"I will go with thee, Sah-luma, anywhere!" replied Theos quickly--
"For in following such a guide, I follow my own most perfect
pleasure."

Niphrata looked at him meditatively, with a melancholy expression
in her lovely eyes.

"My lord Sah-luma's presence indeed brings joy!" she said softly
and tremulously--"But the joy is too sweet and brief--for when he
departs, none can fill the place he leaves vacant!"

She paused,--Sah-luma's gaze rested on her intently, a half-
amused, half-tender light leaping from under the drooping shade of
his long, silky black lashes,--she caught the look, and a little
shiver ran through her delicate frame,--she pressed one hand on
her heart, and resumed in steadier and more even tones,--"My lord
has perhaps not heard of the disturbances of the early morning in
the city?"--she asked--"The riotous crowd in the marketplace--the
ravings of the Prophet Khosrul? ... the sudden arrest and
imprisonment of many,--and the consequent wrath of the King?"

"No, by my faith!" returned Sah-luma, yawning slightly and
settling his head more comfortably on his pillows--"Nor do I care
to heed the turbulence of a mob that cannot guide itself and yet
resists all guidance. Arrests? ... imprisonments? ... they are
common,--but why in the name of the Sacred Veil do they not arrest
and imprison the actual disturbers of the peace,--the Mystics and
Philosophers whose street orations filter through the mind of the
disaffected, rousing them to foolish frenzy and disordered
action?--Why, above all men, do they not seize Khosrul?--a