60 I GO A- FISHING. 



chief took him on a litter to his own house in the Leb- 

 anon hills. I might have said his palace, for such it was. 

 For six months the father lingered in the Druse fastness, 

 and during that time his daughter won the heart of the 

 Druse chieftain ; then the father died, and the daughter 

 was left in his home. They were married after the Druse 

 fashion; but she was of American faith, and the cere- 

 mony, though she yielded to it at the time, never seemed 

 to her a valid marriage, and she pined at the thought of 

 her dishonor. Then he carried her to Jerusalem, that 

 they might be married there by the English bishop; but 

 when he was arranging it, sudden flight became neces- 

 sary. He promised to meet her at the Sepulchre the 

 next day at noon in disguise, and with this hasty prom- 

 ise he left her alone in the Holy City. For a year he 

 dared not approach her, remaining among his mountain 

 warriors, while she was shut up in the house of an Arab 

 woman, visiting only the Church of the Sepulchre daily, 

 to watch and weep and pray. He met her there at last, 

 disguised as a priest, in the Chapel of the Angel, and 

 that night they were married by the English prelate. 

 Then he placed her in my charge, and then followed the 

 events already known. 



"And so I had found my kindred. I was not alone 

 now. 



" ' I thank God for this, Iskander. I have not thanked 

 God before since — since — Iskander, thou art of the 

 faith of our father ?' 



"'Nay, Selim; I think I could be a Christian since I 

 have known thy wife Edith. The curse of my mother's 

 father made me hate the Christian faith. So the sin of 

 my father has well nigh won me to it by sending her to 

 me. Our mother was an angel of God, Selim.' 



