It was nigh upon sunset when Israel entered the town, and so exactly was everything the same that he could almost have tricked himself and believed that scarce two minutes had passed since he had left it.

There at the fountains were the water-carriers waiting with their water-skins, and there in the market-place sat the women and children with their dishes of soup; there were the men by the booths with their pipes ready charged with keef, and there was the mooddin in the minaret, looking out over the plain.

Everything was the same save one thing, and that concerned Israel himself.

No Grand Shereef stood waiting to exchange horses with him, and no black guard led him through the town.

Footsore and dirty, covered with dust, and tired, he walked through the streets alone.