Hilwe; "especially 
 in the olive-tree."
 
 428 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " I speak not so much against the camel, it is an 
 example of God s wisdom; nor do I say aught against 
 the olive-tree," replied Kadra. "Doubtless there is 
 good in it, it giveth us oil that maketh man of a 
 cheerful countenance, perhaps because it cannot help 
 it. It is the best of the three; though, as I said, all 
 are alike hard. But those Yahood, in Jerusalem ! " 
 (Again what bitter scorn was in her tone !) " When I 
 think of them, I only can despise and loathe them. 
 They are like walking dunghills. How they bickered 
 and chaffered over what I had to sell, till they wore 
 me out and distracted me ! and, to get rid of them, 
 scarcely knowing what I did, I let them have it at far 
 less than it was worth, and all my many hard days 
 work in the burning sun went for nothing. " 
 
 "Too bad, too bad for thee, " murmured Hilwe, 
 sympathetically, with that indescribable shake of the 
 head, and click of the tongue, and movement of the 
 hands, which meant so much. 
 
 "There! As I live," said Kadra, "there is one of 
 them. See that Jew. It is he owns the merchandise 
 which the caravan is conveying. So we have all three 
 -the Yahoodi, the camel, and the olive-tree before 
 us. The Jew smells money as you would smell the 
 fumes of roast meat. I have seen this man more than 
 once. He has much riches. Those Jews are crowd 
 ing into the country, and filling it. They say they 
 will again possess the land. They would deprive us 
 of our inheritance, claiming they own it, through an 
 old covenant with Chalil Abraham. Allah have 
 mercy upon us ! The Turk is bad enough. But if the 
 Yahoodi governed, it would be past bearing. There 
 would be no peace for any one." 
 
 Hilwe had hardly given full attention to Kadra s 
 remarks, having often heard her expatiate on the 
 Jewish question, and also being necessarily more or 
 less occupied with the care of the infant Talmai. 
 There was a further reason : she had observed that one 
 of the camel drivers, who proved to be a man from the 
 neighbourhood of Malha, had evidently caught sight of 
 them, and, recognising them, had dropped out, and,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 429 
 
 under pretext of cutting a stick from the hedge, had 
 cautiously and slyly approached near enough to satisfy 
 himself as to their identity. 
 
 Both the women were much disturbed at his actions; 
 and Kadra, whose attention had been called to him by 
 Hilwe, was convinced that the incident boded them no 
 good. 
 
 " He will surely convey information to Malha of his 
 having seen us," said Kadra. "This place will not 
 then be safe for thee. " 
 
 " With the help of Allah ! it may not be as bad as 
 thou thinkest," Hilwe urged, trying to reassure herself. 
 
 Yet she trembled for the safety of her little one. 
 
 " Yea ; let us watch and hope for the best. " 
 
 Leaning above the child, in their solicitude, the 
 heads of Kadra and Hilwe came near to meeting, the 
 worn elderly face in proximity to the radiantly young 
 and beautiful one of the mother. It was a sight recall 
 ing the great Holy Family, that masterpiece of 
 Raphael, which hangs with its six companion Raphaels, 
 all apart, by themselves, in the Museo Nazionale, in 
 Naples, and shows the fair, youthful Virgin and the 
 aged Elizabeth bending with adoring reverence above 
 the Holy Child, the boy John the Baptist kneeling 
 before him for his blessing. 
 
 Kadra touched fondlingly, with warm love, the cheek 
 of the little Talmai with her finger-tips, which she 
 then kissed in honour of his being a man-child. The 
 babe had begun to learn to be shy, one of the first 
 things the infant learns. He looked up and smiled, 
 then suddenly hid his face against his mother s breast. 
 
 "Who could harden the heart against such a little 
 one?" said Kadra. "Who could put forth a hand to 
 hurt him ? " 
 
 Hilwe stared at her. The words were to her idle 
 words, as she clasped her boy to her bosom. 
 
 The last tinklings of the camel s bells had died 
 away in the distance. The caravan had passed out of 
 sight behind a curve in the hills, the spying muleteer 
 having hastened forward to catch up with it. The air 
 seemed saturated with odorous silence, and the blue
 
 430 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 ether of the welkin, like powdered turquoise, seemed 
 nearer than in other places, as if Heaven itself drew 
 nigh. The women, impressed with the quiet of the 
 place and hour, hung their heads in pensive thought, 
 as if loath to break the stillness. It soothed, and 
 gradually drew their fears from them. It was so 
 peaceful, hushed and calm, they could hear the faint 
 rustle of the tremulous grasses at their feet ; and the 
 far-off stridulation of a locust, making nuptial music 
 for his mate, as he clung to the overweighted scarlet 
 blossom of a pomegranate, in one of the village gardens, 
 came in a fine clear note of prolonged, attenuated tone, 
 the very ghost of sound, but still distinctly audible. 
 
 Suddenly they heard a voice out of this purple and 
 golden lull. It seemed as if all the sweet and gentle 
 sounds in nature had been gathered together to form 
 the notes and the words : 
 
 "Allah ya-kareem ! Allah ya-kareem ! (O God the 
 generous !) " 
 
 Kadra and Hilwe turned instinctively in the direc 
 tion whence the tones proceeded. It was one of the 
 ringdoves of Palestine, which had its nest in the adja 
 cent ruins. 
 
 These birds are regarded as especially sacred. In 
 cooing, they bow, as if in worship, saying what to the 
 native ear resembles, "Allah ya-kareem ! " which, on 
 the present occasion, was almost perfectly articulated. 
 On account of this peculiarity, the Moslems and 
 natives generally have so much affection for these 
 gentle creatures that they consider it a great sin to 
 kill one of them. Of course Christians, too, have a 
 deep sympathy on the subject, believing it was in the 
 form of a dove that the Holy Spirit descended upon 
 Christ at his baptism. 
 
 "Listen, listen, Kadra! Hear how plainly it says 
 Allah ya-kareem! " exclaimed Hilwe. 
 
 "I hear it. Except the Angel Israfil himself, the 
 sweetest-voiced of all God s creatures, whose trumpet 
 shall call to life the dead out of their graves, I doubt 
 if any other being could sing so sweetly." 
 
 " Is it not a good omen ? "
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 431 
 
 "Yea; that it is. Let us take comfort from it." 
 As Kadra saluted Hilwe and the child in bidding 
 them farewell, she whispered: 
 
 " I shall watch everything closely, when I return to 
 Malha. And should there be any danger to thee, I 
 shall return quickly and bring thee word." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX 
 
 SINCE Hassan had arrived with the troops in Crete, 
 there had been little or no news of him. The 
 habit of writing letters is one seldom indulged in 
 among the fellaheen, to whom caligraphy is generally 
 a mysterious accomplishment ; and the not sending or 
 receiving such missives would excite no extraordinary 
 feeling or comment. Not often can they read, still 
 less often can they write, and the amanuensis is a rare 
 commodity. Yet Hassan had written, once, twice, and 
 even a third time, at lengthy intervals. But he had 
 received no reply. His letters had never reached 
 Hilwe. 
 
 As the time passed by, the fact that he had not heard 
 worried him not a little. With her, who had never 
 received a letter in her life, why should she grieve 
 or take it to heart that no epistle from Hassan was 
 received by her? That, however, does not mean that 
 she did not hunger and thirst for a word from him. 
 
 Reports enough of a certain kind relative to the 
 soldiers reached Palestine. 
 
 It could not be said that they were favourable or 
 reflected credit on them. Rather otherwise. These 
 rumours contained complaints of the irregular doings 
 of the troops, their lawlessness and violence, accusing 
 them of murders, of assaulting women, and seizing and 
 appropriating bread and other food and supplies wher 
 ever they could lay hands on them. 
 
 Various articles to this effect had found their way 
 from month to month, not only into the London
 
 432 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 "Times," but, so far as Palestine news was concerned, 
 what was of more importance, into the " Egyptian 
 Gazette," the latter paper, published in Alexandria, 
 reaching Jerusalem much more frequently than did the 
 great "Thunderer." 
 
 Though possibly not without a slight foundation of 
 truth, the more horrible and blood-curdling of these 
 reports were, in all probability, highly coloured, if not 
 greatly exaggerated, to the disadvantage and disparage 
 ment of the Turkish troops, who, had they been as 
 gentle as lambs, could not have proved acceptable to 
 the Cretans, or have escaped calumny. 
 
 That the soldiers, both Syrian and Turkish, were 
 quite bad enough without having committed some of 
 the more extraordinary offences of which they were 
 accused, may easily be admitted. But the surround 
 ings in which they were placed presented inviting 
 opportunities as well as extenuating circumstances, 
 which, though not condoning the exceptional and more 
 flagrant crimes, at least mitigated the grossness of the 
 too frequent but less serious delinquencies. 
 
 As to particular or individual information, next to 
 none was received by the families of the men in Pales 
 tine. Nor, as has been intimated, was this considered 
 a grievance, or unusual. 
 
 Up in the mountainous parts, Hassan found much 
 to remind him of the hill country of Palestine, with a 
 difference. Here he again, in some degree, drank in 
 the freedom of the hills. Here he found his lost self, 
 though not his lost Hilwe. How he rejoiced and 
 gloried in these purple heights! How grand, reminis 
 cent, and inspiring they were ! Mount Ida, " many- 
 fountained Ida," in almost the centre of the island, 
 dominating all the ancient summits with imperial 
 supremacy. 
 
 In the highlands dwelt the Sphakiots, those hardy 
 and brave mountaineers, now in open insurrection, 
 who, from the isolated and inaccessible character of 
 the place of their abode, have always been able to 
 maintain at least a partial independence. They are of 
 the same race as the inhabitants of the plains, but
 
 Hassan : a Fellah , 433 
 
 this does not prevent their raiding upon the latter as 
 occasion offers; and the restive character and fighting 
 qualities of the Sphakiots constitute them far other 
 than agreeable neighbours. 
 
 Yet, though sent to coerce them, Hassan could not 
 help having a covert sympathy with them. He, no 
 doubt, felt that, in their natures and habits, they had 
 much which allied them to the peasant of Palestine. 
 Were they not also rebelling against the oppressive 
 alien rule of the Turk? 
 
 Thus the days, the weeks, and the months passed 
 with Hassan, sometimes closely occupied, at other 
 times with abundant leisure. He had adventures with 
 men, adventures with wild hunted creatures on hill 
 and in valley, adventures of all sorts, exploits, war 
 like and other, in town and village, in mountain, on 
 plain, and in wilderness. Life broadened and vibrated 
 before him. He felt new strengths within him. How 
 glorious! 
 
 Human nature, like all nature, has from top to 
 bottom, from beginning to end, one predominant trait 
 and procedure: it at once sets about accommodating 
 itself to circumstances, when it cannot break through 
 them and emancipate itself. It seems to consider it 
 the next best thing. Hassan was no exception to this. 
 He reconciled himself to his new life as best he 
 could. 
 
 His quick, lovable disposition could scarcely be ex 
 pected to turn to a cold, phlegmatic, uncompromis 
 ing guard upon his actions at a moment s notice, and 
 when he was taken at a pinch. Far otherwise. It 
 played him many a false friend s part, without the 
 least intention of treachery, and led him sometimes 
 into doing that which he ought not to have done. His 
 genial, manly ways brought him companionship which 
 was not always conducive to his best interests. 
 
 His warm friendship for Chalil had never wavered 
 nor grown less; it still was characterised by the old- 
 time fervour. But Chalil was assigned to another com 
 pany from that to which Hassan belonged. So their 
 meetings had become less frequent. 
 
 28
 
 434 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 In the tedium of the barrack and of camp-life, the 
 soldiers had recourse, as usual, to various games of 
 chance; and gambling, that bane of the Oriental, 
 grew more and more prevalent among them. 
 
 One day, in the course of some heated play with a 
 brother-soldier, an agreeable off-hand fellow to whom 
 Hassan had been drawn of late, among some money 
 thrown down by the former in making a payment, was a 
 small disc of mother-of-pearl. Hassan had noticed it 
 at a glance, something in its appearance attracted him, 
 and his hand went out involuntarily to seize it. 
 
 " Ah, that is my talisman, the precious pledge of 
 love ! " cried his companion, who was given to boast of 
 his amours, plucking it out from among the coins. " I 
 would not lose it for the world." 
 
 There was that about the little carved amulet which 
 strangely affected Hassan. It was like one he 
 knew. 
 
 "Nay," he said; "but let me look upon it for a 
 moment, Murad. " 
 
 But Murad, affecting a mystery, and that it was 
 connected with a clandestine love-affair, would not 
 deliver the trinket into Hassan s extended palm. 
 
 " Ah ! do I not see the eyes, so dark, so lustrous, of 
 the damsel who, ere ever I left the shores of Palestine, 
 gave me this love-token ? " exclaimed Murad, as he 
 pressed to his lips the glistening nacre. "Was she 
 not fair as the noonday? Was she not indeed my 
 love ? Do I not now behold her fingers, pink as the 
 dawn, and tipped golden with henna? Do I not feel 
 her arms about my neck, as her lips, red as a cleft in 
 a pomegranate, gave themselves freely to me that I 
 might pasture on them ? A man is naught without 
 love. His history should be writ in love. He should 
 be like a gallant frigate or costly argosy laden with 
 richest freightage, with well-trimmed sheets and cord 
 age, bearing bravely onward, forward, and with faith 
 ful prow, obedient to the helm, cleaving the purple 
 sea of love into silvery spray." 
 
 Hassan s face grew darker, and his brow contracted 
 as he listened to Murad s flowery paean. The forced
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 435 
 
 smile faded gradually from his lips. His mind went 
 back to the amulet. 
 
 "How like it is to that which I carved for Hilwe," 
 he thought. " Yet it may not be it cannot be the 
 same." 
 
 " Thou needest not look so severe and cold, Hassan. 
 A man built as thou art! Tell me, indeed! Ha, ha! 
 Thou requirest no trumpeter to go before thee to 
 declare it. Thou canst not hide it. I warrant thou 
 art not without thine own experiences." 
 
 The attempted grin upon Hassan s mouth, expected 
 in response to this sally, was of the sardonic order, and 
 found no habitation there, but fled as soon as it came. 
 
 " But where is the abiding-place of this incomparable 
 damsel this leman of thine?" 
 
 "Must I tell thee? I trow not. That be far from 
 me." 
 
 Murad thus replied, being confused at the close 
 questioning. 
 
 "Thou hast said it was in the hill country," persisted 
 Hassan. " Was it between Jerusalem and Hebron, nigh 
 to to Bethlehem ? " 
 
 Hassan could not bear to speak the word which was 
 upon his lips, and avoided mentioning Malha. 
 
 "Thou sayest. It was even so. Since thou hast 
 lighted upon it, I may as well admit it." 
 
 The most loving heart is not warranted free from the 
 canker of doubt. The heart of an angel may be warped 
 with jealousy. So Hassan, as he heard the easy, likely 
 Murad make his complacent, undisguised boast of his 
 amour, felt his heart tremble and grow faint. He that 
 had courage to face the battle-charge and confront any 
 man, was weak and helpless in the presence of such a 
 disaster, the shipwreck of his love. 
 
 Yet he steadied his voice to speak and question the 
 man, he was very cruel to himself that he might be 
 sure, and so be still more cruel. A gray pallor had 
 settled in his face, which was drawn and torn with his 
 emotions. 
 
 He fell into the mood of the man who held the 
 secret of his misery, in order to reach that secret, and
 
 436 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 questioned him as to the woman, her voice, her 
 appearance, her manner, with an agonising exactness. 
 
 " Thou art certain ? " 
 
 " Yea, it is as thou sayest in every respect. I can 
 not vary an inch or as much as a grain of mustard 
 seed. Ought I not to know?" added Murad, with 
 maddening significance. 
 
 "And her hair? Thou didst not mention as to her 
 hair." 
 
 "Verily as thou hast said. Dark as night, and like 
 a veil or mantle about her." 
 
 The veins were swollen to bursting at Hassan s 
 temples and in his throat. He felt as if he would tear 
 the secret out of him. He was suffocating. 
 
 " Didst thou know her, Hassan ? " 
 
 "Know her?" thundered the reply, in such an un 
 natural, hollow voice, it startled Murad "Know her? 
 By Allah ! I never knew her till now." 
 
 " I thought, from thy questioning, that perhaps thou 
 mightest have known her. " 
 
 "Ha, ha!" 
 
 There was something horrible, maniacal in that 
 laugh, as if it held a groan and a curse. Murad could 
 not join in it. He began to feel that all was not right 
 with Hassan, that something was unlucky, unfriendly, 
 and remained silent. 
 
 "And so thou didst imagine I knew her! Thou well 
 mightest! But, nay, nay. How should I know her? " 
 
 Murad felt Hassan s eyes burn into him. How 
 large and penetrating they were! He moved in his 
 seat uneasily. His delightfully sensual mood and 
 attitude were disturbed. He had answered many of 
 the questions as if under a spell, as if he could not 
 help but reply. Yet he had enjoyed the amorous 
 boasts. His happy self-confidence and exuberant 
 animalism were now oozing away. What did it all 
 mean ? 
 
 "Wilt thou not let me see thy talisman thy love- 
 pledge?" once more requested Hassan. 
 
 He spoke smoothly, carelessly, as if it did not much 
 matter.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 437 
 
 "After all, why not?" airily responded Murad, 
 relenting. 
 
 His hand went down willingly and comfortably, with 
 a sense of pleasure, into the pocket of his trousers. 
 
 "There," he said, with an air of relief and pride. 
 
 He held the pearly disc between his finger and 
 thumb, opposite Hassan, but did not give it into his 
 hands. 
 
 "It is terribly like the asphodel I carved for her," 
 was Hassan s sorrowful conclusion. 
 
 His light darkened. 
 
 There was one more question to ask, which Hassan 
 shrank from. He tried to put it, and paused again 
 and again. It was like exposing his last hope to its 
 death-wound. 
 
 "And the name of this thy leman? How didst 
 thou call her? " 
 
 The question revived, pleased and reassured Murad. 
 He aroused himself. 
 
 " Her name, didst thou say? " 
 
 "Ay, her name." 
 
 "Hilwe," lightly answered Murad. 
 
 "Now God pity me!" was the cry in Hassan s 
 heart, though unuttered by his lips. 
 
 There was a fierce glare, a danger-light in his 
 eyes. 
 
 " Thou liest ! " he shouted. Then in a sort of luxury 
 of agony, he added : " But if thou tellest lies, why be 
 sparing of them ? Why not unfold to me all thy sweet 
 love-dalliance? thy secret converse? Keep nothing 
 back. There are no prudes here to call halt; no one 
 to blush or cry shame. Tell it all ! Liar, knave, 
 beast, show thyself in all thy debauched nakedness ! 
 Let us see thee in thy full presentment ! Allah curse 
 thee, as I do, for a vile profligate wretch ! " 
 
 Hassan had risen from his seat, that he might get a 
 nearer view of the amulet. His was a striking figure. 
 He drew himself up to his full height, his shapely 
 thighs and legs ascending out of his long-boots like 
 columns of perfection, the massive pillars of the 
 glorious temple of his body. As he strode across the
 
 43 8 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 floor, the distinction of the man was notable. Broad 
 in the chest, square in the shoulders, gracefully thin 
 in the flank, solidly jointed throughout, large and 
 strong and grandly formed in all his members, his 
 martial air and bearing permeated the whole, and his 
 noble head and fine, intellectual face crowned the 
 magnificent structure worthily. He was handsomer 
 than ever. His varied mental and soul experiences had 
 generated in him a wealth of expression of surpassing 
 force, as the drill and military training had developed 
 into a new beauty the salient features of his physique. 
 He was a man to be worshipped, a demi-god. 
 
 "But the damnably insulting words! How could 
 any man endure them ? " as Murad said. 
 
 He, the impetuous Murad, was instantly upon his 
 feet, though he could scarce understand the meaning 
 of the quarrel, which seemed to him so unprovoked. 
 Without the least hesitation, he flung himself upon 
 Hassan; nor was the gay, stocky soldier, of warm 
 imagination, a combatant to be sneered at, or lightly 
 to be considered. 
 
 They closed as in a tournament shock. 
 
 Locked in each other s embrace, they wrestled and 
 struggled, writhed and twisted, with an amazing dis 
 play of strength and agility. Many a ringing blow 
 was given and received. Limb to limb, sinew to 
 sinew, muscle to muscle, man to man, every point 
 was called forth, employed and thoroughly tested in 
 the encounter. 
 
 They had seen the Greeks on the island in their 
 wrestling-matches, which had somewhat of the flavour 
 of the ancient Olympic games, and had learned and 
 knew how to put to use some of their tactics. 
 
 But soon the more regular order of the conflict devel 
 oped into a decided heat, and at length broke into 
 what might be designated a frenzied rage. They handled 
 each other severely, and without consideration of 
 propriety. The scanty furniture of the room was 
 hurled to and fro, as they swung from side to side, 
 regardless of what might happen to their abused and 
 battered bodies.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 439 
 
 Then came a more deadly tussle. They clenched 
 with desperate grip, and tried to throw each other by 
 tripping. How closely they were clasped together! 
 But how far it was from being a loving embrace ! As 
 if one man, arms grappling, legs entwined, straining 
 to the utmost, they fell with mighty concussion, 
 rolling over and over upon the floor. 
 
 Sometimes Hassan was on top, sometimes Murad. 
 They struck out right and left. They pommelled and 
 hurt each other as best they could. At last Hassan 
 got Murad well under, holding him down with his 
 weight, which was no light one. All the efforts of the 
 latter to throw him off and release himself were in 
 vain. As Murad was furious, and obstinately would 
 not confess to being conquered, but still struggled 
 vigorously, Hassan kept his place well on top, almost 
 squeezing the breath out of the heaving, panting body 
 beneath him, while insisting that the talisman should 
 be delivered to him forthwith. 
 
 This demand Murad refused to comply with, though 
 completely in Hassan s power. 
 
 " Wilt thou yield ? " 
 
 "Nay." 
 
 "Then take this," said Hassan, planting a judicious 
 blow. 
 
 To hasten matters, he took Murad by the collar, 
 almost choking him, while he placed his knee upon his 
 prostrate bulk, repeating his demand. 
 
 This brought Murad to terms. 
 
 "Wilt thou kill me?" he muttered. 
 
 "Ay, I shall kill thee." 
 
 "Hold. It is enough," cried Murad. "I did not 
 take thee to be so bloody a man." 
 
 His crimsoned face was growing purple; and he 
 compromised by saying that while he never should give 
 Hassan the amulet, the latter might take it off his 
 Murad s person. This seemed to satisfy the empty 
 conceit of the overwhelmed man, who quietly, without 
 the least hindrance, submitted to Hassan s plunging 
 his hand into his pocket, and drawing forth the unlucky 
 trinket.
 
 44 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 There was not possible a single doubt as to the iden 
 tity of the ornament. Hassan held it before him, and 
 examined it over and over again with unnecessary 
 scrutiny. Yes, he knew his own work, he could not 
 be mistaken, it was the starry asphodel he had carved 
 for Hilwe. 
 
 " Every man knows his own work," he repeated, with 
 a heart-rending sigh. 
 
 There, too, was the place where she had interrupted 
 him, and when, in consequence, he had carelessly let 
 his tool slip, and slightly marred the carving. How 
 well he remembered it. Then, turning the reverse, he 
 saw where he had lightly scratched upon it Hilwe s 
 name. It was now almost obliterated, through abra 
 sion, and, together with a little private mark he had 
 made, was not easily perceptible to the eye of the 
 ordinary observer. But it was only too palpable to 
 him who knew it too positive testimony, too damag 
 ing evidence for the unfortunate Hassan s peace of 
 mind. 
 
 " O Allah ! Allah ! " he sobbed. 
 
 So absorbed was he, he did not notice Murad as, with 
 a sulky crestfallen air, he arose, shook himself like a 
 dog, brushed the dust from his uniform, and com 
 menced to consider his bruises. How surprised was 
 the latter to see Hassan, after his long and earnest 
 study of the precious amulet, which had been the cause 
 of so much trouble, suddenly, with a violent gesture 
 and loud imprecation, dash it on the floor, evidently 
 intending to crush it into pieces beneath the heel of 
 his boot. 
 
 There seemed to be a fatality about it, for when 
 Hassan proceeded, in his hopeless grief and indigna 
 tion, to carry out his intention of trampling it into 
 fragments, it was not to be seen. It had rebounded 
 and disappeared; and, though he diligently searched 
 for it, he could not find it. 
 
 "Where can it be? It must be somewhere here," he 
 said, provoked. 
 
 "It is bewitched," said Murad. "Or it does not 
 intend thee to have it," he added, with a sarcastic smile.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 441 
 
 " It has gone to Shaitan, where it belongs ! " ex 
 claimed Hassan. 
 
 Ah, had he but known the truth, how differently 
 he would have spoken and felt ! How he would have 
 searched for that little boss of nacre, as the pearl of 
 great price, till he had found it, and how passionately 
 he would have cherished it, all his life ! But it seemed 
 to be as Murad had said it was bewitched there 
 was a fatality about it. 
 
 Perhaps the soothsayers, or diviners of the occult 
 would have declared it was all due to what had tran 
 spired in a moment of time at the making of it that 
 instant when the tool slipped and marred the starry 
 emblem. For there are those who still believe that 
 the little while in which the translucent drop is fall 
 ing in the clepsydra that starveling present of ours, 
 the infinitesimal sparklet-flash of time which marks the 
 apparent segregation of soul and its entrance into the 
 individual, the trembling flicker of the shadow of 
 the stylus cast on the unbounded dial of the universe, 
 which denotes when anything is made or done, an 
 eternity behind it, an eternity before it, eternity 
 surrounding it, that this defines and influences all 
 the future of that being or thing. They point us to 
 "an hour s defect of the rose"; the injury, through a 
 little insect, to the acorn, which cankers the coming 
 oak from its very heart, and dwarfs or deforms it for 
 ever; and to a multitude of similar facts. 
 
 However this may be, certain it is that the inani 
 mate things of this world of ours have often a strange 
 and unaccountable relation and influence with reference 
 to man and his life, though we are given to treating 
 the matter contemptuously, and calling belief in it 
 superstition. Has not a certain great writer admitted 
 that there is an innate depravity in inanimate objects 
 which is beyond explanation?
 
 44 2 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 treads upon the heels of another woe. 
 Hath it not passed into a proverb that mis 
 fortune cometh not alone ?" 
 
 So spake Hassan in the bitterness of his soul. 
 
 The cruellest thing that can befall man had happened 
 to him. He had lost a believing heart. In all that he 
 had gone through, in all the troubles he had suffered 
 hitherto, this had been left him to sustain and support 
 him. But now now he was indeed alone. 
 
 All the rest of that fateful day he was in a turmoil of 
 distress. He performed his duties perfunctorily, as 
 if in a dream. He did not know, half the time, what 
 he was doing. His comrades noticed his abstraction, 
 but they said nothing. They had long learned to 
 respect his strength, if nothing more; and with some 
 of them there was a kindlier feeling they had begun 
 to like and love him. 
 
 At last the night fell with its moonless darkness and 
 its sleepy stillness born of exhaustion. But it brought 
 him no relief. It was for him a continual nightmare 
 a rhapsody of horror with persistent variations on 
 the same cruel theme. 
 
 What efforts he made to free himself from the ser 
 pent coil that was strangling him ! At intervals he 
 told himself he might be mistaken that there was 
 still hope. He almost believed it, he longed so that 
 it might be true. Then he cursed himself for duping 
 himself. It was hoping against hope. It was tamper 
 ing with the great Libra, whose balance-beam, stand 
 ing immutably level in the highest heaven, is forever 
 the measure of Supreme justice. The terrible strain 
 towards the close when, from the height of the glad 
 certainty he had clasped at the beginning, he was 
 dashed down into the black vortex of despair, when it 
 at last appeared that all must be given up, seemed too 
 much for mortal flesh to endure. 
 
 How long he had hoped. Yet in the midst of his
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 443 
 
 phantom hopes he had tried to be prepared for the 
 worst, and, in spite of appearances, had often told 
 himself he must not be too sure. But he deceived 
 himself. The unbelievable had happened. How 
 could he or any other man be prepared, in such a case? 
 It was impossible for him to school himself so thor 
 oughly as to be ready to resign, utterly and in a 
 moment, that which he had so earnestly striven for, 
 which he held within his grasp, and which permeated 
 every fibre of his being. Poor flesh and blood, must 
 you be lifted up into the form of man to have "the 
 question" put with inquisitorial torture? Must, too, 
 the soul as well as the body be racked and riven ? 
 
 The dread revulsion came. It was as if some one 
 had smitten him on the face while he was too weak to 
 raise his hand to protect himself. Then the sickening 
 fainting of the heart, when all must be acknowledged 
 
 the sinking, gone sensation. He knew not where he 
 was, or what to do. He was bewildered lost. 
 
 Where was his religion Islam, Resignation? 
 
 Like many another, he did not turn to it till he had 
 reached the lowest pass. Then he bethought him of 
 the words he had often said to himself in time of 
 trouble: "Despair is infidelity. " A voice within him 
 seemed to speak to him, seemed to call from out his 
 soul and say: "There is never a road as long as that 
 
 never a road nor a place where the man cannot turn 
 to God, and recognise and call upon Him as his Father, 
 his Begetter, his Creator, the one altogether respon 
 sible for his being He who laid his foundations 
 from the beginning, and who knows all his parts, his 
 strengths and his weaknesses, as none other can know 
 them. Love is the first and fear the last thing to 
 think of in such a relation." 
 
 When the morning came, as it inevitably must and 
 did come, it found Hassan, to outward appearance, 
 much as other men are. He heard the drum-taps, the 
 bugle sounded ; he yawned, and turned, and stretched 
 his great limbs (how strong and wholesome he was!); 
 he sprang out of bed and, one of a number, began to 
 dress. The washing of himself, and the putting on
 
 444 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 the rest of his clothing and uniform were promptly 
 and quickly done. He was at last in shape, topped off 
 with red fez. He turned out on time with the others 
 for inspection and parade, and was at once under duty 
 and orders. All was routine once more. Nothing un 
 common was observable about him. He was again a 
 machine, and went through all the motions and evo 
 lutions as usual with satisfaction. The poor bur 
 dened body carried the aching heart well, and helped 
 to keep his secret. He was only a little pale. 
 
 "What of that," was the careless jest. "Many a 
 stout man is pale after a night s debauch." 
 
 As the current of the day flowed on he floated with 
 it. He was with the others, his comrades, and did 
 as they did. He heard their coarse, and often broad 
 and unseemly talk. They illustrated it with many apt 
 instances. He pondered. 
 
 " It was the old story," one said. They were talking 
 about women. "Was it not so from the beginning? 
 The man was not so much to blame. The woman 
 tempted him. Poor beguiled fellow, what could he 
 do? Ah, Eva, Eva!" 
 
 Hassan, hitherto, on such occasions, had generally 
 been silent, or had taken the opposite side. In telling 
 their prurient stories they had received no assistance 
 from him. And now he remained grave, and said but 
 little, till they gradually drew him out, and compelled 
 him to break his reticence. 
 
 "Yes, it is true," he said. "They are all daughters 
 of Eva and Delilah. Deceitful beyond imagination, 
 who could know them ? Not the wisest man. Did 
 they not lead astray and pervert Suleyman the Wise 
 and Samson the strong? A man is helpless as a child 
 before them." 
 
 The cynical word spoken, a flood of vituperation fol 
 lowed. It was like the letting-out of water long pent 
 up, and flowed apace. In his wrath he said more than 
 he intended or believed : had he not heard those who 
 knew say thus and so? Yea, had he not known, of his 
 own experience ? 
 
 Then, naturally, his mind reverted to his recent
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 44 
 
 encounter with Murad. He could scarcely avoid apply 
 ing the doctrine of woman s corrupt power to his own 
 case. And, as he silently reviewed the facts and the 
 details in the premises, and thought of how severely 
 he had punished Murad, and how the fellow since had 
 gone limping, and that he might have been killed, 
 moreover that he had never made complaint, a strange 
 feeling almost approaching sympathy or pity towards 
 the man who, he conceived, had robbed him of love 
 and honour, arose within him. 
 
 "After all, he was not so much to blame," solilo 
 quised Hassan. " How could an exception be made in 
 his disfavour? Surely it could not. It would not be 
 just. It was with Murad as with others. He had 
 been tempted. He was no worse than other men. 
 Besides he did not know the gravity of his offence. It 
 was the woman who had committed the great wrong, 
 who had violated the most sacred relationship, who 
 had sinned against love and every instinct of truth, 
 faith and purity." 
 
 Yes, it was quite plain. As Hassan brooded over it, 
 his indignation rose to such a pitch against her, piling 
 up, mountain high, the iniquity of which she had been 
 guilty, that he felt the sin of Murad was comparatively 
 insignificant. 
 
 In this mood he caught sight of the crippled man, 
 who was at a little distance, and with a sudden impulse 
 went up to him. 
 
 Seeing Hassan approach, Murad s pride was touched; 
 it galled him to have it appear how hurt he was, and 
 he tried to conceal the limp with which he was still 
 afflicted, drawing himself up in as erect a carriage as, 
 under the circumstances, he could assume. Expecting 
 his conqueror to go by without speaking, he stood aside, 
 well out of the way. 
 
 When Hassan perceived the battered shape and un 
 happy condition of him who so recently had been his 
 close friend and pleasant companion, with whom he 
 had spent many an agreeable hour, an added pang of 
 regret smote him, and quickened his footsteps. 
 
 Murad, having in his person but too many reminders
 
 446 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 of Hassan s onslaught upon him, viewed this sudden 
 approach of his powerful comrade with grave suspicion. 
 It could surely bode him no good, he thought; and his 
 hand involuntarily sought his weapon. 
 
 "Does he come to finish me?" he muttered. 
 
 But Hassan s friendly salutation soon disabused 
 Murad s mind. 
 
 Though unprepared for this turn of affairs, through 
 force of habit Murad mechanically returned the 
 salutation. 
 
 " Ah, thou art hurt, Murad ! I am sorry, and ashamed 
 of myself. I did not think it was so serious. I acted 
 like a brute. I have hurt thee badly." 
 
 "Nay, it is nothing," replied Murad, in a rather 
 gruff voice; for, mentally and physically, he yet felt 
 sore at the result of their encounter, though he would 
 not acknowledge it. 
 
 " It was close work, and called out my utmost 
 strength," said Hassan. "I gave thee more than I 
 otherwise would have done. A weaker man would 
 have escaped. Thou art a fierce fighter. " 
 
 "Thou didst attack me without any cause," said 
 Murad. "I spake to thee as one friend to another; 
 and suddenly, without reason, or the least provoca 
 tion, thou calledst me by such vile names as no man 
 could bear as if I were a dog, or the dirt beneath thy 
 feet. " 
 
 Hassan hung his head. His face coloured. He 
 could not explain. 
 
 "I have done wrong; I come to apologise," he 
 answered, after a short interval. " Forgive me. I am 
 sorry. I knew not what I did. Let us say no more 
 about it. Have I not told thee I repent of it? " 
 
 " Yea, yea. Did I hurt thee much ? " 
 
 "Thou gavest me all I could do. But I escaped 
 well." 
 
 Murad took Hassan s proffered hand, and together 
 they walked to the rough quarters. 
 
 "Thou seest I am slightly lame," now remarked 
 Murad confidentially, ready and willing to be recon 
 ciled to his formidable friend.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 447 
 
 The stout fellow strutted along, trying to hide the 
 defect with his swagger, in which he was not very 
 successful. 
 
 "It is unfortunate. I am much to blame." 
 
 " Oh it is but a trifle ! I shall be all right in a day 
 or two." 
 
 " Thou hast been my best friend, Murad. Thou hast 
 opened my eyes. Why should I refuse to acknowledge 
 it? I have acted like a fool." 
 
 Murad did not understand these words. But as he 
 was conscious of having deceived Hassan, though not 
 with evil intent, he remained silent, anxious to smooth 
 matters. Quite ignorant of the mischief he had 
 wrought, he saw no reason why he should confess as to 
 the mythical character of the love-affair he had painted 
 in such glowing colours. And surely he would not 
 wish to say it was all a falsehood. His pride forbade. 
 
 About this time it was rumoured among the soldiers 
 that Hassan had a most ungovernable temper when ex 
 cited, that without any special provocation he would 
 give free sweep to it, and woe be to the man who then 
 came in his way, or offended him. Others said he 
 was changed in his nature. 
 
 "He is not the same man he was a while ago," was 
 how they expressed it. 
 
 Chalil, who knew him so well, noticed the change, 
 though he imagined not the cause. Hassan maintained 
 an unbroken silence on the subject, which Chalil 
 respected, and assigned the peculiarity to some of the 
 minor cares and evils which have the habit of attacking 
 mankind too often to be made the subject of remark. 
 Besides, Chalil had sorrows of his own. Men have 
 certain troubles which they generally have self-respect 
 enough to keep to themselves. 
 
 When Chalil met Hassan, the latter now never men 
 tioned Hilwe s name, which was rather a relief to the 
 former. Hassan was a brave man ; but, as we have 
 seen, on this subject he was sensitive and timid to 
 cowardice. 
 
 " Hast thou heard from our country ? " Chalil once 
 asked him.
 
 448 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 "Nay," Hassan replied. "I have written thrice; 
 but have not heard. I now do not expect to hear." 
 
 "They are not accustomed to writing." 
 
 This was said apologetically by Chalil, who himself 
 was no scribe, and who began to think Hassan s sad 
 ness was connected with his not hearing from home. 
 
 " Yea ; they are not accustomed to writing, " mechani 
 cally repeated Hassan with a sigh. 
 
 Up in the mountains he felt happier. He seemed 
 to have left his sad thoughts behind, on the plain. 
 Away alone or comparatively alone it was the 
 next thing to freedom. Those "everlasting hills" 
 had taught him many a lesson. They, too, had re 
 minded him of many a piece of wisdom he had learned 
 on the hillsides in Palestine, and had soothed his heart 
 in his bitterest moments. The incursions into the 
 upland plains and highlands required much caution and 
 endurance, and often long watching and patient wait 
 ing. But Hassan s shepherd life had inured him to 
 this. 
 
 The wild animals and birds were a joy to him. He 
 made the acquaintance of many a flower and herb 
 pleasant to the eye, or of kindly use. Among the 
 latter was that much-esteemed vulnerary of ancient 
 fame, the dittany, which grows so abundantly on 
 Mount Ida and Mount Dicte, and with which the 
 classic heroes healed their wounds, in which our modern 
 heroes followed their example. This is the plant of 
 which, as Virgil tells us, the wild goats eat when they 
 are shot with darts, apparently instructed of Nature. 
 
 Hassan, too, was wounded smitten to the heart; 
 but, alas ! his was a wound no dittany that ever grew 
 could heal. Yet he could well believe the marvellous 
 stories told of the renowned plant, its valuable quali 
 ties and high virtues; and he was certain he had per 
 ceived the sprays of leaves and large white or rose- 
 coloured blossoms exhale a fragrant volatile air, so 
 inflammable that it flashed like a beam of light in the 
 darkness. 
 
 "This is to guide the wounded creature to them in 
 the night," Hassan had said, in his simplicity.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 449 
 
 It is not difficult to see and to believe such things, 
 and stranger things than these, when abiding in lonely 
 boundless places away from the haunts of men 
 where the senses are attuned to a finer use. 
 
 Hassan s being able to read and write, not to men 
 tion his lingual accomplishments, united with his 
 activity and valour, had been appreciated, and finally 
 had produced results in his favour, gradually working 
 his promotion. It came slowly very slowly; but how 
 welcome it was ! 
 
