"Welcome!" she cried, as I uprose submissive to my feet;
"It was ordained that you and I should in this desert meet!
Aye, ages since, before thy soul had burst its prison bars,
This interview was promis'd in the language of the stars!"
Then clapping, as the Easterns wont, her all-commanding hands,
A score of mounted Arabs came fast spurring o'er the sands,
Nor rein'd they up their foaming steeds till in my very face
They blew the breath impetuous, and panting from the race.
"Fear nought," exclaimed the radiant one, as I sprang off aloof,
"Thy precious frame need never fear a blow from horse's hoof!