"Behold what Allah wills!"
A tiny shoot appeared; a waxen point Close shawled in many folds of wax as white, It might have been a vine to humbly creep-- A lily soon to sunward flare its stars-- A shrub to briefly coquette with the winds.
Again the cabalism--
"Lo! Allah"s will."
The apparition budded, leafed, and branched, And with a flame of living green lit all The barrenness about. And still it grew-- Until it touched the pillars of the earth, And lapped its boundaries, the far and near, And under it, as brethren in a tent, The nations made their home, and dwelt in peace Forever.
"Lo!"--
And Ertoghrul awoke.
_Mishallah!_
This recitation commanded closer attention than the first one. Each listener had a feeling that the parable at the end, like all true parables, was of continuous application, while its moral was in some way aimed at him.
The looks the Sheik received were by no means loving. The spell was becoming unpleasant. Then the Emperor arose, as did the Princess, to whom, as hostess, the privilege of sitting had been alone conceded.
"Our playtime is up--indeed, I fear, it has been exceeded," he said, glancing at the Dean, who was acting master of ceremonies.
The Dean responded with a bow low as his surroundings admitted; whereupon the Emperor went to the Princess, and said, "We will take leave now, daughter, and for myself and my lords of the court, I acknowledge a most agreeable visit, and thank you for it."
She respectfully saluted the hand he extended to her.
"Our gate and doors at Blacherne are always open to you."
The adieu was specially observed by the courtiers, and they subsequently p.r.o.nounced it decorous for a sovereign, cordial as became a relative, but most un-loverlike. Indeed, it was a strong point in the decision subsequently of general acceptance, by which His Majesty was relieved of the proposal of marriage to the Princess.
The latter took his offered arm, and accompanied him to the steps of the portico, where, when he had descended, the lords one by one left a kiss on her hand.
Nor should it be forgotten, that as Constantine was pa.s.sing the Sheik, he paused to say to him in his habitually kind and princely manner: "The tree Sheik Ertoghrul saw in his dream has spread, and is yet spreading, but its shadow has not compa.s.sed all the nations; and while G.o.d keeps me, it will not. Had not I myself invited the parable, it might have been offensive. For the instruction and entertainment given me, accept thou this--and go in peace."
The Sheik took the ring offered him, and the gaze with which he followed the imperial giver was suggestive of respect and pity.
CHAPTER XX
MAHOMMED DREAMS
It was a trifle after noon. The trireme and the a.s.semblage of admiring townspeople had disappeared, leaving the bay and its sh.o.r.es to their wonted quiet. The palace, however, nestling in the garden under the promontory, must be permitted to hold our interest longer.
Aboo-Obeidah had eaten and drunk, for being on a journey, he was within the license of the law as respects wine; and now he sat with the Princess alone at the end of the portico lately occupied by the Emperor and his suite. A number of her attendants amused themselves out of hearing of the two, though still within call. She occupied the sedilium; he a seat by the table near her. Save a fine white veil on an arm and a fan which she seldom used, her appearance was as in the morning.
It is to be admitted now that the Princess was finding a pleasure in the society of the Sheik. If aware of the fact, which was doubtful, it is still more doubtful if she could have explained it. We are inclined to think the mystery attaching to the man had as much to do with the circ.u.mstance as the man himself. He was polite, engaging, and handsome; the objection to his complexion, if such there were, was at least offset by a very positive faculty of entertaining; besides which, the unspeakable something in manner, always baffling disguises, always whispering of other conditions, always exciting suggestions and expectations, was present here.
If she thought him the Bedouin he a.s.sumed to be, directly a word changed the opinion; did she see the Governor of the old Castle in his face, an allusion or a bit of information dropped by him unaware spoke of a.s.sociation far beyond such a subordinate; most perplexing, however, where got the man his intelligence? Did learning like his, avoiding cloisters, academies, and teachers of cla.s.sical taste, comport with camel-driving and tent-life in deserts harried by winds and sand?
