to live on without a companion than to take
this stumpy thing." Many other girls were
judged of by the same standard and
condemned, so that Yusof began to imagine that
there was no one good enough in this world
for him. This was a very painful reflection;
not that he was himself impatient, to choose
a wife, but he desired to comply with his
father's injunctions. One day, therefore, being
much perplexed in mind, he went to an old
dame who was supposed to know things, to
look into the future, and to explain hidden
events. She received him in a dark room,
and took him by the hand, and said, " I know
thee; thou art the son of Han Hamma, and
thou art in search of Miriam the Shadow.
Seek and thou wilt find." Then she suddenly
dismissed him.

For several days Yusof wandered from
morning until evening in the fields, wondering
to himself where this Miriam the Shadow
might be found. He seemed to remember
that the being whom he had created in his
mind was called Miriam, and he began to
think of her as one whom he had possessed,
and whom he had lost. Sometimes when
lying in a shady nook, where there was no
sound but the hum of insects, far away from
the paths of men, he used to cry out " Miriam!
Miriam! " and wet the grass with his tears,
as if he were really entitled to enroll himself
amongst the sons of sorrow. Once there
seemed to hover over him, amongst the
branches of the trees, a form of beauty shedding
smiles of kindness upon him, and looking
down with compassion. He rose wildly and
threw up his arms into the air; but the
form had faded, and yet a voice that mixed
with the rustling of the leaves pronounced
his name, but in tones rather of pity than
affection. He went home and threw himself
in his father's arms, and told him that either
he must die or must wed with Miriam the
Shadow. The good old man could not at first
understand; but when he saw the piercing
eyes and haggard looks of his son, he became
convinced that madness had been the result
of much thought, and blamed himself as the
cause. Yusof took to his bed, and remained
incapable of motion for many days. The
wisest physicians were called in, and one
prescribed one thing and another another.
Some said that the heat of the sun had been
too great, and others the damp of the earth
had been disastrous. All agreed that the
young man had lost his senses and his health
together. But in spite of their sayings and
their medicines no good result was obtained.

At length there arrived in the city of Cairo
a Persian doctor, who sent his servant about
the streets proclaiming that if there were any
one afflicted with an extraordinary disease
he, and he alone, could give relief. When
Han Hamma heard the crier, he said, " Those
who praise themselves are wise because
they beget confidence; and I have heard that
it is the doctor and not the doctor's drugs
that gives health to most people." So he called
for the Persian, and stated his son's case.

The Persian hummed and rolled his eyes,
and displayed certain instruments, and made
use of words longer than his face, upon which
Han Hamma said to him, " These things are
unnecessary; we believe in thy power, and
are in want of thy advice." The doctor
laughed and said, " What is the story of this
young man? " When he had heard that he was
in love with Miriam the Shadow he pondered
a little, and gave his opinion in these words,
"Let Miriam, the Shadow be found."
"Unhappy doctor! " exclaimed Han Hamma, in a
passion, " is this thy wisdom? What is
the difference between thy advice and my
thoughts? " " My father," replied the Persian,
"wisdom is always nearer at hand than folly;
and, if men would receive it as it comes, they
would not waste the greater part of their lives
in search after vain things. My experience
has told me that the office of a good
counsellor is to remind those who are wandering
in search of a rule of action of their first
impression, which is often disdained because of
its simplicity. Thou hast thyself thought of
seeking for this Miriam; but, instead of doing
so, thou hast called in the sons of science, who
have made experiments on thy son, and have
increased their own knowledge at the expense
of his health. Go forth, my father, and travel
and see new countries, and show the wonders
thereof to Yusof, and perchance he will find
that which he seeketh; if not, he will find
something else, for the searcher is always
rewarded. He who went into the desert to
seek for a mine of gold found a well in a
valley, and settled himself there, and became
the founder of a mighty people." Han Hamma
saw the wisdom of these words, and embraced
the Persian doctor, and gave him a robe of
honour, and proclaimed him in the city as
the wisest of the disciples of Hippocrat.
But when the people asked what wonderful
medicines and powerful amulets had been
made use of to bring back Yusof to courage
and strength, he did not tell them, for there is
no value except in what is unknown. Yusof
being told by his father that they must depart,
and search through the world for this Miriam
the Shadow at once, found strength to leave
his bed, and no longer considered himself a
neighbour of death. The necessary preparations
were made, and father and son soon set
out upon their travels. They went to the Laïæ,
and visited the Coptic cities thereof, and
sojourned in the desert. Then returning, they
voyaged by way of Alexandria to Syria, and
stationed in all the cities from Damascus to
Aleppo. Still, however, Miriam was not
found, and Yusof, though there was no longer
any fear for his life, remained sad and
melancholy. They returned, after a year's absence,
to Cairo, where they found the Persian physician
again there on his way back from India.
He had cured, he said, the sovereign of the
Moguls of a fever by means of a pocket