Page:Ben-Hur a tale of the Christ.djvu/267

Rh &quot;Let my Arabs come!&quot;

The man drew aside part of the division curtain of the tent, exposing to view a group of horses, which lingered a moment where they were as if to make certain of the invitation.

&quot;Come!&quot; Ilderim said to them. &quot;Why stand ye there? What have I that is not yours? Come, I say!&quot; They stalked slowly in.

&quot;Son of Israel,&quot; the master said, &quot;thy Moses was a mighty man, but—ha, ha, ha!—I must laugh when I think of his allowing thy fathers the plodding ox and the dull, slow-natured ass, and forbidding them property in horses. Ha, ha, ha! Thinkest thou he would have done so had he seen that one—and that—and this?&quot; At the word he laid his hand upon the face of the first to reach him, and patted it with infinite pride and tenderness.

&quot;It is a misjudgment, sheik, a misjudgment,&quot; Ben-Hur said, warmly. &quot;Moses was a warrior as well as a lawgiver beloved by God; and to follow war—ah, what is it but to love all its creatures—these among the rest?&quot;

A head of exquisite turn—with large eyes, soft as a deer’s, and half hidden by the dense forelock, and small ears, sharp-pointed and sloped well forward—approached then quite to his breast, the nostrils open, and the upper lip in motion. &quot;Who are you ?&quot; it asked, plainly as ever man spoke. Ben-Hur recognized one of the four racers he had seen on the course, and gave his open hand to the beautiful brute.

&quot;They will tell you, the blasphemers!—may their days shorten as they grow fewer!&quot;—the sheik spoke with the feeling of a man repelling a personal defamation—&quot;they will tell you, I say, that our horses of the best blood are derived from the Nessean pastures of Persia. God gave the first Arab a measureless waste of sand, with some treeless mountains, and here and there a well of bitter waters; and said to him, Behold thy country!&quot; And when the poor man complained, the Mighty One pitied him, and said again, Be of cheer! for I will twice bless thee above other men. The Arab heard, and gave thanks, and with faith set out to find the blessings. He travelled all the