' So saying, making
their reverence to the great Sheikh, the two young men retired together
from the arena. Baroni would have followed them, when the youth stopped
him, saying, with decision, 'The great Sheikh expects your presence; you
must on no account be absent. I will tend your chief: you will permit
me?' he inquired in a tone of sympathy, and then, offering to support
the arm of Tancred, he murmured, 'It kills me to think that you are
wounded.'
Tancred was attracted to the young stranger: his prepossessing
appearance, his soft manners, the contrast which they afforded to all
around, and to the scenes and circumstances which Tancred had recently
experienced, were winning. Tancred, therefore, gladly accompanied him
to his pavilion, which was pitched outside the amphitheatre, and stood
apart. Notwithstanding the modest description of his tent by the young
Sheikh, it was by no means inconsiderable in size, for it possessed
several compartments, and was of a different colour and fashion from
those of the rest of the tribe. Several steeds were picketed in Arab
fashion near its entrance, and a group of attendants, smoking and
conversing with great animation, were sitting in a circle close at hand.
They pressed their hands to their hearts as Tancred and his host passed
them, but did not rise.
Pages:
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367