Mr. Isaacs | Page 7

south?"
he said, pointing with his long jewel-set mouthpiece.
"Yes. It must be Sirius."
"That is my star. Do you believe in the agency of the stars in human
affairs? Of course you do not; you are a European: how should you?

But to proceed. The stars, or the fates or Kâli, or whatever you like to
term your kismet, your portion of good and evil, allotted me a
somewhat happier existence than generally falls to the share of young
slaves in Roum. I was bought by an old man of great wealth and of still
greater learning, who was so taken with my proficiency in Arabic and
in writing that he resolved to make of me a pupil instead of a servant to
carry his coffee and pipe, or a slave to bear the heavier burden of his
vices. Nothing better could have happened to me. I was installed in his
house and treated with exemplary kindness, though he kept me
rigorously at work with my books. I need not tell you that with such a
master I made fair progress, and that at the age of twenty-one I was, for
a Turk, a young man of remarkably good education. Then my master
died suddenly, and I was thrown into great distress. I was of course
nothing but a slave, and liable to be sold at any time. I escaped. Active
and enduring, though never possessing any vast muscular strength, I
bore with ease the hardships of a long journey on foot with little food
and scant lodging. Falling in with a band of pilgrims, I recognised the
wisdom of joining them on their march to Mecca. I was, of course, a
sound Mohammedan, as I am to this day, and my knowledge of the
Koran soon gained me some reputation in the caravan. I was considered
a creditable addition, and altogether an eligible pilgrim. My exceptional
physique protected me from the disease and exhaustion of which not a
few of our number died by the wayside, and the other pilgrims, in
consideration of my youth and piety, gave me willingly the few
handfuls of rice and dates that I needed to support life and strength.
"You have read about Mecca; and your hadji barber, who of course has
been there, has doubtless related his experiences to you scores of times
in the plains, as he does everywhere. As you may imagine, I had no
intention of returning towards Roum with my companions. When I had
fulfilled all the observances required, I made my way to Yeddah and
shipped on board an Arabian craft, touching at Mocha, and bearing
coffee to Bombay. I had to work my passage, and as I had no
experience of the sea, save in the caïques of the Golden Horn, you will
readily conceive that the captain of the vessel had plenty of fault to find.
But my agility and quick comprehension stood me in good stead, and in
a few days I had learned enough to haul on a rope or to reef the great

latteen sails as well as any of them. The knowledge that I was just
returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca obtained for me also a certain
respect among the crew. It makes very little difference what the trade,
business, or branch of learning; in mechanical labour, or intellectual
effort, the educated man is always superior to the common labourer.
One who is in the habit of applying his powers in the right way will
carry his system into any occupation, and it will help him as much to
handle a rope as to write a poem.
"At last we landed in Bombay. I was in a wretched condition. What
little clothes I had had were in tatters; hard work and little food had
made me even thinner than my youthful age and slight frame tolerated.
I had in all about three pence money in small copper coins, carefully
hoarded against a rainy day. I could not speak a word of the Indian
dialects, still less of English, and I knew no one save the crew of the
vessel I had come in, as poor as I, but saved from starvation by the
slender pittance allowed them on land. I wandered about all day
through the bazaars, occasionally speaking to some solemn looking old
shopkeeper or long-bearded Mussulman, who, I hoped, might
understand a little Arabic. But not one did I find. At evening I bathed in
the tank of a temple full from the recent rains, and I lay down
supperless to sleep on the steps of the great mosque. As I lay on the
hard stones I looked up to my star, and took comfort, and slept. That
night a dream came to me. I thought I was still