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Rh case more seriously. In fact we had not proceeded more than twenty yards before he asked me to wait a moment for him, and taking to his heels ran back to the spot where we had left him. When he rejoined us I said:

"You don't mean to say you gave that rascal something?"

"Only half a sovereign," he answered. "Perhaps you didn't hear the pitiful story he told us? His father is dead, and now, if it were not for his begging, his mother and five young sisters would all be starving."

I asked our guide if he knew the man, and whether this tale were true.

"No, monsieur," he replied promptly," it is all one big lie. His father is in the jail, and, if she had her rights, his mother would be there too."

Not another word was said on the subject, but I could see that the boy's generous heart had been hurt. He little knew how great an effect that little outburst of generosity was to have upon us later on.

At our guide's suggestion, we passed from the commercial, through the European quarter, to a large mosque situated in Arab Town. It was a long walk, but we were promised that we should see something there that would amply compensate us for any trouble we might be put to to reach it. This turned out to be the case, but hardly in the fashion he had predicted.

The mosque was certainly a fine building, and at the time of our visit was thronged with worshippers. They knelt in two long lines, reaching from end to end, their feet were bare, and their heads turned towards the east. By our guide's instructions we removed our boots at the entrance, but fortunately, seeing what was to transpire later, took the precaution to carry them into the building with us. From the main hall we passed into a