 With his natural faculty of acquiring languages, he 
 had added not a few Greek words to his vocabulary 
 Greek being the language chiefly spoken in the island 
 >and soon he could make himself understood by the 
 natives in communicating with them. 
 
 He had learning, scanty as it was, which some of the 
 officers in command of him lacked. They therefore 
 were glad to fall back on him occasionally, and take 
 advantage of the young soldier s knowledge. In this 
 way as well as in other ways he was made use of in 
 various emergencies, on special expeditions. 
 
 It was an interesting sight to see him, mounted on 
 horseback his bronze, sheath-like inkstand or ink- 
 holder with its writing reeds thrust into his sash 
 rapidly inditing some important communication, the 
 paper held corner-wise on his hand, Arabic fashion. 
 
 He distinguished himself in several fiercely-fought 
 skirmishes with the Sphakiots foemen worthy of his 
 steel, whom it was almost impossible to dislodge from 
 their fastnesses in the hills. Those strong piercing 
 eyes of his had the courage and the vengeance of the 
 old Canaanite gods in them, and were as a flame of fire 
 going before him and terrifying the hearts of his 
 enemies. 
 
 Are not the gods of every people composed of the 
 qualities they admire in their great men? 
 
 But every one who knew Hassan said he was a changed 
 being. 
 
 "He is daring to recklessness," they said, "and sets 
 no value on his life." 
 
 About this time a fair, low-browed Greek woman, 
 
 29
 
 450 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 with eyes of heavenly blue, moved across the scene. 
 It was no more, or but little more, than that. 
 
 Hassan perhaps smiled upon her went with her. 
 Is it any wonder? She made herself as a devouring 
 flame of beauty for him. 
 
 "Is he not as other men?" she said. "I shall have 
 him." 
 
 But notwithstanding his supposed wrong at Hilwe s 
 hands, he thought of her, his first and only love, and 
 in his heart he was true, and gave himself not away. 
 
 Murad went wild over the stately Greek, and raved 
 about the tall golden-haired woman, and ridiculed 
 Hassan for his constancy toward an absent ideal. But 
 it was of no use. Hassan was at heart unmoved. A 
 man cannot explain, even to himself, some of the sim 
 plest acts of his own nature that dominant one, who 
 will have her own way in spite of everything. 
 
 Murad was comparatively as naught to the beautiful 
 Greek when she looked on Hassan. She would have 
 given her soul to gain the handsome giant. 
 
 "Is he not formed like one of our ancient Olympic 
 gods ? " she said. " I could die for such a man ! " 
 
 Without him she felt incomplete, neglected, and 
 mocked at by her own beauty that had failed to enthral 
 him, binding him, helpless, heart and soul, as she 
 wanted him, in fetters at her feet. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI 
 
 WHEN next Kadra visited Hilwe in her hiding- 
 place in the Valley of Ain Karim, which was 
 but a few days after her last visit, there was that in the 
 face and manner of the "wise woman" which at once 
 revealed that all was not well. She scarce could con 
 tain herself as she went through the customary long 
 salutations. 
 
 "Woe is me!" she said, "how shall I tell thee? 
 or how shall my lips speak it? Better had I been born 
 dumb, so that thoushouldst not have heard it."
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 451 
 
 " I beseech thee, Kadra, for the sake of the love 
 between us, to tell me. I perceive thy mind is 
 troubled with something. Hide nothing from me. I 
 can bear it." 
 
 As Hilwe spoke, Kadra had fallen upon her neck 
 and was weeping bitterly. 
 
 "Yea, Hilwe, thou needs must know. Nor can I 
 withhold it from thee. Amne is dead ! " 
 
 "Is dead?" 
 
 " Alas, it is true ! They have slain her. The cruel 
 and wicked men of Malha have done her to death. 
 They have destroyed her and her little one. And they 
 that are nearest to her of her people were the leaders, 
 and were foremost in the work. " 
 
 Hilwe had laid her little Talmai aside; but now 
 that she heard these terrible words, she took him in 
 her arms, and folded him to her breast. 
 
 " Oh ! how could they do it ? " she said. " I can 
 scarce believe it." 
 
 "Thou mayest well say that, Hilwe. Even now I 
 ask myself, Can it all be true? But it all is true 
 too true." 
 
 " How did they find her? And how did they capture 
 her?" 
 
 Both the women, clasped in each other s arms, were 
 trembling and weeping as Kadra answered, resuming 
 her weird relation. 
 
 " It seems the stranger Giaour who had taken Amne 
 to be with him, and who was kind and good to her, for 
 she wanted for nothing, was a young man of high birth, 
 a nobleman, and had much riches. I say not this to 
 excuse her, nor to justify that in her which was wrong. 
 The man went on a long journey, intending to be 
 gone many days ; and this was the time taken by the 
 men of Malha for the capture of Amne. 
 
 " They had tracked her out long before, and more 
 than once had tried to abduct her without succeeding. 
 But this time, under pretence that some one of her 
 folk at Malha was sick unto death and calling for her, 
 they persuaded her to go with them. This they did 
 with great secrecy and cunning. Taking her child,
 
 45 2 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 she went, without suspecting their purpose, and expect 
 ing to return immediately. " 
 
 "Ah, how cruel! how wicked!" exclaimed Hihve. 
 
 "Yea; but what couldst thou look for from them? 
 They never took her to Malha. That is certain. They 
 probably hid her in one of their caves. Who knows ? 
 The rest was told by Nigme, the despised Nigme, 
 Abd-el-nour s wife. As thou knowest, her mind of 
 late has never been clear, and since this it is worse 
 than ever." 
 
 It seemed, from Kadra s narration, that Nigme, 
 wandering off in search of brush for fuel, had gone out 
 of her way, and found herself within the borders of the 
 Black Wady. 
 
 This spot, a desolate hollow among barren rocks, has 
 a most forbidding aspect. Tradition associates it with 
 indescribable horrors and misfortunes, and peoples it 
 with malevolent sprites, the jinns and ghouls; so that 
 it is generally avoided by the superstitious fellaheen, 
 who, in coming and going, are apt to give it a wide 
 berth, especially at night. 
 
 Before apprehending where she was, Nigme perceived 
 she was close to a group of men, who had with them a 
 young woman and a child. The woman was evidently 
 in great distress, and pleaded piteously from time to 
 time with the men, who treated her with unrelenting 
 harshness. 
 
 Terrified at the position in which she found herself, 
 and identifying the young woman as Amne, and the 
 other members of the group as men of Malha, Nigme 
 hid herself behind a mass of rock, from where, without 
 being seen, she could watch their proceedings. She 
 clung to the rocks, overwhelmed with fear, realising 
 the unholy action of these men and that, should they 
 discover her spying on them, they would surely slay 
 her rather than that she should escape with their 
 secret. Her strength left her, so that she could 
 scarcely move. 
 
 They had been digging a pit-like hole, in which task 
 they had spelled each other, and now were rapidly 
 completing the work. The entire scene had an omin-
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 453 
 
 ous meaning that, beyond words, was ghastly and 
 inhuman. 
 
 Seated with her son upon an adjacent ledge of rock, 
 Amne continued to entreat them to have pity upon 
 her. 
 
 "Let me and my child go," she pleaded; "we shall 
 never again trouble you. Into whatever land you send 
 us we will depart. Our faces shall never more be seen 
 of you. In a far-off country we shall be strangers 
 among strangers. Let our names be blotted out of 
 remembrance." 
 
 "Ask the winds, cry unto the rocks to help thee. 
 They will hear and deliver thee sooner than thou canst 
 move us from our purpose," was their reply. "Thy 
 lover, the Giaour who humbled thee, hath deserted 
 thee. He hath forsaken thee, and cast thee off; and 
 Allah hath given thee into our hands to deal with thee 
 according to thy deserts." 
 
 "O Allah! have I sinned against thee? " she cried. 
 "And is this my punishment? Wilt thou be wroth 
 with such a poor creature as I am, to inflict such 
 misery and agony upon me, and to permit me to fall 
 into the power of the destroyers ? Have mercy ! Or, 
 if I have sinned, what evil hath this little child done 
 that he should suffer?" 
 
 The words were uttered in a wailing, despairing 
 voice, like the cry of the hunted creature tracked to its 
 lair, from which there is no escape. It was a prayer, 
 though she knew it not. It was an appeal to God 
 from the wrath of the cruel men who held her. She 
 had expostulated with her obdurate persecutors till her 
 voice had become strangely, unnaturally hoarse, and 
 strained with the anguish of her torment. They heeded 
 her not. 
 
 "Hold thy peace!" they said. "Thou mayest as 
 well. Thy doom is fixed. That which is written of 
 thee shall be accomplished." 
 
 They had determined from the first on their course, 
 and were not to be dissuaded from it. There was no 
 pity for her in their savage breasts. 
 
 Long before had they taken from her her ornaments
 
 454 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 and the costly raiment the robe of her shame, as 
 they called it in which they had captured her, and 
 had put upon her other and despicable apparel. She 
 wore the shabby garments of the poorest peasant. 
 She had been humiliated repeatedly, in numerous 
 ways. 
 
 The hole they had dug for her was deep and narrow. 
 It gaped darkly before her. She shivered as she saw 
 it. She, who had been so full of warm, bounding life 
 and love, how could she reconcile herself to it? 
 
 It did not lessen the horror, that she knew her fate 
 saw it prepared for her. 
 
 A certain preconcerted signal was given. They 
 tore her child from her clinging arms. In an instant 
 they had seized her and plunged her into the earth. 
 Her struggles were as nothing in their powerful grasp. 
 They filled in the soil about her deliberately. Their 
 stern, implacable attitude was appalling; it was as 
 paralysing as it was devilish. 
 
 She was buried up to her neck in the dark and 
 narrow pit. 
 
 They did not content themselves with this. They 
 assailed her with grim mockery: 
 
 "Thou didst think to go delicately all thy life, 
 while thy reproach lay upon us to disgrace us. Ah, 
 by Allah, that may not be ! It did not satisfy thee to 
 give thyself up to ordinary wantonness. Thou must 
 make thyself notoriously abominable. Thou must suf 
 fer a dog of a Giaour to humble thee. The dishonour 
 must be blotted out. There is but one way, as thou 
 well knowest. And this base-born thing the child of 
 shamefulness, the spawn of the Giaour shall perish 
 with thee." 
 
 They took the little one, stripping the simple clothes 
 from him till he was naked. 
 
 He was a beautiful boy, such as would gladden 
 any mother s heart. Poor Amne had worshipped 
 and petted him. Though he was naturally patient 
 and quiet, their rough treatment made him fret and 
 whimper. The love that is greater than all love but 
 one, stirred in her bleeding heart, and out of the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 455 
 
 midst of her wretchedness she called him by a pet 
 name and tried to comfort him. He stretched eagerly 
 his tiny hands to her, his faithful protector no 
 longer able to protect. 
 
 She had shed her last tears. Her burning eyes were 
 dry as a potsherd, and staring wildly with horror. 
 Every moment she expected to have the life crushed 
 out of her. But when she saw her child in such peril, 
 all her motherly instinct cried aloud. She wrenched 
 her imprisoned arms loose, with a power that in her 
 state seemed superhuman with the last fainting 
 energies of her being she reached out to her child, 
 imploringly, those bruised and torn limbs that so often 
 had fondled him. 
 
 "Do as thou wilt with me!" she cried "kill me! 
 but spare the child! He will grow up with the flocks 
 and herds. He will be no more to thee than a kid of 
 the pasture. Spare him, for the love of Allah ! " 
 
 All was in vain. He who was drawn by lot to do 
 the accursed deed, ruthlessly seized the child, and, 
 before the eyes of the hapless mother, dashed out its 
 brains against the rocks. 
 
 Then, from that forlorn mother went out such a cry 
 as those hills and valleys had never heard since the 
 Christ in his awful redemptive passion had yielded up 
 the ghost. 
 
 There were no other words there could be none. 
 Her life and her soul had gone out into her child to 
 suffer with him. She was already as one that is all 
 but dead. 
 
 The self-appointed executioners, standing around, 
 armed with fragments of rock, prepared to stone her to 
 death, commencing with the chief accuser, hurled them 
 in succession upon her. Her feeble hand went up 
 involuntarily, it was but Nature s protest. She knew 
 not what she did. There was one wild shriek, and all 
 was over. 
 
 An almost simultaneous cry went up from the dis 
 traught Nigme, who could no longer restrain it. The 
 men, hearing this, were alarmed, and looked around 
 on all sides suspiciously.
 
 456 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 "Some one answers her cry," said a Malhaite. 
 
 "Nay, it is but the echo," said another. 
 
 "Rather it is the jinn waiting for her," said a 
 third. 
 
 There was not an expression of regret. None said, 
 "Alas, my sister! " 
 
 The merciless deed was done. The head that had 
 been carried so daintily had all its beauty all sem 
 blance of humanity crushed out of it. 
 
 Light of light, God of grace, can such things be 
 permitted of thee? Canst thou look down and let 
 them be perpetrated? And can human beings be so 
 cruel? Can human nature be without compassion, 
 tears, or feeling? How could it heap such misery on 
 a poor, frail creature, its own flesh and blood, that, 
 without ruth or pity or relenting touch of mercy, it 
 would rive the soul out of the helpless, trembling body, 
 powerless to resist, in the outer darkness of hopeless 
 ness, and not even spare the infant at the breast? 
 
 One of another race and creed, once looking down 
 upon the forbidding, savage desolation of the spot, 
 intensified by the deed of blood, the hideous secret 
 which it held in its gloomy bosom, it seemed to him 
 the exponent of the ancient direful thought (" Is it 
 not written ? " he said) " Happy shall he be that 
 taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." 
 " Is it not written in the sacred book ? " he asked, and 
 to himself made answer: "Yea, and more the pity. It 
 never was in God s heart. The old Hebrew had in 
 him an immense capacity for hatred and cruelty. That 
 is all it shows. He made his God to suit him, a God 
 of jealousy, revenge, deceit and bloody murder. No 
 decent, civilised man would have such a God." 
 
 Unfortunate Amne, stray bird of summer, short-lived 
 was thy happiness ! short, ah, how short the pleasure 
 of thy darkened existence, and the end, a barbarous 
 death at the hands of thine own kindred ! 
 
 At the close of her fearful narration, of which this 
 is but a feeble summary, Kadra was much overcome. 
 She had told the direful story with a swelling heart, 
 and in burning words, impossible to render, accom-
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 457 
 
 panied with the most violent gesticulations, and often 
 interrupted, by both herself and Hilwe, with scathing 
 denunciations of the murderers. She held Hilvve s 
 hand, and tried to comfort her in the death of her 
 companion. 
 
 "Amne is gone, Hilwe. We cannot bring her back. 
 It is now for us to consider the living who are in 
 danger of a like fate, and to do all in our power to 
 deliver them." 
 
 Thus spake the wise woman, and added : " I dare not 
 hide it from thee, Hilwe. Thy life and the life of 
 thy child are no longer safe in this place. The men 
 of blood are upon thy track. Haste thee, delay not; 
 take the young child and flee; lest they come upon 
 thee suddenly, and do unto thee as they have done unto 
 Amne! " 
 
 No matter how we may prepare ourselves for the 
 words of doom, when they are spoken, they fall upon 
 our ears with a shock. Words give the thoughts an 
 embodiment they hitherto failed to possess, as acts 
 give to words their full substance. A word can slay 
 like a stiletto. 
 
 "Alas! what shall become of me and the child?" 
 was Hilwe s outcry. " Yet will I do in all things as 
 thou dost advise." 
 
 " I have brought thee such provision as I could spare, 
 or lay my hands on. It is as much as thou canst well 
 carry with the child, and will last thee for many a day." 
 
 Hilwe would have thanked her, but Kadra would 
 not let her. 
 
 "Nay," she said, "thou hast no need to thank me. 
 Have I not promised? Besides, easily can I spare the 
 food, and there is no time now for further words if 
 thou wouldst get well upon thy way, and find shelter 
 for the night ere the day closes. I shall see thee upon 
 thy journey; and when thou art safe beyond the vil 
 lage, I shall not take leave of thee till I have pointed 
 out the direction thou shouldst go in." 
 
 "I am in the hands of Allah," meekly responded 
 Hilwe, while she hastened to make the few necessary 
 preparations for her flight.
 
 458 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 CHAPTER XLII 
 
 " \ M I not in the hands of Allah?" Hilwe re- 
 2~\. peated, less as a question than a confident 
 assertion, as she stood watching the retreating figure of 
 Kadra, who had just parted from her. The village of 
 Ain Karim, in its peaceful valley, lay beneath, envel 
 oped in its profusion of olive-groves, gardens and 
 orchards. She could still distinguish the place of the 
 fountain, the monastery of Spanish monks, and the 
 ruins by the cave, besides many another well-known 
 spot. It had left with her a bitter-sweet memory; for 
 there she had become a mother. It was to her like 
 the little book in the Apocalypse, which the angel 
 gave to St. John the Beloved, sweet as honey, yet 
 bitter. Now, as she halted and looked down upon the 
 quiet place, and thought of the days she had spent 
 there, contrasting them with the cares and uncertain 
 ties immediately opening before her, the bitter seemed 
 less and the sweet more. Is it not ever so with us, 
 sad pilgrims? The atmosphere of memory is a pleas 
 ing illusion, and aids us to paint of a rosy hue that 
 which we yearn to consider happiness in the past. 
 
 But she must not delay. With a last fond look, she 
 turned and took the pathway across the hills. She 
 remembered the advice of Kadra : " Were it not that 
 in thy case it is different, I should say to thee, travel 
 the highway, though it be round about. It may prove 
 the shortest way, after all. Rather might I advise 
 thee, go not by the travelled way, lest thou meet 
 with the profane. But thou must be guided by cir 
 cumstances." 
 
 The load was heavy upon her, carrying the child 
 and the provisions ; but the same cheerful nature as 
 ever was within her. 
 
 "Each day the load will grow a little lighter," she 
 said, and hastened on her way. 
 
 She looked upon the bright side, and did not appear 
 to consider the fact that this growing a little lighter
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 459 
 
 meant the lessening of her scanty store of food, and 
 being thrown upon her own exertions for the supply of 
 her daily wants. 
 
 There was in Hilwe a sublime submission to her 
 fate, an acquiescence which is characteristic of the 
 people of the land. It may be described as an accept 
 ance of all trouble or affliction, ascribing it to the 
 Supreme Power, in a spirit of which the Oriental alone 
 seems capable. In Palestine this is seen in its highest 
 development in the Mohammedan, to whose religious 
 fatalism probably may be attributed some of his feeling 
 and belief. But the land is pervaded, saturated with 
 the sentiment. The acknowledgment of God in every 
 thing reaches a height, and carries with it a deference 
 to the Divine Will unknown in western lands. 
 
 Undoubtedly there are exceptions to this. Perhaps, 
 too, it may be said of them as of others, even of Chris 
 tians: "This people honoureth me with their lips; but 
 their heart is far from me." Yet it is doubtful if the 
 European or American Christian often, if ever, prac 
 tically reaches in his daily life such a thorough reali 
 sation of God-with-man, as does the poorest and most 
 ignorant peasant of Palestine, savage and barbaric in 
 many ways as we may deem him to be. 
 
 "It is Allah." 
 
 This is said and felt when in the most bitter grief 
 and sorrow, with folded hands and complete resigna 
 tion to the decree of the All-Merciful and All-Wise 
 ruler of the universe. It recalls the words of Samuel 
 of old : " It is the Lord : let him do what seemeth him 
 good." 
 
 So it was with Hilwe. She said, not only with her 
 lips but in her heart, "It is the will of Allah," and 
 went upon her unknown and often pathless way, 
 strengthened, refreshed and comforted. 
 
 These rocks and hollows had heard the voice of the 
 Forerunner of the Messiah. Here he had been born 
 and bred, the influences of the place and people enter 
 ing into him. He knew every domed summit and 
 every dimpled vale from his boyhood. Here he had 
 become as the voice of God, the voice of one crying in
 
 460 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 the wilderness, "The Kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
 Prepare ye the way of the Lord." And all the people 
 of this hill-country of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, 
 had flocked to hear him, for all men considered John 
 a prophet. 
 
 But that day and to them it was a great day 
 is past and gone. Nearly two thousand years lie be 
 tween it and us. And still the prayer ascends: "Thy 
 Kingdom come." And the Christ has told us, "The 
 Kingdom of Heaven is within you, if you would but 
 know it." 
 
 As the wind swept through the rocky passes, the 
 grand volume of sound came to Hilwe as the hymning 
 of a holy company, and the cooling touch, as of an 
 angel s hand, rested in blessing on her heated brow. 
 
 The brave young mother, with her little son, had 
 many a weary tramp through the thistles and briers, 
 the thorny brush and rough, flinty byways, and some 
 times her bleeding feet left a trail of pain to mark her 
 steps. Often the water was spent in her bottle, and 
 she did not always venture near the village wells, to 
 replenish it, not knowing what trouble it might bring 
 upon her. 
 
 She was often obliged to wait long on the outskirts 
 of villages and small towns, watching an opportunity 
 to visit the well or fountain of the place unobserved. 
 More than once, when parched with thirst, she had 
 entered the cemetery belonging to some village, and, 
 resting in the shade of the great trees which adorned 
 it, was glad to avail herself of the water which had 
 gathered in the cup-like hollows in the tombstones, 
 made there according to the beautiful Oriental custom, 
 so that when it rains the water may collect in them for 
 the birds to drink, which it is believed brings a bless 
 ing to the dead. Moslems and Jews believe in praying 
 for the dead. 
 
 "We are stray birds," she would say, as she moist 
 ened the lips of her little one, and stooped and drank 
 from the receptacles. " Have we not fallen out of the 
 nest, and become lost ? Shall we, too, not drink, and 
 bless the dead ? "
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 461 
 
 Like the Israelites in the wilderness, she sometimes 
 wandered out of the way and retraced her steps 
 unwottingly, not knowing where she was till she 
 identified some prominent landmark, and so, after much 
 loss of time and labour, recovered the direction she 
 would go in. 
 
 At night she was happy if she found a shelter, how 
 ever rude, to cover their heads. A cavity in the rocks 
 was hailed with delight by her for this purpose. 
 
 Her devotion to her child was extraordinary. 
 
 " Ever I hear Hassan speaking to me, and saying, 
 Hilwe, take care of my child, " were the words she 
 constantly repeated. " Ah ! how could I forget ? But 
 would that Hassan were here ! " 
 
 Once she discovered, adjoining a Christian hamlet, 
 a dismantled old mosque, where she found peace and 
 rest through the soft nocturnal hours. Here, too, she 
 had the luxury of a light, for in the niche, at one end 
 of the mosque, was piled a large number of earthen 
 lamps, the offering of relatives or friends of the sick, 
 who from time to time had brought lighted lamps and 
 placed them there, as votive tributes accompanying 
 prayer for the invalid. So great is the force of cus 
 tom that even Christians, in the case of sickness of a 
 member of their family, often bring lighted lamps to 
 the mosque. There they were, certainly, those primi 
 tive light-givers, in evidence of the fact, some having 
 the oil spilled, others with half-consumed wicks hang 
 ing out languidly; but all dismally deficient in the <eo9 
 for which the Greek inscriptions upon some of them 
 pronounced them excellent, declaring that they gave 
 good light. 
 
 Hilwe quickly appropriated one of those shallow, 
 earthen Hespers, lighting and applying it to the useful 
 and legitimate purpose of scattering the shadows in the 
 old mosque, which soon were swaying to and fro, 
 grotesquely and threateningly, high up upon the fine 
 groined roof, which was one of those masterpieces of 
 the Palestine masons, to whom they are peculiar. In 
 truth, there seems to be a marvellous skill in the struc 
 ture of those severe but grandly simple ceilings, for
 
 462 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 which those men are said to have no mathematical 
 formula, they working by the eye with exactness, 
 though apparently with the crudest methods. It is 
 something very like genius, transmitted from father to 
 son for generations. They keep the royal secret well, 
 whatever it is; and it is believed no other masons can 
 do such work. It is as natural and complete as the 
 blossoming of a flower. 
 
 The light was a great comfort to Hilwe, as she pre 
 pared her scanty evening meal from her much diminished 
 store, and then arranged her sleeping-place. She fell 
 asleep, her boy in her arms, watching the lights and 
 shadows as they clasped and unclasped, materialised 
 and melted, each running into the other, till it was 
 impossible to follow them among the arches and curved 
 lines of that mysterious ceiling, and her tired eyes 
 halted in the vain pursuit, and shortly her eyelids 
 drooped and closed. The last broken thought which 
 passed through her mind she remembered was the old 
 saying with its covert meaning: "One cannot seethe 
 lamp except by the light of it." 
 
 "How true it is," she thought and muttered, with 
 only a vague impression of the words, and a blurred 
 image of the lamp before her. " It is only by the light 
 of his deeds that a man is seen and known." 
 
 Then her inner consciousness passed into the land 
 of dreams. She was in a garden of lilies, asphodels 
 and roses, and the pure " white blooms " swayed to and 
 fro with a sacred rhythm. Hassan was there; he 
 stooped and kissed her; and, presently, Talmai was 
 with them. Oh, what joy ! What splendour of love ! 
 What glory of form and colour and perfume on every 
 side ! She was ravished with it all. Then it gradually 
 faded away, and vanished altogether. It is always 
 so. 
 
 When she awoke it was another day, but still dark, 
 very dark within the mosque, for the lamp had gone 
 out. It took her some moments to recall where she 
 was. Sleeping in a different place each night was 
 confusing. But the consciousness of the necessity of 
 vigilance was at once with her. That was ever with
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 463 
 
 her now. Even in her sleep some sense of it remained. 
 Awaking, she was thoroughly awake as to that. 
 
 The brave, cheerful soul, perceiving the cause of the 
 darkness, cried, "Ah, how quick thou art to desert 
 me!" and then, quoted the familiar proverb, "But no 
 one s lamp burns till morning." 
 
 She immediately arose, and, looking out, saw that 
 faint gray pallor in the eastern sky that tells of the 
 approaching dawn. Knowing what early risers the 
 fellaheen are, that they go to bed with the sun and rise 
 with the sun, she seized her water-bottle, and, taking 
 her little son upon her back, for she dared not leave 
 him alone, hastened to the fountain, filled the vessel, 
 and returned to the mosque without meeting any one. 
 She considered herself fortunate, while she prepared 
 and ate a most slender breakfast, and then nursed her 
 child in the open air, in the little court of the building, 
 which was neatly paved, and scrupulously clean. 
 
 The mosque was built on rising ground the most 
 prominent and desirable spot in the village; and in 
 the centre of the level court, before it, spread a fine 
 terebinth tree, like a green umbrella or sacred canopy, 
 shading every foot of space in the attractive inclosure. 
 
 Situated as Hilwe was, it was impossible but that 
 care and anxiety at times should be her unwelcome 
 companions. As she bared the soft hemisphere of her 
 argent breast to her boy, the sacred fountain of his 
 nutriment gave not forth as abundantly as usual, nor 
 as freely as he desired the sweet supply. He was a 
 strong lusty child, uncommonly large for his age, and 
 the constant outdoor life had aided his robust devel 
 opment. His steady growth required a steady increase 
 of nourishment; and latterly Hilwe stinted herself to 
 eke out the scanty residue of her provisions, with the 
 result that Talmai had not all he wanted. The little 
 fellow, taught by nature, put up his clenched, baby 
 fist, bringing such pressure to bear as he could employ; 
 just as the lambkins in the fields butt the udders of 
 the mother-sheep to encourage the flow of the milk. 
 
 The tears filled Hilwe s eyes, as she bent over him 
 lovingly, and understood the trouble.
 
 464 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 "I have defrauded thee," she said. "Allah forgive 
 me for not trusting him more. Yet I did it for the 
 best. I have refrained from satisfying my hunger, 
 fearing to run out of food; and now, behold, I am 
 starving thee, my son." 
 
 The boy looked up at the sound of her voice, dropped 
 the rosy nipple from between his lips, and smiled in 
 her face. 
 
 " Ah, how good-natured and pleasant thou art about 
 it," she said, hugging and kissing him. "Thou art 
 Hassan over again. Thou art his living image. Would 
 that he could see thee ! " 
 
 Hitherto Hihve had adhered, as closely as possible, 
 to Kadra s advice to loiter not by the way, and to avoid 
 dwelling-houses and individuals till well out of the 
 range of country where she might be apprehended, or 
 suspicion send back rumour of her. But the frequent 
 losing of her way had delayed her; so had the taking 
 of circuitous routes to avoid persons and places. This 
 had resulted in the exhaustion of her limited store of 
 food before she had arrived as far as had been intended. 
 She had added occasionally to her meagre fare by 
 gleaning grain or gathering a few fruits and herbs ; 
 and, to appease her hunger, had resorted even to eating 
 the embryonic or immature little figs, a not unusual 
 practice on the part of the peasant when suffering for 
 want of food and nothing better offers; thus illustrat 
 ing and explaining that difficult and perplexing pas 
 sage in connection with the barren fig-tree how that, 
 though it was not the season of figs, the tree being a 
 healthy tree and full of leaves, Christ might well have 
 expected to find upon it this early imperfect fruit, suffi 
 cient to relieve his wants. 
 
 The laws of hospitality in this country are very 
 broad and generous. The habits of ages have built 
 up and sanctified their unwritten code for to these 
 fellaheen it is unwritten. To this day it is regarded 
 as nothing unusual for the stranger, the wayfarer, and 
 traveller, when needing food, to pluck the ears of 
 wheat and eat them, rubbing them in their hands, a 
 custom old as the days of Moses, and exercised in the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 465 
 
 time of Christ, being recorded of his disciples. It is 
 common to see the mounted traveller pause by the 
 edges of the open unfenced cornfields, and give his 
 horse "a bite" of the growing crop. 
 
 Hilwe s opportunities in this direction, owing to her 
 fear of being discovered, were not as numerous as other 
 wise they might have been. Yet her acquaintance 
 with the life of the pasture enabled her sometimes to 
 secure the milk from some stray she-goat of the flocks, 
 over which she had cast her gentle spell, the creature 
 gladly yielding to her soothing manipulations. 
 
 Thus had she managed to support herself and her 
 son, and, with her patient spirit, felt she hitherto had 
 not fared so very badly. Till now the food had never 
 got so low in her sack. 
 
 As she sat before the carved doorway of the mosque, 
 the dawn began to broaden, and nearer objects stood out 
 more distinctly from the shadowy background. She 
 looked longingly towards the houses of the village 
 clustering in groups, somewhat different from Moslem 
 villages, the well-kept vineyards and gardens lying 
 around them. 
 
 "There is plenty within those gates," she said; 
 "they have enough to eat and to spare, while I want." 
 And as she thought of her child, she strongly inclined 
 to ask for aid at this thrifty place this "house of 
 abundance," as she called it. Still, when it came to 
 the point, she shrank from doing so, and averted her 
 eyes from the boy, lest the sight of him should tempt 
 her overmuch. 
 
 " I have heard the Nazarenes are kind, and helpful, 
 and hurt no one," she murmured. "But who can 
 tell?" 
 
 The force of prejudice asserted itself; she hesi 
 tated. 
 
 "I have still a little food left," she added presently, 
 persistently turning her gaze away from her young one, 
 and fixing it on the village. "Why should I beg from 
 a Giaour, a Kaffir an unbeliever?" 
 
 Looking toward the east, she saw the cold white 
 gleam, the immediate footsteps of the coming day. It 
 
 3
 
 466 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 was a warning. Soon the crimson streaks would 
 stream up, ray-like, where the sun was to rise. 
 
 "I have no time to lose," she said, and arose hur 
 riedly. "I must be going." 
 
 She would have liked to linger longer in the pleasant 
 place. But she would not let herself consider it. 
 She could not. She dared not. 
 
 She took, as usual, a roundabout way, leaving the 
 village a good distance to the right, to avoid all risk, 
 lest already some of the inhabitants should be stirring. 
 But she must needs cross the highway. Hardly had 
 she reached the other side, when she came upon a 
 level space of ground, where was halted a large number 
 of camels. She was quite close to them, so close that, 
 as she stood behind a clump of bushes, she could see 
 distinctly the peculiar patterns and marks clipped in 
 their creamy-white, fawn, drab, or dark gray coats by 
 their owners, and which devices were partly for orna 
 ment, partly as a means of identification. Many of 
 these huge beasts of burden had their heads elevated 
 high above the bushes, and Hilwe had the impression 
 that they noticed her, though she kept quite still, 
 hiding behind the shrubs. 
 
 It added to her alarm that she became convinced that 
 this was the same caravan which had passed through 
 Ain Karim, to which the camel-driver belonged who 
 had spied on her and Kadra. It was now probably 
 making its return trip. This made her the more cau 
 tious, as she perceived some of the drivers were already 
 astir. 
 
 She heard them warning the young muleteers to 
 keep away from the male camels : 
 
 "Seest thou not their tongues lolling out? Hear 
 them roar. They are fierce and dangerous at this 
 season. Do not approach them so near." 
 
 Stealthily she crept along, from bush to bush, fear 
 ing to make the least noise which might discover her. 
 She watched the camels eat, kneeling as they had knelt 
 for hours through the night, munching the dry musty 
 mixture of barley and chopped straw more straw than 
 barley which had been placed before them, and with
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 467 
 
 that expression of mingled discontent and maliciousness 
 which is habitual to the uncouth but useful animal. 
 Several of them were being reloaded by the drivers, 
 and, under the operation, were blubbering and groan 
 ing and spitting, giving vent to an occasional louder 
 bleat or howl, as if in remonstrance at putting any 
 extra weight upon them. A camel knows how much it 
 can conveniently carry, and objects strenuously to 
 being imposed upon. From necessity, it always kneels 
 for loading, and it is well understood the beast will 
 refuse to rise should it consider the load too great. 
 
 As Hilwe came to where some of the provender had 
 been spilled, she fain would have stopped and picked 
 out the grains of barley to supply her wants and re 
 plenish her diminished store. But she knew this would 
 be imprudent, and hastened on her way. 
 
 "Alas, little did I think it should come to this with 
 me," she said, "that I should grudge the camel his 
 feed, and hunger for that which the beggar despiseth." 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII 
 
 AT length the day had come when there was no 
 more food in Hilwe s scrip. The last morsels, 
 though carefully stinted, had been devoured, and not a 
 crumb was left. 
 
 Of late she had been unsuccessful in obtaining grain 
 or roots, as she had met no cultured fields. She now 
 had wandered out of her way and was lost. The water 
 was spent in her bottle. Faint with hunger, parched 
 with thirst, weary from her fruitless wanderings, not 
 knowing where she was, bewildered and perplexed, 
 she seemed to herself as a mere nothing and of no 
 account, in the wide stretch of land and sky sur 
 rounding her. 
 
 She turned her eyes in every direction, as though 
 searching out some way to escape. But she could find 
 no favourable indications. There was a blank dreari-
 
 468 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 ness to the scene, which, in her state, might well 
 appal her. She dragged herself to the nearest boulder, 
 and, exhausted, sank upon it, as a tired bird might 
 roost there. 
 
 She tried to collect herself, and to recall the direc 
 tions which Kadra had so carefully given her. 
 
 " How easy and simple it all seemed to be, when she 
 talked to me about the journey," she said; "and now 
 now I am lost. I know not where I am. I have so 
 often wandered out of the way Ah ! have I not wan 
 dered out of the way?" she repeated, sorrowfully shak 
 ing her head, "that the track is blotted out both 
 before me and behind me; I am become as one that is 
 foolish; and there is none to say to me: This is the 
 way; walk thou in it. Neither is there one to entreat 
 me Eat this morsel of bread, my daughter, and 
 drink of the water from my pitcher. How often have 
 I given food to the stranger, and now I am an hungered 
 and thirsty, and my little one nigh perishing of want. 
 My eyes are darkened, so that I cannot see; and my 
 heart is weak, and my strength wasted within me. 
 Yet let me shut my mouth, and not murmur. Who 
 am I that I should reproach the Creator? Will he not 
 deliver me in due time, and sustain me for this day 
 also ? " 
 
 As, in her helplessness, she sat upon the rock, buried 
 beneath the thoughts that pressed with such overwhelm 
 ing weight upon her, with that strange mixed feeling, 
 that often makes itself apparent in the most serious 
 circumstances, linking the trivial with the momen 
 tous, she gradually began noticing at first scarcely 
 conscious of it the mosses, lichens and ferns which 
 grew on the sides or in the interstices of the boulder. 
 She passed her fingers over the filmy lichens, clinging 
 so close to their hard bed some of a pale metallic 
 green, silvery underneath, others brownish, or olive, 
 or gray above, and black beneath; or those distinct 
 patches of rich orange-colour, or of pale sulphur- 
 yellow, adhering so perseveringly that they broke in 
 pieces rather than be separated from their foothold 
 their home.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 469 
 
 The storms of many a winter had beaten upon them, 
 the fierce scorching suns of untold summers had smitten 
 them in vain. They still held their ground. The 
 heaviest torrents of the " rainy season " had failed to 
 wash them away; the drought of the longest "dry 
 season," when not a drop of rain fell, had not consumed 
 them. They taught her a lesson of patience and endur 
 ance. She had known them from childhood. They, 
 and such as they, were her holy books; for, in the 
 literal sense of books she had none, and knew little or 
 nothing about them. These rock-plants, from her 
 tenderest years, were her playmates, her friends. How 
 soft and pleasant to her touch were the feathery tufts 
 of moss. And the tiny fronds of the baby ferns, like 
 olive-green lace, how she wondered that they could 
 find sustenance and an abiding place in the crannies 
 and chinks of the flinty stone. 
 
 " Shall not I be accounted of more value than these ? " 
 she said. " Shall I not also find an abiding-place? " 
 
 She sat so still, fearing to awaken her child, that at 
 length the living creatures began to approach her 
 with impunity. In her naturalness was she not akin 
 to them? A lizard ran along the rock, until close to 
 her, and looked up into her face, inquiringly, with 
 those clear jewel-like eyes of his emitting bronze- 
 green, chrysolite, and ruby glints. The little crested 
 lark flitted near, and with friendly interest, seeing no 
 harm, drew still nearer, till within arm s-length of her, 
 uttering his silvery confidential note, and lifting proudly 
 his plumed coronet, with the intelligence of one who 
 knows what he is, and that he is an honoured and wel 
 come guest. Flocks of twittering goldfinches hovered 
 in surprising numbers around her, and settled on the 
 thistles, feeding on the seeds, and setting free the down 
 that floated off upon the air, often carrying the seed 
 away with it, the birds pursuing. 
 
 Hilwe s eyes filled with tears. All these had been 
 long her companions; and the thought of the many 
 happy hours she had spent with them or hours which 
 now seemed to her to have been happy touched her to 
 the quick. Once her heart had been as light as these
 
 47 o Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 winged seeds ; and now now she was cast out, a stran 
 ger in a strange land, with none to give unto her or her 
 child. 
 
 The little Talmai woke and cried. It was his feed 
 ing time. Hilwe knew and dreaded it; for she felt 
 that Nature was withholding her kind supply, and she 
 could not satisfy the boy. The tears now overflowed 
 and dropped on the face of the child as, with a deep 
 sigh she bent over him and gave him the breast. 
 
 "There is nothing in it for thee, my lambkin," she 
 said. "Yet will I not refuse thee the comfort of it." 
 
 Then she tried to put him to sleep, singing in a 
 gentle voice, very faint and trembling, a simple 
 lullaby : 
 
 " Sleep, my little nestling, sleep ; 
 Not for myself, but for thee I weep. 
 Though the way be rough and steep, 
 Allah my precious one shall keep. 
 Sleep, my little darling, sleep." 
 
