ISRAEL IN PRISON Short as the time was--some three months and odd days--since the prison at Shawan had been emptied by order of the warrant which Israel had sealed without authority in the name of Ben Aboo, it was now occupied by other prisoners.

The remoteness of the town in the territory of the Akhmas, and the wild fanaticism of the Shawanis, had made the old fortress a favourite place of banishment to such Kaids of other provinces as looked for heavier ransoms from the relatives of victims, because the locality of their imprisonment was unknown or the danger of approaching it was terrible.

And thus it happened that some fifty or more men and boys from near and far were already living in the dungeon from which Israel and Ali together had set the other prisoners free.
This was the prison to which Israel was taken when he was torn from Naomi and the simple home that he had made for himself near Semsa.
"Ya Allah! Let the dog eat the crust which he thought too hard for his pups!" said Ben Aboo, as he sealed the warrant which consigned Israel to the Kaid of Shawan.
Israel was taken to the prison afoot, and reached it on the morning of the second day after his arrest.

The sun was shining as he approached the rude old block of masonry and entered the passage that led down to the dungeon.

In a little court at the door of the place the Kaid el habs, the jailer, was sitting on a mattress, which served him for chair by day and bed by night.