"The hill-man," said the other decidedly.
"And thou knowest when those in front abandon a man struck with the disease?"
"Yes."
"And then?"
"The vultures and the jackals have their rights."
"True, O Emir, but listen. The caravan left El Katif three thousand strong. Three hundred and more were struck with the plague, and left to die; of those, over one hundred were brought in by the Indian. They say it was for this he preferred to march in the rear. He himself teaches a saying of the Hadis, that Allah leaves his choicest blessings to be gathered from amidst the poor and the dying."
"If he thou describest be not a Prince of India as he claims, he is a"—
"A Mashaikh." [Footnote: Holier than a Dervish.]
"Ay, by the Most Merciful! But how did he save the castaways?"
"By a specific known only to kings and lords in his country. Can he but reach the plague-struck before death, a drop on the tongue will work a cure. Thou heardst what he did at Medina?"