Abdullah ibn Mohammed, though a young man, was now the sheikh of a
considerable tribe which had frequently done good service to the late
Sultan, Zehowah's father, and which had also borne a prominent part in
the recent war. Abdul Kerim, whom Almasta had murdered, had been the
sheikh during his lifetime, and if the claims of birth had been justly
considered, his son, though a mere boy, should have succeeded him. But
Abdullah had found it easy to usurp the chief place, and in the council
which was held after Abdul Kerim's death he was chosen by acclamation.
It chanced, too, that he was not married at the time when he took
Almasta, for of two wives the one had died of a fever during the summer,
and he had divorced the other on account of her unbearable temper,
having been deceived in respect of this by her parents, who had assured
him that she was as gentle as a dove and as submissive as a lamb. But
she had turned out to be as quarrelsome as a wasp and as unmanageable as
an untrained hawk, so he divorced her, and the more readily because she
was not beautiful and her dower had been insignificant. Almasta
therefore found that she was her husband's only wife.
She would certainly have killed him, as she had killed Abdul Kerim, and,
indeed, the late Sultan, in the hope of being taken back into the
palace, but she was prevented by the fear of death, for she had seen
that Khaled's threat was not empty and would be executed if harm came to
Abdullah after his marriage. She accordingly set herself to please him,
and first of all she learned to speak the Arabic language, in order that
she might sing to him in his own tongue and tell him tales of distant
countries, which she had learned in her own home.
Abdullah passed the months of autumn and the early winter in the desert,
moving about from place to place, as is the custom of the Bedouins, it
being his intention to reach a northerly point of Ajman in the spring,
in order to fall upon the Persian pilgrims and extort a ransom before
they entered the territory of Nejed. For it would not be lawful to
attack them after that, since there was a treaty with the Emir of
Basrah, allowing the pilgrims a safe and free passage towards Mecca, for
which the Emir paid yearly a sum of money to the Sultan of Nejed.
But Almasta knew nothing of this, for she was wholly ignorant of the
desert; and moreover Abdullah was a cautious man, who held that
whatsoever is to be kept secret must not be uttered aloud, though there
be no one within three days' journey to hear it.
Abdullah treated her with great consideration, not obliging her to weary
herself overmuch with cooking and other work of the tents. For he
rejoiced in her beauty and in the sweetness of her voice, and his chief
delight was to sit in the door of the tent at night, chewing
frankincense, while Almasta sat within, close behind him, and told him
tales of her own country, or of the life in the palace of Riad. The
latter indeed was as strange to him as the former, and much more
interesting.
Now one evening they were alone together in this manner, and it was not
yet very cold. But the stars shone brightly as though there would be a
frost before morning, and the other tents were all closed and no one was
near the coals which remained from the fire after baking the
blanket-bread. One might hear the chewing of the camels in the dark and
the tramping of a mare that moved slowly about, her hind feet being
chained together.
'Tell me more of the palace at Riad,' said Abdullah. 'For your Kura, and
your snow-covered Kasbek, and your Tiflis with its warm springs and
gardens, I shall never see. But I have seen the courts of the palace
from my youth, and the Sultan's kahwah, and the latticed windows of the
harem, from which you say that you saw me and loved me in the last days
of summer.'
Almasta had said this to please him, though it was not true. For she
knew that men easily believe what flatters them, as women believe that
what they desire must come to pass.
'The palace is a wonderful palace,' said Almasta, 'and I will tell you
of the treasures which are in it.'
'That is what I wish to hear,' answered Abdullah, putting a piece of
frankincense into his mouth and beginning to chew it. 'Tell me of the
treasures, for it is said that they are great and of extraordinary
value.'
'The value of them cannot be calculated, O Abdullah, for if you had
seventy thousand hands and on each hand seventy thousand fingers you
could not count upon your fingers in a whole lifetime the gold sherifs
and sequins and tomans which are hidden away there in bags. Beneath the
court of strangers there is a great chamber built of stone in which the
sacks of gold are kept, and they are piled up to the roof of the vault
on all sides and in the middle, leaving only narrow passages between.'
'If it is all gold, what is the use of the passages?' asked Abdullah.
'I do not know, but they are there, and there is another room filled
with silver in the same manner. There are also secret places underground
in which jewels are kept in chests, rubies and pearls and Indian
diamonds and emeralds, in such quantities that they would suffice to
make necklaces of a thousand rows each for each of the mountains in my
country. And we have many mountains, great ones, not such as the little
hills you have seen, but several days' journey in height. For we say
that when the Lord made the earth it was at first unsteady, and He set
our mountains upon it, in the middle, to make it firm, and it has never
moved since.'