 There was that slight lilting of the voice that is so 
 telling; but how sad was her attempt at singing! it 
 was almost piteous. Yet the mother s love was in the 
 song, and the soft slumberous cooing of the words 
 soothed the boy to sleep. 
 
 She began to feel rested. The necessity of caring 
 for and pitying another had revived and restored her. 
 Her mind was quickened, her energy invigorated. 
 
 She perceived that the flocks of birds, after feeding, 
 all flew mostly in one direction. 
 
 "There must be water and shelter there," she said, 
 "else the birds would not flock thither." 
 
 She pondered awhile, her head bent, while her eyes 
 were fixed on the distant horizon. At the point to 
 where the birds flight was directed, there seemed to 
 be a low range of hills. 
 
 "I will go forward," she said. "Hath not Allah 
 sent these winged messengers of his to point me the 
 way? Let me be obedient, and delay not to follow 
 them." 
 
 She was already upon her feet and hastening with
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 471 
 
 the birds that flew before her and were like guides to 
 her. It is true their trackless way in the air led her 
 over a trackless course on the ground, and through 
 many rough and difficult places; but she followed 
 their broken, intermittent flitting with unquestioning 
 faith. These apparently desultory flights all tended 
 one way, as she already had noticed. 
 
 Her strength seemed to have returned to her; and 
 she pressed onward with an enthusiasm that was born 
 of her hope. It was one of those recurrent recupera 
 tive waves of force that come to the individual almost 
 with surprise. 
 
 "It is strange," she said, "but when the time for 
 eating passes by, I am not so hungry. I do not mind 
 the pangs of hunger so much." 
 
 Already she had advanced several miles. She had 
 been wonderfully sustained, and showed remarkable 
 endurance, no doubt in large measure to be attributed 
 to the simple outdoor life of toil and exposure in which 
 she had been disciplined. 
 
 Reaching the top of a ridge and looking eagerly 
 beyond, her eyes were at last surprised and gladdened 
 by the happy sight of a cultivated field of grain. It 
 was but a small patch, tucked in among the rocks, in 
 a space between the hills; but a godsend to her, and 
 welcome beyond measure, was the sight of that green 
 and gold escutcheon royally vermilioned with heraldic 
 blazonry of slender bars and barrulets, composed of 
 poppies, running through it. The flowers were like 
 signal-flags, calling her attention. Near by were a few 
 neglected fig-trees ; and the place had the appearance 
 of having been cultivated from olden time, for there 
 were ancient landmarks which had never been moved. 
 But there was no habitation nor human being in sight. 
 
 She found a small quantity of poor figs upon the 
 trees, which she greedily devoured; and soon she was 
 in the midst of the grain, plucking the ears of wheat, 
 and winnowing them in her hands. When she had 
 satisfied her hunger, she continued her work till she 
 had well supplied her bag. The poppies grew thick 
 around her, some with drooping heads, as if ashamed
 
 472 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 all blushing scarlet. Some looked up at her as if 
 with speechless wonder, showing those great black and 
 white maculations, set in the petals, like human eyes 
 of pity and sweet, tearful sympathy. 
 
 She had placed the sleeping Talmai under a great 
 clump of the poppies, which, in company with the long, 
 tapering sprays of the purple gladiolus, kept salaaming 
 and bending over him, as if in admiration of the beau 
 tiful boy, who looked like a young sun-god, his hair, 
 at this age, being of a golden brown. 
 
 "He will sleep well under the poppies," she said, 
 repeating an old saying of the people, attributing, not 
 unjustly, a soporific influence to the flower. 
 
 He slept well, confirming the proverb, and did not 
 awake until she was ready to proceed on her journey. 
 She now was more thirsty than ever ; her search among 
 the rocks for a spring or pool of water had been fruit 
 less ; but her faith in the flight of the birds was as im 
 plicit as that of any Roman augur. Those messengers 
 of Allah, though now coming from different quarters, 
 still had one destination, she perceived. 
 
 "That is where there is water," she said, "surely, 
 surely. " 
 
 On the further side of the field she found, leading 
 from it, a partly obliterated path, which she followed. 
 This brought her to a depression or hollow, ending in a 
 ravine, which in turn, passed into a narrow, deep and 
 rocky glen. 
 
 There was a deserted savage air to the place which 
 seemed at first repellent, and thrilled her with a sense 
 of awe or dread. It had the appearance of having been, 
 at some distant period, inhabited, though now not a 
 single dwelling or structure remained intact, or recog 
 nisable even as a ruin. But as she descended into the 
 gorge, she passed various fragments of stonework, 
 which originally might have belonged to buildings of 
 some kind. There seemed the hint of a catastrophe, a 
 mysterious doom, in the surroundings. She now gave 
 them little examination or thought, for her quick ear 
 had caught that more than delightful sound the sil 
 very splash of falling water.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 473 
 
 " I knew it ! I knew it ! " she exclaimed with a glad 
 some cry. 
 
 Rushing forward, she beheld the precious liquid which 
 in her fevered imagination she had longed for and con 
 jured up a hundred times during her weary tramp. 
 Could she believe it? Did she see aright? 
 
 " It is a fountain," she said, with immeasurable joy. 
 
 The sparkling current fell from ledge to ledge, with in 
 tervening basins or pools in the rock, to her a marvel 
 lous sight, a gift of God. Flinging herself upon her 
 knees beside the nearest pool with the eagerness of the 
 famished, she stooped over and commenced dashing the 
 water with her hand into her parched mouth. 
 
 " Praise be to the All-Merciful ! Did I not know the 
 birds would lead me aright?" 
 
 These were her continual ejaculations, as, after having 
 quenched her thirst, she bathed herself with complete 
 appreciation of the refreshing luxury in one of the 
 deeper pools. 
 
 She had already washed and dressed the little Talmai, 
 and now had more time to examine into the character of 
 the place and its advantages as a point at which to sojourn. 
 
 Hilwe was not long in deciding to abide here for the 
 present. 
 
 " Can it be Ain Farah? " she asked herself. " Kadra 
 told me about it, but she did not tell me half of what I 
 find. If it be Ain Farah, then am I not so far escaped 
 as I imagined," reasoned Hilwe, " though still well north 
 ward of Jerusalem. I must have wandered aside over 
 much. Yet it is out of the way of general resort, and 
 for a little while to all appearance I may securely make 
 my abode here where there is abundance of water." 
 
 She had discovered in the cliffs a series of caves which 
 in former times, long passed, had apparently been fronted 
 with dwellings of an unusually fine character. Higher 
 up in the cliffs and more inaccessible were other caves 
 which seemed to have been resorted to on occasions of 
 extreme danger. Hilwe had selected one of the latter, and 
 soon made it as comfortable as possible for her occupation. 
 
 She had come upon it by accident. At a point in the 
 southerly cliff she had found several blocks of stones
 
 474 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 piled on top of one another. This at once attracted her 
 attention, for evidently it was the work of man, and there 
 was a purpose in the step-like arrangement of the stones. 
 On mounting to the top of the pile she could just reach 
 a succession of roughly-cut steps or rather notches on 
 the face of the cliff, by which she carefully climbed to a 
 shelf-like ledge, above which the rock shot up, perfectly 
 smooth and almost perpendicular to another and the 
 highest ledge, giving not a single perceptible foothold 
 between. But she discovered, hidden in a cleft in the 
 rock, a rudely-made but strong ladder still in a fair state 
 of preservation. This showed that some one within re 
 cent years had occupied the retreat. Two deep sockets 
 or hollows in the rock near by were made to receive the 
 foot of the ladder, the top of which when in position 
 reached nearly to the upper ledge at a point where well- 
 made grooves held it in place, preventing it from slipping. 
 
 Hilwe with but little difficulty ascended to the top by 
 means of the ladder, which she drew up after her. Here 
 was her inviolate cave, which may have been originally the 
 abode of the troglodites of Palestine, or subsequently the 
 refuge of the early Christian hermits who in the seventh 
 century flocked to such retreats by thousands, and whose 
 cells to this day honeycomb the rocky gorges through 
 out the country, as in the Cedron Valley, Mar Saba, and 
 the Jordan. That there had been another and very dif 
 ferent occupation of the place, pointing to a higher civi 
 lisation, was apparent from the fragments of sculpture 
 and other remains strewn on every side. 
 
 To any of these inhabitants as well as afterward to the 
 fellaheen, the presence of the water would have been an 
 attraction of paramount importance. 
 
 And yet the place was deserted. This puzzled Hilwe, 
 while she profited by it. Then she remembered Kadra s 
 having told her that there was a curse upon Ain Farah, 
 some disaster having befallen it, and that now it was 
 rarely resorted to except at certain seasons, such as at 
 sheep-shearing, when the shepherds drove their flocks 
 to the waters for washing. 
 
 But though Hilwe thought of the possible proximity 
 of the jinn, vampires, and other like undesirable beings,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 475 
 
 the advantages connected with the place decided her to 
 continue to remain there. She admitted there was a 
 mysterious sense of isolation and gloom about it; but as 
 day after day passed by without molestation or trouble, 
 she settled gradually into a feeling of security and con 
 fidence which she had not dared to expect. True, she 
 had to traverse quite a distance to obtain grain, fruits, 
 and other supplies of food ; but this very fact rendered 
 more probable her immunity from intrusion, and the 
 secret refuge of the sheltering cave and the nearness 
 and abundance of the water were superlative benefits 
 not easily outweighed. 
 
 Well might she think the place peculiar haunted. 
 It was so in a sense beyond her simple comprehension. 
 It must have been an ancient river-bed, a passage for 
 the floods of prehistoric times, cutting a way of escape 
 for themselves. A swift-rushing river must have swept 
 through this water-worn channel, with its polished bottom 
 and gaping sides, a deep, fleet, irresistible power, now 
 reduced to these paltry dimensions, a trickling stream, 
 with intermittent pools in the hollows, where sand, gravel, 
 and pebbles collected. Great boulders lay deposited 
 high up on rocky shelves where some unusual overflow 
 had left them stranded and ever since undisturbed. 
 
 Hilwe wondered as she picked up pieces of tesserae ; 
 single cubes were numerous, and occasionally several were 
 seen grouped together in the original matrix, giving a faint 
 conception of the mosaic pattern. They must have been 
 part of the pavement of an extensive building of impor 
 tance. Then the fragments of the carved pilasters, with 
 their primitive Ionic capitals, those Ammonic ram s- 
 horn volutes, they meant much. In those far-off palmy 
 days, a palace or a temple may have stood upon the shore, 
 with portico opening on the descent, and steps leading 
 down to the flood. The cells, caverns, and deep re 
 cesses and the later precautions for retreat, revealed 
 conditions of both remote and nearer times which also 
 gave her food for thought. But in her lofty den, as 
 she lowered and raised her ladder, she felt that sense of 
 security which the warder of some ancient castle must 
 have felt behind his drawbridge and portcullis.
 
 476 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV 
 
 IT was one of those warm, cloudless, monotonously 
 equable days so frequent in Palestine, unduly pro 
 longing the rainless season, and Hilwe was returning to 
 her secluded glen laden with the spoil of the fields. She 
 swiftly went upon her way, bearing the burden and 
 rejoicing in her heart. 
 
 In her excursions to the outside world and the fields 
 to renew her supply of provisions, which latterly had be 
 come scanty and difficult of procuring, Hilwe continued 
 to use the greatest precaution to prevent discovery and 
 being tracked to her lair. Though the distance she was 
 obliged to cover and the labour of finding and collecting 
 the food gave her fatiguing work, the change from the 
 oppressive atmosphere of the glen was an agreeable 
 break or variation to her. If only successful she was 
 satisfied to endure the toil. 
 
 Two or three times she had had narrow escapes from 
 detection, which had warned her to be even more careful 
 in her movements in future and to restrict her visits to 
 the fields to occasions when absolutely necessary. Thus, 
 to avoid risks, she often let her little store run low before 
 renewing it, and this was the case on this bright warm 
 day when she could no longer postpone her innocent 
 raid. 
 
 She had already reached the descent into the hollow, 
 and was congratulating herself that the ravine would 
 soon receive and conceal her, when she heard the unmis 
 takable clang and clash of rapidly-approaching horses, 
 and, lifting her eyes, trembled to behold several mounted 
 soldiers, who came up at a brisk gallop. As they drew 
 nearer, she perceived they were zaptiehs, which only 
 added to her horror. 
 
 She quickened her footsteps, sliding from shadow to 
 shadow and rock to rock, underneath the banks, with 
 that peculiar and inimitable grace of movement which 
 was her heritage the badge of her kinship with the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 477 
 
 untaught and untamed creatures of the wilderness, whose 
 every motion is in harmony with Nature. 
 
 She was greatly relieved when she reached the bottom 
 of the glen the bottom such as she knew it. For she 
 had not penetrated farther, and had no knowledge that, 
 beyond, the silvery waters, fed by many a tributary brook 
 and streamlet, at last, by many a tortuous bend and salta 
 tory plunge, found a channel for itself to the Ghor, and 
 through a deep and narrow chasm fell foaming into the 
 already muddy Jordan. 
 
 Yet the influence of a certain dread overshadowed 
 her. She could not shake it off. 
 
 Having relieved herself of her burden, she seated her 
 self on a broken slab of rock near the water, her favourite 
 resting-place. 
 
 She had placed her child, carefully wrapped up, in the 
 shelter of the adjoining cliff, that he might not be dis 
 turbed by her movements. He was her comfort and her 
 terror, her sorrow and her joy, her hope and her despair. 
 He was Hassan s child. That was her constant thought. 
 The handsome young shepherd had stamped his image 
 on him. She could not look at the boy without thinking 
 of Hassan without seeing him. It was as if she heard 
 him always saying the words she ever kept repeating: 
 " Now, Hilwe, take care of my child." 
 
 The responsibility of defending and protecting the boy 
 was upon her. This was almost as strong as her love 
 for him, though nothing, hardly her love for Hassan 
 himself, could be as strong as that. But it was another 
 sort of love entirely so. This she felt without reason 
 ing about it. Certain it was she loved Hassan none the 
 less, but all the more because of the child. 
 
 How strangely sorrowful and fearfully lonely was the 
 wild, weird landscape which surrounded her. And over 
 her the oppressiveness of that big, unbroken, monotonous 
 sky the eternal blue brooding, weighed her down 
 with its dreadful omens of unexpressed fatality, what 
 ever it might be. A cloud would have been a relief, as 
 something tangible, recognisable, definite. 
 
 Why did all this affect her as never before? The 
 closely surrounding cliffs made it seem like a prison.
 
 478 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 The stream of water, so rampant during the rainy season, 
 was daily growing less under that burning, cloudless sky. 
 The sources of the brook were failing, she feared. It 
 would soon dwindle to a thread, and then dry up. The 
 very flowers took on an inimical aspect. 
 
 From among the loose stones near by shot up, tall, 
 stately, and impressive, the great purple-black arum, 
 its long yellow spadix, in fine contrast, protruding prom 
 inently from its velvety sheath, sprinkled with golden 
 dust, a very Lothario a voluptuous lordling of flowers. 
 Like Dives, the wicked rich man, clothed in purple, and 
 faring sumptuously, it seemed to hold itself aloof, in its 
 aristocratic exclusiveness, from contact of all beggarly 
 flowers, while, with somewhat of a Mephistophelian atti 
 tude and mien, a more evil-looking plant, one of the 
 scrophularia a tawny, crawling thing with big lips 
 splotched with black, clung to a piece of old ruined 
 wall, as if malevolently watching her. Nearer, the spiny 
 hyssop reached down its sharp claws. 
 
 When Hilwe had consoled herself with the thought 
 that she had escaped the observation of the zaptiehs, 
 she had deceived herself. Yet she might have known 
 better. The Oriental " has eyes in his pole," as they say. 
 Nothing escapes him. His curiosity and suspicion and 
 sweep of eye are unbounded, and they all act in concert 
 with detective purpose. It seems impossible to do any 
 thing that he will not see. He even sees you coming 
 before you come, and he beholds in imagination what he 
 thinks you would do. The prophetic instinct possesses 
 him. It is his by inheritance. The act in prospectn is 
 revealed to him. When you least anticipate it, he is 
 upon you. 
 
 It is wonderful to find at what distances he can see 
 minute objects, and with what suddenness those deep 
 unearthly eyes of his are unexpectedly turned upon the 
 unconscious individual. As he stands talking to you he 
 will have read every word of the letter you have been 
 writing that lies upon your desk. Should the drawer of 
 your bureau at the other end of the room be open, he 
 will manage, in the most natural manner, to get to it 
 before you are aware, and will know all its contents, 
 almost at a glance.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 479 
 
 This trait this power of the eye and of spirit vision 
 is seen in the frequent allusions in the Bible to eyes. 
 " Thou, God, seest me," said Hagar. The eyes of the 
 Lord are spoken of as being " in every place," and as 
 " running to and fro " ; the wheels of the living creatures, 
 in Ezekiel, are described as being "full of eyes," and the 
 beasts before the throne in Revelation as " full of eyes 
 before and behind," and " full of eyes inside." 
 
 The zaptiehs were those of Kiamil Aga s squad, and 
 Kiamil was with them. In no sense were they deficient 
 in the direction referred to, rather, their raids, charac 
 terised by marauding and ravaging, had quickened and 
 sharpened their natural gifts. Their eyes were like 
 hawks eyes ; they could see the prey from far ; they 
 could gaze into the sun, like the eagle. 
 
 They had seen Hilwe, and had noted her hurried escape 
 into the ravine. When they came to the hollow they 
 drew rein, and Kiamil called Assad to him. 
 
 " Ride on to the next village, and wait there for me," 
 he said. " I shall be detained here a little while, but 
 shall soon overtake thee." 
 
 He made some trifling excuse, the first that suggested 
 itself to him; and Assad was not deceived. 
 
 " We can bide here for thee," the sergeant suggested. 
 
 " Nay, it is not necessary," replied Kiamil. " Ride 
 on ; and thou canst water the horses while waiting for 
 me." 
 
 When the men had left, the aga turned without delay, 
 and rode down the slope into the hollow. Reaching the 
 steeper descent which ended in the ravine and chasm, 
 and where the loose fragments of rocks and stones made 
 perilous footing for the horseman, he dismounted, not 
 disinclined to stretch his legs after his long gallop, and, 
 passing the bridle over his arm, led the faithful mare the 
 remainder of the way. 
 
 Had she been able to speak, how many a strange and 
 evil adventure into which she had been dragged by her 
 master could the sagacious creature have told of! But 
 those Arab horses, it must be admitted, come very near 
 to speaking. 
 
 The immunity from punishment, or even censure,
 
 480 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 which hitherto had marked the career of Kiamil Aga 
 had only encouraged him in the indulgence of more fla 
 grant excesses. He flattered himself that his cleverness 
 and adroitness would continue to extricate him from 
 adverse consequences, as they had in the past; and he 
 grew more careless, and plunged deeper and deeper into 
 the Stygian mire. 
 
 Finding that the feet of the mare made altogether too 
 sonorous and too loud a clatter among the multitudinous 
 flakes and chips of rock that strewed the defile, which 
 might prove dangerous to his purpose, as it seemed as 
 though the very stones were crying out, he fastened her 
 securely in a sheltered spot, determined to proceed alone, 
 and cautiously reconnoitre, not knowing how many per 
 sons he might encounter in this remote spot. Notwith 
 standing his ardent temperament, the captain rarely 
 dispensed with a. certain amount of caution in his pro 
 ceedings. Perhaps it might be said to be the point at 
 which his conscience principally manifested itself. 
 
 At last he turned the corner of the jutting cliff, 
 which gave a full view of the narrow canon-like glen, 
 with the stream running through, and Hilwe seated by 
 the water. 
 
 As he saw and recognised her, his whole attitude 
 changed. He drew nearer to her, slowly, as it appeared 
 to him, but with an eagerness which was so intense, 
 he felt an influence go out of him, precede him, and 
 take possession of her in advance. He breathed deep. 
 He trembled. His eyes, fixed upon her, dilated and 
 brightened. He was transfigured. 
 
 "It is she, the beautiful Hilwe. I knew her the 
 moment I saw her," he said. 
 
 Hilwe had felt that indescribable sensation which 
 we all, at one time or other, have experienced in some 
 slight degree, the impression of the presence or 
 approach of another; but had put forth an effort to 
 counteract it, and dismiss it, as unworthy of accept 
 ance, she had been so free from intrusion ever since 
 her abode there. She even resisted the impulse to 
 raise her eyes and look, with the superstition that this 
 would bring what she dreaded.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 481 
 
 So absorbed was she by her conflicting thoughts, she 
 rather felt than noticed the young officer s approach. 
 Nor did she perceive him till his shadow almost fell 
 upon her, and he stood before her, in all the insinuat 
 ing attractiveness for which he was noted. 
 
 He drew closer with great gentleness and courtesy. 
 
 His manner was almost modest. 
 
 If anything, he was more fascinating than ever. He 
 had gained in weight, which was an improvement to 
 his figure. A more masculine fulness and a finer 
 muscular development distinguished him; while a 
 deeper bronze upon his cheek added the finishing touch 
 to his most prepossessing exterior. His frequent exer 
 cise in the open air had brought this result. He was 
 dressed with his usual care and pride. His shapely 
 limbs, of which he was so vain, were luxuriously encased 
 in rich and perfectly-fitting uniform, which revealed 
 him to the best advantage. All this was apparent at a 
 glance. 
 
 He saluted her with an accomplished grace, a blend 
 ing of the military and the courtly that was almost 
 reassuring; and, without thinking, she returned his 
 salutation in her unaffected natural manner. 
 
 How smooth and refined were his motions, his words, 
 and his actions ! 
 
 He continued to speak kindly; and then, expressing 
 his surprise at finding her in that wild and lonely 
 place, offered to conduct her to her home or to some 
 safe abode. 
 
 At this she only shook her head. 
 
 Finally he protested his love for her: 
 
 " Ever since I first saw thee, thou hast been in my 
 mind," he said. "I love thee with my whole soul. 
 Wilt thou not have compassion on me, and return my 
 devotion? " 
 
 He spoke with such vehemence, such animated 
 fervour and earnestness, his words had that genuine 
 ring of feeling which goes far with woman. 
 
 "Wilt thou not speak?" he continued. "Can I 
 not move thee? Why dost thou harden thy heart 
 against me ? " 
 
 3
 
 482 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 She was greatly alarmed. She had not attempted to 
 reply, but remained silent, through embarrassment and 
 fear. 
 
 Looking around, in the direction of where she had 
 left her child, she suddenly sprang to her feet, and 
 made a determined effort to escape. 
 
 " Ah, no, no ! thou must not fly. Thou wouldst not 
 treat me so badly," he said, catching her in his arms. 
 " Have I not told thee that I love thee ? I would do 
 thee no harm, believe me." 
 
 " Let me go, I beseech of thee ! " she pleaded. 
 "How canst thou behave so treacherously?" 
 
 She struggled to free herself; but he held her all the 
 more tightly. 
 
 "Nay; I have thee now," he said exultantly, a 
 triumphant smile parting his lips and lighting up his 
 face. " I will not let thee go. Thou canst not escape 
 me. It is useless for thee to struggle." 
 
 The only excuse he had, if excuse there can be, was 
 that he passionately loved her. 
 
 " Hast thou no pity ? Act not so foolishly. Knowest 
 thou not I am another s?" 
 
 " Ah, I count that as naught ! Thy lover hath for 
 saken thee, and gone into a far country. Hath he not 
 been false to thee? Hath he not taken to him other 
 wives, of the strange women of the land ? The Greek 
 women are fair to look upon, and wily. They have 
 golden hair like the sunbeams and eyes blue as the 
 heavens, such as men like Hassan love. And, since, 
 hath he not been slain in battle? Yea, thou mayst 
 believe it. Is it not so reported to us? Thou shalt 
 never see his face again." 
 
 Hilwe shrieked with horror and grief as she heard 
 the fatal words. 
 
 "Nor is it as though thou hadst been his widow," he 
 continued. " Why shouldst thou mourn for him ? And 
 how couldst thou, in any case, prefer such an one to 
 me, his master, who am better every way, I who 
 love thee so, I who am here present with thee? 
 What is a dead man to me ? " 
 
 " Release me, if thou hast any kindness or love
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 483 
 
 for me, as thou sayest them hast," she besought of 
 him. 
 
 " Ah, that is why I cannot ! " 
 
 He pressed his face against hers as he spoke. 
 
 She cried aloud and screamed, as she tried to deliver 
 herself from him. 
 
 In the uninhabited, empty place her cries were lost. 
 The air seemed to dissipate them, or drink them up. 
 There was none to hear them, or to help her, as he 
 plainly told her. 
 
 Her struggles were fast exhausting her. 
 
 " Canst thou not return my love, or show me a little 
 kindness? " he asked, as he commenced to kiss her. 
 
 In a moment, with an effort that was as sublime in 
 its purity, grace and strength as it was unexpected of 
 the captain of zaptiehs, she thrust him from her. 
 Taken unawares, he staggered backward ; and she, 
 bounding across the rocks, reached the spot where her 
 child lay sleeping. 
 
 Snatching the boy from the ground, she slung him 
 over her shoulders, and then turned to make her way 
 to where the pile of stones gave access to the steps or 
 notches cut in the rock leading to the lower shelf of 
 the cliff. 
 
 But the aga, quickly recovering himself, had fol 
 lowed her, and was already between her and the place 
 of ascent. 
 
 Without a second s hesitation, she began climbing 
 the cliff where she stood. 
 
 To attempt this would have seemed folly to her at 
 any other time, but now it was her only hope of escape ; 
 as she well knew that, upon the ground, encumbered 
 with her child, the aga could easily outrun and capture 
 her. 
 
 He was too full of his purpose, too thoroughly 
 driven of his passion to give way very easily. Head 
 long he went, determined to gain his end, regardless 
 of risks or consequences. The obstacles he had met 
 with, and his former thwarting, only incited him the 
 more fiercely to conquer now. It was now or never 
 with him.
 
 484 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 The climbing an apparently inaccessible height to 
 escape her pursuer, her little child fastened on her 
 back, his weight dragging about her neck, the 
 horror of it all, who can describe it? Clinging with 
 the last remnant of her strength to the scant mould and 
 the stunted vegetation growing out of it, and the rock 
 they at wide intervals partially covered, almost despair 
 ing of escape, the beads of moisture, like the damp 
 of death, gathering on her brow, her spent fingers slip 
 ping from their hold, her heart failing her, it was 
 like some fearful nightmare, the terror that overwhelms 
 in a dream of darkness, rather than reality. Yet is the 
 great terror very real to such as find themselves within 
 its shadowy power. 
 
 The captain had rushed in pursuit of Hilvve up the 
 steep ascent, and, in his fierce excitement, paused not 
 at the cliff, but began at once climbing after her. 
 
 His heavy cavalry boots were, however, an encum 
 brance to him, and he had more than one severe slip 
 from his insecure foothold. 
 
 Hilwe, with her naked feet and her life-long expe 
 rience in clambering up the rocky acclivities of the hill- 
 country, had decidedly the advantage of him in this 
 respect. But she was weighted and handicapped with 
 her child. Besides, the higher she went the more 
 difficult became the ascent, the rock presenting scarce 
 a vantage-point for the hand to grasp, or the foot to 
 rest upon. The smoothness and steepness of the upper 
 part of the cliff were the obstacles he counted on to 
 arrest her progress, and deliver her into his power. 
 
 Agile and capable as was the aga, his impetuosity 
 on this occasion was an impediment to him. He felt 
 so sure of accomplishing his purpose, he was not as 
 careful in the means to that end as he should have 
 been. Flushed, ablaze and radiant with his anticipated 
 triumph, on the verge of victory as he thought him 
 self, a mis-step brought him to grief. He failed in 
 his footing, slipped in a violent effort to recover him 
 self, and completely lost his hold. He fell to the 
 bottom of the cliff, as lead sinks in water. 
 
 The dull, heavy thud told the story. Though the
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 485 
 
 height from which he fell was not great, his late acces 
 sion of avoirdupois had not helped to meliorate the 
 force of the concussion. He had received a serious 
 shock and was considerably hurt. But to be mortified, 
 degraded in the presence of a woman, to fail where she 
 was succeeding, that was worst of all, that was unen 
 durable to the vanity of the pretentious young officer. 
 
 His fine feathers had been ruffled, his elegant raiment 
 soiled and discomposed, his handsome limbs bruised; 
 but he would not let her perceive any of this, or a 
 particle of what he suffered. 
 
 He rushed upon his object, like one insensate, and 
 again attacked the cliff. He climbed with fiercer 
 energy, the frenzied passion in him setting him on 
 fire. 
 
 "Think not thou shalt escape me. I shall have thee 
 yet," he shouted, as he approached her. 
 
 He was growing savage. 
 
 His square and solid shoulders heaved; his eyes 
 blazed; his stalwart legs braced themselves confi 
 dently; he breathed hard and deep through his dilated 
 nostrils, as he steadied himself and pressed close to 
 the ribbed, unfeeling precipice, as though it were 
 something to love. He felt no more the bruises that 
 were upon his body. A proud joy warmed his heart. 
 His life leaped ungovernable within him, while he 
 tried to be discreet. 
 
 "Ah, I shall take care and be sure, this time!" he 
 muttered between his full-drawn breathings. "My 
 good fortune will not forsake me now. I shall be 
 successful." 
 
 Her case was desperate. He certainly was close 
 upon her. She dared not look down. She had reached 
 the smooth part of the rocky wall, where the beetling 
 crag overhung so forbiddingly; and finding the hope 
 lessness of further effort in that direction, had gradu 
 ally worked to the left, with the intent to reach, if 
 possible, the shallow extremity of the upper ledge, and 
 so gain her cave of refuge. 
 
 "If I were only there," she said, "I could defend 
 myself against attack, and afterwards escape."
 
 486 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 No wonder that her head became dizzy ! No wonder 
 that her heart failed her! But still she clung to the 
 rock and the crumbling soil almost parting from the 
 rock, and heroically struggled to evade him. 
 
 Love, hope, fear hope that lost itself in fear, and 
 became distracted and bewildered, and despairing, till 
 it could no longer be recognised as hope urged her 
 with a blind instinct, even when her mind trembled, 
 and she scarce knew what she did. 
 
 Oh, the agonised clutching! Were her tired and 
 numb fingers slipping? her strength becoming ex 
 hausted? Had she let go? Was she falling down 
 ward, downward, with inevitable destruction beneath ? 
 Her head grew confused, and she believed this, till 
 she felt herself sink through the parting air, expecting 
 every instant that her child and herself would be 
 dashed in pieces on the jagged rocks below. 
 
 Was she still clinging to the brittle soil, the scanty 
 herbage, the wrinkled rock? 
 
 She was nearing the end of her strength. All would 
 soon be over. She could endure no more. 
 
 " O Allah, help ! " 
 
 The words escaped in a wail from her parched throat. 
 The shallow fissile mould parted and broke away com 
 pletely. Her fingers still clutched a handful of it as 
 with a death grasp, and with closed eyes she sank, she 
 fell. She was lost. She knew no more. . . . 
 
 She knew no more. But it was only for a little while. 
 She expected to be dashed in pieces with her child. As 
 she sank through the air she grew faint, and resigned 
 herself to the inevitable. 
 
 How much may be included in a second of time ! 
 
 She had done what she could. She was sacrificing 
 her life for her honour and her child. All was over. 
 Now the action had passed from her into the greater 
 power, the Supreme, as men speak and reason. 
 Yet is it not in this we ever live and move and have our 
 being? Is not all Nature a manifestation of that power? 
 
 In the midst of that deathly descent she felt herself 
 suddenly seized, as in the grasp of a mighty hand. She 
 was stayed, uplifted, supported. It was like a
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 487 
 
 miracle. As she timidly opened her eyes she at once 
 perceived her deliverance. A sharp, projecting spur of 
 the rock, not far below the level of the first ledge or 
 shelf of the cliff, had in that fearful plunge caught her 
 raiment and held her from destruction. 
 
 Her first impulse was to see that her child was safe 
 and uninjured. There was a startled look in his eyes ; 
 but, not knowing what the trouble meant, the brave boy 
 was not greatly frightened, and did not cry, being soon 
 reassured by her consoling words. 
 
 She was in such a position that with care she could 
 easily reach the ledge, while through the smooth sur 
 face of the intervening rock she was out of immediate 
 danger from the aga. 
 
 Freeing her dress, she gradually worked her way to 
 the point of escape indicated. 
 
 But the aga, instantly anticipating her intention and 
 knowing he could not reach her from his present posi 
 tion, commenced to descend the face of the cliff, a move 
 ment deftly and rapidly accomplished by him. 
 
 " She is giving me much trouble, but I shall have her 
 in the end," he said. 
 
 Having gained the ledge, Hilwe soon ran along it, to 
 the recess in which she at first had found the ladder, and 
 where for security she always hid it when leaving, that it 
 might not attract attention to her retreat. 
 
 Meanwhile, the captain s quick glance had discerned 
 the piled stones and the steps leading to the ledge, 
 which he was not slow in using. By the time Hilwe had 
 fitted the ladder in place and was half-way up it, Kiamil 
 was at its foot. How quick were his strides to reach it ! 
 Plow eagerly he stepped up the rounds of the rudely- 
 constructed thing, that bent and swayed beneath his 
 weight ! 
 
 "I have tracked thee to thy den," he said. "After 
 all, I have conquered. There is no escape for thee now." 
 
 A look of immeasurable satisfaction lighted his face. 
 
 She had barely reached the top of the ladder and the 
 upper ledge where was her cave when the determined 
 young officer had covered nearly two-thirds of the way 
 in pursuit.
 
 488 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Hilwe had seen him coming, and had hoped to have 
 gained the top and drawn up the ladder before he had 
 put his foot upon it; but he had been too quick for 
 that. Now an awful extremity, utterly unanticipated, 
 faced her. 
 
 She called to him, warning him not to follow. But 
 she only heard his mocking laugh in reply. 
 
 " Desist ! " she cried ; " come no farther, or thy life is 
 in danger ! " 
 
 She shook the ladder threateningly, and partly lifted 
 the upper end from the notches in which it rested. 
 
 " Ah, thou wouldst not harden thy heart against me ! 
 Thou wouldst not treat me so cruelly, and only because 
 I love thee ! " 
 
 As he spoke, he looked up smiling in her face. How 
 confident he was ! He enjoyed the position, and did 
 not think she would carry out her threat. 
 
 One of the rounds had given way and snapped beneath 
 him, which had delayed him. 
 
 " Believe me believe what I tell thee," she said. " If 
 thou comest one step farther, I shall fling the ladder 
 backward. Thy life is in peril." 
 
 " Thou knowest I shall have thee. I am determined 
 to make thee love me," was his warm and easy answer. 
 " Nay, I believe that at heart thou lovest me." 
 
 Again he laughed, that self-indulgent laugh. 
 
 "Wilt thou not go back ere it is too late? " 
 
 " Ah, no, no ! Thou wouldst not hurt me." 
 
 There was a tone of defiance as well as of cajolery in 
 his voice, and he continued to ascend. He was now very 
 near the top. 
 
 " Then thy blood be upon thine own head," she said. 
 " Thou hast driven me to extremity. God help me ! I 
 have naught else left to do." 
 
 Her face was ashy pale. The lines of her features 
 grew rigid with pain. 
 
 She pushed out the head of the ladder with what she 
 thought all her might. He was so near the top it re 
 quired more exertion to move it than she had supposed 
 necessary. He had counted on this, and tried to seize 
 her as she bent from above.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 489 
 
 Then she put forth additional strength, fearing it was 
 not enough. 
 
 Out, out went the ladder, farther, farther, still 
 farther. 
 
 The expression of mingled horror and rage that 
 gathered in his eyes had not yet blotted out the 
 smile that lingered on his lips. A cry for mercy was 
 strangled in his throat. He clung to the ladder in a 
 frenzy of despair, but spoke not a word. 
 
 For an instant that senseless thing of wood stood 
 erect, wavering, as if animate, and undecided which way 
 it would elect to fall. Then it toppled over, and plunged 
 with a crash into the gorge. 
 
 The captain of zaptiehs lay broken, maimed, and 
 senseless at the foot of the cliff. 
 
 A groan of utter misery burst from Hilwe s lips as she 
 covered her face with her hands and sank backward upon 
 the narrow ledge. 
 
 That day had been to her as a hired assassin who comes 
 to a man with smiling face, and asks, " Is it well with 
 thee, my brother?" and stabs him under the fifth rib. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV 
 
 AS Hilwe, gaining sufficient courage, looked down 
 from the rocky ledge of her safety, and saw the 
 aga, far below, in that most bitter extremity, an un 
 speakable horror possessed her. 
 
 The strength which had carried her through her dire 
 ordeal was expended. She was weak as water. 
 
 She wondered at what she had done. She could 
 scarcely believe it. It seemed the act of another. 
 
 Had she murdered a man? Had she taken life 
 even to preserve her honour? 
 
 His half-strangled cry for mercy was ringing in her 
 ears. The stain of blood was upon her. 
 
 It was impossible but that a feeling of pity and remorse 
 mingled with the rush, the torrent of grief, clamour and 
 reproach which inundated her soul.
 
 490 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 There he lay, crushed and dying, that proud hand 
 some young man, late so full of life and energy. His 
 crime had been love for her sinful love, it is true. But 
 how terrible had been his punishment ! Was it not ex 
 piatory? Is not all sin of every kind and shape sin 
 of far deeper dye than his, capable of expurgation, 
 amenable to sacrificial atonement? Is it not a dogma of 
 human nature and of all religions the Egyptian, 
 Pagan, Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan? 
 
 True, in his case there had been no repentance, nor 
 place for regret. In his condemnation and punishment, 
 in which she was judge and executioner, there was no 
 room for his choice or interference, or, at least, not such 
 as he accepted. But retributive justice had been so 
 swift, so sure, so thorough and so terrible, it carried with 
 it a certain commiseration for the guilty. 
 
 When the end had been reached, and all was over, 
 and she was saved, the woman s heart melted relented. 
 She felt sorry for him. She would have gone down, and 
 ministered to him, and done what she could to ease his 
 last moments, bringing him water to cool his fevered 
 state ; but she dared not. Something warned her not to 
 venture, to beware beware ! He was not to be 
 trusted. Might it not be that his predominant passion 
 would gather force at the close? It was even possible 
 his condition was not as serious as it seemed to be. 
 
 " No, I dare not go down, or near him. As it is, I 
 have delayed too long already. Some of his com 
 panions may come here seeking him, and find me and 
 my child." 
 
 The thought was sufficient to add another and the 
 final spur to her fears. 
 
 She fled, as one demented, from the narrow gorge in 
 which she had for so many days dwelt securely and 
 unmolested. 
 
 Pursued by the phantom image of the dead or dying 
 aga, she saw him, prostrate, either still and cold, or in 
 the mortal agony, writhing in torture, drawing up his 
 limbs to him in the sharpness of death the pang and 
 the spasm that let out the life. For she was sure that if 
 he was not dead, he could not long survive.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 491 
 
 How grand, how awful he looked, lifted up on that 
 scaffold-like ladder, facing her, before he went down; 
 casting that glance of silent reproach at her, for what 
 seemed an eternity ! She saw the lingering smile of 
 assurance on his lips pass into horror and rage. She 
 could not bear it. She fled and knew not whither. To 
 escape to get away from this terror and the place 
 that held it was her one intolerant desire. 
 
 But could she escape it? Could she get away from 
 it? 
 
