“When the Arab falls from his mare, and is unable to rise,” the gentleman went on, “she will stand by his side and neigh till assistance arrives. If he lies down to sleep in the midst of the desert, she stands watchful over him,—her body being the only shield between him and the fierce rays of the sun,—and neighs to rouse him, if man or beast approaches during his slumbers.
“There was once an old Arab who had a valuable mare, that had carried him for fifteen years in many a hard-fought battle, and many a rapid, weary march. At last, when eighty years old, and unable longer to ride her, he gave her, and a cimeter that had been his father’s, to his eldest son, and told him to appreciate their value, and never lie down to rest until he had rubbed them both as bright as a looking-glass.
“In the first skirmish in which the young man was engaged he was killed, and the mare fell into the hands of the enemy. When the news reached the old man, he exclaimed, ‘Life is no longer worth preserving. I have lost my son and my mare. I grieve as much for the one as the other.’ After this, he sickened and died.”
“How much the old man did love him!” said Minnie, thoughtfully. “Is that the story you promised me?”
“No, dear,” said Mr. Lee, looking at his watch; “but I must tell you at once, for I have an engagement soon.”
“There was a poor Arab in the desert—so poor that he had nothing but his mare. The French consul saw her, and offered to purchase her, in order to send her to his sovereign, Louis XIV. The Arab would have rejected the proposal at once with indignation and scorn, but for his poverty. He had no means of supplying his most urgent wants, or procuring the barest necessaries of life. Still he hesitated. He had scarcely a rag to cover him; his wife and children were starving. The sum offered was great—it would be sufficient for his whole life.
“At length, and reluctantly, he consented to the sacrifice. He brought the mare to the dwelling of the consul; he dismounted; he stood leaning upon her; he looked now at the gold, and then at his favorite, while large tears rolled down his swarthy cheek. He sighed repeatedly, and at length exclaimed, ‘To whom is it I am going to yield thee up? To Europeans, who will tie thee close, who will beat thee, who will render thee miserable? Return with me, my beauty, my jewel, and rejoice the hearts of my children.’
“As he pronounced the last words, he sprang upon her back, and was out of sight in a moment.”
Minnie laughed and clapped her hands, though tears of sympathy with the poor Arab were running down her cheeks.
“O, father!” she cried, “how glad, how very glad I am! I think, too, that the French consul, when he saw how the man loved his mare, should have given him money to buy his children food and clothes. I’m sure you would have done so.”