'I do not believe this,' said Abdullah. 'Tell me more about the jewels
in Riad.'
'There is no end of them. They are like the grains of sand in the
desert, and no one of them is worth less than a thousand gold sherifs. I
do not even know the names of the different kinds, but there are
turquoises without number, of the Maidan, and all good, so that you may
write upon them with a piece of gold as with a pen; and there are red
stones as large as a dove's egg, red and fiery as the wine of Kachetia,
and others, blue as the sky in winter, and yellow ones, and some with
leaves of gold in them, like morsels of treng floating in the juice. But
besides the gold and silver and precious stones there are thousands of
rich garments which are kept in chests of fragrant wood, in upper
chambers, abas woven of gold and silk and linen, and vests embroidered
with pearls, and shoes of which even the soles appear to be of gold. And
there are great pieces of stuff, Indian silk, and Persian velvet, and
even satin from Stamboul, woven by unbelievers with the help of devils.
Then too, in the palace of Riad, there are stored great quantities of
precious weapons, most of them made in Syria, with many swords of Sham,
which you say are the best, though I do not understand the matter, each
having an inscription in letters of gold upon the blade, and the hilt
most cunningly chiselled in the same metal, or carved out of ivory.'
'I saw the treasure of Hail when we took it away after the war, and most
of it was distributed among us, but there was nothing like this,' said
Abdullah.
'The treasure of Hail is to the treasure of Riad, as a small black fly
walking upon the face of the sun,' answered Almasta. 'And yet there was
wealth there also, and there was much which you never saw. For that
Khaled, who is now Sultan, is crafty and avaricious, and he loaded many
camels secretly by night, being helped by black slaves, all of whom he
slew afterwards with his own hand lest they should tell the tale, and he
then called camel-drivers and sent them away with the beasts to Riad.
And he said to them: "These are certain loads of fine wheat and of
mellow dates, for the Sultan's table, such as cannot be found in Riad."
But he sent a letter to his father-in-law, who caused all the packs to
be taken immediately to one of the secret chambers, where he and his
daughter Zehowah took out the jewels and stored them with their own. And
as for me, I believe that Khaled made an end of the Sultan himself by
means of poison in Dereyiyah, for he rode away suddenly after they had
met, as though his conscience smote him.'
'What is this evil tale which you are telling me?' cried Abdullah.
'Surely, it is a lie, for Khaled is a brave man who gives every one his
due and deceives no one. And he is by no means subtle, for I have heard
him in council, and he generally said only, "Smite," but sometimes he
said "Strike," and that was all his eloquence. But whether he said the
one or the other, he was generally the first to follow his own advice
which, indeed, by the merciful dispensation of Allah, procured us the
victory. But what is this tale which you have invented?'
'And who is this Khaled whom you praise?' asked Almasta. 'And how can
you know his craftiness as I know it, who have lived in the palace and
braided his wife's hair, and brought him drink when he was thirsty? Is
he a man of your tribe whose descent you can count upon your fingers,
from him to his grandfather and to Ishmael and Abraham? Or is he a man
of a tribe known to you, and whose generations you also know? Has any
man called him Khaled ibn Mohammed, or Khaled ibn Abdullah? Or has he
ever spoken of his father, who is probably now drinking boiling water,
and the black angels are pounding his head with iron maces. Yet he says
that he came from the desert. Then you, who are of the desert, do not
know the desert, for you do not know whence he is. But there are those
who do know, and he fears them, lest they should tell the truth and
destroy him.'
'These are idle tales,' said Abdullah. 'Is it probable that the Sultan
would have bestowed his daughter and all the treasures you have
described upon such a man without having made inquiries concerning his
family? And if the Sultan said nothing to us about it, and if Khaled
holds his peace, they have doubtless their reasons. For it may be that
there is a blood feud between the people of Khaled and some great person
in Riad, so that he would be in danger of his life if he revealed his
father's name. Allah knows. It is not our business.'
'O Abdullah, you are simple, and you believe all things!' cried Almasta.
'But I heard of him in Basrah.'
'What did you hear in Basrah? And how could you have heard of him
there?'
'I was in the Emir's harem, being kept there to rest from the journey
after they had brought me from the north. And there I heard of Khaled,
for the women talked of him, having been told tales about him by a
merchant who was admitted to the palace.'
'Now this is great folly,' answered Abdullah. 'For Khaled came suddenly
to Riad, and was married immediately to Zehowah, and on the next day he
went out with us against Hail, which we took from the Shammar in three
weeks' time from the day of our marching. Moreover we found you there in
the palace. How then could news of Khaled have reached Basrah before you
left that place?'
