CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE ORDEAL OF RRISA Alone in his cabin with the waterspout of massive gold and with the sacred Black Stone, the Master sat down in front of the table where they had been laid, took a few leaves of khat, and with profound attention began to study the treasures his _bold coup_ had so successfully delivered into his hands.
The waterspout, he saw at once, would as a mere object of precious metal be worth a tremendous sum.

It was of raw gold, apparently unalloyed--as befitted its office of carrying the water from the roof of the Ka'aba and throwing it upon Ishmael's grave, where pilgrims have for centuries stood fighting to catch it.

Its color verged on reddish; all its lateral surfaces were carved with elaborate arabesques and texts from the Koran.

The bottom bore an inscription in Tumar characters, easily decipherable by the Master, stating that it had been sent from Constantinople in the year of the Hegira 981, by Shafey Hanbaly, the Magnificent.
"A great treasure," pondered the Master.

"An almost incalculable treasure, in itself; but less so, intrinsically, than as an object of Moslem veneration.