 It went with her. It ever remained with her, as she 
 soon found. 
 
 " I have slain a man in his prime, in the fulness of his 
 hope. I have laid low a strong man, in the flush of his 
 promise." 
 
 These were the thoughts and the words which con 
 tinually haunted her, and made themselves felt, even 
 through the overwhelming agony of grief that had fallen 
 upon her when the aga had told her of Hassan s death 
 and false-heartedness. 
 
 Through desolate places that she knew not, and where 
 the very sky looked down on her with hard unfriendly 
 eye that would not pity but condemned, she wandered 
 on on, lost, despised, forsaken. 
 
 As she looked back, when she dared to look back, it 
 seemed as if she had always been grieving and wander 
 ing. As if there was never a time in which she had not 
 been a fugitive. As if the very ground she trod on 
 hated and loathed her, and, casting her forth, would 
 have none of her, and urged her onward. 
 
 " Away with thee ! " it cried. " Away from me, mur 
 deress ! What have I to do with such as thou art? " 
 
 And the night was no blacker than the day, for it was 
 all night with her. And the day brought no light, for 
 the darkness of her soul shut it out from her.
 
 492 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI 
 
 WHEN hour after hour passed by, and there was 
 no appearance of the aga, his men began to 
 be uneasy at his delay ; and more than once Assad went 
 up on the look-out point of the village, where they 
 awaited him, to reconnoitre, and try if he could not 
 catch a glimpse of his errant captain. 
 
 At first they had joked about it, and indulged in many 
 questionable pleasantries at the aga s expense, after 
 their manner. 
 
 " The aga is enjoying himself. He is having a fine 
 time," was Assad s conjecture, well founded, as he sup 
 posed, from former experiences. 
 
 They had watered the horses, and, as it grew later, 
 had fed them out of the peasants store of provender. 
 They, too, had their own inclinations to gratify, and 
 while they waited did not fail to amuse themselves in 
 such ways as the place afforded. They smoked, they 
 told stories, played at dice, draughts, or other games of 
 chance, drank coffee, and when they grew hungry, ate of 
 the refreshments which were liberally provided for them. 
 To gain the goodwill of the zaptiehs, and with the hope 
 of escaping plunder and worse treatment, the fellaheen 
 will give of their best to these terrors of the Sultan. But 
 fear, not love, is the governing motive. 
 
 Assad at length awoke to the conviction that some 
 thing serious must have occurred to detain the aga, and 
 taking one of the men with him, set out to retrace the 
 way to where they had left Kiamil. 
 
 They carefully watched for any indications which 
 would show that, unknown to them, he had returned, 
 but finding none, rode down, through the hollow, into 
 the ravine. 
 
 Here the loud whinnying of the gray mare attracted 
 their attention to her. This was the first evidence they 
 had found of the aga s presence. 
 
 The mare was fastened just as her master had left her ; 
 and from appearances had long been a prisoner. It
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 493 
 
 gave the devoted Assad a shock, fearing some accident 
 had happened to his chief, between whom and himself 
 more than an ordinary attachment existed. 
 
 " Surely evil hath befallen him, or he would not delay 
 his coming," he murmured. 
 
 He owed much to the aga, who from the first had 
 taken a liking to him and favoured him ; and it was 
 through this favouritism Assad had obtained his appoint 
 ment in the zaptiehs, and finally his promotion to the 
 rank of sergeant. 
 
 He was the aga s bosom companion, his familiar, the 
 promoter, and to a large extent the sharer, of his pleas 
 ures and escapades. 
 
 If his superior had escaped the odium of being noto 
 riously reckless and dissolute, it was to be attributed 
 largely to Assad s management, and the secretiveness 
 and deceit habitual to a people whose simplest acts 
 have an atmosphere of stealth and cunning about 
 them. 
 
 It is their nature. They can no more help it than 
 can the tiger or anaconda. The Oriental loves mys 
 tery even where there is no use for it ; he loves it for 
 itself alone. He enters into an intrigue with gusto. 
 He battens on chicanery. Therefore is it that evil con 
 struction is placed by him on the most innocent proce 
 dure of the European and the stranger that is within 
 his gates. He attributes to the sojourner of England 
 or America the proclivities, designs and actions that 
 he himself would be guilty of under like opportunities. 
 
 After all, considering what the world is, this may not 
 be thought so very extraordinary. 
 
 Too much of all this looseness had pertained to the 
 history of Kiamil and Assad not to have had its effect. 
 Each had entered so far into the life of the other as to 
 be generally requisite to what had become the happi 
 ness of both. 
 
 It was with no little concern that Assad, searching 
 for his captain on every side, descended deeper and 
 deeper into the ravine, that now seemed to him the 
 Valley of the Shadow of Azrael. At length he caught a 
 glimpse of the water, as it fell with a melancholy
 
 494 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 sound, and near it saw a confused patch of dark blue, 
 relieved against the reddish yellow of the stones. 
 
 This last, as he drew nearer, took the shape of a man. 
 It was the crushed form of the aga. He saw this at a 
 glance, and hurried forward with the worst forebodings. 
 
 "The aga is dead ! " he exclaimed to his companion. 
 " Did I not say evil had befallen him ? " 
 
 " It may not be so bad," was the reply. " Perhaps he 
 is asleep or resting." 
 
 " Ah no ! He would not look like that ! " cried Assad 
 passionately. "Nor would he be resting at this time." 
 
 A fall so desperate as that sustained by the captain 
 could only be expected to result in the most serious 
 consequences. As he approached the ground in that 
 awful plunge, the shattered ladder turned and rebounded 
 beneath him, breaking his fall, and, in some slight 
 degree, saved his tossed and dishonoured body from 
 the worst effects of his disaster. It seemed to sympa 
 thise with him, and to have mercy upon him. 
 
 He lay motionless at the foot of the cliff, stunned 
 and bruised and broken. He had been knocked sense 
 less, but he was not dead. 
 
 Presently his eyelids half unclosed; and, becoming 
 conscious of the pain that was racking him, he slowly 
 drew up one leg, then stretched it out to its full length, 
 in agony. His other leg lay unmoved, as though be 
 numbed. It was fractured at the thigh. He made an 
 effort to rise or sit up, but fell back, helpless, moan 
 ing and gasping for breath. 
 
 He opened his eyes gradually, as if wearied. He 
 looked around him. At once he remembered every 
 thing. Again he tried to spring to his feet, a flash of 
 rage and hate flaming from his eyes. But he sank into 
 the collapsed heap from which all his passion could not 
 raise him. 
 
 He was furious, demoniac. He cursed, he swore, he 
 vowed vengeance, and threatened murder. 
 
 To think that a woman should have outwitted him, 
 have overwhelmed and conquered him nay, might end 
 in having killed him ah, that was the bitterness and 
 cruel humiliation of it ! How he hated her, when he
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 495 
 
 thought of it ! At the moment of victory, at the very 
 summit of his hopes, to be cast down and destroyed ! 
 His ungovernable passion raged within him and tore 
 him. He foamed at the mouth, and gnashed his teeth, 
 while he hurled his profanity. It was horrible, all the 
 more so because it was with great difficulty and distress 
 he drew his breath, and he did not know but that each 
 breath might be his last. 
 
 But there was none besides himself to hear. Hilwe, 
 the innocent occasion of his wrath, was far beyond his 
 reach, every moment sending her farther on her way, 
 escaped in flight from the scene of her heroic conflict. 
 
 Ever, from olden time, had it been held in that land 
 a peculiar disgrace for a man to be slain or discomfited 
 by a woman. In the days of the Judges, it is told of 
 Abimelech, in his wild warfare, how he encamped 
 against Thebez and took it. And how, when he came 
 to the strong tower within the city, " and fought against 
 it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it 
 with fire ... a certain woman cast a piece of millstone 
 upon Abimelech s head, and all to brake his skull. 
 Then he called hastily unto the young man his armour- 
 bearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay 
 me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And 
 his young man thrust him through, and he died." 
 
 This was the feeling that stirred the soul of Kiamil 
 Aga. Never had a man felt more keenly the disgrace 
 which had overtaken him. The ignominy of it had 
 entered into his soul. 
 
 He cast his eyes down upon his battered frame, the 
 body he had taken so much pride in, and he groaned 
 and shuddered. 
 
 " I am less than a man. I am no man. I shall be 
 left here to expire, to die by the hand of a woman. 
 There is no help for me. Why is not Assad here ? 
 Assad who professed such love for me, and for whom I 
 did so much why doth he not seek me? Alas! I 
 told him not to come; I ordered him to await my 
 coming. And now, when they find me I shall be num 
 bered with the dead." 
 
 So spake the aga, in his weak and crushed state.
 
 496 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Lying exposed to the sun, a burning thirst assailed 
 him. It was the more unbearable because, before his 
 eyes, the limpid water, though in greatly reduced vol 
 ume, streamed over the rocks, and fell into the pleasant 
 verdure-encircled pools, as it passed on its way to the 
 Ghor, where it emptied itself into the greater stream 
 through that deep-cut fissure, a shallow, marshy stretch 
 of land at its mouth reddened as by a wine-stain with 
 the pink blossoms of multitudes of oleanders. 
 
 "Oh, the waste of it! " he cried; "and I cannot get 
 one drop to cool my parched tongue." 
 
 He heard the tinkling treble of the water as it 
 spilled itself from ledge to ledge, in a thin wavering 
 column, and he could bear his craving for it no 
 longer. 
 
 "I shall make another effort to get to it," he said. 
 "I might as well die that way as to lie and slowly 
 perish in agony." 
 
 He gathered his strength for the exertion, and 
 dragged himself a little way on his face and hands. It 
 was but a little way. Exhausted, he slipped and lost 
 his balance, and, with a cry of excruciating pain, he 
 found himself rolling down the slope, every movement 
 being one of torture. 
 
 "Surely this will finish me," he thought. "It will 
 knock the miserable remnant of my life out of me." 
 
 The shock, no doubt, was a severe one to a man in 
 his state; but as he reached the level, and lay very 
 still and deathlike for awhile, drawing every breath 
 with increased distress, he heard a soft rippling sound 
 close by him. He had rolled so near the shrunken 
 stream he could dip his hand into it. 
 
 Feeble as he was, as soon as he perceived the water, 
 he did not delay to moisten his lips and to drink. It 
 was like new life to him ; yet, so weak was he, that, to 
 his great shame, the effort overcame him, and he sank 
 back wearied and motionless. 
 
 At this moment it was that Assad saw him, and, 
 thinking he was dead, with sad heart hastened to his 
 side. 
 
 Great was the relief of the sergeant to find himself
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 497 
 
 mistaken, and that the breath of life was still within 
 the prostrate man. 
 
 With the aid of his companion, the sergeant, having 
 done everything in his power for the injured aga, 
 brought him, with as kindly care as possible, to the 
 village, where he was made comfortable in the best 
 house though poor was the best. 
 
 A surgeon had been immediately summoned from 
 Jerusalem, and nothing was left undone to contribute to 
 the recovery of the most unfortunate of zaptiehs. 
 
 In addition to his other injuries, he was pronounced 
 injured internally. But he was young and strong, and 
 soon was progressing favourably. 
 
 Throughout he had maintained an absolute silence 
 as to the cause of his accident, from which nothing 
 could move him. The most pressing inquiry had been 
 able only to draw from him the statement that, in 
 climbing the cliffs he had lost his footing and fallen. 
 
 He had not ceased, from the day he was deposited 
 within it, to the day he left it, to complain of the 
 poor accommodations of the village house. His gay, 
 sybarite life had but ill prepared him for the enduring 
 of an abode barren of the most ordinary comforts of 
 civilisation. 
 
 As soon as it could safely be done, he was removed 
 to one of the hospitals in Jerusalem, where he com 
 pleted his convalescence, and where, in the semi- 
 religious atmosphere of his surroundings, he had 
 presented him a good opportunity for repentance, had 
 he been so disposed. But the aga was not of that 
 kind. 
 
 The decided limp which for many a day afterward, 
 to his sore mortification, marked the gait of the vain 
 captain, was but an outward indication of his inward 
 and spiritual condition. 
 
 It was not easy for him to turn from the courses 
 which to him were paths of pleasantness. For all the 
 judgments that had befallen him, he repented not. 
 He mended not his ways. Indeed, he rather felt as if 
 the Supreme Power owed him a balance, duly credited 
 to him in the Book of Life, for his enforced abstinence
 
 498 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 during his illness; and he flung out into extra and 
 new indulgences with the intention of making up for 
 lost time, and exhausting his credit on the Great 
 Register. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII 
 
 HILWE was as one who is lost to herself. 
 She was bewildered with the horror which encom 
 passed her. 
 
 She was as the spoil which the remorseless pale war 
 rior gathereth after the battle, then casteth from him as 
 worthless. 
 
 She had become as a speck upon the horizon s verge. 
 
 By day and by night she had fled, nor knew she if 
 they were many or few days that had cast her trembling 
 shadow upon the parched ground, where there was no 
 familiar thing, or that which is comforting or beautiful 
 to detain her, or bid her rest. 
 
 Wandering wandering, to be always wandering ! 
 Oh, the dread of it ! As she looked about her she saw 
 all the surrounding objects were moving with her the 
 whole world was wandering ! Nothing was steadfast. 
 
 Her life was weary for the heaviness of the thought 
 and the woe that oppressed her ; and ever she said : - 
 
 " I have slain a man ! I have wounded to death and 
 laid low a strong man ! He was fair and glad, and full 
 of warmth and love. The cup of joy was at his lips. He 
 imagined not the evil that was coming upon him. His 
 life was in my hand to kill or to spare ; and I overthrew 
 him. I parted spirit and flesh. I drove out the soul 
 from him. He has died in his lust. He has perished in 
 his sin. His life and his love and that which was pleasant 
 to him are passed and gone. He will know them no more 
 forever. Ah, woe is me ! Did I not make myself as 
 the vengeance of God, that is irresponsible that cannot 
 be questioned? I, who am but a weak erring woman, I 
 who am but a poor fragment a shard of a broken and
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 499 
 
 rejected vessel how should I be as the Great All? 
 How should I seize the judgment of vindication to my 
 self, to exercise punishment and wrath upon him whom 
 I adjudged guilty? Have I not sinned in this? " 
 
 And it came to pass as another day broke upon her, 
 and she took no note of it, for day and night continued 
 as one to her, a sunless, moonless darkness, her feet be 
 gan to give way beneath her and the living burden she 
 bore the beautiful famishing child she carried upon 
 her back, innocently smiling in the face of death. 
 
 When she had gone a long way, nor thought about it 
 whether it was far or otherwise so lost was she 
 when so numbed she scarcely felt the gnawings of hun 
 ger, and knew not whether hours or days had passed 
 since her dread experience, she saw before her, in a 
 stripped field, an inclosure denuded of its harvest, what 
 seemed a deserted booth of withered boughs. 
 
 It was a lodge left in what had been a garden of 
 cucumbers and melons. For many a day had it been 
 forsaken of the watchers who during the season had 
 guarded the crop. It was desolate enough ; but the 
 grief and misery in her heart, looking through her eyes, 
 painted it in still more sombre and dreary colours. 
 
 " Yet is it not a refuge? " she said, wearily, feebly. 
 
 With the feeling that she was dying, the maternal in 
 stinct to save her child, if possible, rose strong in her, 
 paramount to everything else ; and she put forth the last 
 efforts of her failing strength to reach what seemed a 
 shelter poor as it might be. 
 
 It was too late. She had scarce crossed half the 
 length of the field, when she fell, exhausted. 
 
 All her anxiety hitherto had centred on her child to 
 save him ; but now that was departing from her. She 
 was too weak to make more than two or three ineffectual 
 efforts to regain her feet. With all her attempts she had 
 been able to stagger forward only a few steps. Each 
 time she had again fallen. 
 
 A nameless consciousness of desolation, sadness, 
 abandonment, misery that was what she was becom 
 ing. She was ceasing from herself, and merging into a 
 state devoid of all that makes life desirable.
 
 500 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Was it death? Was that rustling the footsteps of 
 Azrael? 
 
 She no longer noticed, as such, the objects that had 
 at first almost appalled her the dreary aspect of her 
 surroundings. The wilted, dead and dried vines that 
 trailed over the ground of that despoiled garden, the 
 shrivelled remains of broken gourds and stalks of melons 
 and other seared and withered plants whose fruits had 
 been gathered in, left upon her only a vague sense of 
 dejection and loss of that which was gone, and could 
 never be recalled. 
 
 "Am I not like unto them?" she felt rather than 
 said. 
 
 When, aweary of it, she closed her eyes, she could not 
 shut out the pain of it, for it was within her. 
 
 Near where she lay, a black beetle, the sacred scara- 
 baeus of the Egyptians, the species which they wor 
 shipped, and inscribed images of which they wore upon 
 their persons and placed with their dead, was rolling, 
 with all its energy, the pellet coated with clay contain 
 ing its eggs. Emblem of the god Chepera, or " Be- 
 comer " one who not only is the source of all life and 
 fertility, and has created all things, but who has pro 
 duced himself, and given birth to all the gods great 
 was its honour and worship. It toiled with head down, 
 and, pushing with its hind legs the precious sphere - a 
 miniature world the sun rolled it backwards to 
 wards the hole it had dug for its reception. It was its 
 last act before it should die. The mystic creature, apo 
 calyptic symbol, how much it meant to that augustly 
 religious venerable people, who, in the days that have 
 grown hoary, dwelt by the Nile, and built their stupen 
 dous temples of worship to everything, apotheosising 
 from the whole range of creation. As the sagacious in 
 sect rolled that perfect globe, utterly unconscious of the 
 divine honours which had been paid it, and of the em 
 blematic interpretation of its simple life, and only intent 
 on the perpetuation of its kind, did it not suggest the 
 thought of the parallel or similitude between it and this 
 poor mother in her extremity? 
 
 Having fallen the last time, Hilwe dragged herself
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 501 
 
 upon the ground, for a few feet farther, towards the 
 dilapidated lodge, and could no more. 
 
 The child began to cry. It was an unwonted sound 
 in that place. 
 
 Hilwe tried to soothe Talmai. But her throat was 
 parched, she could not form the words of comfort, and 
 the hoarse unnatural voice only made the boy cry 
 louder. 
 
 "Be still. Am I not with thee?" she struggled to 
 say. 
 
 There was a distinct rustling of the withered leaves of 
 the booth of more decided, crisper accent than that 
 caused by the shifting of the breeze and an apparition, 
 in the form of a man of, indeed, uncommon aspect, 
 stood before her. 
 
 Even in a land whose peasantry are so exempt from 
 elaborateness of dress as in Palestine, and where it 
 might be thought they have reduced raiment to the sim 
 plest quantity, the figure presented to her could hardly 
 have escaped remark and surprise. On opening lan 
 guidly her eyes, which for a moment she had closed, the 
 apparition was almost beside her, seeming to have ma 
 terialised from the surrounding air. She saw not the 
 man s approach. And well might she imagine, as she 
 did, that she had passed into the abode of spirits, and 
 that this was one of its inhabitants. 
 
 It was not alone the vesture of the man that made him 
 so peculiar, but his manner and general appearance. 
 
 He might be taken to be from between thirty-five to 
 forty years qf age, but doubtless looked older than he 
 really was. Of middle height, slender build, and spare 
 habit, his whole bearing had a singular self-possession 
 and gentle dignity about it which were at once apparent. 
 His thin face was ashy-pale, and his sympathetic blue 
 eyes had a leaden hue ; his light-brown hair hung long, 
 reaching towards his shoulders, being as untrimmed as 
 his pointed beard, which was of a like colour. The 
 entire effect was suggestive, as doubtless it was intended 
 to be, of the traditional appearance of the Nazarene. He 
 had no shoes upon his feet, no covering on his head. 
 The single garment he wore, if garment it could be
 
 502 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 called, seemed rather a scanty drapery of white cotton 
 than a piece of made-up apparel. 
 
 Strangest of all, this man was not an Oriental. He 
 was an American. 
 
 It may well be considered remarkable that a people so 
 eminently rational, and abounding in common-sense, 
 plain, practical, utilitarian, so restive under anything 
 approaching sentimentality, the useless, or effete, and 
 so critical of all others indulging in the inconsistent, 
 eccentric, or unreasonable, should give birth to so many 
 of that multiform genus of unstable mind known as 
 " crank." And the American " crank," especially when 
 of the religious species, is generally of the most exag 
 gerated type. 
 
 Yet it would be quite erroneous to suppose that this 
 peculiar field of religious enterprise in Palestine is occu 
 pied only by subjects from America. The English 
 come in a fair second, and the German and other 
 nationalities follow in goodly numbers. The attraction 
 is great, and effectively draws them. 
 
 But who is this American? And how comes he to be 
 here, and in this shape? 
 
 George Pelerin Crosslett, this mild-eyed recluse, was 
 a New-Englander, a descendant of one of the old colo 
 nial families. He was thus not only an American of 
 several generations, but a genuine Yankee. 
 
 The Crossletts had originally come from England, 
 where they had belonged to that greatly-to-be-respected 
 order, the landed gentry. They had their pedigree, 
 which traditionally traced them back to an ancestor who 
 had accompanied King Richard I. to Palestine, in the 
 Crusades. Their coat of arms was assigned to this 
 origin. The shield might be described as argent, three 
 cross-crosslets, gules, having a silver field, charged 
 with three red cross-crosslets, a cross-crosslet being, as 
 those versed in heraldry know, a cross having the three 
 upper ends terminating in three little crosses. The 
 arms therefore had a reference to the name, as well as 
 some slight resemblance to those of Jerusalem. The 
 crest, two palm-branches encircling an escallop-shell, the 
 pilgrim s badge, further pointed to crusader days, of
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 503 
 
 which the motto " Per crucem ad coronam " was held 
 to be additional confirmation. His second baptismal 
 name, Pelerin, was that of his mother s family, which 
 also claimed crusader descent, on more than one 
 ground. Pblerin is certainly the French for pilgrim; 
 and one must not be too inquisitive in such matters, 
 but must accept with a good grace all the rest of the 
 evidence, even though it were trivial, and fabulously 
 traditional. 
 
 In his happier days George Pelerin Crosslett was a 
 pleasant lighthearted young fellow with the usual 
 amount of animal spirits that fall to the share of 
 budding manhood. 
 
 Years passed by, bringing him varied experiences, 
 perhaps not always holy. Then came an unfortunate 
 love-affair. It left him an altered man. He became 
 moody, dreamy and brooding. 
 
 He could not shake off his despondency. To him, 
 the loss of the woman he loved was an irrepar 
 able fatality. Finally his grief assumed a religious 
 shape. 
 
 His family and friends had many an ill-advised joke 
 to gibe him with, by way of cheer, to rally him ; and 
 many an old musty proverb-store was ransacked and 
 levied on for his benefit. " There are more fish in the 
 sea than ever were caught," and such like, were made to 
 do duty repeatedly, with maddening effect. He bore 
 it like a martyr and a man. 
 
 But the expected rallying failed to appear. He 
 gradually became more pronounced in his beliefs, and 
 seemed to settle into a melancholic state, which began, 
 at length, to alarm his friends. They feared insanity 
 and suicide. The warm natural forces in him, which 
 should have gone forth in affection and love, found no 
 fruitage, nor even blossoming, but were checked, stunted 
 and blighted. 
 
 He began to see visions, and hear voices. Strange 
 and heretical religious views troubled him. Temptations 
 in various seductive guises assailed him. 
 
 As to these last, he considered them evidences of 
 saintship, and of Satan s desire to have him.
 
 504 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " Remember St. Anthony and St. Augustine," he 
 would say, " and how they were tempted." 
 
 He had been brought up in the doctrines and com 
 munion of the American Episcopal Church the fair and 
 devoted daughter of the grand old Anglican faith and 
 this should have had its usual restraining and salutary 
 power to aid and deliver. But he had allowed himself, 
 almost imperceptibly, to lapse away in belief and prac 
 tice, till he scarcely knew where he stood, driven about 
 by every wind of doctrine. He was like a shipwrecked 
 man. 
 
 Strangely superstitious notions, which fed on the most 
 trifling and inconsistent details, took possession of him. 
 
 He dwelt on the significance of his name, the symbols 
 of the coat of arms, and the traditions of the family 
 relating to the Holy Land and the Crusades. 
 
 " Am I not a crosslet a little cross? " he would say, 
 stretching out his arms. " Let me crucify upon it the 
 sinful affections." 
 
 He had manifestations, esoteric signs and wonders 
 of deeper significance; and the voices, interior, soft and 
 low, fitted for his ear alone, finally took on a definite and 
 positive purpose and aim. 
 
 " Go up to Palestine and to the Holy City," they 
 said. " There is work for thee to do there ; and thou 
 shalt be at hand for the consummation of all things." 
 
 Here was something tangible, on which he could 
 settle his disturbed and restless mind. 
 
 " Why should I not be a Crusader, as was more than 
 one of my ancestors? Is not the secret mark upon me? 
 Am I not called to the work to be a soldier of the 
 Cross? " 
 
 There was a candid childlike simplicity of faith in the 
 way he talked of these things. Alone in the forest and 
 fields, communing, in preparation for the work, he 
 seemed to have acquired the language of the solitary 
 places, the murmuring of Nature s voices in haunts apart 
 from man. There was a sweet yet mournful solemnity 
 in his tones as he spoke : 
 
 " Everywhere I looked I saw it," he said. "Not only 
 in myself, or on church spires, or surmounting the gables
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 505 
 
 of religious houses, but in the forest, where, on all 
 sides, the branches crossed in every form of perspective, I 
 saw the holy sign, the symbol of salvation. In the 
 vaulted firmament I beheld the stars make it, as they had 
 done for ages. Even in the meadows, with their sunshine 
 and their blossoms, when the winds of heaven blew over 
 them, like the blessed visitation of the Divine Spirit, 
 did I not see the grasses bow their heads, and cross their 
 slender fingers in the precious sign - the beloved, awful, 
 sublime recognition of the Crucified? Why should I 
 not consecrate myself with it? Let me make it upon 
 my breast, and wear it in my heart while I live ; and 
 when I die let my arms be folded in that form over my 
 bosom, and my feet be crossed like a true crusader 
 knight." 
 
 Thus he spoke, and thus he felt ; and in this spirit he 
 went up to Palestine and Jerusalem. 
 
 There he entered zealously into his work ; he taught 
 and preached, and lived an ascetic life, having stripped 
 himself, literally, of everything but bare necessaries. 
 
 If he was disappointed in some of the things he saw 
 there, or did not see there, he beheld sufficient to feed 
 and satisfy a mind as ecstatic and visionary as was his. 
 A little thing went a great way with him. His faith was 
 large ; and according to his faith it was unto him. 
 
 He dwelt with most satisfaction on the unchanged 
 topographical features of the land, the natural phe 
 nomena, and the manners and customs of the people 
 of the country. 
 
 " These surely are the same as when the Christ walked 
 here," he said. He was certain a light like that of the 
 Shekinah still lingered around the Temple site. 
 
 "Is not this the land of inspiration?" he exclaimed. 
 " Does not the voice of the prophets and the Holy One 
 of Israel still pulsate in the air? Where once he showed 
 his visible presence, will he not hear the cry of suppli 
 cation, and answer? will he not help and deliver as in 
 no other place?" 
 
 To Crosslett it was natural that the Jew and the 
 Moslem should believe that one prayer said within the 
 ancient walls was worth a thousand said elsewhere.
 
 506 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 He went with the Jews to that majestic fragment of 
 the Temple Enclosure, whose cyclopean blocks of stone 
 need no architect s authentication, the " wailing place " 
 of the outcast people, as near as they can venture to 
 the forbidden ground of the sanctum sanctorum, where 
 they raise their prayers and lamentations for their lost 
 glory ; and he wept and prayed with them : " How long, 
 O Lord? how long shall thy holy place be trampled 
 down of the Gentiles? " 
 
 As he beheld the sheep led to the slaughter led as 
 he had never seen it in any other country, the pathetic 
 significance of the scene touched him to the quick, as 
 he recalled the words of prophesy and their exalted 
 application: " He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; 
 and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he 
 not his mouth." He could never see the sight without 
 being penetrated afresh with its heartbreaking poignancy. 
 
 Nor could he pass the wheat-market in Jerusalem 
 without pausing in the open archways at the entrance, 
 and watching the merchants give " good measure," they 
 thus fulfilling, unwittingly, the words of the Master 
 whom he served : " Give, and it shall be given unto 
 you ; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, 
 and running over, shall men give into your bosom." 
 
 With renewed wonder he saw this each time literally 
 done. The peck-like measure is filled with wheat, which 
 is pressed down, and shaken in three different directions, 
 continual additions causing it to rise high above the rim 
 in a cone-like form. Pressed at the apex with the 
 knuckles, more grain is added, till it begins to run over; 
 when, if the purchaser is unprovided with a sack, the 
 measure is deftly lifted, and the contents are poured into 
 the bosom of his outer garment. This, being confined 
 by the girdle at his waist, is capable of holding a large 
 amount of such provender; indeed, it is the favourite 
 receptacle in the East for carrying any object which 
 may conveniently fit there, or for concealing anything 
 which the wearer may not wish to be seen, such as stolen 
 property, as too often happens. To this day, there are 
 in Jerusalem two kinds of measure the common or 
 ordinary, and the " good measure "advocated by Jesus.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 507 
 
 But, above most things, Crosslett was impressed by 
 the peculiar recurrent glows which succeed the sunsets 
 in the Holy City. To this wonderful radiance, to which 
 we have repeatedly referred, it is difficult to do justice 
 in a mere description. 
 
 When he saw the glorious sight repeated, evening 
 after evening, dying out and reviving, often till seven 
 times, it gave him pause, and made him consider. The 
 glow was more than bright. A red-gold ring of light, 
 as intense in the east as in the west, in the north as in 
 the south, encircled the entire heavens. The hoary 
 head of the ancient Holy City surrounded with this 
 annular glory, like that of a saint or martyr, was a 
 spectacle of unspeakable grandeur. It seemed Nature s 
 and God s canonisation of Jerusalem. 
 
 " Perhaps it is the sign of the Son of Man," mur 
 mured Crosslett "the light of the Shekinah with 
 drawn to the heavens from the desecrated temple." 
 
 Among the few in Jerusalem with whom Crosslett 
 became early acquainted was a Franciscan monk of the 
 name of Scherer. He had barely reached his prime, 
 and, as his name implied, he was German. In his re 
 ligious life, he had retained, unsoured and unspoiled, 
 the pleasant genial disposition with which he had been 
 born. Under the coarse brown habit and rope girdle 
 of his order beat the warm generous heart of a true 
 man, always ready to respond with unaffected sympathy 
 and loving aid to the appeal of grief or misery, bringing 
 comfort to the wretched ; while he could rejoice with 
 the rejoicing none the less naturally because he could 
 weep with those who weep. 
 
 Seldom, even in the coldest weather, did he avail 
 himself of the guarded sufferance of his order to draw 
 the cowl of his garb over those sunny locks of his, that 
 shone like pure gold; and the smiles and kindly words 
 that made beautiful his lips were ever reflected in the 
 mild blue eyes of this worthy son of St. Francis. He 
 had been blessed with a noble physique. The solid 
 muscular limbs covered by the heavy woollen cassock 
 suggested by their action that they might have had a 
 military training, that, one day, their owner might
 
 508 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 have led a charge of cavalry, or marched at the head of 
 a column to victory. 
 
 It was with a sense of amusement as well as surprise 
 that the Franciscan first beheld Crosslett, wondering to 
 what new, unknown order this strange figure belonged. 
 He took the earliest opportunity of interrogating the 
 late comer; and soon discovered "where the land 
 lay." 
 
 In the beginning there may have been something of 
 jealousy on the part of the Franciscan, who, perhaps, 
 felt that Crosslett was encroaching on his pastures and 
 methods. But this did not last. 
 
 If anything, Crosslett outdid the monk in his ascetic 
 life, his simple raiment outrivalling simplicity, he never 
 wearing a covering of any sort to his head, having no 
 dwelling-house or regular meals, and his feet being 
 always unshod. 
 
 This last comparatively insignificant point, assumed 
 an importance out of all proportion to its value. The 
 monk wore sandals of the simplest sort each a mere 
 sole of leather strapped to the foot. These, he anx 
 iously explained, were a concession permitted only 
 under certain circumstances ; and, it must be admitted, 
 they were a necessary but inadequate protection from 
 the rude pavements and filth of the Jerusalem streets. 
 
 It was impossible for two such men to come in con 
 tact without falling into argument and controversy. Yet 
 though words might run high and hot between them, 
 they were both too kind and good at heart not to 
 acknowledge each other s nobleness as well as frailty, 
 and, no matter how fierce might rage their discussions, 
 they never parted without a smile and a good wish, 
 though each remained unmoved in his belief. 
 
 Scherer flattered himself that he had impressed Cross 
 lett with the beauties of the Roman Catholic faith ; 
 while the latter confidently believed that, at heart, 
 Scherer was a convinced and converted man, who could 
 not break away from his conventual vows. 
 
 The monk, aggressive and sophistic, often pushed 
 Crosslett rather hard, taking him unawares. But, in 
 general, the American was fully competent to hold his
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 509 
 
 ground, and give as good as, or even better than he 
 received. 
 
 Once, in one of the warmest of those polemic en 
 counters, Brother Scherer had given Crosslett a thrust 
 of the old rusty sword, long past effective service, tell 
 ing him his church went no further back than Henry 
 VIII. 
 
 The latter, while denying this, quietly reminded the 
 Franciscan that even admitting, for argument s sake, that 
 he were correct in his statement, evil or error was not 
 made respectable because of its antiquity ; nor was 
 truth the less adorable though it were revealed but 
 yesterday. 
 
 " We have simply returned to the Holy Catholic and 
 Apostolic Anglican Church," he said. " We have re 
 formed, rejecting the errors and evil ways which had 
 crept in, and refusing to receive the modern dogmas 
 that have been erected, believing them to be untaught 
 by Holy Scripture. That you have many beautiful 
 things of which we deny ourselves, as unnecessary and 
 dangerous luxuries, may be true. The burnt child 
 dreads the fire ; and there are some of us who will not 
 draw near and warm ourselves at your devotional 
 hearth, nor enjoy the pleasant glow, nor admire the 
 beauty of the flame, considering them indulgences of 
 dangerous, or at least of lax, tendency." 
 
 Of course, Scherer hooted at all this, and called it 
 heresy the rankest schism. He even threw in Cross- 
 lett s face the undeniable fact that he was not satisfied 
 with his own church. 
 
 The feeling ran unusually high on this occasion ; yet, 
 when they parted, the warm-hearted German could 
 cherish no bitterness. 
 
 " Good-bye, St. George," he said. " God bless you, 
 my brother; and bring you safe into the fold of holy 
 mother Church, lest, self-deceived, you perish in outer 
 darkness." 
 
 While Crosslett answered : 
 
 " God grant that you may have the light, the hope 
 and the faith that I have this day. The Heavenly 
 Father bring you into the Kingdom."
 
 510 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Scherer looked upon Crosslett with eyes of pity and 
 of love. 
 
 " How could I be angry with such as he is, who so 
 confidently believes in what he speaks," he said, " who 
 lives so stainless and so self-denying a life? What a 
 pity he is not a good Catholic ! " 
 
 Their intimacy grew apace ; and who knows how 
 much, in the end, the belief of each tempered that of 
 the other? 
 
 Scherer, at least on one occasion, even admitted 
 Crosslett to his cell, or room, in the monastery. It was 
 bare and poverty-stricken, in truth ; yet to Crosslett it 
 was luxuriously appointed. For, dissatisfied with him 
 self, he had, of late, passed into more rigid and exacting 
 ordeals, and crucifixion of the flesh. 
 
 Brother Scherer had joined in calling him St. George, 
 nor was it quite in the mocking spirit in which it was 
 first done by those in Jerusalem who, finding out his 
 Christian name, thought it a good joke to give it the 
 prefix of "Saint." 
 
 Crosslett could not long hide from himself the fact 
 that he had failed to accomplish in Jerusalem that 
 which he had hoped and expected. It is " a mixed 
 multitude," with the usual consequences. He was dis 
 appointed and disgusted with the spirit of the people, 
 their miserable quarrels, their utter want of forbearance 
 toward one another, and the jealousies, the backbit 
 ing and vindictive slanders which scrupled not to attack 
 the noblest and the most innocent. 
 
 He himself was not exempt from the tongue-lashing. 
 But he did not wonder, for he had heard the patriarchs 
 and bishops, priests and archimandrites made the sub 
 jects of the most abominable stories, intrigues and 
 scandals. 
 
 He longed for seclusion. 
 
 At last he said to Scherer : 
 
 " In my experience of the Jerusalem of to-day, I am not 
 surprised that our Lord found a great relief in escaping 
 to quiet Bethany from the slander-loving city with its 
 cabals of Pharisee and Sadducee, the proud pretensions 
 to zeal and sanctity, and the notorious emptiness of real
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 511 
 
 good, in the priests and people, the generation of 
 vipers, as John the Baptist called them." 
 
 The stalwart Franciscan, while sympathising with him, 
 shook his head and smiled. 
 
 " Don t mind them," he said. Then he sarcastically 
 added, " Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." 
 
 The following day Scherer was told, " St. George is 
 gone." 
 
 It was true. He had left Jerusalem. 
 
 After many wanderings in remote and desolate places 
 and among the fellaheen and Bedawin, he took up his 
 abiding place in the deserted lodge of a garden of cucum 
 bers. Crosslett had at one time been a student of medi 
 cine ; and, practising among those simple people the 
 healing art, he was always received by them gladly 
 as the " hakim." 
 
 Thus it was that he was in that lonely spot to which 
 Hilwe, beaten out, had dragged herself with the last 
 efforts of her expiring strength on her escape from Ain 
 Farah. 
 
 It was St. George who raised her fainting head. 
 
 " My child is perishing of want," she said. 
 
 The mother-love supreme in her, she thought not of 
 herself but of her child. 
 
 "My daughter, be of good cheer; help is at hand," 
 came the answer. 
 
 " Save my child," she hoarsely ejaculated, and could 
 say no more. 
 
 It was enough. Almost worthy of the saintly name 
 bestowed in mockery upon him, Crosslett, with the tact 
 and kindly helpfulness so characteristic of the true 
 American, had hastened to their assistance, doing every 
 thing in his power to relieve and restore them. 
 
 He not only brought water to assuage their thirst, but 
 such food as his scanty store provided, regardless of his 
 own wants, was freely bestowed upon them. He waited 
 on them as if he had been their servant, and could not 
 do enough for them. 
 
 He would have had them remain longer, so as to be 
 come more thoroughly rested and restored ; but, after a 
 brief repose, Hilwe was eager to be gone.
 
 512 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 With the healthy robust nature of the peasant, she 
 and her child had that strong recuperative force which 
 is too often weakened or lost in civilised life ; and, on 
 receiving the needed sustenance, they had quickly re 
 vived, and in Hilwe s opinion had soon recovered suffi 
 ciently to resume their journey. 
 
