father; and when the cause of the emperor and the Greeks was lost, your
opinion that the Melchites were unbelievers as much as the sons of Islam,
was of infinite comfort to him. For he, if any one--as you know--had
good reason to hate the sectarians who killed his two sons in their
prime. What followed, he did to rescue his and your unfortunate brethren
and dependants from destruction. Here, here in this desk, lies his
answer to the emperor's accusations, as given to the Greek deputation
who had speech of him in this very room. He wrote it down as soon as
they had left him. Will you hear it?"

"I can guess its purport."

"No, no!" cried the excited youth; he hastily opened his father's desk,
laid his hand at once on the wax tablet, and exclaimed: "This was his
reply!" And he proceeded to read:

"These Arabs, few as they are, are stronger and more powerful than we
with all our numbers. One man of them is equal to a hundred of us, for
they rush on death and love it better than life. Each of them presses to
the front in battle, and they have no longing to return home and to their
families. For every Christian they kill they look for a great reward in
Heaven, and they say that the gates of Paradise open at once for those
who fall in the fight. They have not a wish in this world beyond the
satisfaction of their barest need of food and clothing. We, on the
contrary, love life and dread death;--how can we stand against them?
I tell you that I will not break the peace I have concluded with the
Arabs. . . ."

"And what is the upshot of all this reply?" interrupted the patriarch
shrugging his shoulders.