grasps the end thrown to him, and holds it firmly. The men draw the
rope and thus force the boat to the shore, and, as it touches the
rock, ten arms grasp it and hold it securely. With a single bound
the boy leaps ashore.

His face is perfectly calm; his eyes, lustrous as stars, show no
traces of terror; they are fixed on the men with a kindly glance,
but they darken as he turns to the boys.

"You see, my boys," said he, with a calm and at the same time
threatening expression, "I have won my wager! Here is the proof that
I was over there. The knife that Ibrahim lost there yesterday, I
bring back to him. Here it is!"

He takes the knife out of his jacket, thoroughly drenched with
water, and throws it down before the boys. "I have won my wager! You
men are witnesses of my triumph! Each boy is bound to pay me tribute
from to-day. Each one must furnish me, twice a week, with the best
peaches and dates from his garden, and when we go out to the chase
they must obey me, and acknowledge me to be their captain."

What triumph shone in his eyes, what an expression of energy in the
bearing of a boy scarcely ten years old!

"That was it!" exclaimed Toussoun Aga, in a reproachful tone. "For
this reason my brother's son risked his life, and caused his mother
and all of us so much anxiety.--Allah forgive you! You are a wild,
defiant boy."

"No, uncle," cried the boy; "no, I am not wild and defiant. They