And as on that day so on this, in the alcove under the horseshoe arch sat Ben Aboo and his Spanish wife.
Time had dealt with them after their kind, and the swarthy face of the Kaid was grosser, the short curls under his turban were more grey and his hazel eyes were now streaked and bleared, but otherwise he was the same man as before, and Katrina also, save for the loss of some teeth of the upper row, was the same woman.

And if the children had risen up before Israel's eyes as he stood on the threshold of the patio, he could not have drawn his breath with more surprise than at the sight of the man who stood that morning in their place.
It was Mohammed of Mequinez.

He had come to ask for the release of the followers of Absalam from their prison at Shawan.

In defiance of courtesy his slippers were on his feet.

He was clad in a piece of untanned camel-skin, which reached to his knees and was belted about his waist.