THE SYRIAN HORSES. 
313 
his fore-loot to show him that they were still devoted friends, 
and never could be separated by any adversity of fortune. 
Often as this was repeated, Yusef never seemed to tire of it; 
on the contrary, whenever we arrived at a Khan where there 
was a concourse of people, the very first thing he did upon 
dismounting was to say : Kiss me, you beauty ! and when 
Syed Sulemin had kissed him, Shake hands with me, you 
rascal! and when Syed Sulemin had shaken hands, Fight 
me, you coward ! and when Syed had fought him, Dance for 
me, you cripple ! and when Syed had danced, Now fall down 
on your knees, and say you love me, you brute ! and when 
Syed had finished doing and saying all these things, and a 
great many others, Yusef looked triumphantly upon the as¬ 
sembled Arabs, as much as to say : Wretches ! did you ever 
see the like of that before ? Filthy barbarians ! did you ever 
hear a horse talk English like that ? Miserable bumpkins ! 
don’t you perceive that I am Yusef Badra, the renowned Dra¬ 
goman and Destroyer of Robbers ? Benighted dogs ! don’t you 
understand, at a glance, that this is the famous Steed of the 
Desert, Syed Sulemin—that cost ten millions of piasters before 
he was born ! 
The only time I ever knew Yusef and Syed Sulemin to dis¬ 
agree was on the occasion of an extraordinary display of horse¬ 
manship in which Yusef seldom indulged. It was at a small 
village on the road-side, where a large concourse of the in¬ 
habitants, including a number of women, had gathered on 
the house-tops to see the Frangi pass, especially to see Yusef, 
who had friends here, and who was generally regarded as a 
miraculous and most astounding character by all villagers 
throughout Syria. On this occasion, he was resolved to show 
them his best specimen of horsemanship. Dashing up gal¬ 
lantly in front of the whole crowd, he whirled the djeered 
over his head, and then flung it up in the air to a prodigious 
height. As soon as it struck the ground he was on the spot; 
when, with a proud smile of conscious skill, he hung over in 
his saddle till his hands reached the earth, and grasped the 
stick firmly so as to lift it up and whirl it over his head again. 
The Arabs were astounded ; but the sensation was premature 
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