the mass of our people."

"What, then, is the meaning of this great pilgrimage, whose fame reached
me even in Persia? Does not religious enthusiasm lead those poor
wretches, hobbling along behind, to take such a journey?"

Amzi nodded his head slowly. "Religious incentives may move the few," he
said. "But, friend, can you not see that barter is the leading object of
the greater number--of those well-to-do pilgrims who are superintending
the carriage of their baggage so complacently there? The holy months,
particularly the Ramadhan, afford a period of comparative safety, a long
truce that affords a convenient season for traffic. Alas, poor stranger!
you will be sad to find that our city, in the time of the holy fast,
becomes a place of buying and selling, of vice and robbery--a place
where gain is all and God is almost unknown."

"But you, Amzi; what do you believe of such things?"

"In truth, I know not what to think. Believe in idols I cannot; worship
in the Caaba I will not; so that my religion is but a belief in Allah,
whom I fear to approach, and whose help and influence I know not how to
obtain, a confidence in my own morality, and a consciousness of doing
good works."

"Strange, strange!" said the priest, "that we have arrived at somewhat
the same place by different ways! Amzi, let us be brothers in the quest!
Let us rest neither night nor day until we have found the way to the
Supreme God! Amzi, I want to feel him, to know him, as I am persuaded he
may be known; yet, like you, I fear to approach him. Have you heard of
Jesus?"