Swords From the Desert by Harold Lamb Page B

forget the siege and the throne to cast about for a masterless maid! Yet he had not altogether forgotten.
    "And in an hour thou shalt taste of his tortures, Arbogastes. Had I not been in the garden at twilight instead of thee, ere now they had shrouded thee."
    The Persian wiped his thick lips and ceased to threaten.
    "What road is open to us?"
    "0 brother," I made response, "the way is dark for me, but thou art a swordsman, a man of courage and a favorite to boot. There is a way for thee to life and reward."
    "How?" he asked, suspicious and fearful at once.
    "Canst find Menas?"
    He shivered, saying that of all things that were the easiest done, the hardest to avoid. Upon this I summoned the Bokharian who had been trying to hear what we said, and bade him bring reed pen and ink and the cleanest parchment he had.
    And upon this parchment, while that precious twain stared and wondered, I wrote as follows:
To the high and merciful Lord Menas, the Chamberlain, greetings-I Khalil, the Badawan, have fulfilled my pledge to thee, and in token I send thee the horse that was promised. I have the gray racer, and may God be the judge of thy promise tome!
    "What says the writing?" Arbogastes scowled at the Arabic characters. I told him, and bade him take the charger to his master and earn reward.
    "He will demand tidings of the Frankish maid-and thee."
    "Tell him, then, the truth. Thou hast seen me here, and the girl is in my cubby above. This khan-samah hath seen her."
    Taking the scroll, Arbogastes rolled it up and thrust it into his belt; then he grasped the rein of the imperial charger and stood first on one foot, then on the other. His beard bristled in a grin.
    "Look here, Khalil-surely thou wilt not tarry here, to be cut open like a cornered hare! Tell me where thou hast a mind to hide, and I swear to thee by my honor and the graves of the Companions that I will lead Menas away, to seek thee in another quarter. Arbogastes can be like a fox in wiles."
    He tried to look shrewd and honest at the same time, which is no easy matter. "Since thou hast asked," I made answer, "tell him to search for her, and he will, at the church of the Greek patriarch."
    Arbogastes grimaced and looked twice at me. In such an hour as this my lord Menas might send his men into the garden of the Nazarenes, but to force his way into the church itself would be sacrilege and would arouse against him the flame of fanaticism.
    No sooner had the Persian swaggered off than I beckoned toward the Bokharian, who had been slinking about the courtyard like a wolf around a sheepfold. Him I ordered to hide away the gray horse Khutb, even as he knew me to be a man of my word. If the horse were found by the Greeks, he would live to regret it at my hand-if the horse were well hidden, he should have from me a pound of gold.
    We could no longer keep Khutb at our hand, and the departure of the splendid steed saddened me.
    To Irene I explained that Menas's searchers were between us and the church-if not on guard at the church itself-and so that way was closed to us. From my garments I selected the cloth-of-silver robe of honor that the emperor had bestowed on me, also a loose cloak and a small cap of Greek cut. This I bade her put on. No maiden of such beauty would be safe in the streets of Constantinople on the morrow; nor could she hope to hide longer from Menas's spies in woman's dress.
    Though loose, the garment did not look awry on her, for we were both of slender build. The flood of her yellow hair was hidden by cap and cloak, and so-the Bokharian being out of the way-no one saw me venture forth preceded by a handsome youth in nobleman's attire.
    "Where can we go?" the maid asked me, as she tried to match her step to my stride.
    "Whither God opens a way," I said, and there was indeed no other course but that.
    So it came to pass that we beheld something that was near a miracle. After dawn we found ourselves near the line of the great city wall, whither companies of