The Khalif exclaimed, 'God bless thee, O Aslan!' and they
all dismounted and sat on chairs. Then the Khalif bade bring the
smiter of the ball before him and said to him, 'Who moved thee to
do this thing and art thou friend or foe?' Quoth he, 'I am a foe
and it was my purpose to kill thee.' 'And wherefore?' asked the
Khalif. 'Art thou not an (orthodox) Muslim?' 'No,' replied the
spy; 'I am a Shiyaite.' So the Khalif bade put him to death and
said to Aslan, 'Ask a boon of me.' Quoth he, 'I ask of thee that
thou avenge me of my father's murderer.' 'Thy father is alive,'
answered the Khalif; 'and there he stands.' 'And who is he?'
asked Aslan. The Khalif replied, 'He is the Amir Khalid, Chief of
the Police.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' rejoined Aslan, 'he
is no father of mine, save by right of fosterage; my father was
none other than Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat.' 'Then thy father was a
traitor,' said the Khalif. 'God forbid, O Commander of the
Faithful,' replied Aslan, 'that the Faithful should be a traitor!
But how did he wrong thee?' Quoth the Khalif, 'He stole my royal
habit and what was therewith.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,'
rejoined Aslan, 'God forfend that my father should be a traitor!
But, O my lord, didst thou ever recover the lantern that was
stolen from thee?' 'No,' answered the Khalif, 'we never got it
back.
Pages:
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442