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that Murtzuple had no liking of this shielding by the suspicion-rid eunuchs and the lords of his court.
    Except the Seljuk Sultan of Egypt and the Great Khan of Cathay there is no prince in the world so dignified and so treasure-burdened as this emperor who sat in the throne of the caesars.
    And in all my journeys I had not seen a city so wealthy, with such massive walls as this city upon the Golden Horn.
    "Surely that is a lie," I said to the weapon seller, when I had thought over his words, "because there is peace between the Nazarenes. And this is one of their holy cities."
    Abou Asaid smiled and all the lines came out on his face.
    "Little know ye, 0 Khalil, son of Abd'Ullah, the Badawan. Of well-sired horses and edged weapons and girls who walk with antelope grace-of such matters thou art conversant, beyond doubt. By the breath of Ali, have I not sold daggers to the Greeks fourfold in the last days? Eh, they labor at building stone casters on the walls. But I have heard what I have heard!"
    And at last he made clear to me why he had called me into his stall.
    There would be war, he said, between the Greeks of the city and the Franks from over the black water. We would both profit by it if I were to go again to the palace of the Blachernae, where the Emperor Murtzuple sat in council, and swear that I was ready to serve him with a hundred men. Already I had some slight favor with the Greek emperor, and Abou Asaid would drum up the hundred men from the scoundrels of Galata and arm them himself.
    The emperor, Abou Asaid explained truthfully, was already served by men-at-arms from Genoa and the island of England that lies beyond the Gates. These barbarians from England were named Saxons; and in his host were also warriors from the far north-tall men with watery-blue eyes and yellow hair, and Tatars from the steppes of the East. They were men of all faiths and many Muslimin.
    I was a saracin in the eyes of the Greeks. But the lords who had come with me from Roum had told in the city how I was a chieftain's son who had fought in the battles of Granada and Palestine. And Abou Asaid had praised me as a swordsman unmatched and an Arab without fear. And that was a lie, but the praise was pleasing.
    "The emperor can reward greatly," he ended. "Thou hast of him already a journey-gift. What then will be his service grant?"
    "Aye, what?"
    "Why, a score of fair-faced slaves-precious stones to fill thy cupped hands-perhaps a province or a ship."
    It was Abou Asaid's thought that he would share this wealth with me.
    Indeed, I had no mind to the venture. Among my people there is a saying that a sword once drawn is not to be sheathed without honor. What part had an Arab in the quarrels of the Franks? I held myself as something better than the barbarian Tatars and Saxons. As for Abou Asaid, he was a merchant, with a purse to be filled.
    "Consider, 0 my lord Khalil," he cried when he read no agreement in my eyes. "This Greek hath a fair mind to thee. Nay, he hath honored thee with a horse of his stables, so that when thou goest forth, there is a canopy held over thee and a trumpeter to go before, in token thou art an honored guest of Murtzuple. In gratitude-"
    "Make an end of words. I will not set foot upon this path."
    The gifts of the emperor had been for service rendered, and as for hospitality-he had let me stand before him with my arms held.
    "Then consider this, 0 son of Abd 'Ullah. If the barbarian Franks take the city, they will care not at all for horse or canopy-or trumpeter. They will cut thee down for a saracin, and thy days will be ended without honor."
    A horse had passed the stall where we sat. Such a horse as would have brought joy to Omar the Mighty-a gray desert-bred, slender of limb, with arched neck and eyes of fire.
    This gray beauty picked his way through the narrow street of the metalworkers, and daintily as a favorite slave of a great prince who goes where he wills. And the rider of the kohlani was a girl-child, who was