 As to the mental trouble which distressed Hilwe, 
 Crosslett was not as successful in ministering to that. 
 He was too finely strung not to perceive that a burden 
 which was weighing her down rested upon her soul. At 
 first he could only surmise what the peculiar character 
 of this might be, and had to content himself with giving 
 her such general counsel and consolation as he consid 
 ered adapted to her case. Yet when leaving, in her 
 gratitude she gave way, and, confiding in him, while 
 thanking him, confessed to a certain extent her pecu 
 liar trials, and the danger threatening her should she 
 fall into the hands of her own people. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII 
 
 THOUGH Crosslett had tried to convey to Hilwe 
 on her departure certain directions as to the 
 route she should take, his advice had but an imperfect 
 effect upon her. It was like the blurred impression of 
 a mould or matrix, spoiled in the making. The one 
 dominant feeling possessing her was that she must has 
 ten on her way to escape from some impending woe, 
 without loss of time. The direction she might take 
 continued, for the present, comparatively a secondary 
 matter. Nor did the places she passed through greatly 
 impress her. In her wearied state she felt irritated and 
 vexed at the hindrance, the annoyance, or discomfort of 
 the various impediments which she encountered. But 
 that they detained her and held her back was her chief 
 sense of pain and grievance. 
 
 Yet, after a while, she made an effort to recall Cross- 
 lett s advice.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 513 
 
 She had come to a shallow wady, the bottom of which 
 was scored by a deep-cut watercourse, which was now 
 dried up in the long-continued drought. This parched 
 river-bed was crossed by a parapetless bridge of a single 
 span, light and airy, of such marvellous structure that at 
 first sight it declared its builders to be Roman and none 
 other. There seemed not an extra stone in the entire 
 work. Its simplicity equalled its strength. Matched 
 and cemented together with a cohesion which had re 
 sisted the concerted storm-sieges of nearly two thousand 
 years, not one of the broad slabs of its roadway was 
 displaced. 
 
 The entire bottom of the valley and the slopes on each 
 side were heaped, many feet deep, with rounded boul 
 ders, the greater number of which were larger than a 
 man s head. These had been swept down from the ad 
 joining country, for many miles. Not a particle of soil 
 remained. It had, ages ago, been washed away. 
 
 Such a disrupted pass was trying to the footsore mother 
 with her living burden. The bridge, which she crossed 
 almost trippingly, stood, in its unhurt perfection, an 
 accentuated contrast, in the midst of the accumulated 
 and almost impassable debris. But she struggled through 
 the difficulties and climbed up the opposite slope, though 
 by this time the fatigue she had endured began again to 
 tell upon her. 
 
 She pondered as she halted beside a fragment of 
 ancient pavement to rest awhile. 
 
 Were not these the Roman bridge and Roman road 
 that the hakim had mentioned? 
 
 She thought so, and blamed herself for not having 
 paid more attention, and puzzled her brain to recall 
 exactly what he had told her in regard to them. Her 
 continual wandering had confused and bewildered her. 
 Was she to follow the course of the highway? or was 
 she to take an abrupt departure from it? She could 
 not remember, but thought it more likely he had ad 
 vised her to strike out across the country, leaving the 
 road, in which she would be sure to meet travellers 
 and in all probability enemies. 
 
 Half-way up the slope she had passed a fallen mono- 
 
 33
 
 514 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 lith, on which were carvings and a Latin inscription. It 
 was the pillar, a great columnar milestone, with the 
 record in honour of the Roman emperor under whom the 
 road had been built. Such of the column as was not con 
 cealed by the rubbish in which it lay partly buried, kept 
 telling its story, in the contracted Latin way, to a people 
 to whom it was an unknown tongue. 
 
 Soon she came to a more extensive stretch of pave 
 ment, in a remarkable state of preservation. Though 
 century after century of mountain torrent and storm had 
 undermined, scooped out, and torn away the foundations 
 of the ancient road-bed, so that the present highway, 
 running beside it, was at least from eight to ten feet 
 lower, the solid pavement, lifted on high, like a wide 
 sidewalk, still remained intact. 
 
 Those Romans were masterly fellows. The more we 
 know about them and the works they left behind them, 
 the more we respect them. Their aqueducts, bridges, 
 roadways, and architectural monuments in general are 
 substantial evidences of what they could accomplish. 
 They conquered a country, and, with a broad conception 
 of the principles of government, made the people of it 
 their housekeepers. They evidently were men who did 
 what they had to do with all their might. 
 
 But to Hilwe the name Roman was but a word a 
 meaningless designation for a road or bridge. The 
 deeds of the Caesars and the great commanders were 
 unknown to her, and the voices of the orators, statesmen, 
 philosophers and poets, which have made notorious or 
 immortalised the sunny land of inspiration of art and 
 arms, science, song and thought, had never reached her 
 ears. 
 
 Poor Hilwe ! She did not long delay. She would 
 not take the time to rest sufficiently. But, leaving 
 behind the Roman road, she made a decided detour 
 from it, at a wide angle. 
 
 The country traversed was mostly wild and unculti 
 vated. She did not mind that so much ; what troubled 
 her more was that she found no water, for a drought 
 had been long prevailing through a wide section of the 
 land. In her isolation at Ain Farah this was unknown
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 515 
 
 to her. Though, as we have seen, even there, the 
 volume of water had, latterly, greatly diminished, and, 
 to the observant eye, skilled in noting the natural signs, 
 had given tokens of soon ceasing altogether. 
 
 The self-abnegating Crosslett had not let her know 
 that he had given her, and her little Talmai, on their 
 departure, the last of his supply of food and water. Had 
 he informed her of this, she would not have taken it. 
 It was pitifully meagre, and was soon spent. The food 
 was a handful of parched wheat, the water scarcely a 
 cupful. 
 
 She searched with feverish eagerness many a hollow 
 and moist-appearing depression, hoping to find water ; 
 but every such place she came to, and which in 
 ordinary times would have supplied her wants, had long 
 been exhausted and dried up. 
 
 In her ignorance of the state of things prevailing, she 
 thought she was under a peculiar judgment, and that a 
 curse was upon her for what she had done. 
 
 " Even the water dries up before me," she exclaimed, 
 in the bitterness of her soul, " and the springs disappear 
 at my approach. The displeasure of Allah follows me 
 wherever I go. I am unfortunate. And he, my beloved, 
 in whom my soul trusted, is taken from me. I have 
 none to defend me." 
 
 At the thought she sank upon the ground, and burst 
 into tears, and could no longer restrain her lamentations, 
 remembering what the aga had told her as to Hassan s 
 death. 
 
 " O Hassan, thou canst not hear me ! Why art thou 
 so far from me? Why art thou not here to protect 
 thy little one? Alas! have they not told me thou art 
 slain in a far country? Never again shall I behold thee. 
 Oh, my beloved, the darkness gathers about me, and the 
 thick darkness of sorrow hides the way ! " 
 
 The prattle of her child recalled her to the pressing 
 necessities which were closing upon her. She brushed 
 away her tears, and arose. 
 
 " Yet will I not be cast down," she said. " Talmai, 
 with the help of Allah, thy mother will not let thee perish. 
 O God, have mercy upon the son of my sorrow ! "
 
 516 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 She pushed forward with the energy of desperation. 
 It seemed as if a new strength had been vouchsafed her 
 a power she had never before known. 
 
 Suddenly she came out on an open place sort of 
 plateau, and before her rose a high and rugged tell 
 with a village on the summit. 
 
 It was like and yet unlike Malha. Up the terraced 
 heights, olives and vines had been planted, and every 
 little space and bit of ground among the rocks, often of 
 only a few square feet, had been taken advantage of and 
 cultivated. 
 
 She thought it was a dream. She could scarcely 
 believe her senses. 
 
 "Is not my mind wandering?" she asked herself. 
 " Hath not my sorrow distracted me? " 
 
 As she drew nearer, she saw that one side of the tell 
 descended with abrupt declivities into an unusually deep 
 valley, extending to the northward. But in one of the 
 nearer hollows was an inclosed area. Trees of a large 
 size grew near it. 
 
 " It is the fountain," she said. " Every village has its 
 ain. I shall get water to quench our thirst, my Talmai. 
 Allah hath not forsaken us. He hath heard my cry. It 
 was wrong to doubt him. Have I not known this of old ? " 
 
 With this confidence she advanced till she stood on 
 the edge of the slope overlooking the fountain, which, 
 being at a considerable distance from the village, she 
 made sure she should be able to approach unobserved. 
 What was her astonishment, therefore, to behold the 
 entire of the inclosure fronting and including the 
 fountain filled with a crowd of struggling, wrangling and 
 lamenting women. 
 
 She could not understand what it meant. She had 
 never seen anything like it. It seemed as if all the 
 women of the village had collected there. 
 
 The noise of their complaint, and occasionally the 
 words of their harangues and exclamations reached the 
 spot where she had stopped, transfixed with wonder at 
 the sight of this turbulent gathering. 
 
 "Will the heavens have no pity? Will they not send 
 the timely rain? "
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 517 
 
 And again : 
 
 " How long will Allah withhold his blessing? Surely 
 he is dealing bitterly with us." 
 
 Expressions such as these frequently reached her. 
 But oftener came the voice of anger, of sharp reproach, 
 and of strife that ended not alone in words. 
 
 " Hast thou no shame, Salha? Dost thou want all 
 the water for thyself? Wouldst thou leave none for any 
 one else? Lo, I and my little ones are consumed with 
 thirst ! " 
 
 The speaker, wrought to the pitch of frenzy by her 
 own words and the picture they presented, fell upon the 
 offending Salha, and tried to push her aside and wrench 
 her water-pitcher from her. 
 
 Incidents such as this were common. 
 
 There were no actual blows ; but the scuffling was 
 incessant. All the women had their water-pots with 
 them, carried in different positions ; some of the more 
 importunate, tired of waiting, would pass these vessels 
 over the heads of the other women to those nearer the 
 fountain, hoping to get a small quantity of water, and 
 occasionally, in the struggling, one of these pitchers was 
 dashed from the hands of its owner and broken to 
 pieces upon the pavement, the precious liquid it con 
 tained being spilt. This produced further lamentation. 
 
 In her eagerness to know all, Hilwe drew nearer, and 
 soon saw what the dreadful sight meant. 
 
 The fountain was a noble one, and had been built about 
 with unusual care and at much cost. It was fronted with 
 a wide semicircular court, handsomely paved, and in 
 closed with a parapet of cut stone. To this a flight of 
 steps, of easy descent, gave access. Upon the steps a 
 few of the women rested, either escaped from the war 
 fare with a scanty supply of water, or waiting their turn 
 to approach the fountain. But the great body of the 
 sufferers stood vociferating and contending, crowded 
 within the inclosure ; and always more than a dozen 
 women immediately surrounded the point where the 
 water came out. 
 
 The stream, so abundant at other times, that leaped 
 and spouted through the opening in glad beautifulness
 
 51 8 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 or spendthrift lavishness and was carried off in a broad 
 open sluice and conduit into the lower valley, was now 
 reduced to a miserable attenuated dribble, which latterly 
 threatened to cease altogether, often only dripping inter 
 mittently, drop by drop, over the green slime that 
 marked the spot. 
 
 It was a torture to the poor unfortunate villagers to 
 collect sufficient for their most urgent wants. It would 
 be difficult to measure the trial they were enduring 
 all the suffering entailed by being deprived of water, 
 except in such small quantity that it was almost a mock 
 ery, and an aggravation of the affliction. 
 
 An exterior and slightly higher wall guarded the 
 point where the steps descended to the paved inclosure. 
 On the broad flat top a young man was stretched at full 
 length, seemingly asleep. With the exception of a com 
 panion of about his own age, who reclined in a similar 
 position, at a short distance off, he was the only man 
 from the village who was present. 
 
 He was not asleep, as a closer observation showed, 
 which made his apparent equanimity the more remark 
 able. His gaze was intently fixed on the scene enacted 
 before him ; he never once withdrew his eyes ; he lost 
 not a single movement or cry of the seething throng ; 
 but neither by word nor motion nor expression of coun 
 tenance, nor any other outward sign, did he give the least 
 evidence of sympathy or feeling in the pitiful contention. 
 
 He and his comrade had probably been sent there by 
 the village sheik as a precaution, to prevent any danger 
 ous outbreak or act of injustice, or excess, and to keep 
 the peace, as far as possible, under the extraordinary 
 circumstances. 
 
 A gentleman, accompanied by his dragoman, and pre 
 ceded by a cavass in gold-embroidered jacket, all being 
 mounted on horseback, had come up through the by 
 road, and, attracted by the noise of the tumultuous 
 assemblage, rode aside to see what it meant. 
 
 It was the American consul who was returning from 
 some official investigation. 
 
 Horrified at what he beheld, he questioned the young 
 man from the village regarding it.
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 519 
 
 "Why do they wait till this late hour?" he asked. 
 " Why do the women come all together? Cannot some 
 of them come earlier, and so avoid this terrible 
 scene?" 
 
 The young man at once arose, and courteously 
 saluted. He had the pleasing features and slender well- 
 knit figure so frequently seen in the men of the Palestine 
 villages. Above all, he had their inimitable grace. 
 
 "Ah," he said, "this that thou seest has been going 
 on since early morning. From early morning till late in 
 the evening, for nearly six weeks, shortly after the 
 drought began, this has been our burden and sorrow. 
 There has been no respite." 
 
 The tone of the man s voice said more than the 
 words. Though even now he restrained himself from 
 any marked display of feeling, there were tears in his 
 voice. 
 
 " My God, this is horrible ! " exclaimed the consul. 
 " It is worse than I supposed." 
 
 " It is worse than we have ever known." 
 
 " Is there no help? " 
 
 " None. Except Allah sends us rain." 
 
 " Are there no other fountains or wells in the neigh 
 bourhood from which you could be supplied?" 
 
 A sad laugh, in which mingled something of scornful 
 pride, broke from the young fellow s lips. 
 
 " There is no ain in all the valley like ours. It has 
 never before been known to withhold its water. When 
 all the other springs and wells were dry, our ain was 
 still flowing. They that were thirsting came to us from 
 all the countryside around, and we gave them freely of 
 our living water. Not the dull heavy water of the well, 
 but lightsome, living water, fresh, and full of strength, 
 out of the heart of the earth. If our ain is dried up, to 
 whom then shall we go? There is no one to give unto 
 us as we gave unto them." 
 
 The consul was deeply moved. The scene of the 
 struggling women vividly reminded him of the celebrated 
 painting by Poussin representing the Children of 
 Israel in the wilderness, when there was no water for 
 the people to drink, and they were perishing with thirst,
 
 520 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 till Moses brought water out of the rock for them. But 
 here was no Moses to deliver. 
 
 Especially was he touched with the young man s 
 courteous grace, preserved in the midst of such an 
 affliction. 
 
 " We Western people are savages and brutes as com 
 pared with these Orientals," he said. " They shame us 
 with their fine manners their natural politeness." 
 
 He recalled an incident of the morning, when meeting 
 a peasant who was carrying a sack of wheat to the mill 
 on his donkey. He had wished the man " Good morn 
 ing," which in the Arabic has a fuller and warmer sig 
 nificance than our cramped phrase, which has almost lost 
 its meaning, the former having more than the heartiness 
 of the Irishman when, in the original of the exuberant 
 old Erse tongue, he wishes " the top of the morning to 
 you." 
 
 After salaaming, and returning the consul s wish, the 
 peasant added, with an unmistakable sincerity, " Here 
 am I, a poor man a fellah, and you, who are an hon 
 ourable man, of high position, stop and speak to me 
 and give me a good wish. Now you have made me 
 happy for the rest of the day. Surely it is always the 
 truly great who are gracious and condescending." 
 
 Struck with wonder at the reply, the consul drew 
 rein, and made suitable acknowledgment; adding, when 
 the man was departing: "Take care of your soul." 
 
 With upward wave of the hand, the answer came, 
 quick as a flash : " God will do that." 
 
 " There truly is more in this people than meets the 
 eye," was the conclusion of the stranger. 
 
 And now, as the consul waited by the fountain, think 
 ing of the feeling in the words of the poor peasant, and 
 listening to the statements of the young man, noting, too, 
 all his fortitude and courteousness in the midst of his 
 sorrow, while the wail of the women ascended to them, 
 he felt more keenly the bitterness of the affliction 
 through which they were passing. 
 
 " Poor women ! It is a matter of life and death to 
 them," he said. "Who could expect them to bear it 
 any better than they are doing? "
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 521 
 
 And the man simply answered, " Yea," mournfully 
 shaking his shapely head. 
 
 At this his companion aroused himself. 
 
 " He has not quenched his thirst, or tasted a drop of 
 water since the morning," he said. 
 
 " That is as nothing," came the reply of the noble 
 fellow. " Are there not sick among us and women and 
 children who need it far more than I do? " 
 
 " Ah ! " said the consul, as, reluctantly bidding the 
 young men farewell, he left the stricken villagers, and 
 went upon his way, " is not this young man like to him 
 whom Christ, beholding, loved? Would not the Master 
 love one like this? Would he not let him lean his head 
 upon his breast? I no longer wonder that He chose to 
 be born of this people. For, though it seems strangely 
 to be overlooked, Christ had in his veins the blood of 
 the ancient people of the land the Canaanites, Moab- 
 itcs, Hittites, Ammonites and others, as well as that of 
 Israel. I am glad of it. There is a profound meaning 
 in it." 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX 
 
 NOW all this while Hilwe remained near, and her 
 heart was cast down when she heard and saw the 
 trouble of the place, and how the drought had dried up 
 the fountain till there was not sufficient water for the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 " There is no help or abiding-place here for me and 
 my child," she said ; " nor can they who have it not for 
 themselves spare enough water to quench our thirst. I 
 could not ask it. God help them and us. I must even 
 depart as I came. Are we ever to be wanderers, seeking 
 rest and finding none? Surely I have fallen upon evil 
 days ; there is none here I can ask to give us a morsel 
 of bread or a draught of water. I am an outcast of my 
 own people. Come, Talmai, let us be going. As long 
 as I have thee to care for, I must take courage and hope 
 for deliverance."
 
 522 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 She raised the boy astride of her shoulder, after the 
 fashion of the country, and with bowed head went up by 
 the path that led beneath the village, and so by the steep 
 ascent behind the fountain and the trees. 
 
 An old woman sat by the wayside, resting. Her 
 water-pot, lowered from her head, stood near. As Hilwe 
 came by, the salutations of the land, with the usual good 
 wishes, were exchanged between them. Then, as she 
 thought of the sufferings of her child, she could no longer 
 refrain. 
 
 " Alas ! how can one as wretched as I am wish a bless 
 ing to any one? " she cried. 
 
 "What aileth thee, my daughter?" asked the old 
 woman. 
 
 " There is no water, and my child hath not quenched 
 his thirst since early to-day. For the love of God, if 
 thou canst, give him to drink that he perish not. I 
 thought not to ask water of any one. I thought to find 
 it among the rocks. But the springs dried up before me, 
 as though I was accursed." 
 
 The first impulse of the aged woman was to seize the 
 water-pot and give to the thirsting, as she had been accus 
 tomed to do from her girlhood. Then she paused, 
 remembering all. Her head drooped on her breast, a 
 flush of shame on her wrinkled cheek and forehead. 
 
 " I have been dreaming," she said. " I thought myself 
 once more a young maiden coming from the ain to the 
 village, balancing upon my head my kulleh filled from 
 the cool, plenteous flood. Never was there an ain like 
 ours. We were proud of it, and gave liberally of the 
 water to all that asked. We could not build a place 
 beautiful enough for it. It was like an angel of God. It 
 made glad all the hillside, and kissed the valley till it 
 smiled back in corn and wine and oil." 
 
 The sunshine of her childhood came, and once more 
 lighted up and beautified her aged face as she spoke. 
 
 " Never till now have I known it to fail," she continued. 
 " To-day I stood before it from early morn till this hour, 
 waiting my turn, while the scanty drops trickled down, 
 and my strength gave out. Some of the younger women 
 at last took pity on me, and let me come near. They
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 5 2 3 
 
 knew my daughter was lying sick of a fever. I am 
 ashamed to tell thee - but the water is not enough 
 for our wants. Nevertheless I shall share it with thee, 
 and Allah replenish our store." 
 
 " Nay," said Hilwe, " I cannot deprive thee of it. I 
 am grieved for thy trouble. It was wrong of me to ask 
 thee. The thought of my child betrayed me. God bless 
 thee for thy kindness, all the same." 
 
 The old woman at once arose. 
 
 " Thou art a stranger and a wayfarer," she said ; " I 
 cannot deny thee." She raised the water-vessel with 
 trembling hands. " Drink, thou and thy little one, in 
 the name of the All-Merciful. Thou art welcome. 
 Drink." 
 
 She held the water to Talmai s lips, and when he had 
 drank, she gave also to Hilwe, who could no longer 
 refuse. 
 
 " Blessed be thou and thy people," exclaimed Hilwe, 
 as she kissed the old woman s hand. " God send thee 
 prosperity and peace. Thy heart is right. Thou hast 
 shown kindness to the unfortunate. Thou hast restored 
 my life and the life of my child this day." 
 
 With the usual superabundant exchange of salutations 
 they parted. 
 
 The old woman returned to her sick daughter in the 
 village. 
 
 Hilwe wearily plodded up the tedious ascent, taking 
 the by-road, which presently passed into the highway. 
 This recently had been greatly improved, through the 
 enforced labour of the peasants. It had been straightened 
 and much shortened by cutting out unnecessary curves. 
 It was now a fine macadamised road, though it still, 
 where necessary, wound up and down the steeper hills 
 with many a zigzag course. But it was no pleasant sight 
 to the poor fellaheen, as they remembered the days of 
 unremunerative toil expended on it by themselves, their 
 wives, and their children. They valued not the improve 
 ment. 
 
 " It is naught to us," they said. " What doth it profit 
 us?" 
 
 The day, at length, was drawing to a close, and the
 
 524 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 wanderer began anxiously to consider where she might 
 find a resting-place for the night. She had left the 
 highway far behind ; the country was unusually rough 
 and broken, but the fear she had of the main roads made 
 it comparatively pleasant to her. The brush and scrub 
 were so wild and thick they greatly impeded her way, 
 but she pushed on as if she scarcely noticed this, eagerly 
 watching for some hollow or cave where she and Talmai 
 might take shelter. 
 
 It was a lonely place, with the desolate aspect of a 
 wilderness. Not a bird was visible. The gay flowers 
 which, earlier in the season, had lent their charms to 
 beautify it, had gone to seed and were withered and 
 dried, consumed by the fierceness of the sun and want of 
 rain. Only such plants and shrubs as could well sustain 
 the drought were to be seen among the thorn-bushes 
 with their spiny, contorted growths. They represented 
 millenniums of endurance. The thorn of the crucifixion 
 was there, and the stubborn burnet with its clusters of 
 dull reddish flowers grew in a tangled mass with the 
 yellow prickly broom and abounding thyme. Defiant 
 of the rainless season, these held their ground as if by 
 divine right. 
 
 More than once Hilwe had halted, thinking she heard 
 a signal call. The profound stillness of the place was 
 awe-inspiring, and made the least sound unduly audible. 
 
 " I am growing timorous and foolish," she tried to 
 assure herself, " It is naught but the cry of the 
 partridge." 
 
 But again came the peculiar sound, on the right, and 
 much nearer. It was answered, after a few seconds, on 
 the left. 
 
 This time there could be no mistake. She recognised 
 the signals used by the villagers. 
 
 Once more they were repeated, and now close at hand, 
 and startlingly clear. 
 
 "We are tracked," she said. "They are pursuing 
 after us, and will take us. We are lost." 
 
 Hardly had she spoken when she saw a number of men 
 pouring over an adjoining ridge. They uttered a shout 
 of triumph as they came upon her.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 525 
 
 She clasped her boy more tightly to her, and dashed 
 forward, hoping to find some place in which to hide, and 
 so evade her pursuers. 
 
 Vain hope ! She was surrounded. 
 
 The glaring eyes, the dark, wolfish faces, how they 
 terrified her ! A piercing scream parted her lips as she 
 saw they were men of Malha. This was answered by a 
 shout of derision and mocking laughter. 
 
 They dragged her from behind a thorn-bush where 
 she had attempted to conceal herself. 
 
 " Have mercy ! " she cried. " Deal not so cruelly with 
 me, for the sake of the child." 
 
 " We have searched for thee many days, and now thou 
 art delivered into our hands. Doubt not we shall deal 
 righteously with thee," was their reply. 
 
 They questioned her closely as to herself and the 
 child. 
 
 "Whose is the lad?" they asked. 
 
 She hung her head and wept. 
 
 " Hide nothing from us," they said. " Tell us every 
 thing without dissembling, lest it be worse with thee," 
 in this, and otherwise, implying they would not use 
 extreme measures in her case. 
 
 She told them all, and frankly answered their ques 
 tions. 
 
 They heard her quietly to the end, without expressing 
 anger. And yet there was in their manner that which 
 did not deceive her. 
 
 Knowing what she knew, she could have but little 
 hope. She remembered what Kadra had told her. The 
 fate of Amne had haunted her ever since she had known it. 
 
 As she saw Abd-el-nour and her uncle Ismail among 
 the men who had hunted her, it only added to her 
 fears, and increased her doubts of receiving mercy. 
 From the savage custom governing in a case like this, 
 they would appear as the chief accusers and execu 
 tioners. 
 
 " She hath confessed ; she is self-condemned," they 
 said. " She hath brought this disgrace upon us. It 
 is our duty to wipe the stain off. Her life is the only 
 expiation."
 
 526 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 The twilight was dying out on the hillside. The last 
 surges of day were breaking in golden waves against the 
 topmost heights. The monotonous blue of the sky was 
 fading to a pale gray tint, with a few greenish lights at 
 the horizon. Night would soon be upon them. The 
 night of death was closing upon Hilwe and her son. 
 
 " It will be dark before we reach Malha," the men 
 told themselves. 
 
 As they hastened on their way, dragging her with 
 them, she heard them mutter that they would confine 
 her in some secret place for the present, or until the 
 morrow. 
 
 After it was quite dark, they were still leading their 
 captives, the sad-eyed weary mother and her son, 
 to the dread fate decreed them. To the rocky defiles, 
 through which they passed, difficult to penetrate in the 
 daylight, the darkness added a thousand horrors. They 
 were taking her to the Black Valley, that nameless 
 abomination, that place of mystery, of fear, and vio 
 lence, of swift judgment and pitiless execution, the tomb 
 of the unchaste and the degraded. 
 
 They were taking her there. It could have but one 
 meaning. 
 
 All the way, to her a Via Dolorosa, every tremb 
 ling step she took in the uncertain gloom, she thought of 
 Amne s fate as prophetic of her own. She was walking 
 to her death. 
 
 And was this to be Hilwe s end, branded as a wan 
 ton and an outcast by her own people, her soul smitten 
 from the body, even her child overwhelmed in the de 
 struction which had overtaken her? 
 
 She had appealed to them in vain. In the black 
 misery of that night who can tell what she suffered? 
 The horror of it had struck her silent. She had no 
 words which could express it. 
 
 She suppressed her sighs, lest she should awaken 
 Talmai. 
 
 Once a passionate fit of sobbing burst from her lips. 
 
 " Oh, if Kadra but knew," she said, " she would not 
 rest till she had done something to deliver us ! "
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 527 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE St. Georges are rare characters. There are 
 not many of them to be found in the world. 
 Nor are the St. Theodores who trample down the mud- 
 wallowing saurian of fleshly desire much more common 
 than the virgin Sir Galahads, brave knights of the Holy 
 Grail, who each can say of himself, " I never felt the kiss 
 of love nor maiden s hand in mine." The nineteenth cen 
 tury will present few if any candidates for canonisation. 
 But among that few, it is highly probable, no more 
 worthy name will appear upon the blood-blanched roll 
 than that of George Crosslett, he who was derisively 
 named St. George by those who might easily have 
 discovered among themselves more suitable subjects 
 for mockery. 
 
 When Crosslett found himself once more alone, the 
 retreating figure of Hilwe and her child fast disappear 
 ing in the distance, his heart began to misgive him, and 
 he blamed himself in that he had let her depart, unpro 
 tected, exposed to so many dangers, and with so little 
 provision for the way. 
 
 The few words in which she had told him her trouble 
 had deeply impressed him. He fancied she looked like 
 Hagar with her son Ishmael, which only helped to stimu 
 late his sympathies. 
 
 Yet, with existing prejudices, how could he have 
 accompanied her? She would not have permitted it. 
 He had given her his last morsel of food, his last cupful 
 of water. What more could be expected of him? It 
 might well seem it should have been easy for him to say 
 he had done what he could, and so rest satisfied. But 
 that was not his temper or his spirit. 
 
 Something in this girl-mother and her son had deeply 
 moved him. How virginal she seemed ! Her great inno 
 cent eyes had appealed to him. They had touched his 
 gentle manly heart, from which woman had been so long 
 shut out, in a way of which he was scarcely conscious. 
 It was pity, and something more than pity.
 
 528 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 How dreary and woe-begone were his surroundings, 
 the despoiled field, stripped of its fruits, the broken- 
 down fence and hedge. Fit symbol of the daughter of 
 Zion, the booth or lodge of withered boughs, left stand 
 ing in the midst, had ceased to be of much protection 
 or pleasure to look at. Its upper staging, \vhence the 
 owners had kept watch over the garden, and which, since 
 their desertion on the gathering in of the crop, had been 
 Crosslett s sleeping-place, had meagre shelter in the lean 
 branches, the shrivelled leaves having mostly fallen away. 
 To the left was the pile of ashes, the remains of the 
 nightly watch-fires which had lighted up the place and 
 shown the approach of marauders. Back of the booth 
 was the shallow excavation in the clay bank, which 
 afforded a poor retreat in the worst weather, and had 
 left its too manifest stains on Crosslett s raiment. 
 
 It all was wretched enough. It was the only home he 
 had, if home it could be called. Yet what a peaceful 
 solitude he had found there, with such golden expe 
 riences of spiritual communion as tongue may not 
 reveal ! 
 
 Almost unconsciously he had formed the determina 
 tion that he would follow Hilwe. 
 
 He had little or no belongings of consequence to bur 
 den himself with or leave behind. He could start at a 
 moment s notice. Why should he regret turning his 
 back upon the place? 
 
 His small supply of food and water was gone. He 
 had given it away. He must seek elsewhere to renew 
 it. Why not take the direction which she had taken as 
 well as any other? It was a natural conclusion. 
 
 " I shall follow her, afar off," he said. " I shall see 
 that no harm befalls her." 
 
 But Hilwe had had too great a start. Before Crosslett 
 set out she had long passed out of sight, and, not having 
 adhered to his directions as to the route, simply from 
 not comprehending them and from her devious wander 
 ings in search of water, he saw nothing of her till he 
 caught a glimpse of her at the point where she crossed 
 the main road, leaving it behind her. 
 
 He saw the slender figure bowed with weariness,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 529 
 
 struggling forward, the child bound to her back, and ; 
 again he thought of Hagar and Ishmael. 
 
 He hastened with all his might to keep her in view. 
 But meanwhile, before overtaking her, the men of 
 Malha burst upon the scene. 
 
 It was easy to understand the meaning of what 
 he beheld. He saw them drag her from her place 
 of concealment, and heard her cry for mercy. What 
 man, with far less righteous enthusiasm than pertained 
 to Crosslett, could withstand such an appeal? 
 
 Detecting him following them, twice they had driven 
 him back, with rough usage. He had begged them to 
 refrain from committing any act of violence upon the 
 unfortunate woman whom they had captured. 
 
 "What hast thou to do with us?" they angrily ex 
 claimed. "Who art thou? Whence comest thou? We 
 know thee not. Thou hast no authority over us to in 
 terfere with us in what is our own affair, and none of 
 thine. Beware ! Take heed, lest we deal with thee 
 according to thy deserts. Go thy way, and trouble us 
 not." 
 
 This sounded too much like the ancient voice of in 
 iquity which had once dominated the land, and the 
 echoes of which still lingered there, to pass unrebuked 
 of Crosslett. He hesitated not in speaking his mind, 
 finally threatening them with the interference of the 
 authorities. 
 
 His denunciations galled them. 
 
 " This is a dangerous fellow," said Abd-el-nour. 
 " He will make complaint of us in Jerusalem. And 
 who can tell what may come of it?" 
 
 " Thou speakest truly," acquiesced Ismail. 
 
 " Let us make an end of him," suggested Abd-el-nour. 
 "This is my advice." 
 
 The others urged caution, shaking their heads 
 dubiously. 
 
 " This is not the place to do it," they said. " Let us 
 go farther." 
 
 But they freely joined in preventing Crosslett follow 
 ing them, and when next he approached, drove him 
 back with increased fury. 
 
 34
 
 530 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 " He is no more than a gad-fly," they shouted. They 
 attacked him with such violence that when they re 
 sumed their journey, he was left lying upon the ground, 
 unconscious, and bleeding from more than one wound. 
 A little more of their stoning would have made him a 
 martyr. 
 
 Hilwe perceived the scuffling and contention, but 
 knew not what it meant, and supposed it to be some dis 
 pute among themselves. 
 
 " Is he dead ? " asked those of the party who had re 
 mained on watch with Hilwe, on hearing certain 
 remarks. 
 
 " If he is and it is likely that he is dead he has 
 brought it on himself," replied Abd-el-nour. "We are 
 blameless." 
 
 They hastened more rapidly on their way, and talked 
 more freely as to what they purposed doing with Hilwe, 
 so that she overheard them. She had not ceased to 
 use every opportunity to implore their compassion. 
 But their brutal replies robbed her of all hope. They 
 were evidently spurring themselves up to the accom 
 plishment of the crime they had decided on committing. 
 Their murderous attack on Crosslett had only whetted 
 their appetite and further exasperated them. 
 
 Unfounded hatred, the parent of indefinite vindictive- 
 ness, is one of the most difficult of evils to contend with. 
 There is no arguing with it. It knows no law, is with 
 out reason, and has no mercy. It is from this that, 
 often, the most detestable and unaccountable murders and 
 other crimes which shock civilisation have their origin. 
 
 It was clear from their conversation that the Thar - 
 the blood-feud between Malha and Bettir had a pre 
 dominant influence in their determination as to Hilwe s 
 doom. 
 
 " To have been as one of the foolish women was evil 
 sufficient, of unbearable shame, and worthy of death," 
 said her uncle Ismail ; " but that a man of Bettir should 
 have humbled her for that there is no forgiveness." 
 
 On which they all applauded. 
 
 " It is according to our ancient custom," they said, 
 " that thou shouldst lead in wiping out the stain."
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 531 
 
 " True ! see thou adherest to it," said Abd-el-nour. 
 " I am ready to do my part." 
 
 An extraordinarily grim expression, one of savage 
 pride mingled with awful implacability, sat on Ismail s 
 features. 
 
 " I know my duty," he said. " Yea, I shall not fail 
 to perform it. Yet it were as well to refrain from the 
 final act till we have the decision of the sheik upon it." 
 
 To this the majority assented. 
 
 " Thou dost not need to wait the sheik s judgment," 
 interrupted Abd-el-nour, whose conceit had never re 
 covered the \vound it had received in Hilwe s humiliat 
 ing rejection of him. 
 
 But the rest continued to hold to Ismail s view. 
 There was in it a relief from personal responsibility 
 which, under the circumstances, could not but be agree 
 able to them. 
 
 When Crosslett recovered his senses, all was quiet 
 around him. The band of Malhaites had gone down 
 into the lower valley with their captives, and nothing 
 was to be seen or heard of any of them. 
 
 Binding up his wounds as best he could, he made his 
 way back into the main road which led to Jerusalem. 
 The undaunted man had determined to reach the city 
 that night, and rouse the authorities into sending a 
 party to the rescue of Hilwe and her son. 
 
 His faith sustained him. His bruised and battered 
 body, in its flimsy shred of garment, did not seem to 
 avail much. 
 
 "The help of the Lord against the mighty! " he kept 
 repeating. " It can do wonders." 
 
 He felt with intense accountability the importance of 
 every moment, and pushed forward, in spite of his weak 
 ness, when one less indomitable would have sunk by the 
 wayside, helpless. 
 
 Darkness had settled down on all the sea-coast and 
 lowlands of Palestine ; but a figment of daylight, like a 
 gray burial-shroud, still hung suspended over the hill- 
 country. It was barely enough to dimly illumine his 
 path, and its feeble aid would soon vanish.
 
 532 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 Suddenly, out of the ashen-gray sky burst a golden- 
 orange radiance. 
 
 " Ah, it is the wondrous afterglow, to light me on 
 my way ! " he said. 
 
 Seven times it flamed up out of that sombre ashen- 
 gray, and seven times died out. But before finally 
 disappearing, it had greatly helped him on his road. 
 
 " Surely, it is a sign from heaven," he told himself, 
 and, like Paul, " he thanked God and took courage." 
 
 But how many miles still lay between him and his 
 goal ! He had stumbled and fallen in the darkness. 
 His weariness was beginning to tell upon him. It 
 seemed impossible that he could much longer keep 
 walking at the rate at which he had been going, or in 
 deed moving at all, especially as the way had become 
 obscured. Were all his efforts to be useless? 
 
 Notwithstanding, he had not doubted no, not once. 
 
 " Doubts are not for me," he said. 
 
 As he lay breathless upon the highway, he heard the 
 rumble of a carriage coming from the direction of a by 
 road. It was a landau, three horses abreast, driven at a 
 furious rate. Within it was a belated traveller. They 
 were plainly trying to make up for lost time ; and when 
 the horses shied and plunged, startled by the uncouth 
 ghost-like figure in the road, the gentleman who oc 
 cupied the carriage did not fail to express his annoy 
 ance. But this soon changed to pity, as he caught 
 sight of the wretched exhausted object in the shape of a 
 man who appealed to him in the excellent language of 
 the English Bible, and explained his forlorn condition, 
 and the urgent necessity for his reaching Jerusalem with 
 out delay. 
 
 The door of the landau was thrown open. 
 
 " Jump in, man, and don t stand there talking ; I my 
 self am in a hurry," came the rough but kindly English 
 invitation. 
 
 To Crosslett it was the chariot of the Lord and the 
 horsemen thereof, as he bowled over the road at such a 
 tremendous velocity he felt as if he were flying on the 
 wings of an angel. 
 
 Yes ; according to his faith it was unto him. He was
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 533 
 
 in Jerusalem that night, and at an earlier hour than he 
 had hoped for. 
 
 " God always goes beyond our hopes, and does better 
 for us than we expected, if we only put our trust in 
 him," was his quiet acknowledgment. " Had we only 
 more faith, \\c could remove mountains. They say the 
 day of pure unquestioning faith is gone, except for the 
 ignorant and wilfully superstitious. Men now take God 
 and his revelation in hand, and cross-examine them, re 
 ferring their testimony to the class to be considered 
 doubtful if not untrustworthy." 
 
 But Crosslett s work had scarcely more than begun. 
 Of course all the consulates and public offices in Jeru 
 salem had long been closed for the day. They would 
 not be opened till the next morning at the regular hour. 
 He had hastened to the American Consulate ; but the 
 government cavass on guard there informed him the 
 consul had been called away on important duty, and 
 was not expected to return before the following 
 afternoon. 
 
 Such of the Turkish officials as he managed to pene 
 trate to, treated him with their usual easy and polite in 
 difference. They well knew that the matter on which he 
 came, relating entirely to Turkish subjects, his consul 
 would not and could not interfere in. But this they did 
 not take the trouble, or were too courteous, to tell him. 
 He brought no charges of the murderous assault upon 
 himself; and had he done so, they must have gone 
 through his consul, and be tried by the Turkish court, 
 with its notorious procrastination. 
 
 Quick to take the measure of a man, while they had a 
 certain tolerance and respect for what they considered 
 Crosslett s good qualities, and especially his virtues as 
 a hakim who charged no fees, they regarded him as a 
 religious erratic, flighty, and without standing or influ 
 ence. His statements they could give but little weight to, 
 and quietly relegated them to what are called " fairytales." 
 
