Page:Abdullah--Thief of Bagdad.djvu/67



"And the wild geese of Tartary flying over the river dunes " the voice quivered, light as thistledown.

It was the voice of Fount-in-the-Forest who had been captured in battle seven years ago beneath the steel-shod tusks of the war elephants when the Caliph of Bagdad had gone into the East to fight the growing menace of the Khan of the Middle Horde. Daughter of a Mongol Prince, Fount-in-the-Forest had never forgotten the steppes and snow-clad mountains of her far country; had always hated this Western land of Islam with a smoldering, undying passion. She was attached to the personal service of the Princess Zobeid; and it was her duty, each night, to play and sing until her mistress fell asleep.

So tonight.

Her voice quivered on:

"In the pagoda of exquisite purity. My thoughts roam—