that there are no Bedouins in the town. Have you courage to go down with me alone into the plain, that I may speak to the cavalry officer, and prevent if possible a useless and unequal conflict?" I did not hesitate for an instant. So we mounted, and, as quickly as we could, we rode down the hill, quite unattended, while the people on the embattled walls and house-tops, and at the guarded gate, watched and directed us, wishing us "Godspeed." We were soon nearly half-way across the plain, and there encountered the advancing soldiers. When we were within speaking distance, we stopped suddenly, facing them. They were on the point of dividing to pass on each side of us, but my brother held up his hand energetically, and said, speaking as one having authority, "Halt!" and immediately they stood still. Then he called to the colonel, saying he desired to speak with him, and, keeping up his attitude of assumed authority, said, "O Colonel! you are going to Senûr in the name of his Excellency Kamîl Pasha. The answer to the message of which you are the bearer will be 'No.' Go yourself quietly and peaceably, and obtain that answer from the town. But if you allow your men to advance one step nearer to it, you will be answerable for the consequences."
The Colonel unhesitatingly prepared to obey, leaving his little detachment in the plain, with orders to await his return. We rode slowly backward and forward among the wondering Turkish soldiers, who galloped round and round us, performing feats of horsemanship for our amusement. A black man, who seemed to be the Colonel's especial attendant, played on a triangle, and made fantastic movements with his turbaned head.
The detachment consisted of only seventy horsemen, and they would soon have been sacrificed if they had come into collision with the men of Senûr, and no object would have been gained. After a short delay, the Colonel returned quite satisfied, and rejoined his men. At the same time our servants and attendants came down to us with the luggage, and we pursued our journey toward Nablûs, which