 Crosslett had learned that the local authorities had at 
 the moment no force which was available for his object. 
 The zaptiehs were away on some special duty, the time 
 of their return depending on the completion of their
 
 534 
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 task. The matter would be duly considered and at 
 tended to, he was informed, when properly presented 
 and authenticated, as the law required. 
 
 While engaged in this wearisome work, almost mad 
 dening from its waste of precious time, certain facts in 
 the tragic ending of poor Amne reached Crosslett. 
 They greatly aggravated his fears for Hilwe, the danger 
 of whose position he perceived he had not exaggerated 
 in the slightest degree. He was told that Count Leone 
 Spoliate, the young Italian nobleman, having returned 
 to Jerusalem, was intent on sifting the case of Amne to 
 the bottom, and having the murderers punished. Here 
 was Crosslett s opportunity. He at once sought the 
 count, and laid before him all the particulars regarding 
 Hilwe s capture by the men of Malha. 
 
 Though now late at night, Leone had not gone to 
 bed, but, filled with remorse, was sitting up, brooding 
 over the horrors of the double murder, and the failure of 
 justice under Turkish methods. 
 
 It did not take many words to inspire him as to what 
 should be done in this new display of cruelty. The un 
 adorned account of Crosslett, himself an evidence of the 
 violent natures of those men of blood, set Leone on fire. 
 He determined to make an appeal to the authorities for 
 a band of soldiers to arrest the men and deliver Hilwe 
 and her son. If not successful in obtaining this, he 
 had made up his mind to venture his life in the attempt 
 to rescue the captives. And he flattered himself he 
 should be accompanied by such as would volunteer 
 their aid, in sufficient numbers to insure the success of 
 the incursion. 
 
 But the local authorities, disturbed at such an un 
 seemly hour, and in this irregular unofficial way, for 
 what appeared to them an entirely inadequate reason, 
 and on the representations of one to them little better 
 than a lunatic, were not prepared to take any such step 
 as that desired, at a moment s notice and without the 
 fullest investigation. 
 
 " Wait till the morrow." 
 
 " Boukra boukra," was the decision. 
 
 " I know we are irregular in coming to you in this
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 535 
 
 way," admitted Leone. " As an Italian subject, I should 
 have come through the consul of the King of Italy; 
 and Mr. Crosslett, who has been murderously assaulted, 
 through the American consul." 
 
 " Yes, yes," they eagerly assented. 
 
 " But time did not admit of this. We felt that, did 
 you know the facts, you would see the necessity of act 
 ing promptly." 
 
 "Yes, yes. Boukra to-morrow," was the only sat 
 isfaction he got. 
 
 Equally disappointed was Leone as to the volunteers 
 he expected to join him. Not one offered ; and when 
 he had recourse to expostulations and bribes, the result 
 was no better. 
 
 One man, whom he had specially assured himself of 
 having with him, plainly gave his reasons for declining 
 the adventure. 
 
 " This is an affair in which a man s life is exposed," 
 he said. " It is dangerous work." 
 
 " No doubt," admitted Leone. 
 
 "Then I would advise you to have nothing to do with 
 it. Let the government attend to it." 
 
 " If that is your advice," thundered Leone, " I have 
 no use for it. You can keep it. I pity your cowardly 
 nature." 
 
 The fact was that the reports of the violence and 
 high-handed deeds of certain of the Malhaites had ter 
 rorised the people. 
 
 All this delay was maddening to Leone and Crosslett. 
 
 " We have no time to spare : we must not lose a 
 moment," they had kept telling themselves. Notwith 
 standing, hours more precious than gold had been 
 melted in the crucible of Turkish inertia. 
 
 " All this time has been wasted," exclaimed Leone. 
 " We have thrown it away for nothing, in trying to 
 move them. Yet am I determined to attempt the rescue, 
 even if I have to go alone." 
 
 " I shall go with you, to the death," was the impas 
 sioned utterance of Crosslett. 
 
 " And then there is Selim," added Leone, turning to 
 his servant. " You will go, Selim? "
 
 53 6 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " Ay," was the reply. 
 
 " Hasten and saddle me Al Borak. He is a host in 
 himself. And see if you can procure two other horses. 
 The day is breaking. Remember, every moment is 
 precious." 
 
 CHAPTER LI 
 
 IT was broad daylight by the time the three horsemen 
 passed beneath King David s Tower and through 
 the Jaffa Gate on their errand of mercy and justice. 
 
 Leone and his horse Al Borak, now become a part of 
 each other, were the leading spirits, and naturally took 
 the precedence. Crosslett, a flaming soul in his rare 
 enthusiasm, would have kept alongside, neck and neck, 
 if not in advance; but Al Borak would not have it so. 
 It was incompatible, not to be thought of, the proud 
 beast felt and distinctly showed by his actions. 
 
 "What folly to imagine a scrub like that could keep 
 pace with me ! " was the sentiment of the full-blooded 
 Arab. "Have I not the blood of the Prophet s match 
 less steed in my veins, blood that has coursed through 
 the purest and finest stallions and mares of the desert, 
 without a muddy drop in it? Am I not named Al 
 Borak ? Do I not know my right to do great things ? 
 Do I not know what is expected of me? " 
 
 A horse does not speak in words intelligible to us : 
 yet he can convey what he thinks and feels in a won 
 derful way if we only give him our attention, and 
 especially if we are in sympathy with him. And this 
 horse of horses, he was as a prince among men. He 
 seemed to spring out of his skin at a touch, at a word, 
 so great was his sensitiveness. 
 
 "My master is sad," he ruminated. "We have a 
 heavy task laid upon us. But I shall carry him through. 
 He is troubled. He blames himself, and says he has 
 done wrong. But it was not much that he did. He is 
 not bad. He only wanted to have a good time ; and
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 537 
 
 the woman lured him on. Do I not know how the 
 mares entice one ? He spurred me just now with his 
 heel. I did not take it to heart; he did it without 
 thinking. He knows I do not need it. He loves me, 
 and is kind to me. I only had to look back at him. 
 It was enough. He is not proud. He condescends to 
 inquire about the way from that conceited Syrian, 
 Selim, and from that scarecrow Crosslett. Neither 
 of them have ever been in the desert, where I have 
 been, where I was born. Ah, it is there you must 
 know the way, where there is not a landmark to guide 
 you; nothing but sand and sky! He need not ask the 
 way. Do I not know where he is going? Could I not 
 take him there? Has he not already been therewith 
 me? " 
 
 It was true that Leone, immediately after his return 
 to Jerusalem, in thorough grief, and in repentance for 
 his escapade with the damsel from across the sea, had 
 searched out and visited the Black Valley, that deep 
 and ugly scar upon the face of the land. He had 
 hoped to find the grave of Amne and his child; but in 
 this he was not successful. 
 
 Once outside the city walls, and upon the road, 
 Leone gave free rein to Al Borak. How he shot 
 ahead, like a stone from a catapult ! Crosslett and 
 Selim began to fall behind farther than they wished. 
 
 "That horse has Shaitan in him," said the latter. 
 "Was there ever anything like it?" 
 
 But Al Borak, who had not half let himself out, 
 seemed to say, " Let me teach those plebeian garrans 
 what blood can do, and show them my heels." 
 
 Yet these "garrans" did not behave so badly, at 
 first. But they did not have the staying qualities of 
 Al Borak, and when they left the road and came out 
 into the rough country, they fell more and more behind. 
 
 The horse which Selim rode stumbled while going at 
 full dash, and, failing to recover himself, came down 
 with much force. Selim luckily escaped with a few 
 bruises. But the horse had sprained a muscle in his left 
 foreleg, and went so lame he was obliged to drop out. 
 
 Leone felt too seriously the importance of keeping
 
 538 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 on his course with unabated speed, no matter who 
 dropped out, that he scarcely looked behind, or drew 
 rein for a moment. 
 
 He was an accomplished horseman, having been 
 taught riding at the military school in Naples, and 
 afterwards having served in the cavalry of the Italian 
 army. Like most Italians, everything he did was 
 done well and with grace. 
 
 But now he was riding under a terrible pressure of 
 responsibility. He came as one inspired. 
 
 His knees clutched passionately the saddle and 
 caressed the sides of the noble animal that carried him 
 so superbly, plunging forward with such proud spirit, 
 and determined will, and glad desire, as though entirely 
 a part of him, almost as much an outcome of his per 
 sonality as if he had been generated of him. 
 
 The horse did wonders. Yet Leone was not satis 
 fied. Had he had his wish, he would have flown 
 through the air on his imperative errand. For con 
 science was the spur, the hope of reparation, in some 
 degree, where there could be no absolute reparation 
 no retrieval no atonement, the unutterably longed 
 for. 
 
 Forward he dashed on Al Borak, The Lightning; 
 over hill, through valley; trampling brush and plant 
 and creeping thing; striking fire from the spurned 
 rocks, sparks of electric scath and wrath from the 
 flinty ground that throbbed and palpitated under his 
 tread, a man precipitating himself into the future, 
 
 annihilating time and space, so far as he could do 
 so, flinging himself into his purpose without thought 
 of self, or fear of personal danger. 
 
 " Ah ! Great God of Heaven and Earth ! can I get 
 there in time? Permit me to save them! Accept it 
 as reparation ! " 
 
 This was the cry that burst from his agonised heart; 
 but on his feverish lips it sounded only as an inarticu 
 late moan, the desperate demand of him who seeks 
 with tears a place for repentance. 
 
 " How easy to do wrong ! " he said. " How difficult, 
 
 impossible to repair that wrong ! "
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 539 
 
 Onward, onward. Could he ever go fast enough? 
 Could he get there in time to save them? Might he 
 not be too late? Ah, that was the terrible thought! 
 He must not think of it. There must be no such word 
 as "fail." 
 
 As he swung forward, he felt as if he were dashing 
 through infinite space. Would there never be an end? 
 Would he never reach the point ? 
 
 Then, again, he imagined he was rushing to aid 
 Amne and their little son, while something told him 
 it was hopeless work. And ever in his brain, keeping 
 time to the tramp of the horse s feet, rang over and over 
 again, spurring him, maddening him, the words of the 
 defiant love-song, slightly changed for the occasion : 
 
 " From the desert I come to thee, 
 On a stallion shod with fire, 
 And the winds are left behind 
 In the speed of my desire. 
 Through the desolate waste I charge, 
 
 And the midnight hears my cry ; 
 I love but thee, I love but thee, 
 With a love that shall not die 
 Till the sun grows cold, 
 And the stars are old, 
 And the leaves of the Judgment 
 Book unfold." 
 
 But the horse, Al Borak, he was transformed. 
 
 He was like an avenging spirit, one on whom the 
 command of Allah is laid to execute it, and who could 
 not choose twixt life or death, or aught else, but must 
 do, in any case, even to the obliteration of death, 
 must do, at all odds, in the face of all cost and conse 
 quence, in despite of Death himself. 
 
 When his master cried, " Al Borak," the horse knew 
 what was expected of him. He must be Al Borak, 
 the Lightning, the fire of God to cleave cloud and 
 space, to flash, to rend, to burn, to divide the very 
 heavens with thunderous roar. 
 
 " Hah ! I am it, the purpose itself, the embodied 
 vengeance of Allah ! What is the ground to me ? I 
 spurn it ! Am I not winged with the word that may
 
 54-O Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 not be spoken, the unutterable command that I know 
 not but as I execute it, the decree that is too awful 
 to know? " 
 
 Oh, he was wild with the exalted joy of it, the majesty 
 of it! 
 
 On, on; he tore through everything. Nothing could 
 resist such determination. The rocks and the trees 
 flew by, and were lost behind, were passed in a flash, 
 then, at once, were in the distance. 
 
 He snuffed out and smelt from afar, as if by super 
 human instinct, the place he was destined for. 
 
 "Allah! Allah is everywhere is everything! I 
 am his demiurgos ! " 
 
 Yes, as they advanced, man and horse, one power, 
 the gorge opened before them, the Black Valley. 
 They were received within its direful depths of myste 
 rious shadow. Was it not the Valley of the Shadow of 
 Death ? 
 
 Swiftly they came upon that hateful group, the 
 men of blood doggedly carrying out their evil will. 
 
 But what was their will before the will of Allah ? 
 
 Al Borak was upon them in an instant, as if he had 
 suddenly descended out of the seventh heaven among 
 them. 
 
 There sat Hilwe, in the midst, the grave yawning 
 for her at her feet. 
 
 She wore the plain dark-blue garment of the country, 
 and over it the striped red and black outer robe of 
 camel s hair; all hand-made, woven by herself; while 
 from her head floated the white drapery, like a veil, 
 simple and graceful, reaching below her waist. The 
 colours were those properly ascribed to and associated 
 with the Blessed Virgin, and for ages worn by the 
 peasant-women of Palestine. 
 
 There she sat, her man-child in her arms, the maj 
 esty of resignation upon her, a personification of the 
 Madonna, the Divine type of Motherhood for all 
 generations, which should call her blessed. The 
 young peasant-woman of Judaea, scarcely old enough 
 to bear the responsibilities of motherhood, or be a 
 mother, with her great dark eyes, black hair, and
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 541 
 
 brown complexion, richly tinted with all the glorious 
 colouring with which the sun delights to paint, when 
 he kisses the cheeks of those who love him, poor 
 Hilwe, with her first-born, her gentle son, knew not 
 how like she was to that other Mother of Judaea, who, 
 nearly two thousand years ago, found little rever 
 ence, or pity, or refuge in an unloving world which 
 maligned her. 
 
 To Leone, from the land of Raphael, Angelo, and 
 Del Sarto, it was a sight that needed no interpreter. 
 There was the Madonna. He saw her as if in holy 
 vision. The very drapery, the blue, the red, the 
 white, all was as he had seen it pictured hundreds of 
 times. Oh, that look of indescribable purity in her 
 face upturned to heaven for vindication and the pity 
 that man denied ! 
 
 "Will not the sanctity of motherhood protect thee 
 from the ruthless creatures thirsting for thy blood?" 
 
 No. They are as the rocks that surround them for 
 obduracy. Their fanaticism stifles every natural feel 
 ing. They are implacable, lost to every gentle emo 
 tion. There is nothing to hope for from them, no 
 relenting. All is hard, unmitigated bigotry. 
 
 But when they saw the horse, when he broke through 
 them like a demon of destruction, ah! that was 
 another thing. 
 
 No wonder that the horse seemed to them of supernal 
 mould, the action of him the nostrils breathing 
 smoke eyes that flashed fire the ground breaking 
 into sparks beneath his feet ! 
 
 They heard Leone call him by his name Al Borak 
 as he urged him on. 
 
 "Al Borak! It is even the horse of the Prophet!" 
 they exclaimed, and, amazed, terrified for the nonce, 
 fell back before him. 
 
 "Hah, Al Borak, do thy duty!" 
 
 The cry came out of the depths of Leone s soul; as 
 a man shouts in the battle when he is sore pressed, and 
 knows not but to smite, to wound, to destroy; who is 
 there to slay, and delays not to think, and pauses not 
 to consider.
 
 54 2 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 He yelled without words. It was the outburst of a 
 maniac. He was wild with enthusiasm. His face had 
 lost all definite expression, and his words articulation. 
 His features were distorted, frightful to look upon. 
 All was frenzy. 
 
 He was in the midst of them. The evil ones had 
 regained their courage. They closed upon him. They 
 caught his bridle to prevent him in his purpose and 
 overwhelm him. They made deadly thrusts at him, 
 and tried to drag him from the horse. 
 
 The moment had come. Leone leaned forward and 
 spoke softly in the horse s ear the mystic words which 
 the Bedawe had taught Hassan, and which he in turn 
 had conveyed to Leone. They were the words which 
 had governed all the horse s tribe for generations. 
 
 Then the power and the vengeance of Al Borak 
 broke loose. His mouth opened upon the evil ones. 
 The screech he emitted was unlike the neigh of a 
 horse; it was blood-curdling. It might be supposed to 
 resemble the defiant scream of the night warlock. The 
 wild breeze of the desert again blew over him, and 
 fired his blood. He seized the first of the men by 
 the neck, and shook him as though he had been a rat, 
 throwing him aside, and crippling him for life. The 
 others who stood in the way he pranced upon, and 
 struck down with his fore-feet, in inconceivable fury. 
 It was frightful. It was like the vengeance of God. 
 The madness of one of the fabled centaurs was in him, 
 and compelled him. He was possessed of the ancient 
 sources of strength that are hidden in the immovable 
 hills and stubborn rocks, and that have woven the 
 knotted sinews within the timbers of the toughened 
 oak, the irresistible sacred force of Nature which she 
 gives to the wild unspoiled creatures that love her and 
 hold by her. 
 
 He now was close to Hilwe. With a low whinny of 
 affectionate recognition he bowed his head before her; 
 he rubbed his smooth nose against her cheek. 
 
 She knew him, yet she could not understand. It all 
 was like a vision to her. 
 
 "I have come to deliver you!" cried Leone. "Quick!
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 543 
 
 If you would save your own life and your child s life, 
 delay not. For the love of God, hasten ! " 
 
 He held out his hand to her. He caught hold of 
 her, drawing her to him. The horse, at a word, bent 
 low to receive her, as he had been taught. She placed 
 her foot on Leone s foot, and with little effort the 
 young man swung her up upon the horse, behind him. 
 
 Then, like a flash of the livid leven for which he had 
 been named, that noble creature shot forward through 
 that dusky crowd, plunging upon them, throwing them 
 down, trampling them under foot. 
 
 Filled with dread, they gave way. In an instant he 
 had flashed through them, and was gone. 
 
 Hilwe, clasping her child to her, clung to Leone. 
 As he felt her arm around his waist, it gave him fresh 
 courage. 
 
 " Forward, Al Borak ! Brave, brave one ! " 
 
 But those determined fellaheen were full of resources, 
 and were not to be baffled of their prey, or circumvented 
 without a further struggle. 
 
 One rushed to where he had left his rifle. 
 
 "What are you about? Will you let them go, nor 
 put forth a hand to stay them ? " he cried. 
 
 A ball whizzed close to Leone. Missing him, as he 
 thought, it grazed Al Borak s glossy shoulder, and left 
 a streak of blood on the white velvet of his skin. 
 
 But there was no pause. If possible, the horse 
 went all the swifter, more furiously tore ahead, 
 leaving the accursed Black Valley behind. 
 
 "Grip fast!" Leone cried to Hilwe, not knowing 
 that, in thus encouraging her, he spoke the words that 
 in great emergency the gallant Leslie had used to the 
 Queen of Scotland. 
 
 On they fled, till Al Borak s steaming flanks 
 admonished Leone to draw rein, which he did, in 
 mercy to the faithful horse, who would have dropped 
 dead before halting without the command. 
 
 They were saved. 
 
 They were well beyond pursuit of their enemies, 
 even if those enemies had the least prospect of success 
 in pursuing them.
 
 544 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Hilwe clasped her child to her and kissed him. 
 Snatched out of the very jaws of death, under the 
 revulsion of her feelings, she could not speak, no, 
 not even to thank Leone. Doubtless, too, she felt that 
 thanks were paltry rendering for such service as he had 
 bestowed. 
 
 Crosslett was not without having taken part in the 
 action; but it was in such a subordinate rdle he felt 
 rather humiliated and ashamed of it. 
 
 At the critical moment, when Leone had lifted 
 Hilwe and her son behind him, and Al Borak was 
 trampling down and flinging to the right and left those 
 men of sin who were attacking them, Crosslett appeared 
 upon the scene. He came with the old Hebrew war- 
 cry: "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" The 
 wind, aided by the velocity with which he rode, had 
 stripped from him, and lifted high above his shoulders 
 and his head, the light and scanty piece of drapery 
 which was his only garment. Remaining fastened at 
 his neck, it waved and flapped over him like wings, 
 giving him, mounted as he was, an extraordinary 
 appearance, and perhaps an additional likeness to one 
 of the classic heroes, mediaeval champions, or ancient 
 saints, or all of them rolled into one. 
 
 Filled with the divine afflatus and heavenly ecstasy, 
 like the St. George they had nicknamed him, or an 
 avenging St. Michael, he was utterly unconscious of 
 the figure he presented, or of anything strange or 
 improper in his person. 
 
 " Fly, Crosslett, fly, or they will take you ! " was all 
 that Leone, as he carried off Hilwe, had time or 
 thought to call to him. 
 
 Crosslett s sudden arrival and supernatural aspect 
 had, doubtless, in some degree, contributed to the 
 result, and intensified the superstitious fears of the 
 men of Malha, diverting their attention. His appall 
 ing shout gave the impression that other help was 
 coming, and that it was near at hand. When the 
 sharp report of the rifle rang out, speeding the ball that 
 left a red furrow in the beautiful skin of Al Borak,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 545 
 
 Crosslett drew from the holster a revolver that Selim 
 had placed there, and fired off in rapid succession every 
 cartridge it contained, shouting : " Let God arise, and 
 let his enemies be scattered ! " 
 
 In the confined gorge it sounded like a volley of 
 musketry, and the effect was salutary on the wild men. 
 
 "I fire it to scare, not to wound," said Crosslett, 
 whose principles were opposed to the use of a deadly 
 weapon. 
 
 Selim had forced the revolver upon him ; while 
 Crosslett reminded him that the count had insisted 
 that, under the circumstances, there must be no blood 
 shed unless compelled by the most extreme provocation. 
 
 "Then fire it to frighten, not to kill," said Selim, 
 thrusting the weapon in the holster. 
 
 And this was the sentiment with which " St. George " 
 excused himself. 
 
 " Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered ! " 
 was his parting shout. 
 
 Then the brave unselfish thought entered his mind 
 to mislead the fellaheen by not following the count, but 
 returning another way. He succeeded in confusing 
 them sufficiently to draw them into pursuing him, and 
 was shot at by them, two or three times. But this he 
 was too modest to mention. 
 
 CHAPTER LII 
 
 SPEEDING through the numerous passes and glens 
 which lie beyond the Black Valley, sights not 
 unfamiliar to Hilwe, though obscured by the wild rush 
 of their flight, flashed occasionally upon her bewildered 
 gaze. She scarcely noticed them. Her mind was dulled 
 from the shock she had received. But now, when Leone 
 halted, she recognised the place she knew it well. It 
 was near a part of the Wady-el-Werd. 
 
 They were in one of those ancient and neglected 
 roadways, so common in Palestine, almost obliterated in 
 
 35
 
 546 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 places by the winter rains, and by masses of rock which 
 had rolled down into its rough bed, and sometimes 
 blocked the way. 
 
 Near by was an old and originally finely-ornamented 
 fountain. The water, at this time in considerably 
 reduced volume, gushed out of the side of the terrace- 
 like plateau, high above the valley, and close to the 
 roadway, escaping through the shattered pillars and 
 curiously carved stonework of the fountain, which was 
 overhung and shadowed by fig-trees and other trees, 
 adding to the picturesqueness of the place. 
 
 In front, standing on end, upright, two great circular 
 stones, the remains of an archaic oil-press, were partly 
 sunk in the ground, surrounded with rubbish, and some 
 what overgrown with vegetation. A rude stone trough 
 for the oil lay beside the oil-press. They appear not to 
 have been used for generations, and probably belong to 
 a time when the neighbouring hills, still terraced to their 
 summits, were covered with vines and olives. 
 
 Hilwe gave an exclamation of recognition : 
 
 " Ah, it is Ain Haniyeh ! " 
 
 It was the Fountain of St. Philip the place where 
 he had baptised the eunuch, the Treasurer of Candace, 
 Queen of the Ethiopians. 
 
 The water still flows on, though the surroundings, 
 doubtless, are changed since that day of grace, so many 
 hundred years ago, when Philip rode with the eagerly 
 inquiring eunuch in his chariot, reading and explaining 
 Esaias the prophet, as told so well in the fascinating old 
 narrative : 
 
 " And as they went on their way, they came unto a 
 certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; 
 what doth hinder me to be baptised? 
 
 " And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine 
 heart, thou mayest. " 
 
 How many a summer and winter have passed between 
 that day and this ! Nations have arisen and fallen ; 
 continents have been discovered and brought into the 
 marvellous light out of the misty unknown in which so 
 long they had slumbered, though always known to 
 God ; sixty generations of men have come and gone,
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 547 
 
 and turned to dust, since then ; and still with silvery 
 voice the water calleth out of the rocky hillside to the 
 glen, pouring out and spilling itself in a sacred libation 
 a baptismal fountain of cleansing and of cheer. 
 
 Hilwe, seeing the water, prepared to alight, Leone, 
 who had already dismounted, assisting her. 
 
 Gladly did they drink of the refreshing stream, that 
 sang for them a song of thanksgiving while they and Al 
 Borak satisfied their thirst from it. 
 
 Leone carefully bathed Al Borak s wound, washing 
 the blood-stains from him. That crimson streak the ball 
 had left was scarcely skin deep. 
 
 For the first time, Leone perceived the shot had come 
 closer to himself than he had suspected. It had slit his 
 trousers across the thigh, leaving a welt upon the flesh, 
 but barely drawing the blood. He now remembered he 
 had felt at the time a stinging sensation there, as though 
 he had received the lash of a whip. 
 
 He took care to conceal it from Hilwe. 
 
 " It was closer work than I thought for both of us, Al 
 Borak," he said, addressing the horse. " Brave, noble 
 Al Borak, we owe our lives and everything to you. 
 You deserve all the praise." 
 
 They had rested but a little while in the shadow of 
 the trees and fountain, when Leone, turning to Hilwe, 
 suggested that it might be well to proceed on their 
 journey. 
 
 " You and your little Talmai can rest more safely in 
 Jerusalem," he said, " where you can be protected." 
 
 Then Hilwe arose and bowed herself before him. 
 
 " Thou hast saved my life, and the life of my child," 
 she said, " and what can such an one as I am render 
 unto my lord for all the benefits he has done unto me? 
 Nothing that I could say or do would avail to show my 
 gratitude. Yet now, if I have found grace in thy sight, 
 suffer me to depart. Hinder me not, I beseech thee. 
 Let me go upon my way, and do thou return unto Jeru 
 salem ; and the blessing of heaven be upon thee. Who 
 am I that I should trouble thee, or bring reproach upon 
 thy name ? " 
 
 " Hilwe, I perceive you distrust me."
 
 548 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " Nay ; that be far from me to impute evil to thee. 
 Hast thou not risked thy life to deliver us? Yet suffer 
 it to be as I have said unto thee." 
 
 A pained expression shadowed Leone s face. 
 
 " It is because of Amne," he said. " You have no 
 confidence in me because of her. And yet I meant no 
 evil to Amne. I loved her. I would have given my life 
 to save her and the little child my beautiful child. I 
 have been unfortunate." 
 
 Hilwe but imperfectly understood the words ; yet she 
 knew by intuition the meaning. 
 
 " Poor Amne," she said. " They did unto her as they 
 would have done to me ; and there was none to plead 
 her cause there was none to deliver her." 
 
 " Hilwe, you know not what you are exposing your 
 self to. It is far better that I should take you to Jeru 
 salem. I swear to you I shall take you whithersoever 
 you wish to any of the convents of religious women, 
 or to the house of the good Deaconesses of the English 
 Church, or to any Moslem family you prefer." 
 
 Partly by signs, partly by words, he tried to convey 
 his meaning. 
 
 " Nay, nay." 
 
 Hilwe shook her head. 
 
 " But you have no food. I have no money with me, 
 or I would gladly give you. I left in such haste I did 
 not bring my purse. What will become of you? " 
 
 " Fear not for me," she replied. " I know the country. 
 Those who would harm me will look for me in Jerusalem ; 
 and I shall make my escape to a place of safety, where 
 they will not think of searching for me. Go thy way ; 
 peace be with thee ; and the blessing of the helpless, 
 whom thou didst succour, be upon thee." 
 
 Leone would have further remonstrated with her ; 
 but, repeating her thanks, she bade him good-bye, and at 
 once departed with her little one. 
 
 It was done so suddenly, he scarcely understood what 
 had occurred till too late to prevent it. While he was 
 occupied, a few minutes, with Al Borak, she watched 
 her opportunity, and when he turned to look after her, 
 she had disappeared.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 549 
 
 Recovering himself, he followed her, intending to help 
 her on her way, if not see her to some place of safety. 
 
 " I did wrong to let her go/ he said reproachfully. 
 " She will get into trouble. Yet how can I blame her 
 for leaving? " 
 
 Leading Al Borak between the huge masses of rock 
 which cumbered the difficult roadway, he searched for 
 Hilwe on every side, but could see nothing of her. 
 She had cleverly evaded him. As though she had been 
 a partridge, or quail, or other wild bird, she had run 
 under bushes and boulders, and hidden from him so 
 completely, it was impossible for him to find her, or 
 know what direction she had taken. 
 
 At last, bitterly censuring himself for letting her go 
 alone, he was obliged to give up the search, and returned 
 by way of the fountain. 
 
 He determined that as soon as he reached Jerusalem 
 he would lay the entire matter before the authorities, 
 and demand that the most severe measures should be 
 adopted for the punishment of the wicked Malhaites. 
 
 He hardly dared let himself think of the cruel end of 
 Amne and his child. When he thought of it all and 
 his transgressions, an inexpressible pang passed through 
 him, forcing a long deep groan from his lips, as though 
 it would shatter his very body and soul. 
 
 The passionate regret for that which is irreparable, 
 for the opportunity that comes not again, the joy that 
 can never return, - who can measure its bitterness and 
 pain ? The heart grows weak before it. It seems like 
 the forerunner of death and eternal retribution. 
 
 Yet to have saved Hilwe and the little Talmai was per 
 haps some slight atonement. 
 
 It was with a sad remorseful spirit he drew the bridle 
 over his arm and led the horse through the more narrow 
 passages. But where there was more room, he walked 
 beside Al Borak; and once more, before mounting, he 
 threw his arm around the horse s neck and spoke cheer 
 ing and fond words to him, while the sagacious animal, 
 understanding, returned the caresses, rubbing his nose 
 softly against Leone s arm, with a gentle whinny, as if 
 trying to speak.
 
 550 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 "Brave Al Borak! How can I do enough for you? 
 How noble and kind and wise you are ! And yet they 
 say you have no soul." 
 
 Leone threw himself into the saddle, and the horse 
 soon brought him to a by-path which crossed the ridge 
 into the highway leading to the city. It was the road 
 between Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem. There the 
 powerful stallion, in the exuberance of his strength and 
 joy, stretched his perfect limbs over the smooth track 
 with such freshness, ease, and fleetness, it was difficult 
 to believe he had gone through the severe work he that 
 day had accomplished. It was as if he wanted to show 
 what was in him, and that he was far from having ex 
 hausted his resources. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII 
 
 THE sun had just set, and the moon, now at the 
 full, had not yet risen high enough to be visible 
 above the rocky crests of the hills forming the heights 
 of Bettir, and which, in their singularly fine shapes, aided 
 by the solemn hour, assumed in places an aspect almost 
 of grandeur as well as of beauty. 
 
 The road winds beneath the cliffs, which shut out all 
 view of the village from this direction. It was here 
 Hilwe found herself at the close of the day which had 
 been so eventful to her. Weary as she was, she did not 
 turn aside to take the way that led up to the village, but 
 kept right on, and then ascended the connected tell at 
 the extreme end of the valley, whose summit rises but 
 slightly above the rest of the range, yet commands a 
 view of the entire surroundings, including that distant 
 sweep of the Mediterranean, now a streak of misty blue, 
 it having lost its crispy freshness and sunny sparkle of 
 the morning. 
 
 As she passed beneath the aqueduct that high above 
 her head spanned the road, she found a tank of water,
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 551 
 
 but only waited long enough to quench her own and her 
 child s thirst, then hurried on. 
 
 She seemed to have no definite plan, only to avoid 
 those who might prove inimical to her, and to find for 
 the present a quiet place to rest in. Perhaps she in 
 tended, when it was a little later and had grown dusk, to 
 come down and beg a morsel of food from some outlying 
 house, where she would not be recognised. But her mind 
 did not seem to be very clear on the subject. 
 
 The one longing remained, that she might get as 
 near as safety permitted to Kadra, that she might have 
 one sympathetic breast into which she could pour her 
 sorrows. 
 
 Near that point which rises a little higher than the 
 rest of the range is a grove which formerly had been 
 more extensive, and is not wanting in certain distinctive 
 marks of antiquity. The olive-trees composing it are 
 very old, many of them being so hollow the trunks are 
 mere shells, the centres being built up with stone masonry 
 to preserve the trees, which, notwithstanding their vener 
 able age, are still flourishing and fruitful. 
 
 Groups of the trees, containing four or five individuals, 
 might occasionally be seen within a radius of from five 
 to ten or more feet. This indicates the position and 
 size of a single original olive-tree which, from great age, 
 having decayed at the centre, had left certain points of 
 vitality in its outer rim that had each grown into a dis 
 tinct tree. 
 
 Here, into this peaceful spot, Hilwe entered, and rested 
 beneath the trees. 
 
 The point, doubtless, is one of the " high places " 
 where the worship of the ancient gods, Ba al, Ashtaroth, 
 and others, had been carried on by the original inhabit 
 ants of the land, from whom the Israelites had learned 
 to practise the idolatry which had such fascination for 
 them it drew them from the worship of Jehovah. 
 
 The moon was now shining resplendent, and from this 
 vantage-ground was seen in all her beauty. The ruddy 
 gleams of the sunset were fading out in the west, and the 
 cold silvery moonlight was succeeding. The pale light 
 made fantastic shadows under the ancient trees, and one
 
 552 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 might easily imagine the effect produced by such a scene 
 upon the credulous and superstitious people who came 
 here to worship in the days of Joshua and Ahab. 
 
 It was impossible that Hihve should not feel intensely 
 the peculiar influence of the place. The deep seclusion 
 of the grove and the sense of peace and of repose the 
 moonlight almost always brings were to her like a bene 
 diction. The walking of God in the Garden of Eden, in 
 the cool of the day, has a sweet significance that we 
 all must acknowledge. The day s labour done, poor 
 man has this respite from his toil, and can commune 
 with his Creator. It was something of this she felt. It 
 was the atmosphere of the place. 
 
 At first she supposed herself entirely alone with Talmai, 
 and felt the relief that the sensation brought her. But 
 soon she became aware of the presence of a stranger. 
 
 Not far from where she sat, she saw the figure of a 
 man move across the shaft of moonlight that penetrated 
 through the vista formed by a double row of olive-trees. 
 At the nearer end was a large block of stone, before 
 which the man stood. He had poured out something 
 upon the top of the stone after having prostrated him 
 self, and now as he stood with outstretched arms, she 
 heard the murmur of a prayer or invocation. She saw 
 not the man s face. It was turned towards the moon. 
 But she caught sight of his snow-white beard, and knew 
 he was not a young man. 
 
 The scene which was enacted before her was not one 
 to cause her any great surprise. The custom of offering 
 on some high place at the full of the moon a sacrifice in 
 the shape of oil poured out on an altar-like stone, hol 
 lowed at the centre, is still adhered to by the fellaheen 
 of Palestine. It, doubtless, is a remnant of the ancient 
 worship of Ashtaroth, which, as they are Mohammedans, 
 and detest anything like idolatry, is the more remarkable. 
 When questioned about it, they simply say it is an old 
 custom, and was done by their forefathers to bring favour 
 able crops and prosperity. 
 
 The sanctity of high places seems to have been a set 
 tled belief in the remote ages. The early books of the 
 Bible have frequent reference to high places as places of
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 553 
 
 worship. Groves upon lofty summits were selected for 
 the worship of Ba al and other gods of the Canaanites. 
 The grove and the mountain meant seclusion and se 
 curity. Even Christ himself seems to have sympathised 
 with this feeling. We find him going up into a moun 
 tain and continuing all night in prayer. On the snowy 
 dome of Hermon he was transfigured with great glory. 
 It was from a mountain-top he delivered his divine com 
 mandments, as Moses in the past had brought down the 
 law from Mount Sinai. The people felt it was getting 
 nearer to heaven and the God of heaven when they 
 selected the hill and the tell as places of worship. 
 
 As the man again prostrated himself, and then retired, 
 Hilwe cautiously advanced to the altar. It was a huge 
 single block, roughly cubical in form, of unhewn stone ; 
 no tool of man had worked upon it. It had alone been 
 carved by the hand of Nature. Even the hollow on the 
 top had been made by the frequent dropping of the rain. 
 
 She found there the corn, the wine, and the oil which 
 the man had poured out as an offering. Being an hun 
 gered, she gladly took of the corn or parched wheat, a 
 handful or so, and did eat of it, sharing it with Talmai. 
 
 But the man, who had gone but a little way, perceived 
 her, and returned. 
 
 " Who art thou? and whence comest thou? " he asked 
 in severe tones. 
 
 Then Hilwe, trembling, cast herself upon her face 
 before him, and kissed the hem of his garment. 
 
 She now perceived that the old man was Abou Chalil, 
 the sheik of Bettir. 
 
 Seeing she answered not, he again questioned her : 
 
 " Who art thou? And whose is the child? And why 
 didst thou take of the offering from the altar? That may 
 not be done, saving thou art in sore distress." 
 
 Then did Hilwe answer him, in a lamentable voice : 
 
 " Have mercy upon me, my lord, if I have done that 
 which I ought not to have done. I and my little one 
 are indeed in sore distress and an hungered. I am of the 
 people of Malha. Be not wroth with me because of it. 
 My own people seek my life this day. They would have 
 destroyed me and my child had we not been delivered
 
 554 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 out of their hand. As to my name I am called Hilwe. 
 Alas, the name doth mock me, for my life hath not been 
 sweet, but very bitter. And the lad thou seest is Talmai, 
 the son of a man of Bettir even Hassan, whom they 
 have taken into the army, and sent into a far country, 
 across the sea. And now he is reported slain in battle. 
 Woe is me. Why should I care to live were it not for 
 the lad?" 
 
 She lifted up her voice and wept as one who mourns 
 for the dead. 
 
 The sheik was greatly troubled at her words and her 
 lamentation. 
 
 "Arise, my daughter," he said. "Thou hast been 
 kinder than I have been. God forgive me, and do thou 
 forgive me for speaking so harshly to one whom he hath 
 afflicted. I might have broken thy heart. As for the 
 rumour thou didst hear, pray God it may not be true. 
 We have heard no such tidings. Would we not have 
 heard them? Is not my son, even Chalil, with thy 
 husband?" 
 
 How sweet the word " husband " sounded in Hilwe s 
 ears, though now it was chastened by her sorrow. It 
 was the first time the word had been addressed to her, 
 when he whom it named was gone, and her heart beat 
 fast. 
 
 " I am as one who hath been lost," she said. " I have 
 been wandering these many days, and am full of trouble. 
 I am as one distraught, seeking rest and finding none." 
 
 " Fear not, my daughter. Let not thy heart faint within 
 thee. Here shalt thou and thy son find rest. Have I 
 not vowed a vow and sworn to Hassan, for myself and 
 rhy posterity, to keep in remembrance my covenant with 
 him and with his seed, even for generations? Though 
 there was a time I valued him not at his true worth. 
 Allah forgive me. Nor shall I see even a dog belonging 
 to him want for aught that I and mine can give him. 
 How much more, therefore, shall I be good unto his 
 son?" 
 
 The sheik took Talmai in his arms and kissed him. 
 
 " Blessed be thy father s son," he said. " It was well 
 to name him Talmai. It is a name honoured among us."
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 555 
 
 " It was Hassan s wish," said Hihve. " He said it was 
 his father s and his father s father s name." 
 
 " Thou speakest the words of truth. The name hath 
 been preserved among us for countless generations." 
 