'I had come to Hail but the day before you attacked the city,' said
Almasta. 'But did I say that I had heard of him as already married to
Zehowah?'
For she saw that she had run the risk of being found out in a lie, and
she made haste to defend herself.
'What did you hear of him?' asked Abdullah.
'He was a notable fellow and a robber,' answered Almasta. 'For he is a
Persian, and a Shiyah, who offers prayers to Ali in secret. But because
he had done many outrageous deeds, a great price was set upon his head
throughout Persia, so he fled into Arabia and by his boldness and craft
he married Zehowah. And now he has made a secret covenant to deliver
over the kingdom of Nejed to the Persians.'
Then Abdullah laughed aloud.
'Who shall deliver over the Bedouin to a white-faced people, who live on
boiled chestnuts and ride astride of a camel? And when a man has got a
kingdom, why should he give it up to any one, except under force?'
'There is a reason for this, too,' Almasta answered unabashed. 'For the
King of the Persians, whom they call the Padeshah, has an only daughter,
of great beauty, and Khaled is to receive her in marriage as the price
of Nejed. Then he will by treachery destroy the Padeshah's sons and will
inherit Persia also, as he has inherited Nejed; and after that he will
make war upon the Romans in Stamboul and will become the master of the
whole world.'
'This is a strange tale, and seems full of madness,' said Abdullah. 'I
do not believe it. Tell me rather a story of your own country, and
afterwards we will sleep, for to-morrow we will leave this place.'
'I will tell you a wonderful history, which is quite true,' answered
Almasta. 'Take this fresh piece of frankincense which I have prepared
for you, and put it into your mouth, for you will then not interrupt me
with questions while I am speaking.'
So Abdullah took the savoury gum and chewed it, and Almasta told him the
tale which here follows.
'There is in the north, beyond Persia, a great and prosperous kingdom,
lying between two seas, and resembling paradise for its wonderful
beauty. All the hills are covered with trees of every description in
which innumerable birds make their nests, all of a beautiful plumage and
good for man to eat. And in these forests there are also great herds of
animals, whose name I do not know in Arabic, having branching horns and
kindred to the little beast which you call the cow of the desert, but
far better to eat and as large as full-grown camels. A man who is hungry
need only shoot an arrow at a venture, for the birds and animals are so
numerous that he will certainly hit something. This kingdom is watered
everywhere by rivers and streams abounding in fish, all good to eat and
easily caught, and all the valleys are filled with vineyards of black
and white grapes. But the people of this country are chiefly Christians.
May Allah send them enlightenment! Now the King was an old man, who
delighted in feasting and cared little for the affairs of the nation,
preferring a lute to a sword, and a wine-cup to a shield, and the feet
of dancing girls to the hoofs of war horses. He had no son to go out to
war for him, but only one beautiful daughter.'
'Like the Sultan of our country who died,' said Abdullah.
'Very much. There were also other points of resemblance. Now there was a
certain Tartar in the kingdom of Samarkand, called Ismail, who was a
robber and had destroyed many caravans on the march, and had broken into
many houses both in Samarkand and Tashkent, a notable evildoer. But
having one day stolen a fleet mare from the Sultan's stables, the
soldiers pursued him, and in order to escape impalement he fled. No one
could catch him because the mare he had stolen was the fleetest in Great
Tartary. So he rode westward through many countries, and by the shores
of the inland sea, until he came to the kingdom which I have described.
There he hid himself in the forest for some time and waylaid travellers,
making them tell him all that they knew of the kingdom, and afterwards
killing them. But when he had obtained all that he wanted, both rich
garments and splendid weapons, and the necessary information, he left
the forest and rode into the capital city. Then he went to the King and
desired of him a private audience, which was granted. He said that he
was the son of a powerful Christian prince, and had been taken captive
by the Tartars, but had escaped, and he offered to make all Tartary
subject to the King, if only he might marry his daughter. And whether by
magic, or by eloquence, he succeeded, for the King was old and
feeble-minded. But soon after the wedding, he poisoned his father-in-law
and became king in his place, though there were many in the land who
had a better right, being closely connected with the royal blood.'
'This is the story of Khaled,' said Abdullah. 'I know the truth. Why do
you weary me, trying to deceive me, and calling him a robber? But it is
true that in Nejed there are men of good descent who have a better right
to sit on the throne.'
