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Otago Witness, Issue 2855, 2 December 1908, Page 81

Nora, the long, broad grave in the Inglisi churchyard, far away from the others in the corner by the waU? Yea, a very tall ] Njnan! — a fine, splendid man, with a red face, like the sun at'4awning, and straight strong limbs. Also lie had yellow hoar and blue eyes. It is a saying among us that they who have blue ej r es are destined to the Pit— yea, and an unbeliever to the unquenchable flame. He was a Bashadaw ; yea, it is well that each men as he should be the voices of -kings. This man •was like a great lion, roaring loudly ; and when one displeased him he killed lhat man, and none asked why, because they feared him greatly; and* be made his master also to be feared, so that our liord the SuJtan dared no council without him. Yea, he was very great " Now it came to pass- that Mulai Yusuf •was forced to journey to Mequinez, and, since he -went in haste und to battle, he left behind nim lus brade, the Lallan Fatima, whom ne had but that very week wedded with great rejoicing; 'and beloved her beyond «3l others in the world, her beauty having -enslaved hie soul. " And daily -went the LaH&h Fatima in ihis absence to pray for her lord in the (mosque in the Street of the Jewellers, beyond the Babs-el-Sok/ there, as you can see. Mao daily Tip that Barrow street rode the Bashadaw to his palace from the eea, wheraan. ne bathed -every day. Nay, Sue was not Inglisi ; the Ingliei do. not thethings I aro about to relate ; nor could any man of the Inglisi nave been brought into subjection as this man was brought by Those Beyond the Threshold. " It was a day of east wind, very loudly soaring, and the curtain of the litter wherein sat the Lallah Fatima blew aside and caught her long braided hair, scented and lustrous, and twined it round the stirrup of the Sidi Bashadaw as h( rode by the litter in that narrow street. In haste her slaves ran and. disentangled the braid, breaking the long, soft hair in their terror. The Sidi Bashadaw sat erect in hie saddle, j making ho eign, but when the litter had gone on he dismounted, and, with uncertain fingers, took from about his boot five long gleaming hairs and placed ihem in a book, thrustin-j it into bis bosom. ""Daily the litter was overtaken by Sidi Bashadaw ; as you will -understand, that street is so narrow that barely two horsemen may pass in it. Yet always the Sidi Hashadaw" would make way to pass on ~.vith one "hand ever hpjncinjr down to his knee, and on a level with the leathern curtain of the litter. Tt is a long iime ago! " Then came the Feast of the Assowi ; and the Dalah Fatima, coming through on lie? way to the Mosque, was caught and carried away by i-he rush of the dancers ; and when the distracted slaves lifted up the overturned litter, behold, the Lallah Fatima was rot there. But presently came Sidi Bashadaw'© guard, saying sh© had been brought into the Legation, where sh<> awaited them. " Whereupon great dismay filled the breasts of the slaves, and the MasteT of ; the Household beat upon his breast with both hands while he ran, knowing well , what would befall when Mulai Yusuf , heard. Y/et the slaves agreed among themselves to keep the matter secret, especially since the Lallah Fatima, closely veiled, assured them she had run into the gateway of the Legation, seeing no man but the guard, who had immediately left her to seek them while she remained hidden behind the screen. On the morrow, as the X/Stllah Fatima went to th© Mosque, they met not the Bashadaw ; nor did he overtake them ; nor on the day after ; not yet io\ seven days following. But on the eighth day he came rilJang magnificently up the street, and 1 , overtaking the litter, rode for a epace beside the curtain with down-dropped hand. "And as they came to the Babs-el-Sok there appeared suddenly, riding on the other side, Mulai Yusuf, splendift as the sun in the noonday sky, and smiling. Now, when Mulai Yusuf smiled out of his •yellow tiger-eyes, those who knew him trembled. Yet did the Sidi Bashadaw not know Mulai Yusuf. '* And after that morning came not the Lallah Fatima to pray again in the Mosque, her lord being; returned — but certain voices said she had of a sudden grown sad and lost the sight of her eyes; and, again, that she had crown strangely silent, and that «he "heard not as young •women hear. And when the Sidi Bashadaw heard this he blasphemed, as was his .•wont, and then, laughing;, cried, 'Well, ithe woman always pays ' — a strange Fayin?, and duly reported to Mulai Yusuf. " Then Mulai Yusuf once moTe departed to Mequinez, to civic battle to the hostiletribesmen, ant! left behind him the Lallah Fstima. deaf, blind, and dumb. " And there was much talk of Sidi ■Bashadaw and his love for a Franzi lady, jrlio h*d newly come to Tan i ah. Tojader, aeest th/ro 2 is th© little forge '

where lived Hafiz the smith, a godly man, poor and virtuous. He one night was awakened by an outcry below, and, opening the door, beheld M<ulai Yusuf, Tiding a great, beautiful, golden horse-, which was seemingly possessed by the devil, plunging, roaring, kicking under him. •"Come forth, Hafiz,' commanded the Prince. ' Shoe me this horse swiftly, for I am in haste, a,ud setting towards Mequinez again this night.' " Then the smith, trembling, blew up bis fire, and proceeded to shoe the horse. But his heart was sick in him, and his bones like water the while, for this horse screamed like a woman, and bellowed like a desert lion, and with each nail he drove in the iron came forth great s<outfi of blood on his apron and bands, while the horse reared and kicked and rolled. Yet did the Prince and his followers hold him, till at last, after midnight, the fourth shoe was on, and the Prince, taking a great whip from his slaves, mounted and rode him forth from the smith's door to the Sok.

"It was moonlight, bright as is the day, it being the month of the Assowi's Feast ; and the smith, in his doorway, saw the horse bounding and screaming, Tearing, bucking, shying, doing all things that a mad beast will do to unseat has rider, while the Prince flogged with ths strength of a giant unmercifully, till at last they disappeared through the Babs-el-Sok and were seen no more. In tbe morning came the Basba's men to the smith, and took him to a house, and, lifting a sheet, showed nim the dead body of the Sidi Bashadaw, covered with blood and bruises, and with the hands and the feet shod like a horse. Allah the Righteous defend tk ! Then the smith fell to his prayers, and recounted what he had seen in the moonlieht.

" 'Yea, the shoes are of my making,' he cried ; 'yea, verily ; and I nailed them to the feet of a hores !'

"It is a lonor time a.?o, and the Lallah Fatima was buried to-day. Mulai Yusuf ! Aye, the Mulai Yusuf is a great man — and greatly feared. "On him be peace ! And the Sidi Bashadaw was truly an unbeliever, and destined to the Pit, from aforetime." — Westminster Gazette.