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After I have finally bribed my freedom from the women, the men seize me and attempt to further detain me until they can send for their Sheikh to come from another camp miles away, to see me ride.

A fanatical party, hearing that a Christian had come to the place, made various attempts to destroy him. By the advice of his kind protector, the sheikh, he determined to leave the city with him, and take up his residence in the desert. As he rode forth on his white mare, the natives thronged the streets in order to get a glance at the Christian stranger.

Twenty years ago, the Sheikh of Bornou reiterated to our countrymen; "You say that we are all the sons of one father; you say also, that the sons of Adam should not sell one another; and you know every thing. God has given you great talents. What are we to do? The Arabs who come here will have nothing else but slaves. Why do you not send us merchants?"

Then there was a general hum and great praise, and many men said to each other, 'All this is true, for my father told it to me before. The great Sheikh, who was highly pleased, ordered his slaves to give the poet a cup of coffee, and, taking from his own vest an immense purse, more than a foot in length, he extracted from it, after a vast deal of research, one of the smallest of conceivable coins, which the poet pressed to his lips, and, notwithstanding the exiguity of the donation, declared that God was great.

"He hopes that your shadow may never grow less, and that you may live to be a blessing to your people for as long as the patriarchs of old." The sheikh seemed pleased, and answered, "Your lion-hunter is a fine fellow."

Whether the little Sheikh imagined honest old Thani capable of stealing one is not known, but it is certain that he stormed and raved about the near neighbourhood of his best friend's tent, until Thani ordered its removal a hundred yards off.

He therefore had resolved to sacrifice himself for the Emperor's sake, and immediately after this miraculous speech he died. Jahangir was born nine months afterwards. Sceptics have suggested that he was really a son of the Sheikh, substituted for a still-born child of Mariam Zâmâni.

He stands in a niche in the wall, with his back to the people, and repeats prayers. But he is not the preacher. The sheikh, or chief man of the town, preaches; not on Sunday, but on Friday.

"Oh, long-expected one," he said, when he saw that Harry noticed him, "to whom Allah hath at length restored some degree of understanding, know that you are welcome and among friends. This writing found upon you tells me that you are he of whom the Sheikh Burrachee has often spoken, the Feringhee destined to bring his benighted and hitherto accursed race to the acceptance of the true faith.

Then he'll have to work fast, because we shall move fast. What villages does he trade with chiefly?" "The Beni-Assan and the Beni-Khor." "Small crowds, both of them. Counting her four fanatics, we'll be four-and-twenty armed men, and tough in the bargain. Is there any outlying sheikh who owes old Rafiki money? Who are his wives, for instance?" "Now you're on the track," said de Crespigny.