It stood amid the flames of sunset like a castle of the clouds.
We returned, then, to the 'alafranga' hostelry; but Rashid, having heard the story of my sleepless night, would not allow me to put up there.

I paid my debt to the proprietor, and then he found for me an empty house to which he brought a mattress and a coverlet, a lot of cushions, a brazier, and the things required for making coffee, also a tray of supper--all of them borrowed from the neighbouring houses.

I might be pillaged, brought to destitution, and eventually murdered by him, as my friends had warned me.

At least, the operation promised to be comfortable..