The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-26

Koran, even in the chapter entitled 1 The Dawn of Day I have, moreover,
 heard strange tales told of it by pilgrims l who have been to Mecca, but always re- l garded them as travellers tales" Do not be so ready to discredit the tales of tray-
 elers.' said Ibrahim reprovingly, they
 contain precious rareties of knowledge 1 brought from the ends of the earth. What is generally told of the Garden of Irem is true. I with mine own eyes have seen it. Listen to my adventure. for 1t concerneth l thy wish"
 | Then the philosopher told how, when he had been simple Arab tending his fathers camels in the Arabian desert. he l had searched for one which had strayed
 from the rest and become lost until,
 wearied he had laid himself down to rest
 under palm tree by a scanty well in an oasis. He had been several days on the search, was very weary and fell asleep. When he awoke he found himself at the gates of a city.
 Filled with wonder he entered and saw noble streets and square and market and market places and fine houses but not one solitary inhabitant. He wandered on until he came to a sumptuons palace with a garden adorned with fish ponds, foun- tains, groves, flowers, orchards heavy with luscious fruit--in fact, an earthly paradise but all uninha bited. Appalled, by the loneliness of the place he has tened to depart and issued forth from the city gates. When he looked back the city and the palace were no longer to be seen--only the desert sands. the oasis, the scanty well and the lone palm tree way
 ing in the hot winds. Journeying on he
 met with an aged dervish, learned in the
 traditions of the land and master of its secrets.
 This said the dervish, lis the far famed Garden of Irem It only appears at times to some wanderer like myself
 gladdening his eyes for ininute and then vanishing away, leaving nothing but the
 lonely desert And this is the story of
 it, In old times this land was inhabited by the Addites and King Sheddad. son Of Ad, the great grandson of Noah, founded here a splendid city. But for his pride in what he had accomplished the curse of heaven fell upon him: he and his subjects were swept from the earth and his splendid city. his palace and his garden were laid under a perpetual spell which hides them from human sight ex- cept that they are seen a. intervals by such wanderers as thou"
 Tbrahim went on to say that after he had come into possession of the book of Solomon the Wise he thought it might be a good thing to know how to construct such palace and garden as that of the unlucky Sheddad so he returned to the Garden of Irem and summoned the genii | who watched over the rlace and who were of course, obedient to the magic of Solomon which Ibrahim had gathered | from the mystic book. The genii revealed 1 to him the spells by which the garden | and palace had been conj,ired into ex- istence and by which they were rendered 1 invisible. Such a palace and such gar- den can build for thee, 0 king" said 1 Ibrahim. "even here on the mountain | above the city, Do I not know all the secret spells and am I not in possession | of the book of Solomon the Wiser
 Aben had listened to this rather long | story of the astrologer with the closest 1 attention and open 7mouthed wonder. | When the aged man had concluded he 1 declared that if he could build him such | a palace and garden the sage might l name any reward, even unto half of the | Kingdom. "Aias!" replied Dr. Ibranim. | with a sigh, thou knowest I am an old l man and philosopher and easily satis- fied.' Such an exordium should, in the | light of past experiences, have put the ! king on his guard, but he was so 1, eager for the promised Garden of Irem | that he reflected on nothing else. and | when Ibrahim said that the only re- l ward he would ask or accept for con | structing the palace and garden was the first beast of burden with its load | which should enter the magic portal of | the palace the king was once more pleased that he was to get a good | thing cheap.
 The astrologer immediately set to | work. On the summit of the hill which | rose back of his cave he caused to be | constructed a great gateway opening l through the centre of strong tower. There was an outer porch and just 1 within portal secured by strong gates. | On the keystone of the portal Ibrahim carved with his own hand the figure of a huge key, and on the the keystone of the vestibule, or porch. the figure 1 of hand. As he worked over these figures he continually repeated charms in an unknown tongue. When the gateway was finished he shut himself up in his hermitage for two days, en- gagged in incantations. Then he came forth and announced to the king that the Palace and Garden of 1rem had been duplicated for him. The King looked forth upon the mountain but saw nothing there except the magic gateway. But then, as the astrologer ; told him, he was not expected to- 1ne Garden of Irem would remain invisible to the rest of mankind. "Enoughr' cried Aben, with the first light of to- morrows dawn we will take posses sion."
 So when the light of another cay began to play about the summits- rf the Sierra Nevada, the king mounted his horse and surrounded by a few chosen attendants and accompanied by the Gothic princess descended from his old palace on the Albaycln and climbed the road to the mountain in the side of which was the frugal hermitage of Ibralliin.
 Reeide him an q whita .,aIfrav yoda the