Page:Harold Lamb--The House of the Falcon.djvu/173

 Mr. Donovan, in spite of your defense of them. And I think that church is a bad place."

"Well, they think of us as infidels. Yet, Miss Rand, the mosque and the man who lives within it is one of the safeguards of Christianity. He is the one more than any other whose friendship I must keep."

Craftily she sought for information about this man.

"He is not a Christian, is he? You always say, 'Perhaps'." Edith wanted him to understand that he had not made peace. "You never say what I want you to."

Donovan smiled doggedly. He did not understand the mood of the girl—that she wanted him to confide in her, comfort her.

"Remember," he observed bluntly, "Mahmoud has done much for me. And Iskander saved you—your life at Kashgar. He did the same thing for me, too, at Kashgar, when the Vulture's friends pretty nearly succeeded in poisoning me."

"But they are murderers and—and brigands. Aravang killed your servant."

He sighed. How was this girl, fresh from the outside world, to understand the men of another race and the rigid laws of Yakka Arik?

"They have their code. An old one, Miss Rand. Before the coming of Christ it was that of Christians. An eye for an eye—a blow for a blow." Donovan pointed suddenly to the mosque. "That is not an evil place. It is a temple of faith, and faith is not an evil thing." "Then why can't I go there? To this man who is your friend?"

Anxiety flashed into Donovan's tense face. Edith mistook it for anger.