'Hear what followed,' answered Almasta. 'This man Ismail afterwards took
captive a woman of the Tartars, who knew who he was, though he supposed
her ignorant. And he gave her in marriage to the youngest and bravest of
his captains, a man to whom Allah had vouchsafed the tongue of
eloquence, and the teeth of strength, and the lips of discretion to
close together and hide both at the proper season. The woman told her
husband who Ismail was, and instructed him concerning the palace, its
passages and secret places, and the treasures that were hidden there.
And she told him also that Ismail had made a covenant with the Sultan of
his own country, which would bring destruction upon the nation he now
ruled. For she loved her husband on account of his youth and beauty, and
she had embraced his faith and was ready to die for him.'
'The husband's name was Abdullah,' said Abdullah. 'And he also loved his
wife, who surpassed other women in beauty, as a bay mare surpasses
pigs.'
'He afterwards loved her still better,' answered Almasta, 'for though he
was only chief over four hundred tents, she gave him a kingdom. Hear
what followed. But I will call him Abdullah if you please, though his
name was Mskhet.'
'Allah is merciful! There are no such names in Arabia. This one is like
the breaking of earthen vessels upon stones. Call him Abdullah.'
'Abdullah therefore went to the wisest and most discreet of his kindred,
and spoke to them of the great treasures which were hidden in the
palace, and he pointed out to their obscured sight that all this wealth
had been got by them and their fathers in war, and had been taken in
tithes from the people, and was now in the possession of Ismail. And
they talked among themselves and saw that this was indeed true. And at
another time, he told them that Ismail was not really of their religion,
but a hypocrite. And again a third time he told them the whole truth, so
that their hearts burned when they knew that their King was but a robber
who had been condemned to death. Though they were discreet men, the
story was in some way told abroad among the soldiers, doubtless by the
intervention of angels, so that all the people knew it, and were angry
against Ismail and ready to break out against him so soon as a man could
be found to lead them.'
'But,' said Abdullah, 'this Ismail doubtless had a strong guard of
soldiers about him, and had given gifts to his captains, and shown
honour to them, so that they were attached to him.'
'Undoubtedly,' replied Almasta, 'and but for his wife, Abdullah could
not have succeeded. She advised him to go to his discreet kindred and
friends and say to them, "See, if you will afterwards support me, I will
go alone into the palace and will get the better of this Ismail, when he
is asleep, and I will so do that the soldiers shall not oppose me. And
afterwards, you will all enter together and the treasure shall be
divided. But we will throw some of it to the people, lest they be
disappointed." And so he did. For his wife knew the secret entrances to
the palace and took him in with her by night, disguised as a woman. And
they went together silently into the harem, and slew Ismail and bound
his wife, and took the keys of the treasure chambers from under the
pillow. After this they took from the gold as many bags as there were
soldiers, and waked each man, giving him a sack of sherifs, and bidding
him take as much more as he could find, for the King was dead. Then
Abdullah's friends were admitted and they divided the treasure, and went
abroad before it was day, calling upon the people that Ismail was dead
and that a man of their own nation was King in his place, and scattering
handfuls of gold into every house as they passed. And, behold, before
the second call to prayer, Abdullah was King, and all the people came
and did homage to him. And Abdullah himself was astonished when he saw
how easy it had been, and loved his wife even better than before.'
So Almasta finished her tale and there was silence for a time, while
Abdullah sat still and gazed at the closed tents in the starlight, and
listened to the distant chewing of the camels.
'Give me some water,' he said at last. 'I am very thirsty.'
She brought him drink from the skin, and soon afterwards he lay down to
rest. But they said nothing more to each other that night of the story
which Almasta had told.
On the following day they journeyed fully eleven hours, to a place where
there was much water, and in the evening, when the camels were chewing,
and all the Bedouins had eaten and were resting in their tents, Abdullah
sat again in his accustomed place.
'Almasta, light of my darkness,' he said, 'I would gladly hear again
something of the tale you told me last night, for I have not remembered
it well, being overburdened with the cares of my people and the
direction of the march. Surely you said that when the woman and her
husband had killed Ismail they took the keys of the treasure chambers
from under his pillow. Is it not so?'
'They did so, Abdullah,'
'And they immediately went and took the gold and gave it to the guards?
But I have forgotten, for it is a matter of little importance, being but
a tale.'
'That is what they did,' answered Almasta.
'But surely this is a fable. How could the woman know the way to the
treasure chambers and find it in the dark? For you said also that these
secret places were underground and therefore a great way from the
harem.'
'I did not say that, Abdullah, for the secret places underground are
those in Riad, which I described to you before I began the other story.'
'This may be true, for I am very forgetful. But I daresay that the
treasures in the city you described were also hidden in similar places.'
