122 NEIGHBORS WITH CLAWS AND HOOFS. 



pasha, who were sent to meet the caravan, fell at once on 

 the victorious ravagers, killed a vast number, and made 

 prisoners of the rest, whom they bound with cords and 

 led to Acre as a present to the pasha. Abou-el-Masch, 

 the name of the Arab chief, had received a ball in his 

 arm during the combat; as the wound was mortal, the 

 Turks had fastened him upon a camel, and, having seized 

 upon his horse, led both on the way. The evening of the 

 day they were to have reached Acre, they encamped with 

 their prisoners among the mountains. 



10. " The wounded Arab had his legs fastened by a 

 leather strap, and was stretched near the tent where the 

 Turks were sleeping. During the night, being kept awake 

 through the anguish of his wound, he heard the neighing 

 of his horse among the other steeds fastened around the 

 tents, according to the custom of the Orientals. He 

 recognized his voice, and, unable to resist the desire of 

 speaking once more to the companion of his life, he pain- 

 fully dragged himself along the ground, and succeeded, 

 on his hands and knees, in reaching his beloved courser. 



11. " ' Poor valued friend,' said he, f what will become 

 of thee among the Turks ? Thou wilt be imprisoned un- 

 der the ceiling of a khan, with the horses of an aga or 

 pasha ; no more will the women and the children carry 

 thee camel's milk, and grains of barley and of dour a in the 

 palms of their hands ; no more wilt thou gallop freely in 

 the desert like the wind of Egypt ; no more will thy 

 broad chest divide the waters of Jordan, or thy sleek skin 

 be refreshed by them, white as thy foam ; at least, though 

 I am become a slave, be thou free as air ; there, go ! re- 

 turn to the tent thou knowest ; go tell my wife that Abou- 

 el-Masch will behold her no more ; and pass thy head be- 

 tween the curtains of the tent to lick the hands of my lit- 

 tle ones.' 



