Other.' 'I have a silly fancy for this ring: you hesitate. Search my palace, and choose the treasure you deem its match.' 'Noble sir, the gem is little worth; but were it such might deck a Caliph's brow, 'twere a poor recompense for all thy goodness. This ring is a trust rather than a possession, and strange to say, although I cannot offer it to thee who mayst command, as thou hast saved, the life of its unhappy wearer, some stranger may cross my path to-morrow, and almost claim it as his own.' 'And that stranger is----' 'The brother of the donor.' 'The brother of Jabaster?' 'Jabaster!' 'Even so. I am that parted brother.' 'Great is the God of Israel! Take the ring. But what is this? the brother of Jabaster a turbaned chieftain! a Moslem! Say, but say, that thou hast not assumed their base belief; say, but say, that thou hast not become a traitor to our covenant, and I will bless the fortunes of this hour.' 'I am false to no God. Calm thyself, sweet youth. These are higher questions than thy faint strength can master now. Another time we'll talk of this, my boy; at present of my brother and thyself. He lives and prospers?' 'He lives in faith; the pious ever prosper.' 'A glorious dreamer! Though our moods are different, I ever loved him. And thyself? Thou art not what thou seemest. Tell me all. Jabaster's friend can be no common mind. Thy form has heralded thy fame. Trust me.' 'I am Alroy.' 'What! the Prince of our Captivity?' 'Even so.' 'The slayer of Alschiroch?' 'Ay!' 'My sympathy was prophetic. I loved thee from the first. And what dost thou here? A price is set upon thy head: thou knowest it?' 'For the first time; but I am neither astonished nor alarmed. I am upon the Lord's business.' 'What wouldst thou?' 'Free his people.' 'The pupil of Jabaster: I see it all. Another victim to his reveries. I'll save this boy. David,--for thy name must not be sounded within this city,--the sun is dying. Let us to the terrace, and seek the solace of the twilight breez