The San Francisco call., 1905-01-08


Al-Jebal is one who takes payment
for what he gives, and that this busi-
ness may cost you your lives.
you warned us against Saladln
also" said Goodwin, $50 what is left TO
us if we may dare visit to neither?'
She shrugged her shoulders. To
take service under one Of the great
Frankish lords and wait chance that
will never come. Or, better still, to
sew some cookie shells into your hats,
go home as holy men who have made
the pilgrimage, marry the richest
wives that you can find, and forget
Al-Jebal and Salah-ed-din and In
lady about whom he has dreamed
dream. Only them" she added in
changed voice, remember, you must
leave your horses Flame and Smoke be-
hind you"
I'VE wish to ride those horses" said
Wulf lightly, and Goodwin turned on
her with anger in his eyes.
"You seem to know our story" he
said, and the mission TO which we are
sworn. What sort Of knights do you
think us, then, that you dare to offer
us counsel that is filter for those spies
from whom you learn your tidings.
You talk of our lives. Well, we hold
our lives in trust and when they are
asked of us we will yield them up, hav-
well spoken" answered Masouda.
OH should / have thought of you had
you said otherwise. But why would
you go to Al-Jebal?"
Because our uncle at his death bade
us SO to do without fail, and having no
other counsel We will take that OF MS
spirit. let come what may"
well spoken again! Then to AL
Jebal you shall go, and let come what
Of
ITO all three of us" said Wulr.
What, then, is your part in the mat
II do not know, but perhaps more
than you think. At least, / must be
your guide"
do you mean to betray us?" asked
Wulf, bluntly.
She drew herself up and looked him
in the eyes till he grew red, then said:
ASK your brother if he thinks that
mean to betray you. No; / mean to
save you, if / can, and 1t comes into
my mind that before all is done you
will need saving, who speak so roughly
to those who would befriend you. Nay,
answer not; it Is not strange that you
should doubt Pilgrims to the fearful
shrine of Al-Jebal, if it pleases you, we
will ride at nightfall. Do not trouble
about food and such matters. / will
make preparations, but we go alone and
secretly. Take only your arms and
what garments you may need; the rest
l will store, and for it give you my re-
ceipt. Now I go to make things ready.
See, pray of you, that the horses
Flame and Smoke are saddled by sun
set"
At sundown, accordingly, the breth-
rem stood waiting in their room. They
were fully armed beneath their rough
pilgrims robes, even to the bucklers
which had been hidden in their bag
gage. Also the saddlebags OF carpet
which Masouda had given them were
packed with such things as they must
take, the rest having been handed over
to her keeping.
Presently the door opened and q
young man stood before them clothed in
the rough camel-hair garment. or bur-
nous, which is common in the East.
What do you want?" asked Goodwin.
'I want you, brothers Peter and
john" was the reply, and they saw
that the slim young man was Masou-
da. What! you English innocents, do
you not know a woman through a
camel-hair cloak?" she added as she
led the wav to the stable. We'll, SO
much the better, for 1t shows that my
disguise is good. Henceforth be pleased
to forget the widow Masouda and, un-
til we reach the land of Al-Jebal, to
remember that / am your servant, a
halfbreed from Jaffa named David, of
no religion-or of all.
In the stable the horses stood sad
died, and near to them another good
Arab-and two laden Cyprian mules,
but no attendant was to be seen. They
brought them out and mounted, Ma
SCUBA riding like a man and leading
the mules, of which the head of one
was tied to the tail of the other. Five
minutes later they were clear of Bel
rut, and through the solemn twilight
hush, followed the road whereon they
had tried the horses, toward the Dog
River, three leagues away, which Ma
SCUBA said they would reach by moon
rise. Soon 1t grew very dark, and she
rode alongside of them to show them
the path, but they did not talk much.
Wulf asked her who would take care
of the inn while she was absent, to
which she answered sharply that the
inn would take care of itself, and no
more. Picking their way along the
dark road at slow amble, they
crossed the bed Of two streams then al
most dry, till at length they heard run
ming water sounding above that of the
slow wash of the sea to their left, and
Masouda bade them halt. So they
waited, until presently the moon rose
in a clear sky, revealing wide river in
front, the pale ocean a hundred feet
beneath them to the left, and to the
right great mountains, along the face
of which their path was cut. So bright
was it that Goodwin could see strange
shapes carven on the sheer face of the
rock, and beneath them writing which
he could not read.
What are these?" he asked Ma
souda
1.-The tablets Of kings" she answered,
whose names are written in your holy
book, who ruled Syria and Egypt thou
sands of years ago. They were great
in their day when they took this land,
greater even than Salah-ed-din, and
now these seals that they set upon this
rock are all that is left of them"
Goodwin and Wulf stared at the
weather-worn sculptures, and in the ST.
lence of that moonlit place there arose
in their mind a vision of the mighty
armies of different tongues and people
who had stood in their pride on this
road and looked upon the river and the
great stone wolf that guarded 1t, which
wolf, so said the legend, howled at the
approach of foes. But now he howled
no more, for he lay headless beneath
the waters, and there he lies to this
day. Well, they were dead. every one
of them, and even their deeds were for
gotten; and oh! how small the thought
of ii made them feel, these two young
men bent upon a desperate quest in a
strange and dangerous land. Masouda
read what was passing in their hearts,
and as they came to the brink of the