The mystery, together with the effort to disentangle it, resolved the Princess into an attentive auditor. The advantages in the conversation were consequently with the Sheik; and he availed himself of them to lead as he chose.
"You have heard, O Princess, of the sacred fig-tree of the Hindus?"
"No."
"In one of their poems--the Bhagavad Gita, I think--it is described as having its roots above and its branches downward; thus drawing life from the sky and offering its fruit most conveniently, it is to me the symbol of a good and just king. It rose to my mind when thy kinsman--may Allah be thrice merciful to him!--pa.s.sed me with his speech of forgiveness, and this gift "--he raised his hand, and looked at the ring on one of the fingers-"in place of which I was more deserving burial in the Bosphorus, as the black-browed Admiral said."
A frown dark as the Admiral"s roughened his smooth brow.
"Why so?" she inquired.
"The tales I told were of a kind to be spared a Greek, even one who may not cover his instep with the embroidered buskin of an Emperor."
"Nay, Sheik, they did not ruffle him. On the tongue of a Turk, I admit, the traditions had been boastful, but you are not a Turk."
The remark might have been interrogative; wherefore with admirable address, he replied: "An Ottoman would see in me an Arab wholly unrelated to him, except as I am a Moslem. Let it pa.s.s, O Princess--he forgave me. The really great are always generous. When I took the ring, I thought, Now would the young Mahommed have so lightly pardoned the provocation?"
"Mahommed!" she said.
"Not the Prophet," he answered; "but the son of Amurath."
"Ah, you know him?"
"I have sat with him, O Princess, and at table often helped him to meat and bread. I have been his cupbearer and taster, and as frequently shared his outdoor sports; now hunting with hawk, and now with hound.
Oh, it were worth a year of common days to gallop at his right hand, and exult with him when the falcon, from its poise right under the sun, drops itself like an arrow upon its enemy! I have discoursed with him also on themes holy and profane, and given and taken views, and telling him tales in prose and verse, have seen the day go out, then come again.
In knightly practice I have tilted with him, and more than once, by his side in battle, loosened rein at the same cry and charged. His Sultana mother knows him well; but, by the lions and the eagles who served Solomon, I know him, beginning where her knowledge left off--that is, where the horizon of manhood stretched itself to make room for his enlarging soul."
The awakening curiosity of his listener was not lost upon the Sheik.
"You are surprised to hear a kindly speech of the son of Amurath," he said.
She flushed slightly.
"I am not a person, Sheik, whose opinions are dangerous to the peace of States, and of whom diplomacy is required; yet it would grieve me to give offence to you or your friend, the Prince Mahommed. If now I concede a wish to have some further knowledge of one who is shortly to inherit the most powerful of the Eastern Kingdoms, the circ.u.mstance ought not to subject me to harsh judgment."
"Princess," the Sheik said, "nothing so becomes a woman as care where words may be the occasion of mischief. As a flower in a garden, such a woman would rank as the sovereign rose; as a bird, she would be the bulbul, the sweetest of singers, and in beauty, a heron with throat of snow, and wings of pink and scarlet; as a star, she would be the first of the evening, and the last to pale in the morning--nay, she would be a perpetual morning. Of all fates what more nearly justifies reproach of Allah than to have one"s name and glory at the mercy of a rival or an enemy? I am indeed Mahommed"s friend--I know him--I will defend him, where sacred truth permits defence. And then"--his glance fell, and he hesitated.
"And what then?" she asked.
He gave her a grateful look, and answered: "I am going to Adrianople.
The Prince will be there, and can I tell him of this audience, and that the Princess Irene regrets the evil reported of him in Constantinople, and is not his enemy, straightway he will number himself of those the most happy and divinely remembered, whose books are to be given them in their right hands."
The Princess looked at the singer, her countenance clear, serene, fair as a child"s, and said:
"I am the enemy of no one living. Report me so to him. The Master I follow left a law by which all men and women are neighbors whom I am to love and pray for as I love and pray for myself. Deliver him the very words, O Sheik, and he will not misunderstand me."
A moment after she asked: