“I confessed that I had never even heard of such an instrument.
“‘Follow me,’ said the stranger grimly, and whether from curiosity or from a conviction growing in me that he had authority, I followed humbly enough, leaving my large flock bleating in its pen.
“The stranger (for he now showed that he had upon him the keys of the market) locked the gate of the pen, appointed (another proof of his authority) a slave to stand by and see that no one interfered with the property I had transferred to him, and motioned to others to fall in behind us. He then led me away, and I was more concerned than ever to notice the strange smiles of those who saw the little procession which we made, he going first with his great staff, I treading behind.
“He led me to where the Sheiks of the neighbourhood, the principal sheep owners and magistrates, sat in solemnity before the Mosque; an awe-inspiring company. Grand and splendid among them, in their very centre and clearly the most revered of them all, I perceived my late companion the shepherd, all dressed up in my own fine clothes, but having now added ornaments reserved for him, and looking for all the world like the king of the place.
“At our approach he turned an indignant glance upon me, rose to his feet, and addressing the stranger who had captured me, cried in a terrible voice:
“‘Officer! Do you bring me yet another of these evildoers? Whose sheep had he driven off? And is it a case of a forged permit or what?’
“I already saw how the land lay, and I quailed to think what was before me. The owners—I rightly guessed—had suffered from sheep stealing; had established permits, signed by them, in order to check fraudulent sales; had plotted to catch the thief culprits, and this perfidious man had disguised himself as a servant in order to catch such, and had caught me. The officer who had arrested me spoke:
“‘My lord,’ he said, ‘we have caught this ruffian’—pointing to me—‘selling your sheep without any permit at all! He must have driven them through the night. By the law which your Council proclaimed last year, just after the Fast, his punishment lies in your hands. The owner has the determination of it.’
“To my astonishment and horror my former companion looked on me with a dreadful face of scorn and said: ‘Tell me all, that I may apportion the punishment due to him. I had had him in my employ for but a short time. I mistrusted him from the first. Tell me all!’
“‘I have so found him selling your lordship’s sheep. They fetched nearly 3,000 pieces of gold,’ answered the officer grimly. ‘He shall make an excellent example for, my lord, he is the first whom we have caught in this market trying to sell without a permit. There can be no doubt (I have witnesses to it) that he proposed to take the purchase money and (perhaps with some accomplice whom I have not traced) to fly.’