‘‘Twas the wind,’ said Abdallah.
‘‘Twas the sigh of a human heart,’ answered Ali.
Several pilgrims who were on foot now gathered around the group.
‘I am a Hakim,’[17] observed a dignified Armenian. ‘I will feel his pulse; ‘tis dull, but it beats.’
‘There is but one God,’ exclaimed Ali.
‘And Mahomed is his Prophet,’ responded Abdallah. ‘You do not believe in him, you Armenian infidel.’
‘I am a Hakim,’ replied the dignified Armenian. ‘Although an infidel, God has granted me skill to cure true believers. Worthy Ali, believe me, the boy may yet live.’
‘Hakim, you shall count your own dirhems if he breathe in my divan in Bagdad,’ answered Ali; ‘I have taken a fancy to the boy. God has sent him to me. He shall carry my slippers.’
‘Give me a camel, and I will save his life.’
‘We have none,’ said the servant.