seest yonder alone dared go forth to meet him. The fought from morning
till noon; then they rested. 'Who art thou?' asked Iskander. 'I am a
slave of Amurath, the Commander of the Faithful, who hath commissioned
me to take thee to him dead or alive.' Iskander laughed, and said, 'I
know by thy tongue now thou art not a Turk; and to see if the Commander
of the Faithful, as thou callest him, hath it in soul to make much of
thy merit as a warrior, I will leave thee the honors of the combat, and
to go thy way.' Whereat they say he lifted his ponderous blade as not
heavier than the leaf of a dead palm, and strode from the field."

The Prince listened, and at the end said, like a man in haste:

"Thou knowest Nilo, my black man. Bring him hither."

The Shaykh saluted gravely, and hurried away, leaving his patron with
eyes fixed on the Emir, and muttering:

"So young!--and in such favor with the old Amurath! I will know him. If
I fail, he may be useful to me. Who knows? Who knows?"

He looked upward as if speaking to some one there.

Meantime the Emir was questioning the ensign.

"This pilgrim," he said, "appears well provided."

And the ensign answered:

"He is the Indian Prince of whom I have been hearing since we left
Medina."