 Giving the child back to his mother, the sheik con 
 tinued : 
 
 " And now, my daughter, hearken unto my voice, that 
 it may be well with thee and with thine. The night 
 cometh on. Thou shalt abide with my daughters in my 
 own house this night, and as long after as thou inclinest 
 thereto. But is not Hassan s house, which was his father s 
 before him, ready to thy hand? Why shouldst thou not 
 have it? It shall be givn to his son and to thee on the 
 morrow. Also I shall apportion his share in the land to 
 thee and thine. It shall be for thy sustenance. And 
 fear not that the people of Bettir will lift a ringer against 
 thee to do evil to thee, because of the Thar, and that thou 
 art from Malha. They will protect thee, and do good 
 to thee all the days of thy life, for the love they bear to 
 Hassan." 
 
 Hihve bowed herself before the sheik and did obeisance. 
 
 " I will do all things as thou sayest. And blessed be 
 thou, and praise be to the God of our fathers, who hath 
 lifted me up when I was cast down, and this day brought 
 me help and strength against the mighty." 
 
 " It is time we were returning," said the sheik. " Thou 
 and the lad need food and refreshment. Follow me, and 
 I shall lead thee by a short and easy way to the village. 
 It is but a few steps." 
 
 When, the next day, it was noised abroad throughout 
 Bettir that Hilwe and Talmai the son of Hassan had 
 come to reside among them, and that the sheik had given 
 them the house of Hassan to live in, and apportioned 
 the share of his tillage to be theirs, nothing could exceed 
 the enthusiasm and delight of the people. The example 
 of the sheik was enough to stimulate them. They vied 
 with one another in showing kindness to the strangers. 
 
 Hilwe had found the house just as Hassan and Chalil 
 had left it when they were taken by the zaptiehs. It was 
 more than sufficient for the simple wants of herself and 
 her child. She took a great though melancholy pleasure
 
 556 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 in living in it and in looking at and touching the vari 
 ous things that it contained which Hassan had owned 
 and handled. 
 
 The day she had entered it there was, from morning 
 till evening, a stream of the women of Bettir, coming to 
 congratulate her, and each bore a gift, greater or smaller, 
 according as she could afford. So that soon the house 
 was stocked with provisions, enough to last for many a 
 day. 
 
 When she thanked them and would have remonstrated, 
 they would not listen to her. 
 
 " It is as nothing," they insisted, " to what Hassan hath 
 done for us. Did he not even Sell his horse, descended 
 of the Prophet s horse, to save us from the oppressors? 
 We but give thee back a tithe of what he gave us." 
 
 So she was obliged to let them have their way. 
 
 " You are better to me than if you were my own 
 people," she told them. 
 
 " Why should it not be so ? " they replied. " Art thou 
 not now belonging to us?" 
 
 Thus Hilwe abode in the old stone house with Talmai, 
 as if she were Hassan s widow. The days passed unevent 
 fully and peacefully. And though more than one of the 
 young men of Bettir looked longingly upon her, and 
 would gladly have taken her to wife, insisting that Hassan 
 was dead, she gave them no encouragement. 
 
 Then they spoke to the sheik about it, and said : 
 
 " Surely Hassan cannot be alive or we should have had 
 a message from him." 
 
 But the old man shook his head and replied : 
 
 "Nay, nay. You believe according to your desire. 
 Mere wishing doth not bring the harvest to the thresh 
 ing-floor. We will hope the best for Hassan. Evil 
 tidings travel fast. Are there not ravens enough to 
 carry them ? Were he dead, we should have heard. 
 Let the woman alone with her grief. Trouble her 
 not." 
 
 So the young men had to be content, and went 
 away sorrowful. 
 
 Hilwe remained faithful to the memory of Hassan, 
 and treasured in her heart all his sayings. As often
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 557 
 
 as she went to draw water, she recalled his words when 
 praising Bettir. 
 
 "It is just as Hassan told me," she would repeat. 
 "Did he not say to me when first I knew him : There 
 is plenty of water at Bettir. Thou hast not to go far 
 to draw it. Ah, had I but his smile to cheer me, I 
 should be content and happy ! " 
 
 Once, to relieve her mind, she had confessed to the 
 sheik part of the story of her connection with the death 
 of Kiamil Aga. 
 
 But the sheik quickly informed her she was giving 
 herself unnecessary pain in her remorse on the subject, 
 as the captain of zaptiehs had not been killed, but was 
 living. 
 
 " He hath been a curse and a scourge to us ! " ex 
 claimed the sheik. " It is a pity thou didst not succeed 
 in crushing the life out of him, as he richly deserved." 
 
 But Hilwe greatly rejoiced that the aga had escaped, 
 and that, though he would carry the mark of his 
 punishment upon him the rest of his days, she had 
 not taken his life, and the stain of his blood was not 
 upon her. 
 
 "When the zaptiehs visit us, thou hadst best con 
 ceal thyself, lest they see thee," advised the sheik. 
 " For, though he gives a different account of the injury 
 to him, did he find thee, the aga would not fail to 
 trouble thee, and take revenge of that thou hast done." 
 
 CHAPTER LTV 
 
 THE insurrection in Crete was slowly subsiding. 
 At last the continued presence of the Turkish 
 troops was making itself felt in the revival of the 
 authority of the government. And now that this had 
 been brought about, there was a certain outward 
 acquiescence in it which might have deceived the less 
 astute observer into imagining it the true spirit of 
 obedience, and the restoration of law and order.
 
 558 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 People had begun to say that had it not been for the 
 Sphakiots the trouble would have been over long ago ; 
 and soon ended with saying that but for the Sphakiots 
 there would never have been any trouble. 
 
 In case of failure there always must be a scapegoat. 
 
 The powers that be, even though infirm, rickety and 
 disabled, as long as they can keep up the mask, and go 
 through the prescribed formulae of governing within 
 tolerably decent limits, carry with them a certain 
 prerogative and vested rights which are usually ac 
 cepted by the majority. 
 
 The Sphakiots, those brave mountaineers, though far 
 from being conquered, had been driven into their more 
 remote fastnesses, where, tired of fighting, and having 
 temporarily exhausted their resources, it was said they 
 were willing to rest for the present. 
 
 The last conflicts with them had been sharply con 
 tested. In one of these they had drawn the Palestine 
 soldiers into an ambush which had resulted in great 
 loss of life. It was the part of the regiment to which 
 Hassan, Chalil and Murad belonged. 
 
 The Turkish officer in command, contrary to the 
 warning of Hassan, had followed up too confidently the 
 retreating Sphakiots, and was one of the first killed in 
 the slaughter that ensued. 
 
 It was openly acknowledged that, but for the coolness 
 and bravery displayed by Hassan at the critical moment, 
 the entire troop would have been cut to pieces. 
 
 Murad, the easy-going, pleasure-loving Murad, whose 
 chief object in life was to get all the sensual gratifi 
 cation he could extract from it, and knew no better 
 he, the warm-hearted son of Mars, was desperately 
 wounded, and would have been left upon the field, in 
 the enemy s hands, had not Hassan, at the risk of his 
 own life, under a deadly fire, in which he was twice 
 struck, carried him off on his shoulders, to a place of 
 safety. 
 
 It was an instance of such brilliant action and unusual 
 valour in the field, that it could not be overlooked. 
 Hassan received a decoration, the medal for bravery in 
 battle, and a further promotion.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 559 
 
 Though his wounds were painful, they were not 
 dangerous. 
 
 With Murad the case was serious. The full-blooded 
 body, made for pleasure, accustomed to be gratified, 
 and to be pandered to by its inhabitant, had now to 
 take a very different medicine. It was drenched with 
 pain. His wounds, dangerous to begin with, under 
 the treatment of incompetent surgeons brought him to 
 death s door. 
 
 He had been given up to die; and as he lay pale and 
 reduced to the last degree, under the gnawings of 
 remorse he sent for Hassan the man who had done 
 so much for him. 
 
 "Thou hast snatched me from the jaws of death, 
 though all for naught. I would confess the wrong I 
 have done thee before I die. " 
 
 He spoke with difficulty ; but, with the desperation 
 of one in extremity, he told the story. The presence 
 of Hassan, whom now he really loved, revived him; 
 and as he went on he gathered strength. He drew forth 
 the little amulet of pearl, which had caused so much 
 trouble, and gave it to Hassan. 
 
 " I found it after thou didst leave, that day of our 
 quarrel. When thou didst dash it from thee, it re 
 bounded, and lodged in a cobweb, in a corner of the 
 room, whence I took it ; and I have since preserved it, 
 seeing there was some mystery about it. There was 
 no truth in a single word I told thee of my intrigue 
 connected with it. I never had it of any damsel 
 much less her of whom I boasted." 
 
 Hassan had listened patiently; but now his face 
 almost as pale as Murad s he blurted out, through 
 compressed lips, an expression of mingled sorrow and 
 contempt. 
 
 "Thine intentions, doubtless, are good, Murad. But 
 there is no use in deceiving me. The cadi doth not 
 hear denial after confession." 
 
 " I am not deceiving thee ! " cried Murad, in despair. 
 "Wilt thou not believe a dying man? Let me swear 
 to thee! " 
 
 " There, there ! Do not excite thyself. It is too late. "
 
 560 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 Hassan shook his head sorrowfully. 
 
 " It is not too late ! By heavens I will make thee 
 understand and believe me ! " 
 
 "Ah! Didst thou not describe her particularly, 
 and give me her name ? " 
 
 Murad, seizing the amulet, pointed out the name 
 "Hilwe," now nearly obliterated. 
 
 " It was there I found the name. It was plainer 
 when first I got the pearl disc, but now is almost worn 
 away. When thou didst ask me the damsel s name, the 
 word leaped to my lips, and I spoke it, not knowing 
 the mischief I was doing. And afterwards, when I 
 perceived a mystery and a grief lay behind it all that I 
 could not fathom, my pride would not let me confess. 
 Was I not ever given to boast of my amours? Did I 
 not tell thee of a score of them ? Why should this one 
 affect thee more than another this one that never 
 occurred, that was all a lie? It was thus I argued. 
 And in my obstinacy, I could not bring myself to show 
 thee how it was." 
 
 Hassan seemed beyond moving as if it was now 
 impossible for him to change the belief into which he 
 had hardened. It was pathetic to hear him murmur to 
 himself: 
 
 "I tried to forget her; but I could not. I should 
 have had to tear out my heart for that. With all, in 
 spite of all, I loved her. As much as at the first 
 yea, a thousand times more ! I was ashamed of myself 
 because of it." 
 
 So spoke Hassan, in agony of spirit in brokenness 
 of heart. 
 
 But Murad, seeing he remained unconvinced, cried 
 out : " Do they not load a camel even while he grumbles ? 
 So, in spite of thee, I will make thee believe! " 
 
 He raised himself in the bed, and, placing his hand 
 upon his head, swore by Mohammed the solemn and 
 terrible oath, so reverenced by all Moslems, and espe 
 cially by the fellaheen. 
 
 "I did not think thou wast so obdurate," he said, 
 "and that thou wouldst have driven me to it to per 
 suade thee. Wilt thou not now believe? "
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 561 
 
 "Yea, yea. I must believe thee, " said Hassan, as if 
 he were waking out of a trance. " Yet didst thou not 
 describe her to me accurately? " 
 
 "The description I took out of thine own mouth. 
 Did I not cunningly draw from thee, each time, in thy 
 questioning of me, the image of her person she whom 
 I had never set eyes on and then I gave back to thee 
 that thou hadst already told me. Yet did I not mean 
 any wrong, or to do thee the least hurt. I saw thou 
 wast interested in my romance, and I was led on to 
 add more and more, to please myself and thee with 
 the recital of my supposed love-affair." 
 
 " And the little boss the amulet made of nacre 
 how did it come into thy possession? " Hassan s head 
 dropped on his bosom, while he added in a low voice : 
 " I carved it for her, before her very eyes. My heart 
 went into it. I gave it to her as a talisman and a 
 love-token. How happy I was, that day ! I was too 
 happy. " 
 
 At that, Murad clapped his hands, and the soldier 
 who waited on him entered. 
 
 " Send hither Nagi," he said. " He promised to be 
 here before this time." 
 
 Nagi had already arrived, and was at once ushered in. 
 He proved to be the soldier to whom Hilwe had given 
 the amulet and message for Hassan, which were never 
 conveyed to him ; and he told, in his plain rude fashion, 
 the incidents connected with the trinket, and how, after 
 failing in his attempts to deliver it, he had lost it to 
 Murad in gambling. 
 
 Nagi, too, willingly made oath, confirming his state 
 ments. 
 
 " Take the amulet ; it is surely thine," said Murad, 
 handing the carving of star-like asphodel to Hassan. 
 "Nagi, thou hast been a tardy messenger." 
 
 " True," said Nagi disconsolately ; " I have been the 
 cause of much trouble." 
 
 The chain of evidence was complete. Hassan was 
 convinced of the truth of their narration, and so ex 
 pressed himself, in the indignation of his soul, only 
 refraining from outspoken censure and condemnation 
 
 36
 
 562 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 of both the men on account of Murad s critical state 
 and the unmeasured contrition they expressed for what 
 they had done. 
 
 " I now shall die contented," said Murad, " since thou 
 hast forgiven me, and since I have done all in my power 
 to repair the evil I unwittingly was the cause of." 
 
 " Thou wilt not die," replied Hassan. " Have I not 
 brought thee some dittany, fresh from Mount Ida? I 
 would rather have it than all the drugs and nostrums of 
 thy hakim." 
 
 Whether it was the effect of the ancient classic vul 
 nerary, or his respite from the treatment of the stupid and 
 ignorant surgeon, or the relief to his mind afforded by 
 his confession to Hassan, or the result of all these com 
 bined, certain it was that Murad soon began to show 
 signs of improvement, which continued, with slight 
 relapses due to his own indiscretions, till he slowly 
 recovered. 
 
 Every one said it was next to a miracle. The natives 
 ascribed his cure to the virtues of the dittany ; and Vir 
 gil was quoted afresh, and his mention of the wounded 
 wild goats having recourse to the plant was repeatedly 
 dilated on. 
 
 But the gay Murad was not cured of his self-indulgent 
 life or his gasconading ways. 
 
 In after years, referring to this severe experience, he > 
 was fond of slapping his thigh and boasting, " I am 
 none the worse for it. I am as sound as ever. I am 
 better than ever ! " 
 
 And so he appeared to be, from his standpoint. 
 
 At times, when under the weather and a fit of remorse 
 seized him, he would admit he was not reposing on a bed 
 of roses, and confess that he had not done right. But he 
 would wind up with saying, " Where is the person who 
 has not dirtied his garment ? Where will you find a man 
 free from sin?" In which there was no one to contra 
 dict him. 
 
 One, indeed, was not satisfied with silent acquiescence, 
 but added, " Yes, they are all alike ; whether brought up 
 on the wild Judaean hills, the snow-clad plains of Russia, 
 in the South Sea islands, or amid the artificial life of
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 563 
 
 the most cultured city in the world, man has at bottom 
 the same nature, the same proclivities, and they will 
 come to the surface, and crop out, sooner or later, some 
 time or other, as sure as he lives." 
 
 But long before Murad s complete restoration, the re 
 port had spread that the wounded who were able to 
 be moved would be sent home. Then followed rumours 
 that at least one if not both of the Palestine regiments 
 were to accompany the wounded. 
 
 The reduction of the insurrection had been a costly 
 matter, more than the depicted condition of the Turkish 
 treasury could very well sustain without complaint. 
 True, most of the debt could be raised by increased 
 taxation, farmed out through the extortionate pashas 
 and kaimakams. But that would take more or less 
 time ; and there were pressing wants which must be 
 met without delay. There was an evident anxiety to 
 reduce expenses as much as possible ; and, in the pres 
 ent condition of Crete, there seemed no necessity for 
 retaining any longer more than the usual force in the 
 island. 
 
 CHAPTER LV 
 
 WHEN the news that the regiments were return 
 ing from Crete reached Palestine, unbounded 
 was the agitation. The hill-country had been so largely 
 drawn on in the formation of the regiments, that there 
 naturally the feeling was at its highest. All sorts of 
 rumours were in circulation long before the day on which 
 the soldiers were expected to arrive in Jerusalem, where 
 the regiments were to be disbanded. 
 
 It was not to be all rejoicing. Alas, no ! Many who 
 had gone out would never return. They filled unknown 
 graves in that far-off country, direfully far-off to the 
 poor fellaheen. Have they not passed the dread inter 
 rogation of the black and terrible angels, Monker and 
 Naku, and can never be recalled? Others would come
 
 564 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 back, but not they. Some would return wounded and 
 disabled. A few of the younger men would be restored 
 to the bosoms of their families, to express it in the words 
 of Murad, " as sound as ever, or better than ever." 
 
 " They are coming, Hilwe, I know they are coming," 
 said the old sheik. " Chalil and Hassan will soon be 
 here." 
 
 " God grant it," said Hilwe. " I dreamt of Hassan 
 last night. I could see him very clearly. How big and 
 stalwart he looked. But he seemed different ; and when 
 I drew near to him, and he spoke sweet words to me, it 
 was as though I could n t touch him. I dread to think 
 what it might mean. I try to hope that all shall yet be 
 well. For I cannot believe that love such as ours should 
 be blotted out and be forever lost." 
 
 " Yea, and after all thou hast endured. Thou art 
 right, my daughter. Allah will not forget thee, but 
 will recompense thee fourfold." 
 
 Thus they rambled on, in their simple peasant talk 
 sometimes speaking the wisdom that God gives to the 
 suckling. 
 
 So far as mere speech is concerned, these people, as 
 we have seen and said, are a good deal like children. 
 But speech, even with cultured people, is rarely a meas 
 ure of thought ; and who can tell what thoughts are 
 stirring in the mind of a child or of a peasant? 
 
 In the unlettered fellah of Palestine one does not ex 
 pect to find a Platonic philosopher, or to hear from him 
 philological deductions, or discussions of the differential 
 calculus, or discourses on Greek particles. Yet, doubt 
 less, all this is in him, in embryo, as the child contains 
 all the elements of the man, or the acorn incloses the 
 oak of a thousand years. The possibility of it all is in 
 the most uncouth peasant; though we would as soon 
 expect a dog to quote Horace as to find the village 
 fellah do so. 
 
 But when the day came on which it was known the 
 regiments should arrive at Jerusalem, what language can 
 describe the intense feeling of the people ! They went 
 wild with excitement. All Jerusalem, as well as the 
 country round about, beyond Hebron, Lifta, Bettir and
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 565 
 
 Malha, was stirred to its very depths. Men, women and 
 children swarmed out on all the roads and approaches 
 to meet their soldiers. 
 
 " O God be merciful to us ! " was the cry of many an 
 anxious soul, hoping for the best not daring to pre 
 pare for the worst. 
 
 What swelling hearts ! what longing anticipations on 
 both sides, some doomed to be sorely disappointed ! 
 
 A cloud of dust first announced the banished ones. 
 Then came the droning minor of the Turkish music. It 
 set the people on fire. They could scarcely contain 
 themselves. 
 
 Onward came the troops, marching steadily, bravely, 
 looking neither to the right nor the left; banners flying, 
 officers, some on horseback, some on foot, giving orders ; 
 the words of command so promptly obeyed, ringing out 
 above the martial strains of pipe, bugle, and drum. 
 
 They had passed the last watch-tower on the Jaffa 
 road, and were coming swiftly down the hill, in the 
 midst of the crowds that lined the way. 
 
 " God the most merciful be kind to us," repeated 
 Hilwe, like many another in that motley multitude ; and 
 the boy Talmai clung the closer to her as he saw the 
 agony in her face. 
 
 " Dost thou not see him? " asked the boy. 
 
 " Nay. Not yet," was the sorrowful reply. 
 
 She held her peace for a little while. There was a 
 strained wild look in her eyes as she searched each 
 advancing column, and saw not him whom she sought. 
 
 " Yet he must be there," she said. " He must be 
 there; or what will become of thee and me?" 
 
 Talmai dragged at her skirts ; but she noticed him 
 not. Her eyes carried her soul in them. 
 
 Suddenly they sent out a flood of light. She gave a 
 short gasp. 
 
 " I see him ! " she said, beneath her breath. 
 
 Then came a strange look in her face. Was it a 
 mingling of pride and fear? 
 
 It was surely Hassan she saw ; but how exalted and 
 mighty he had become ! He was an officer ! How far 
 off he was from her !
 
 566 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 The expression of her face was now almost one of 
 terror. 
 
 "O Allah be good to me!" 
 
 As the last soldier passed inside the battlemented 
 walls of Jerusalem, through the ancient Jaffa Gate, there 
 was a deafening shout, and a tremendous rush of the 
 people to follow them. How sternly the tower-like 
 gateway frowned with its battlements and machicolations 
 for pouring down boiling pitch, molten lead, or other 
 offensive missiles upon the heads of assailants, looking 
 as if it still might be capable of mischief. Hilwe and 
 Talmai were among the struggling mass that pushed in, 
 and could scarcely keep their feet in the surging of the 
 crowd. 
 
 " Thou wilt get trampled under foot ! " a policeman 
 called to her. 
 
 But she heeded not she heard not. 
 
 She was murmuring in a low voice to herself many an 
 incoherent utterance, as if demented, and hardly con 
 scious of what she said. 
 
 " Yes, he is here, he is here ! " were her more fre 
 quent words. "And Chalil is here too," she would add, 
 remembering the aged sheik, and all it meant to him. 
 " Praise be to Allah ! " 
 
 The crowd pressed forward to the entrance of the bar 
 racks. The square was filled. 
 
 Presently many of the officers and the men came out 
 of the barracks, on various duties ; and some of them 
 walked about, in front of the Tower of David, mingling 
 with the people. Hassan was among them. 
 
 Hilwe saw him. She did not dare go near him, but 
 kept very still, and apart. 
 
 She soon perceived he was looking around, as if 
 seeking some one. 
 
 The next moment he was walking towards her. With 
 what haughty masterful strides he came stepping like 
 a general ! He stood before her. 
 
 As she beheld this grand stately man in his officer s 
 uniform, as magnificent as the proudest Osmanli, and of 
 mightier build than any of them, she recalled her dream, 
 and her courage failed her.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 567 
 
 It did not seem to her right that she should love a 
 man such as this one. How was she to mate with this 
 glorious being, this proud and distinguished hero, this 
 man of arms and of valour, exalted on high, clothed in 
 such fine raiment, ornamented with gold lace, and deco 
 rated with medals of honour? 
 
 No wonder if a little distant feeling a touch of 
 strangeness should lie between them. The glad stream 
 of love had not yet leaped the barriers which their sepa 
 ration had erected had not yet made its way back to 
 the old and pleasant courses where, aforetime, swiftly 
 and joyously, it had gone singing, and found comfort 
 and happiness. 
 
 Yet under the glittering trappings and martial equip 
 ment was the same Hassan. Beneath the proud pano 
 ply, the great heart of the peasant and shepherd of the 
 hill-country beat warmly for her, and for her only. 
 
 " And all this time, while I have been away from thee, 
 how hast thou fared, Hilwe? " 
 
 Hassan spoke with the simplicity of the fellah. But 
 how strange and hollow and different his voice sounded ! 
 
 " Ah, were it not for the goodness of the noble sheik, 
 Abou Chalil, it would have gone hard with me ! He 
 set apart thy inheritance, even the dwelling and thy por 
 tion of the land, to thy son Talmai and his mother." 
 
 Thus humbly did Hilwe speak of herself. 
 
 "And the lad Talmai where is he? Where doth 
 he abide? " 
 
 Now Talmai had hidden behind his mother s skirts, 
 and was stealthily peeping with widely staring eyes at 
 the great man who was his father. 
 
 " He is even here, nigh at hand," answered Hilwe. 
 
 Thereupon she reached behind her, and drew the boy 
 forth into view. 
 
 " Be not afraid," she said to him. " He is thy 
 father." 
 
 As Hassan s eyes fell upon Talmai, a glad, proud 
 glance flashed from them. His heart beat fast, and he 
 visibly trembled. All the force of the father s nature 
 was moved within him, and he yearned towards his son. 
 His own image in miniature was before him.
 
 568 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 " Allah be praised, he is indeed my son ! " he said. 
 
 He stretched out his arms. 
 
 " Come ! " 
 
 Looking half steadfastly, half questioningly, in his 
 face, the boy went to him. 
 
 Hassan caught him to him, and kissed him ; and, 
 lifting him on high, set him astride his shoulder. 
 
 He passed his hand over the boy s hair and face, and 
 down his limbs, feeling him, as one who loved him ; but 
 he uttered not a syllable, though he strove to speak; 
 for he could not for his emotion. 
 
 As for Talmai, he made free with him, clutched him 
 round the neck, and tugged at his moustache, now grown 
 to formidable dimensions. 
 
 Poor, patient Hilwe, in her painful gladness, choked 
 back a sob and smiled. 
 
 Just then a soldier of Hassan s regiment came up. It 
 was the faithful Chalil. 
 
 Hassan turned towards him. 
 
 " Behold my son ! " he said. 
 
 " He is thy living image," exclaimed his friend. 
 
 " Yea. It is the face I saw in the water, when, as a 
 lad, I bathed in the great pools of Suleyman the 
 Wise." 
 
 And so, for awhile, they talked together of the times 
 that were gone. 
 
 " I have seen my father," said Chalil, with glad 
 voice. 
 
 " Thou sayest ! " exclaimed Hassan. " And how is 
 the honoured sheik?" 
 
 " He is well, and inquireth for thee." 
 
 " Make my salaams to him. I shall see him soon." 
 
 Then, as Chalil left, Hilwe went to take the boy ; but 
 Hassan would not give him up, and playfully resisted. 
 
 " Nay, give him to me," she said. 
 
 "Is he not the son of my strength?" was his ex 
 ultant speech. 
 
 " Is he not the son of my sorrow? " she said. " Have 
 I not well-nigh given my life for him? " 
 
 Hassan listened attentively while she told of it, and 
 her sad experience ; but he spoke not a word, good or
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 569 
 
 bad. It smote his lips dumb as he thought of how far 
 he had been from her in her hour of need. Then came 
 the added pang as he remembered how he had mis 
 judged her ; and he groaned in spirit. His heart was 
 full to overflowing. 
 
 At last it was night, and they were alone together. 
 But even yet Hilwe could not believe the exceeding joy 
 which encompassed her, and which she seemed unable 
 to reach. It was too much. She scarcely dared to look 
 up at the big and gallant soldier who had come to her, 
 and who was like unto a stranger. She feared while she 
 loved him. And when the handsome giant took her in 
 his arms and drew her to him, she hid her face against 
 his fine uniform, as one that is ashamed, and was as a 
 slender reed that is shaken by the wind. 
 
 " Hilwe, my beloved," he said, " rememberest thou 
 not the days that are past when we wandered together 
 on the hillside, in the sweet free air, and the brightness 
 of the heavens was round about us?" 
 
 " Yes," she answered softly. " How could I for 
 get?" 
 
 "Shall it not be so again?" 
 
 When they thus had spoken, and he reassured her, 
 and kissed her. she knew he was the same Hassan who 
 had always loved her ; and she believed him when he 
 told her that now he loved her more than ever as 
 never before. 
 
 " I shall always abide with thee, and cleave unto 
 thee," he said, with the unabashed openness of the brave 
 and innocent man. "Are we not one flesh? No one, 
 except Allah and the children he giveth unto us, shall 
 share my love with thee." 
 
 O blessed and holy sacrament of married love ! 
 Glory be to the Divine Name that He has left us this 
 one relic of happiness and of Eden ! Let us adore Him 
 through this beautiful ordinance, established by Himself 
 from the beginning, throughout all creation, as a means 
 of grace and the inheritance of eternal life ! 
 
 It is a great thing to be loved, a greater still to love, 
 but the greatest of all is when, these two being united,
 
 570 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 we go on our way, loving and loved, marching to the 
 sweet and holy music of the spheres, all life a light and 
 a joy. 
 
 The life at Bettir how simple it was! in some 
 respects, simple almost to savagery in its naturalness ! 
 But it is the simple things that make foolish and con 
 found the wisdom of the great. 
 
 How proudly the old sheik Abou Chalil gave Hassan 
 and Hilwe his blessing! And the long-deferred mar 
 riage-feast was held with all the village pomp and 
 ancient ceremonies and customs, dear to the peasant 
 heart; and there was much rejoicing as they brought 
 the man and woman home. 
 
 CHAPTER LVI 
 
 K TAMIL AGA, that wayward and flagrant officer 
 of the zaptiehs, did not again trouble Bettir or 
 the hill-country, to which he had been as an avenging 
 angel. 
 
 This was not due to any change of heart on his part, 
 but to the fact that he had obtained an appointment in 
 Constantinople, whither he removed. 
 
 Whatever marks and disfigurements he bore on his 
 elegant and well-nurtured body, the result of his 
 humiliating and disgraceful fall at Hilwe s hands, he 
 carefully concealed from every eye, so far as was pos 
 sible. He himself hated to look at them, and he 
 would gnash his teeth and rage when he happened to 
 see them. Fortunately for him, the greater part of 
 these blemishes were concealed beneath his clothes. 
 A deep scar across his cheek, those who knew no 
 better gave him the credit of having received in battle. 
 The slight limp, his chief mortification, he learned 
 to manage with great skill, so that it was barely 
 perceptible. 
 
 It was said his general health had been permanently
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 571 
 
 injured. But, if so, there certainly was no marked 
 evidence of it apparent after the first year of his 
 convalescence. 
 
 For a time he went about with a rather subdued air; 
 but inwardly the fires of wrath consumed him ; and it 
 was certain his unfortunate experience had far other 
 than a holy influence upon him. 
 
 His removal to Constantinople, however, prevented 
 any open demonstration of his feelings in the shape of 
 what might be considered revenge. 
 
 Once in the City of the Sultan, he gave loose to the 
 pursuits and pleasures congenial to such a nature as 
 his, consorting with a class of young men who were 
 notorious for their free living. He considered he had 
 never before known what life really was worth, and 
 counted his previous years, in comparison, as wasted. 
 
 In an evil hour he was led into one of those palace 
 intrigues which have cost so many men their liberty or 
 their lives. His sin was an unforgivable one. Being 
 discovered, his only safety lay in flight ; and he barely 
 succeeded in escaping across the frontier. 
 
 He had thus reaped the legitimate consequences of 
 his acts. For a momentary gratification, he had de 
 stroyed all his prospects of success under the Ottoman 
 government. 
 
 After this he led a desultory life in some of the 
 chief cities of Europe. His downward course was 
 rapid. But even in Constantinople he had made him 
 self scandalous long before his final escapade. 
 
 "There goes the lascivious Turk in all his uncon 
 scious enormity," said an English gentleman, one day, 
 on seeing Kiamil pass, and speaking generically as 
 well as individually. " Poor fellow, he is made out to 
 be far worse than he is ; and, God knows, he has sins 
 enough and to spare. But give a dog a bad name, and 
 you know how it is. No one has a good word to say 
 for him. Battening in lust, and knowing no evil in 
 it yea, rather the supreme good, for he makes his 
 heaven of it the accusation is, not that the Turk is 
 sensual and that he is licentious, for that can be said of 
 many other peoples, but that he professedly lives in
 
 572 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 this condition, does not rise above it, is subordinated 
 to it, and, with his peculiar ineptitude, can find no 
 deliverance from it. There are physical reasons con 
 nected with this. It could not be otherwise than as it 
 is, they say. He generally is well made and, so far as 
 the animal goes, a man in the fullest sense. Nor is 
 he wanting in courage. Often handsome, he is not 
 seldom agreeable and even attractive in a certain way. 
 But the way is not an exalted one. With all this, it 
 would be strange how much he makes you like him, 
 did we not know that, in secret, most men have lean 
 ings that make them palliate the natural sins, and give 
 them a fellow-feeling for the sinner." 
 
 To this might be added, en passant, that, naturally 
 polite himself, courtesy and politeness go a great way 
 with the Turk. But in political and diplomatic affairs, 
 the hand of iron in the glove of velvet that the Emperor 
 Charles V. was so fond of recommending, seems to be 
 the exact thing to meet the case. 
 
 The most easy people in the world to manage are 
 the Turks; and therefore you must take all the more 
 care that somebody else is not managing them, while 
 you think you are doing so. 
 
 In the course of his wanderings, Kiamil had drifted 
 into the great city of Vienna, where he continued to 
 lead the gay life he had known elsewhere, though now 
 daily becoming more restricted from his reduced cir 
 cumstances. His health, too, began to be seriously 
 impaired. The wonder was that it had withstood so 
 long the ravages of his wild career. 
 
 He had never done any hard work. His delicate 
 hands showed that. How could he turn to labour for 
 a living? Besides, his nature revolted from it. 
 
 Like all men of an ardent temperament, he had his 
 reactive spells of melancholy and sadness; and some 
 times, even in other days and in the midst of his happy 
 thoughts, a touch of this might have been seen. But 
 on the whole he bore his misfortunes patiently. 
 
 He finally had been obliged to take a room in one of 
 the poorest quarters of the city a wretched cage for 
 so gay a bird. Everything of its furnishing was of the
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 573 
 
 most simple kind. It was simplicity measured by 
 poverty. But now he was only too glad to have that, 
 or a roof to cover his head. He was not altogether 
 alone. An unfortunate girl, one of those tall blonde 
 Viennese, with hair like spun gold, whose acquaintance 
 he had early made on his arrival in the Austrian capi 
 tal, came occasionally to minister to him in his sick 
 ness. He seemed to retain a certain attraction for 
 her; and, to some extent, she had become attached to 
 him. Perhaps his dark complexion with his large 
 expressive eyes, of that rich deep brown that in shadow 
 appears to be black, presented the extreme contrast to 
 herself that appealed to her nature and satisfied her. 
 Certain it was she came as often as she possibly could 
 to see him, bringing him such little dainties as her 
 slim and irregularly-supplied purse permitted. 
 
 Toward the close it went hard with him. One could 
 scarce help sympathising with him, he was in so sore a 
 strait. Satan himself would have pitied him. But 
 the fallen man, wretched as was his state, murmured 
 not. 
 
 " Kismet," he would say. " Life is a strange thing. 
 How little we know about it ! It is too short. Too 
 short to do much with, anyway either bad or good. 
 I tried to be happy. That was all. If that is a sin, I 
 cannot help it. Why was I made that way? Why did 
 I so greatly desire the joys of life? When I came into 
 the world I didn t know anything about the event; nor 
 had I any choice in the matter. And when I go out 
 of the world, it is probable I shall know but little 
 about it, either." 
 
 Then there came a decided change for the worse in 
 his condition. 
 
 "Your heart is affected," they told him. 
 
 "No wonder," he said. 
 
 It was the quenching of the fire. The eyes had the 
 dull listless look of the man s who has lost hope 
 who has no more expectation of living again the pas 
 sionate joyous moments that once flooded his veins 
 with the warm exaltation of life. 
 
 He did not want to believe it -he could not bear to
 
 574 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 think it to accept the dreadful assertion that Nature 
 had made in such blunt unvarnished terms. Yet it was 
 too true. Not all the warm love-breath in the world 
 could again kindle the dying embers to their wonted 
 glow, or satisfy the most moderate demand of the 
 retrenching spendthrift the once prodigal votary of 
 pleasure. Soon the last remnant of heat would depart, 
 and nothing but a pitiful handful of cold, bitter, gray 
 ashes upon the high altar would be left to denote the 
 spot where passion s fires had burned where such 
 lavish sacrifices to Eros had been offered, 
 
 He was poverty-stricken. The authorities, having 
 had the case brought to their notice, investigated it, and 
 had him removed to the great and celebrated hospital, 
 with its thousands of beds, and obliteration of the 
 individual, so long the pride of the fair metropolis. 
 How often, in passing, he had noticed the quaint old- 
 fashioned pile of buildings with its multitudinous win 
 dows, little thinking, in his day of strength, that he ever 
 should be an inmate of it ! 
 
 Here he completely lost his identity. He had long 
 passed under an assumed name, and now, being removed 
 in the absence of the girl who, from loving devotion, 
 had done what she could for him, he disappeared from 
 sight, as if already entombed. The girl s own illness 
 had prevented her visiting him for several days ; and 
 he lay helpless in a miserable state of neglect and want 
 when the officers appeared upon the scene. 
 
 "Pleasure and suffering suffering and pleasure 
 they are all one," he said. " Life becomes so mauled 
 and beaten out, it is numb to any ordinary sensation. 
 I do not know whether it is more pain to experience 
 pleasure, than pleasure to endure pain. It has come 
 to that with me. I get quite confused about it. There, 
 too, is such a thing as one kind of pain being a relief 
 from another kind from which we have long suffered. 
 But I believe I have passed beyond that." 
 
 His life was ebbing fast. He now knew he had not 
 long to live. Without, the daylight was dying upon the 
 hills he never more should see. He was going out with 
 the day. His feet should never again carry him into
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 575 
 
 the places they had been wont to frequent. All that 
 was over with him. The night was coming on. The 
 strong, arrogant young man was weak and helpless 
 enough now. The proud head was laid low; the 
 eagerly responsive pulses were quieted, and presently 
 would be stilled forever. It was difficult to believe that 
 one lately so full of warm life and intense feeling would 
 soon be no better than a clod of the valley. 
 
 It happened that, the very next day, the Englishman 
 who, several months before, had made the remarks 
 about Kiamil and the Turks, and who was still sojourn 
 ing in Vienna, was taken by a medical friend to see the 
 great hospital, which, with certain restrictions, is one of 
 the show places of the city. As an unusual privilege, 
 he was admitted to the vaults beneath, where the 
 unclaimed dead bodies, reserved for dissection sub 
 jects who had just died in the hospital are all laid out, 
 naked as they were born, upon the broad range of stone 
 slabs that occupy one side of the space. The bodies 
 are nameless, each only designated by a number, or as 
 such or such a case, referring to the disease of which 
 he had died. Kiamil was among them. 
 
 The water slowly and noiselessly trickles over the 
 slanting slabs. The atmosphere is sepulchral. All 
 language is frozen to silence in the place. 
 
 " Poor humanity, everything that once made it desir 
 able and beautiful, gone," thought the healthy English 
 man. And as he turned away he could not escape the 
 impression the grim scene conveyed. He carried it 
 with him. It was photographed in his mind. 
 
 As he reached the street, and was once more laved 
 by the sunshine and the wholesome air, what a relief 
 and comfort he felt it. It was like a purification. 
 
 " To-day I have seen the end of man and his history, 
 written in some of the most revolting forms," he mused. 
 "Knowing what poor man is, and knowing, even in our 
 feeble way, the eternal and almighty majesty of God, 
 I can but say : How can He be angry with His crea 
 ture that he has made? I have heard with the inner ear 
 the poor dead lips that can nevermore speak, but are 
 fast turning to corruption I have heard them cry out :
 
 576 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 My punishment is greater than I can bear. Where 
 is the room for vengeance? Poor fellows, laid out, 
 cold and passionless enough now, ready for the dissect 
 ing knife, the pleasure, such as they knew it, all taken 
 out of them. And yet once a mother and a sister bent 
 above and kissed those lips, and a dearer one still 
 pressed them in heart-expandin g love. But their smile is 
 gone forever; and they have become repulsive to all, 
 no matter how warm with life and fascination they once 
 were. Ah, how pitiful ! In the presence of all this, 
 how strangely cruel sounds After death the judg 
 ment. " 
 
 By one of those coincidences which we call strange 
 only because we do not hear of them oftener, at the 
 moment when the hapless soul of the Osmanli was 
 scourged from the body in which he had done his sultry 
 will, so far as he could, in a quiet rectory in England, 
 an old mansion with ivied walls and chimneys, sur 
 rounded with sweet-scented sloping lawns, smooth and 
 pleasant, and embosomed in umbrageous foliage of trees 
 many centuries old, and within sound of the cathedral 
 bells beneath which he had so long ministered, Canon 
 Stanhope was breathing his last. The cooing of doves 
 and cawing of rooks gave a pensive flavour to the 
 atmosphere of the place. All was peace, peace, as it 
 can be in no other country in the world in no other 
 country this side of heaven. 
 