'Since you speak of this, I remember that it was so. The glorious light
of your intelligence penetrates the darkness of my memory and makes it
clear. The places were exactly similar.'
'How then could the woman, who only knew the harem, find her way in the
dark, and lead her husband, to a part of the palace which she had never
visited? This is a hard thing.'
'It was not hard for her. She had seen Ismail open with his key a door
in his sleeping chamber, and he had gone in and after some time had
returned bearing sacks of gold pieces. Was this a hard thing? Or does a
wise man make two doors to his treasure-house, the one for himself and
the other for thieves? The one leading to his own chamber, for his own
use, and the other opening upon the highway for the convenience of
robbers? It is possible, but I think not. Ismail had but one door. He
was not an Egyptian jackass.'
'This is reasonable,' said Abdullah. 'And I am now satisfied. But my
imagination was not at rest, for the story is a good one and deserves to
be well told.'
After this Abdullah wandered for a long time with the Bedouins who
accompanied him, often changing his direction, so that they wondered
whither he was leading them, and began to question him. But he answered
that he had heard secretly of a great spoil to be taken, and that they
should all have a share of it, and whenever they came upon Arabs of
another tribe Abdullah invited the sheikh and the most notable men to
his tent and entertained them sumptuously with camel's meat, afterwards
talking long with them in private. Before many weeks had passed, the
skilful men of the tribe, who knew the signs, were aware that many other
Bedouins were travelling in the same direction as themselves, though
they could not be seen.
But neither Abdullah's men, nor Almasta herself, could know that in
three months the sheikhs of all the tribes from Hasa to Harb, and from
Ajman to El Kora, had heard that Khaled the Sultan was a Persian robber,
and a Shiyah at heart, venerating Ali and execrating the true Sonna, a
man who in all probability drank wine in secret, and who was certainly
plotting to deliver up all Nejed to the power of the Ajjem. Some of them
believed the tale readily enough, for all had asked whence Khaled was
and none had got an answer. Could a man be of the desert, they asked,
and yet not be known by name in any of the tribes, nor his father before
him? Surely, there was a secret, they said, and he who will not tell the
name of his father has a reason for changing his own. And as for his
being brave and having fought well in the war with the Shammar, how
could a man have been a robber if he were not brave, and why should he
not fight manfully, since he had everything to gain and nothing to lose?
As for the spoils, too, he had made a pretence of dividing them justly,
but it was now well known that he had laden camels by stealth at Hail
and had sent them secretly to Riad, slaughtering with his own hand all
those who had helped him.
Little by little, too, the story came to Riad and was told in a low
voice by merchants in the bazar, and repeated by their wives among their
acquaintance, and by the slaves in the market and among the beggars who
begged by the doors of the great mosque but were fed daily from the
palace. And though many persons of the better sort thought that the
story might be true, and wagged their heads when Khaled's name was
spoken, yet the beggars with one accord declared that it was a lie. For
Khaled was generous in almsgiving, and they said, 'If Khaled is
overthrown and another Sultan set up in his place, how do we know
whether there will be boiled camel's meat from time to time as well as
blanket-bread and a small measure of barley meal? And will the next
Sultan scatter gold in the streets as Khaled did on the first day when
he rode to the mosque? Truly these chatterers of Bedouins talk much of
the treasure in the palace which will be divided, but they who talk most
of gold, are they who most desire it, and we shall get none. Therefore
we say it is a lie, and Khaled is a true man, and a Sonna like
ourselves, not a swiller of wine nor a devourer of pigs. Allah show him
mercy now and at the day of resurrection! The cock-sparrow is pluming
his breast while the hunter is pulling the string of the snare.'
Thus the beggars talked among themselves all day, reasoning after the
manner of their kind. But they suffered other people to talk as they
pleased, for one who desires alms must not exhibit a contradictory
disposition, lest the rich man be offended and eat the melon together
with the melon peels, and exclaim that the dirt-scraper has become a
preacher. For the rich man's anger is at the edge of his nostrils and
always ready.
As the winter passed away and the spring began, the tribes of the desert
drew nearer and nearer to the city, as is their wont at that season. For
many of the sheikhs had houses in the city, in which they spent the hot
months of the year, while their people were encamped in the low hill
country not far off, where the heat is less fierce than in the plains
and the deserts. And now also the season of the Haj was approaching, for
Ramadhan was not far off, and the beggars congregated at the gates
waiting for the first pilgrims, and expecting plentiful alms, which in
due time they received, for in that year Abdullah did not molest the
Persian pilgrimage, his mind being occupied with other matters.