Of the last thou hast given me enough; but it had been better to have aided me more speedily in my struggle with this Hamako, who had well-nigh taken my life in his frenzy." "By my faith," said the Knight, "I did somewhat fail--was somewhat tardy in rendering thee instant help; but the strangeness of the assailant, the suddenness of the scene--it was as if thy wild and wicked lay had raised the devil among us--and such was my confusion, that two or three minutes elapsed ere I could take to my weapon." "Thou art but a cold and considerate friend," said the Saracen; "and, had the Hamako been one grain more frantic, thy companion had been slain by thy side, to thy eternal dishonour, without thy stirring a finger in his aid, although thou satest by, mounted, and in arms." "By my word, Saracen," said the Christian, "if thou wilt have it in plain terms, I thought that strange figure was the devil; and being of thy lineage, I knew not what family secret you might be communicating to each other, as you lay lovingly rolling together on the sand." "Thy gibe is no answer, brother Kenneth," said the Saracen; "for know, that had my assailant been in very deed the Prince of Darkness, thou wert bound not the less to enter into combat with him in thy comrade's behalf.

Know, also, that whatever there may be of foul or of fiendish about the Hamako belongs more to your lineage than to mine--this Hamako being, in truth, the anchorite whom thou art come hither to visit." "This!" said Sir Kenneth, looking at the athletic yet wasted figure before him--"this! Thou mockest, Saracen--this cannot be the venerable Theodorick!" "Ask himself, if thou wilt not believe me," answered Sheerkohf; and ere the words had left his mouth, the hermit gave evidence in his own behalf.
"I am Theodorick of Engaddi," he said--"I am the walker of the desert--I am friend of the Cross, and flail of all infidels, heretics, and devil-worshippers.

Avoid ye, avoid ye! Down with Mahound, Termagaunt, and all their adherents!"-- So saying, he pulled from under his shaggy garment a sort of flail or jointed club, bound with iron, which he brandished round his head with singular dexterity.
"Thou seest thy saint," said the Saracen, laughing, for the first time, at the unmitigated astonishment with which Sir Kenneth looked on the wild gestures and heard the wayward muttering of Theodorick, who, after swinging his flail in every direction, apparently quite reckless whether it encountered the head of either of his companions, finally showed his own strength, and the soundness of the weapon, by striking into fragments a large stone which lay near him.
"This is a madman," said Sir Kenneth.
"Not the worse saint," returned the Moslem, speaking according to the well-known Eastern belief, that madmen are under the influence of immediate inspiration.

"Know, Christian, that when one eye is extinguished, the other becomes more keen; when one hand is cut off, the other becomes more powerful; so, when our reason in human things is disturbed or destroyed, our view heavenward becomes more acute and perfect." Here the voice of the Saracen was drowned in that of the hermit, who began to hollo aloud in a wild, chanting tone, "I am Theodorick of Engaddi--I am the torch-brand of the desert--I am the flail of the infidels! The lion and the leopard shall be my comrades, and draw nigh to my cell for shelter; neither shall the goat be afraid of their fangs.
I am the torch and the lantern--Kyrie Eleison!" He closed his song by a short race, and ended that again by three forward bounds, which would have done him great credit in a gymnastic academy, but became his character of hermit so indifferently that the Scottish Knight was altogether confounded and bewildered.
The Saracen seemed to understand him better.

"You see," he said, "that he expects us to follow him to his cell, which, indeed, is our only place of refuge for the night.