And then, to my
infinite relief, out of the shrubbery stepped Boris, and thrust his
doggy nose into my hand. I laid hold of his collar, and he trotted
sedately beside me.
I had half expected to be led to the gray-gabled cottage, but The
Jinnee stole along in the shadow of the hedge, stopped beside the
spring-house, and held up his hand.
"In the name of God!" said I, involuntarily.
"The compassionate, the merciful!" finished The Jinnee, and turning
to the east made a profound reverence. There was something so simple
and so sincere in his manner that my momentary fear subsided.
"But why have I been sent for? Why are _you_ here?" I wondered.
He folded his arms upon his breast, and in a sing-song voice,
curiously unlike any other I had ever heard, answered parrotlike:
"This is the word of the master: Take to the fair-haired lady the
broken coin, my sign, and she will remember her word to me. Verily,
for the sign's sake, she will follow without fear."
"The master is not ill, then?"
"In his body he is well. But of the spirit of man, and what help he
needs, there is but one judge, namely, God."
"He has need of me?"
"He sends the token by me, Achmet.
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