know, that had my assailant been in very deed the Prince of
Darkness, thou wert bound not the less to enter into combat with
him in thy comrade's behalf. Know, also, that whatever there may
be of foul or of fiendish about the Hamako belongs more to your
lineage than to mine--this Hamako being, in truth, the anchorite
whom thou art come hither to visit."

"This!" said Sir Kenneth, looking at the athletic yet wasted
figure before him--"this! Thou mockest, Saracen--this cannot be
the venerable Theodorick!"

"Ask himself, if thou wilt not believe me," answered Sheerkohf;
and ere the words had left his mouth, the hermit gave evidence in
his own behalf.

"I am Theodorick of Engaddi," he said--"I am the walker of the
desert--I am friend of the Cross, and flail of all infidels,
heretics, and devil-worshippers. Avoid ye, avoid ye! Down with
Mahound, Termagaunt, and all their adherents!"--So saying, he
pulled from under his shaggy garment a sort of flail or jointed
club, bound with iron, which he brandished round his head with
singular dexterity,

"Thou seest thy saint," said the Saracen, laughing, for the first
time, at the unmitigated astonishment with which Sir Kenneth
looked on the wild gestures and heard the wayward muttering of
Theodorick, who, after swinging his flail in every direction,
apparently quite reckless whether it encountered the head of
either of his companions, finally showed his own strength, and
the soundness of the weapon, by striking into fragments a large