 Except for the change wrought by his illness, the re 
 vered ecclesiastic was not greatly altered in his general 
 appearance, but looked very much as he had done that 
 day in Jerusalem, when he and his daughter purchased 
 the flowers from Hilwe and Amne, and the vain young 
 captain of zaptiehs acted as interpreter for them. It 
 was the one point the only one in their lives where 
 that son of passion and the saintly Anglican had met 
 and touched. Never again; as never before, had their 
 eyes met, their hands clasped, or their voices sounded 
 in each other s ears. And now they were giving up the 
 ghost at the same moment of time. Such is fate. 
 
 The peace that passeth understanding filled the can-
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 577 
 
 on s mind. His fair daughter, leaning over the man of 
 God, smoothed his pillow. The tears poured down her 
 face, and she could not restrain her sobs. He raised 
 his handkerchief, and wiped the tears away. 
 
 " Weep not," he said. " I am going home, to my 
 Father, and your Father to my God, and your God. 
 Have I not here been a stranger and a sojourner, as all 
 my fathers were ? " 
 
 He spoke in a low voice, but it was full of feeling. 
 
 "It is the end," he continued; "the end of this life 
 the beginning of another." 
 
 Suddenly he roused himself, and with surprising energy 
 repeated the first clauses of the " Te Deum" that 
 grand, exultant hymn of the Church commencing in a 
 full impassioned voice, which gathered strength as he 
 proceeded : " We praise thee, O God ! We acknowledge 
 thee to be the Lord ! All the earth doth worship thee, 
 the Father everlasting ! " and ending with the glorious 
 acclamation : " Heaven and earth are full of the majesty 
 of thy glory ! " 
 
 He ceased ; his breath was failing. Willing as was 
 the spirit, the flesh was weak. 
 
 " Yes, it is the end here," he said. " I go whence I 
 came. I return to Him of whom I am. There is no 
 Heaven but in him. To be in him is Heaven." 
 
 Again his voice faltered. This time it was for several 
 moments. 
 
 "And the body the body ah, the poor body 
 that we thought so much of! " 
 
 A sublime pity shone in his face as he looked down 
 on the clay he was deserting ; but this was absorbed in 
 a higher glow, a suffusion of intenser light, as, in the 
 passing of the soul, he spoke with his last breath the 
 words : 
 
 " One with Thee ! " 
 
 Those who beheld and heard said there was no doubt 
 that he had awoke with His likeness, and was satisfied. 
 
 That dear old face, grand with its original racial 
 strength and intellectual endowment, had something 
 more than these, the triumphant joy of a conqueror, 
 with the peace the world cannot give or take away. 
 
 37
 
 57 8 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 He had repeated the "Te Deum " so often, the 
 heavenly grace and beauty of it had passed into him, 
 his people said, and had moulded the lines of his coun 
 tenance, and breathed out of his every feature, till his 
 face was a sermon. 
 
 It was well with him. 
 
 CHAPTER LVII 
 
 NONE of Hilwe s friends were more delighted at 
 her good fortune and her deliverance from the 
 hands of those that hated her than was Kadra, the wise 
 woman of Malha. 
 
 " Thou hast been highly favoured, Hihve," was her 
 salutation, on first meeting her, after Hassan s return. 
 " It will be better in the end for thee than at the begin 
 ning. Did we not know that good luck is not sold in 
 the market, we might inquire of thee as to the city in 
 which thou hast purchased the rare commodity, and 
 the merchant who keeps such a stock-in-trade, that we 
 might get a supply." 
 
 Hilwe understood Kadra too well not to know that 
 this sally of hers was intended simply to draw a return 
 in kind. 
 
 " Ah ! Indeed, Kadra, is it not rather to thee we 
 must go for such information? Have I not heard of all 
 the wonderful things which have happened to thee? 
 But we desire to know them from thine own lips." 
 
 This was sufficient to open the mouth of the wise 
 woman; and a flood of personal relation followed. 
 Yet she commenced in a deprecatory tone. 
 
 " Doubtless they have told thee more than the truth," 
 she said. " They have made much out of a small thing. 
 In the ant s house a little dew makes a deluge. What 
 is my good fortune to thine? Is it not as an acorn to 
 an oak? Yet, though the cook is not to be mentioned 
 in the same breath with the master, and is not thought 
 of by the guests at the great feast, and is excused from 
 paying compliments and respects to them, does not that
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 579 
 
 same cook get the first taste of everything? Mayhap 
 it is so with me. I will not deny the benefits that have 
 come to me. It is they who cannot dance complain 
 that the floor is uneven." 
 
 No doubt she had much to tell of, and that of a sur 
 prising nature. And who could tell it to equal her? 
 
 Hassan and Hilwe had heard the various rumours as 
 they went flying, hither and thither, with the usual 
 embellishments of the natives, but to have the full and 
 true account from Kadra, the chief personage in the 
 drama, was something worth boasting of. 
 
 The sum and substance of the highly-wrought narra 
 tive amounted to this: Kadra had made her third 
 matrimonial venture. She was now the fourth living 
 wife of no less a man than Abd-el-nour. 
 
 This had been brought about by much diplomacy 
 nice and cunning work, such as the native is an adept 
 in, and necessary to be doubly skilful when employed 
 in such a case, with so old a bird as Abd-el-nour, whose 
 common vaunt was that he was not to be caught with 
 chaff. 
 
 Kadra s house was filled with valuables lent by rela 
 tives and friends who were in the plot, and directly or 
 indirectly interested. Abd-el-nour, with the greatest 
 secrecy and caution, was allowed to get a furtive peep 
 at this goodly store. He was also informed of an 
 immense buried treasure in silver, belonging to the 
 widow, the accumulation of many years, and the result 
 of her former marriages. All this, and much more 
 unnecessary to describe, set the ball rolling. Not a 
 word hinting at matrimony was mentioned. Other 
 suitors, younger men than Abd-el-nour, were introduced 
 upon the scene, to stimulate him. It was enough. His 
 cupidity was excited. The necessary " go-between " 
 finished the business, Kadra " holding off" and not con 
 senting till she had everything as she wished it. 
 
 Besides a large sum paid down by the bridegroom, 
 there was from the friends on both sides a handsome 
 display of bridal gifts including money. The amounts 
 called out by the crier or announcer at the marriage were 
 fraudulently quadrupled by him, so that Abd-el-nour
 
 580 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 congratulated himself as having done an uncommonly 
 good thing, even better than he expected. Most of the 
 gifts presented by Kadra s relatives were, according to 
 private agreement, well understood, carefully returned 
 after the ceremony. But Kadra managed everything, 
 including Abd-el-nour, so well, nothing wrong was 
 imagined by him. 
 
 In consideration of the suppositious wealth she 
 brought him, she was advanced to be his favourite wife; 
 and, presently, she succeeded in getting him so com 
 pletely in hand that her word was law with him. He 
 felt a pressure somewhere, but hardly knew what it 
 meant. The other wives saw their interest lay in uniting 
 with her against one who had been a tyrant to them. 
 Among the four confederate women he was helpless ; 
 and when he awoke to the recognition of the situation, 
 he found he \vas too old and feeble to deliver himself. 
 He had earned the hatred and contempt of the village. 
 The combination, within and without, was too strong for 
 him. It was useless to fight against it. 
 
 Kadra used her power judiciously, if not mercifully. 
 She especially espoused the cause of poor despised 
 Nigme, who had been the wife of Abd-el-nour s youth, 
 and the mother of his children. The latter had died in 
 their infancy, which was one reason for his cruel ill- 
 treatment of her. But the chief cause of his resentment 
 against her was that Nigme, who, in spite of everything, 
 had continued to love him from the first, in order to 
 gain his affection had recourse to the use of the love 
 philtre. 
 
 The black stone, regarded as so effectual in the case 
 of unrequited love, is also considered, in some degree, 
 poisonous. Such stones are exceedingly rare. The 
 one in question was kept by an old woman, who gained 
 a good livelihood from it. It was highly valued, and 
 only lent on the deposit of a round sum of money. 
 
 On procuring the potent antidote, which was to re 
 store to her the love of her youth, Nigme, grinding the 
 stone on a piece of pottery, mixed the resultant powder 
 in milk, and gave it to Abd-el-nour to drink. 
 
 It almost killed him, but seemed to produce the
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 581 
 
 desired result. This being perceived by the wife against 
 whom the spell was used, she had recourse to the same 
 remedy, which was disastrous and well-nigh fatal in 
 its effects on Abd-el-nour. 
 
 Suspecting the origin of his peculiar sickness, he 
 obliged the women to confess what they had done, 
 and soon all was brought to light. 
 
 Instead of earning his love, they had gained his 
 unmitigated hatred, which was principally exercised 
 against Nigme, from whom he considered better might 
 have been expected. 
 
 " Cursed be thou ! " he yelled, in his spasms of pain. 
 "As I live, I shall divorce thee. Many a man has 
 divorced his wife for far less even for spoiling his 
 coffee." 
 
 But Kadra soon brought the exercise of this hostility 
 to an end. She also insisted on his returning to Nigme 
 her dowry headdress and necklace of bishliks, the most 
 precious possession of the wife, of which, contrary to 
 custom and traditional law, he had deprived her. 
 
 It was an inexpressible pleasure to the poor despised 
 creature to wear once more those invaluable ornaments. 
 But what humilation it was to Abd-el-nour ! 
 
 He was receiving his well-deserved punishment, and 
 lived in a constant torment of impotent rage at the 
 plight into which he had fallen. 
 
 No one pitied him, unless it might be Nigme. He 
 hated every one, and feared Kadra. 
 
 Not a single detail of all this was forgotten to be dila 
 ted on by Kadra in her recital to Hassan and Hilwe. 
 
 The wise woman had now become a power in Malha, 
 and an object of suit and service on every side, which 
 position, as we shall not have occasion to again mention 
 her, we may state she continued to hold to the last. In 
 her mastery of Abd-el-nour she found a congenial field 
 for the display of her boasted contempt for the stronger 
 sex. 
 
 As to Crosslett, otherwise known as St. George, it 
 may be interesting to mention that, after his action con 
 nected with the rescue of Hilwe, he suddenly developed
 
 582 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 a more aggressive spirit in his proselytizing efforts, 
 and, if possible, was more eccentric in his dress and 
 manners; though, as hitherto, in general his demeanour 
 was calm and quiet. But there were occasions when 
 he could thunder like an Elijah, though there was no 
 visible answer by fire. 
 
 He finally was drawn into trouble with the local 
 authorities, through his distributing bibles in the Arabic 
 language among Moslems, which is contrary to the 
 Turkish law. As an American, the Turks had no power 
 to arrest and try him. He had the privilege of being 
 arrested, tried and sentenced by his consul, before whom 
 he was summoned on the Turkish charges being duly 
 presented. 
 
 It happened to be in the winter bitter stormy 
 weather, and Crosslett appeared at the consulate, in his 
 scanty attire, with no covering for head, legs and feet. 
 He was pierced with the cold, his lips blue, his flesh 
 ashy pale. His poor cotton robe, wet with the rain, 
 and stained with the clay of the fields in which he had 
 been abiding, was scarcely sufficient to cover his nudity, 
 and not at all sufficient to protect him from the cold. 
 He was truly a sorry-looking figure a sight to draw 
 pity from a stone. 
 
 The consul was greatly shocked. 
 
 " Crosslett, you are killing yourself," he said. 
 
 But Crosslett did not look at it in this light. 
 
 " He that loseth his life shall find it," he said. 
 
 " You know how anxious your friends in the United 
 States are that you should return to them," urged the 
 consul. 
 
 " I have left all that behind," was the answer. " Are 
 they not a froward and perverse generation, who have 
 made filthy lucre their god? " 
 
 When the charges were read to him, Crosslett ad 
 mitted they were true. But when it was agreed to 
 withdraw the complaint on his promising to comply 
 with the law in future, he refused to make such a com 
 pact, declaring it was against his conscience. 
 
 His defence was : 
 
 " I am only bringing back to you the book you gave
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 583 
 
 to us. It was written in this country. The voice is your 
 Father s voice. I am returning to you the sacred writ 
 ings which we had of you, and am determined to 
 preach to you The Christ." 
 
 He spoke so beautifully, the holy fire burning upon 
 his lips, that all who heard him were moved with com 
 passion for him, and deeply impressed. 
 
 " Is he not like the Master?" said one, with tears in 
 his eyes. 
 
 The sympathies of the consul were with him; and 
 he discharged him under suspended sentence ; but he 
 felt it necessary to privately admonish him to be more 
 careful in the future. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, Crosslett suddenly disappeared, 
 and nothing was heard of him for more than a year. 
 Then a letter was received from him by the consul, 
 stating that he was in India, where, in connection with 
 the missionaries, he had done some work which had 
 been blessed to the natives. 
 
 As no further was heard of him, it was thought the 
 earnest and guileless man met with his death at the 
 hands of some of the fanatic tribesmen, with whom he 
 had been seen. Thus he probably died a martyr to the 
 cause. 
 
 The venerable Anselmo Jacobini is no more. He 
 succumbed to a severe attack of Jerusalem fever, shortly 
 after the return of Hassan. The murder of Amne and 
 her son, which terrible act, with Leone s indirect con 
 nection with it, coming to his knowledge, affected him 
 most distressingly, it was thought, hastened his end. 
 But, as his death occurred so long afterward, surely the 
 exhausting fever at his advanced age should sufficiently 
 account for his sudden taking off. 
 
 The noble old Jew lies buried in that ancient necrop 
 olis of his race, on the Mount of Olives, the seared 
 unlovely place where every orthodox Jew hankers to 
 be buried, of which he had once spoken so pathetic 
 ally to the Rabbi Sloman, and which his windows, from 
 the opposite heights, on the slopes of Mount Zion, com 
 pletely overlooked, the abrupt gorge of the Valley of
 
 584 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 the Cedron, like the Valley of the Shadow, running 
 between. Latterly he had continually kept it in sight, 
 expecting to be laid there. 
 
 It cannot be thought that the old Venetian Jew, in 
 his desire to be interred in this most dismal of cemeter 
 ies had any of the superstitious dread which possesses 
 so many of the Hebrews: that the Jew who is not 
 buried there will, at the last day, be dragged beneath 
 the earth, with fearful maulings and beatings, to the 
 Mount of Olives. But his father had come here, to die 
 and be buried on the Mount, and it is the universal 
 longing of his people to be gathered there, in sight of 
 the ancient Holy Place, with their ancestors. 
 
 That he had been disappointed with certain features 
 of his people in the Holy City it would be useless to 
 deny. Their obstructive fanaticism had been as pro 
 voking and injurious in the case of his benevolent 
 intentions as it had been in that of Sir Moses Montefiore 
 and others like him. Yet he did not forget Jerusalem 
 or her people. Oh no ! 
 
 " If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand 
 forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my 
 tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ; if I prefer not 
 Jerusalem above my chief joy." 
 
 With what a passion of regretful love he repeated 
 those words, again and again, always ending with : 
 " Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they shall prosper 
 that love thee." His great disappointment had been 
 his failure to bring abundant water into the city- a 
 beneficence to which he had been so strongly urged by 
 the American Consul. Though willing to subscribe 
 munificently to this, he had not received the response 
 his liberality and the importance of the design merited. 
 
 Besides the large amounts of money he had expended 
 for various benevolent objects during his residence in 
 the city, he bequeathed generous sums to be devoted to 
 the elevation of the Jews in Palestine through the estab 
 lishment of industrial enterprises, and the purchase of 
 land for colonising purposes and the encouragement of 
 agricultural pursuits. But the bulk of his wealth, which 
 proved to be far beyond anything those best acquainted
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 585 
 
 with him had any idea of, he left to " my dear nephew, 
 the Count Leone Spollato, of Naples, the only child of 
 my beloved sister Rachele, and the last of the Jacobini 
 family." 
 
 There was the old and picturesque family palace in 
 Venice, on one of the smaller canals ; and, in the midst 
 of fine grounds, a castellated villa near Florence, which 
 the French would call a chateau, or the Germans a 
 schloss, each filled with costly furniture, and a valuable 
 collection of works of art. He had brought only a 
 comparatively small amount of his riches to Jerusalem. 
 A large sum was banked in Venice, a still larger in 
 Amsterdam, that city of Jewish bankers. But these 
 were as nothing to the princely fortune, both in the form 
 of gold and various valuable securities, deposited by 
 him in the Bank of England, that safety-vault of the 
 world, whose stability is based on its integrity, guarded 
 by honour and wisdom, as the old man was never tired 
 of saying. For he had a great respect for the English. 
 
 " They revere our sacred books," he said ; " and they, 
 long ago, have learned the secret of prosperity: that 
 honesty is the best policy. Have they not honoured 
 with the highest position men of our race? And in the 
 glorious palace of their parliament have they not the 
 representation of our great lawgiver descending from 
 Mount Sinai, bearing the tables of the law?" 
 
 Leone was disgusted at the failure of all his efforts to 
 bring the cowardly murderers of Amne and his son to 
 justice. Arrests of those believed to be the culprits 
 were of little use. He inveighed constantly against the 
 supine, procrastinating Turkish government, as the 
 cause of the trouble. 
 
 " Oh, the deceitfulness of the Orientals their indo 
 lence and dilatoriness ! " he exclaimed. " Yet it is as 
 tonishing how suddenly active and energetic they can 
 become under some personal stimulus, as, for instance, 
 some secret object or end, some piece of mischief or 
 underhand villainy they may have in view." 
 
 Yet the authorities were not altogether to blame, and, 
 for them, had been, in this case, unusually energetic. 
 They could get no witnesses. The difficulty was with
 
 586 Hassan: a Fellah 
 
 the fellaheen who, residing in their strong point, 
 evasion, would not tell the truth, or testify against one 
 of themselves, no matter what the consequences. 
 
 It was a similar case to that of the lower order of the 
 Irish, so like the peasantry of Palestine in many respects 
 yes, in a hundred characteristics and habits and 
 ways : no matter how vile the criminal, they branded 
 him with the honour-mark of their pseudo-patriotism ; 
 when, forthwith, he was a marytr to the cause, and they 
 would die sooner than deliver him up to justice. To 
 them, justice meant government; and order, law and 
 government they hated and were against by their 
 natural instincts. 
 
 Thinking that personal investigation might avail 
 where other methods had failed, perhaps through the 
 want of interest on the part of those intrusted with the 
 case, Leone visited the accused in the Turkish prison 
 in Jerusalem, determined to see for himself. 
 
 He was satisfied ! yes, satisfied of the difficulties in 
 the case. 
 
 " Oh that most unique of jails ! " he said, recalling 
 the sight. 
 
 It seemed a pile of ancient ruins. The gate of iron 
 bars was in an archway a shallow recess, but slightly off 
 the street ; and on each side was a small guardhouse, 
 not much larger than a sentry-box, built in the stone 
 wall. 
 
 Approaching the gate, accompanied by his dragoman 
 or interpreter, he stood and looked in. No objection 
 was made. He saw the wide open court or space in 
 the centre of the ruins, in which every prisoner was at 
 large: the murderer in chains, the thief with ball 
 attached to his leg, the petty offender, the disobedient 
 son put in on the simple complaint of his father, all 
 loose together, all in the one uncovered space not 
 the least attempt at separate or solitary confinement, 
 scarcely an approach to classification of the criminal. 
 
 He saw the prisoners from Malha ; he saw those in 
 charge of them. His questions were answered politely, 
 with the ease of accomplished prevaricators, and with 
 such wonderful semblance to truth, though at total
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 587 
 
 variance to all he knew of the facts, that it staggered 
 him. 
 
 He felt like a fool an imbecile walking in a dream. 
 
 He had not stood long at the gate before he was per 
 ceived by the mass of the incarcerated. There was an 
 immediate rush to the spot by the miserable wretches. 
 
 " Backsheesh ! Backsheesh ! " 
 
 What a clamour they raised ! What a deafening din 
 an unholy yelping, as of mangy pariah dogs. Some 
 begged for tobacco, others requested food, but the 
 majority implored a little money. Even the smallest 
 Turkish coin would be acceptable. It was like pande 
 monium made vocal, or a glimpse into Dante s hell. He 
 was glad to escape it by beating a hasty retreat, though 
 he could not blot from his memory the sights he had 
 beheld. 
 
 After this his dealings with the Turkish court had 
 plainly reached a further unfavourable stage. His visit 
 to the jail, and ineffectual efforts, no doubt had been duly 
 reported. And though he was courteously received, he 
 felt the wind had changed decidedly, and now blew 
 from the opposite quarter. 
 
 He was suavely informed he had no reliable evidence. 
 In Turkey you must not only provide witnesses in your 
 law suit, but others who swear to the good character 
 and credibility of the former: thus seeming to admit 
 the frequency of perjury. Those willing to stoop to it 
 can procure all these upon the street, with little trouble, 
 for a comparatively small amount of money. The more 
 doubtful the case, the more numerous the witnesses, and 
 the more skilful are they in lying. 
 
 Finally he was told that not only could he not prove 
 the murder of the supposed victims, but he could not 
 establish the fact of their death. He had not been able 
 to find their bodies. How could he tell that they were 
 not living, hidden away somewhere? 
 
 He was quietly advised to let the matter drop. But 
 this he refused to do. 
 
 A few days after, when walking in the street, he was 
 surprised to see two of the Malha prisoners accompa 
 nied by a notorious murderer who had been pointed out
 
 588 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 to him on his visit to the jail. They were unguarded, 
 and were evidently walking about at their own free will. 
 
 On his expressing his astonishment at this, he was 
 informed that it was no uncommon sight. And when 
 he inquired why the murderer had not been executed, 
 it was explained that in such cases capital punishment 
 was not inflicted unless the criminal confessed to having 
 committed the murder, no matter how conclusive the 
 evidence against him might be. A term of imprison 
 ment was usually the punishment imposed. In this 
 case the guilty man had been condemned to thirteen 
 years confinement, which was the ordinary sentence. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to add that Leone lost his 
 case. In fact, it was thrown out, and the Malha prison 
 ers were at once liberated. 
 
 Before passing from the subject, it would be unfair not 
 to give the Turkish government credit for doing much, 
 of late, to put a stop to the more barbarous methods of 
 the Fellaheen and Bedavvin in taking the law into their 
 own hands especially in such cases as that of Arnne, 
 and the scarcely less fearful crimes connected with retal 
 iation, and known as the Thar or blood-feud. On learn 
 ing of the likelihood of there being any such acts of 
 violence at a place, the authorities see that troops are 
 sent to the spot, arrests made, and the people impressed 
 with the fact that the power of inflicting punishment of 
 the sort referred to is the prerogative of the government, 
 and the usurpation of it a serious offence against the law. 
 
 Leone had done what he could to bring the murderers 
 to justice. He was told on all sides that further attempts 
 on his part would be useless. With the attitude of the 
 peasantry upon the subject, conviction of the actors in 
 the bloody crime would be impossible. 
 
 Now that his uncle was dead and his affairs in the 
 Holy City wound up, Leone had no further cause for 
 detention in Jerusalem, which had grown more and 
 more distasteful to him. It was with a sense of relief he 
 took his departure from it. 
 
 Selim had expressed a strong desire to accompany 
 him, as body servant, or in any other capacity. But 
 Leone resisted the warm appeal of the subtle Oriental.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 589 
 
 Perhaps it was with the feeling that, at least for awhile, 
 he wished to escape the entire atmosphere of the East, 
 and that he did not care to have about him a continual 
 reminder of Jerusalem. Leone pacified the devoted 
 servitor with a generous gift, and the promise that, pos 
 sibly, after a time, he would send for him. It was only 
 a half-promise ; but Selim had to be satisfied with it. 
 
 Matters connected with the Jacobini estate in Venice, 
 Amsterdam and London urgently demanded Leone s at 
 tention and presence. As his more important business 
 lay in London, he made but a short stay in each of the 
 two former cities, purposing to return to the continent. 
 
 With the intention of submitting the contents to the 
 specialists of the British Museum, he brought with 
 him the antique coffer containing the invaluable docu 
 ments and relics of the Jacobini family, which had been 
 cherished with such affection and reverence by his fore 
 fathers, and which his uncle with such strict injunctions 
 had delivered into his hands. 
 
 " Yes ; I shall have the opinion of the savants of the 
 world upon them, if necessary, to determine and establish 
 the truth about them," he said. "It is the least I can 
 do, in grateful memory of my uncle Anselmo." 
 
 As he stood upon the deck of the steamer bound for 
 England and the great fortune awaiting him there, it 
 would have been strange had he not indulged in some of 
 the dreams and anticipations natural to the young man 
 with the best part of his life yet to live, and so favourable 
 a future opening before him. But if any unworthy feel 
 ings occupied him, and if he felt impatient at delays, 
 and restive at the memory of what had been unhappy or 
 unpleasant in his recent years, he was not without kind 
 lier and more generous sentiments as he looked forward, 
 and thought of his meeting with his uncle Giovanni in 
 Naples, and the glad surprise and proud relief the change 
 in his fortunes would bring the noble old man. For he 
 had determined, on completing his business in London, 
 to return to his home in Naples. 
 
 The weather had been threatening, and, toward the 
 close of the day, the wind, which had already raised a 
 heavy sea, increased in violence, and began to blow a
 
 59 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 gale. It was one of those terrific storms which, like 
 a rampant dragon of the deep, haunt the English coast, 
 and render so formidable the approaches, and the nav 
 igation of the seas surrounding the " fortunate island." 
 The vessel went lumbering onward uneasily through the 
 darkness that gathered with the tempest, and now was 
 in great danger, as the guiding and warning lights on 
 shore had been blotted out. 
 
 All the night long the heavy seas broke upon the 
 island beaches with sullen steady moan, shaking the 
 bastion rocks to their foundations. The stars were ex 
 tinguished ; and there was a horrible impenetrable black 
 ness upon the waste of waters, as if the spirit of God 
 had never moved upon the face of the deep. The sharp 
 rain, with the hiss of a demon, swept headlong through 
 the boundless spaces of the chaos to mingle with the 
 briny spray hurled from the half-formed crests of the 
 toppling waves that continually lifted themselves with 
 angry menace. One would say that nothing could live 
 before them, they would overwhelm the stoutest craft, 
 and all the power of man be but weakness in their pres 
 ence like a pigmy contending with a giant. At times 
 the force of the gale gave it the character of a hurricane. 
 A blind relentless power, yet with the determination of 
 fate, what might not be possible to it? Men s hearts 
 failed them as they ploughed through the turbulent 
 vortex the hell-broth, knowing not what would come 
 next, and expecting to be swallowed up the succeeding 
 moment. Out in the Channel there were many disas 
 ters and wrecks ; and many a brave soul was stricken 
 from the body that night. 
 
 While it was yet dark, the news flashed from a small 
 fishing village to a near life-station that a large steamer 
 was ashore upon the rocks and was fast breaking up. 
 It was the vessel upon which Leone was travelling. 
 
 " This is a time when money avails but little," he said. 
 " All my wealth is as nothing in such a crisis ! " 
 
 " If we can only hold together till help comes ! " was 
 the captain s constant thought. 
 
 It was an experience to try men s souls, that long 
 anxious waiting in the darkness and the storm. But
 
 Hassan: a Fellah 591 
 
 with the first streak of dawn the lifeboat was along 
 side. Communication had been established with the 
 shore, and the work of rescue commenced, Leone being 
 among those on board who rendered the most valuable 
 assistance. Perfect order prevailed ; and not a man left 
 the ship till every woman was safely landed. 
 
 It is unnecessary to enter into details. Though not a 
 life was lost, scarcely anything else was saved. The 
 precious coffer containing the Jacobini relics was sunk 
 in the bottom of the Channel, that vast treasure-house 
 of untold loss, never to be recovered. 
 
 Leone recalled the words of his uncle Anselmo as to 
 the fatality pertaining to the Davidic dynasty and all 
 connected with it. And though he spent much time 
 and money in attempts to recover the coffer, which were 
 unsuccessful, he comforted himself with the thought 
 that, perhaps, it was as well that it was lost, as it might 
 have proved a fatal gift. Men less superstitious than he 
 might have believed its unhappy influence was mani 
 fested in the shipwreck. And though he did not go 
 quite so far as that, yet his feelings on the subject cer 
 tainly lessened his regret at a loss which, well-nigh, 
 would have broken the heart of Anselmo Jacobini. 
 
 Leone gave expression to his better feelings in a more 
 wholesome way in the bestowal of a generous dona 
 tion upon those who had lost their all in the disaster. 
 
 The varied experiences through which lately he had 
 passed could not but impress him deeply. They had 
 left an indelible mark upon him for the rest of his life. 
 Those who knew him intimately said he was a sadder 
 man, more thoughtful and more kind. 
 
 It would have cost him much to have spoken the 
 word " Amne." But he could not help thinking all 
 that word meant. That was his burden. 
 
 It was a happy day for Leone, when he once more 
 stood within the home of his boyhood, his uncle 
 Giovanni s house, which some would call a palace, in 
 his beloved Naples. 
 
 It was with difficulty he made the grand old count 
 comprehend the immense value of the Jacobini estate,
 
 592 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 of which he, Leone, had now become possessed. His 
 uncle had told him with heartfelt pride that, at last, 
 through much exertion and careful saving, together 
 with a fortunate investment, he had been able, in some 
 degree, to attain the great object of his latter years 
 to restore the former honour and standing of the old 
 Spollato family. 
 
 " Even now," he said, " you would be able to keep 
 your own carriage and horses on the Corso, equal to 
 any of them. Doubtless the Jacobini money will go to 
 help a little," he suggested indifferently. " All my 
 hope is in you, Leone, to build up the family name," 
 he resumed with warmth. " And I look to your mak 
 ing a distinguished alliance. You must ! Indeed you 
 must ! " 
 
 Leone, at first, could not bear to explain all, the 
 proud old man was so exultant over what he had 
 achieved. The young count gently chided him for his 
 self-sacrifice, telling him that his beloved nephew was 
 totally unworthy of the least part of his goodness. 
 
 "Nay, nay; it is as nothing," replied his uncle. 
 " Do I not know there are many noble families, this 
 day, in Italy who rent the front of their palaces, and 
 live in the rear rooms on polenta and macaroni, that 
 they may be able to keep their carriage and horses on 
 the Corso?" 
 
 When, at last, Leone told him all, great was his 
 uncle s amazement and delight. 
 
 "Who could imagine it?" he exclaimed. "The 
 Jacobinis always lived so modestly so plainly. How 
 could they have accumulated so quietly all this wealth ? 
 But remember, Leone," he added, " it carries with it a 
 great obligation." 
 
 During the fashionable season, the Spollato carriage, 
 the family arms surmounted with a coronet upon the 
 panels, was, once more, a well-known object upon the 
 Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Naples, one of the most 
 enchantingly beautiful drives in the world. Within the 
 carriage generally might be seen uncle and nephew, in 
 affectionate companionship.
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 593 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII 
 
 WHEN Count Leone Spoliate was about leaving 
 the Holy City and Palestine, there was, perhaps, 
 none of the many penitent and generous acts of which 
 he was the author that gave him more satisfaction than 
 his presenting the noble steed Al Borak to Hassan. It 
 was a beautiful, a friendly, and a righteous thing to do. 
 
 " Has he not paid me back, a thousand times over, the 
 paltry sum I gave for him? " said Leone, when Hassan 
 remonstrated, saying he had taken a price, even money 
 for the horse, and could not take him back. " But if 
 you will not have him at my hand, then I shall give 
 him to Hilwe and Talmai, whose lives he saved. There 
 is none other to give him to, none who love him as 
 you all do." 
 
 Hassan, while thanking Leone, felt the gift too costly. 
 
 " Will you not let me have this gratification? " impet 
 uously demanded Leone. " Do not thank me. Do you 
 not know that it gives me greater pleasure to see you 
 happy than to be happy in myself through some selfish 
 indulgence? Oh, that the world would only know that 
 the supreme joy is to drink happiness through the lips 
 of another. It took me long to find it out." 
 
 After this, Hassan was obliged to give way. 
 
 The faithful horse knew his old stable, and loved it 
 better far than the finer habitations he had lodged in 
 since leaving Bettir. Perhaps he felt that, next to the 
 desert, it was more distinctively home. 
 
 It was, indeed, a goodly sight to see the old sheik, 
 Abou Chalil mounted upon the horse, Hassan walking 
 on one side, Chalil, the young sheik, on the other, as 
 they passed through the gate of Bettir, every one who 
 sat there, young and old, rising up to do the patriarch 
 the " father of his people" reverence. Great was the 
 pride of the villagers in the horse ; and they were never 
 tired of repeating that he was descended from the 
 charger of the Prophet, and did honour to Bettir. 
 
 38
 
 594 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 The days and the years pass swiftly yet quietly, and 
 free from exciting events, at Bettir. Chalil, who, with 
 the veneration of the true worshipper, always hid in his 
 heart his great and hopeless love for Hilwe, at last sat 
 isfied the sheik, and comforted himself by taking to wife 
 one of the fairest maidens of Bettir. She was chosen 
 for him by his father, who longed to see his son s children 
 before he died, in which the old man, in due time, was 
 fully gratified. But the love of Hassan and Chalil re 
 mained, the love passing the love of women. 
 
 Hassan, who is now the father of a second son, is the 
 scribe and learned man of the village, who keeps the 
 accounts, and so well, that the oppressive tax collectors 
 cannot impose upon the people. All who have any 
 grievance or dispute come to him to settle the trouble, 
 or to get his advice. Occasionally even some one from 
 Malha comes. And this duty he freely renders. Only 
 that he always, in anything of importance, refers the 
 matter to the venerable sheik, duly honouring him. 
 
 When the day s labour is done, the favourite place 
 of meeting for social converse is before Hassan s house. 
 Here the sheik and Chalil, with the women and children, 
 often come. 
 
 Frequently, at the peaceful hour, Hassan reads from 
 some book to the villagers, or tells them some flowery 
 story of ancient times or out of his own experience, than 
 which nothing gives them greater delight. 
 
 The evening of a bright day is closing down upon the 
 family group gathered before Hassan s door. Hilwe, 
 patient, sweet and beautiful as ever, and her children are 
 there ; and the sheik, with Chalil and his wife and first 
 child, are given the places of honour. Hassan, again in 
 the garments of the country, is entertaining them as host. 
 Through the open doorway a glimpse of the interior of 
 the house is had, showing the famous leopard-skin 
 spread upon the floor. Hilwe takes good care of that 
 skin. No boot or shoe treads upon it only the un 
 covered foot touches it. The soft violet tones that pen 
 sive Nature loves so well are moderating and subduing 
 the colours of tree and earth, sky and water, and multi-
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 595 
 
 plying shadows and picturesque effects. Back of all, in 
 magnificent contrast, high against the firmament of fading 
 blue, a mass of flame-coloured cloud, like a vast mountain 
 range, is catching the last gold-and-crimson glory of the 
 sunset, holding itself proudly aloft, like a Himalayan 
 summit. The gray and brown rocky tells of Bettir are 
 lifted high against it as if trying to scale the greater 
 eminence ; but they still are far below, wrapped in 
 shade. 
 
 In the midst Hassan sits and reads. And as he rolls 
 off the Arabic, in his deep voice, he reverently bows his 
 head, almost at every word, after the habit of the coun 
 try when any sacred writing is read. How musically 
 sonorous, so different from the ordinary reader, pour 
 the tones from that rich bass throat. It is the voice of 
 a whole-souled man. 
 
 These are the translated words : 
 
 " And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, 
 clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God 
 and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and 
 on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, 
 which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit 
 every month : and the leaves of the tree were for the 
 healing of the nations." 
 
 Hassan paused ; he knew the passage well ; and the 
 sheik, who was listening intently, leaned forward to 
 speak. 
 
 " The words are pleasant and good," he said. " Read 
 it again, Hassan." 
 
 And Hassan read it again. 
 
 " Read it the third time." 
 
 Hassan read it the third time. And ever the words 
 sounded grander, and sweeter, and more blessed. Had 
 he read it a hundred times, it would have been the same. 
 
 "Is it not like unto Bettir?" said the sheik. 
 
 " Yea, it is like unto Bettir, only it is far better than 
 Bettir. It is the heavenly Paradise." 
 
 Hassan, thus replying, read on further : 
 
 " There shall be no more curse. . . . They shall see 
 his face. . . . There shall be no night there. . . . And 
 they shall reign for ever and ever-"
 
 596 Hassan : a Fellah 
 
 He ended with the impressive blessing. 
 
 It was the utterance of a banished man, shut out from 
 the world and his kind, and face to face with his Maker 
 the testimony of the beloved disciple John, who had 
 leaned on the bosom of Jesus. It was the ancient in 
 spiration the voice of the land. How could it help 
 but touch the people of the land? 
 
 " Now praise be to Allah that I have heard those 
 glorious words ! " said the sheik. " They are a comfort 
 to my soul against the day, which is nigh at hand, when 
 I shall be gathered to my fathers. " 
 
 The twilight was deepening. Hassan had closed the 
 book. But the sheik pondered. He had many ques 
 tions to ask. So had the others. 
 
 " Where didst thou get the precious writing, Hassan? " 
 inquired the sheik. " How didst thou come by it?" 
 
 " Ah ! " quoth Hassan meditatively, " I shall tell thee : 
 I have had the book a long time. I kept it hidden in a 
 space between the stones in the wall of the house. It 
 was there when they made soldiers of Chalil and me, and 
 carried us out of the country. And I found it, on my 
 return, even as I had left it. When I was a lad, and 
 went as dragoman to Jaffa, it was given me by an English 
 lady from Ireland at least she spoke English. She 
 healed the sick, helped the needy, and brought to all in 
 Jaffa words of peace glad tidings of great joy she 
 called them. Her name? Ah, do I not remember it! 
 It was Mangan. She was like an angel. They called 
 her, as well they might, Our bright-faced lady. Oh, 
 was she not a gracious lady ! Her face was as the sun 
 shine of God. " 
 
 And so the voices ran on, in murmurous parley, suited 
 to the darkening hour, and mingling dreamily in one 
 harmonious melody with the crisping rush of the water 
 in the near-by aqueduct. For, as Hassan had said, 
 " there is much water at Bettir. Thou hast not to go 
 far to draw it." 
 
 Thus Hassan sat beneath his own vine and fig-tree 
 unashamed, contented, happy with Hilwe and his chil 
 dren. Little did he reck that he was a descendant of
 
 Hassan : a Fellah 597 
 
 the ancient princes of the land, at heart always a 
 shepherd. 
 
 " I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walk 
 ing as servants upon the earth," saith Solomon. 
 
 The simple story is told. Why should more words 
 be spent upon it? Though there is no end to what 
 might be said of the land called " Holy." 
 
 It is like the blowing of the wind over the face of the 
 deep, or the passing of the clouds over the changeless 
 blue of the sky, or the stalking of the shadow across 
 miles of mountain. The background is unaltered, and 
 remains inviolate. 
 
 The incidents the waves raised by the breezes of 
 circumstance and occasion have settled back into the 
 calm level of the sea whence they had arisen. And all 
 is well ; for God lives. 
 
 THE END.

 
 Date Due 
 
 PRINTED IN U.S. 
 
 CAT. NO. 24 161