commander of true believers. 'Go forth,' he said, 'Yezed Ben
Sophian,' when he sent that renowned general to take Syria from
the infidels; 'quit yourselves like men in battle, but slay
neither the aged, the infirm, the women, nor the children. Waste
not the land, neither destroy corn and fruit-trees; they are the
gifts of Allah. Keep faith when you have made any covenant, even
if it be to your own harm. If ye find holy men labouring with
their hands, and serving God in the desert, hurt them not,
neither destroy their dwellings. But when you find them with
shaven crowns, they are of the synagogue of Satan! Smite with
the sabre, slay, cease not till they become believers or
tributaries.' As the Caliph, companion of the Prophet, hath told
us, so have we done, and those whom our justice has smitten are
but the priests of Satan. But unto the good men who, without
stirring up nation against nation, worship sincerely in the faith
of Issa Ben Mariam, we are a shadow and a shield; and such being
he whom you seek, even though the light of the Prophet hath not
reached him, from me he will only have love, favour, and regard."

"The anchorite whom I would now visit," said the warlike pilgrim,
"is, I have heard, no priest; but were he of that anointed and
sacred order, I would prove with my good lance, against paynim
and infidel--"

"Let us not defy each other, brother," interrupted the Saracen;
"we shall find, either of us, enough of Franks or of Moslemah on
whom to exercise both sword and lance. This Theodorick is
protected both by Turk and Arab; and, though one of strange
conditions at intervals, yet, on the whole, he bears himself so
well as the follower of his own prophet, that he merits the