The Days of Mohammed Part 27

The invalid closed his eyes, not to sleep, but to think. Presently he opened them.

"Mana.s.seh, if I had died, would I have seen Asru?"

Mana.s.seh was embarra.s.sed. "I--I cannot say," he stammered. "I do not know you well enough to be sure."

"You do not think I should. I do not think so either," he returned decidedly, and closed his eyes again.

In a few days he was able to talk.

"Mana.s.seh, did I hear Yusuf praying for me once when I was ill?"

"He prayed for you every day,--not only that you might be spared to us, but that you might come to know Jesus, and to reject Mohammed."

"I do not think that I ever accepted him--that is, in a religious sense," he returned.

Mana.s.seh's eyes opened wide in astonishment. "Then why did you follow him?" he asked.

"Because, I suppose, his successes dazzled me. It seemed a grand thing to be a hero in the war--to ride, and charge, and drive all before me.

Aye, Mana.s.seh, it is after the war that the scales fall from one's eyes."

"How could you, then, follow one whom you did not accept, and must, therefore, have deemed an impostor?"

"I tell you, Mana.s.seh, I gave little heed to matters of religion. For the first time, during the last few days, I have thought of a religious life, or of a hereafter, as I lay here feeling that but for you and your friends, I should even now be in the unknown land beyond the grave."

Mana.s.seh talked long and earnestly to the now convalescent youth. Yusuf and Amzi too talked gently to him when he seemed inclined to hear, but, in his present weak state, they deemed that the consciousness of living in a G.o.dly house would appeal more strongly than words of theirs. The weeks pa.s.sed on, yet he gave no indication that their hopes were being realized. Once indeed he said:

"Mana.s.seh, would that I had had a G.o.dly training such as yours!"

"Did your mother not tell you of these things?"

Kedar shook his head. "My poor mother drifted away from her early training in our half-heathen Bedouin atmosphere," he said. "The Bedouins know little of Christ. They have traditions of the creation, of the deluge, and such old-time stories; in all else they are almost heathen. When I am well, Mana.s.seh, we will go to them--to my father--and you will tell them, Mana.s.seh?"

Mana.s.seh nodded a smiling a.s.sent.

It was with no little trepidation that Yusuf and Amzi watched for some sign of spiritual growth in the young Bedouin. As the days wore on, and he was able to get about, though still weak, he was willing to attend the Christian meetings; but he sat in silence, and persisted in wearing the garb of a Moslem. The friends did not understand his att.i.tude. They did not recognize the sort of petulant shamefacedness that hindered him from coming forth boldly in defence of principles which he fully endorsed in his secret heart, and made him fear to cut himself loose from the side on which he had taken so bold a stand, lest the epithet of "turncoat," be fixed upon him. Kedar had not yet been touched by that "live coal" which alone can set man in touch with G.o.d, and free him from all human restrictions. But though he said little, he was thinking deeply. He was not indifferent; and there is ever great room for hope where there is not indifference.

And while the little Meccan household was thus engrossed in its own circle, momentous events were happening without the capital.

CHAPTER XXVI.

INTERVENING EVENTS.

During the months that followed, Mohammed still went on in his career of conquest--a course rendered easier day by day, as his enemies were now weak indeed. The tribes of Watiba, Selalima and Bedr speedily gave way before him, but were permitted to remain in their homes upon the payment of a heavy yearly tribute.

He made one more pilgrimage to Mecca, and on this occasion the Koreish, in accordance with the truce, offered no resistance; hence for three days the prophet and his shaven followers walked the streets of Mecca, and performed Tawaf at the Temple.

Mohammed found the Caaba still desecrated by idols, and, while pressing his lips to the sacred Black Stone, he solemnly vowed to conquer Mecca and to remove the pollution of images from the floor of the sanctuary.

In the meantime, the prophet enticed many of the most prominent families of Mecca to his standard. By his marriage with the aunt of Khaled Ibn Waled he secured the alliance of that famous soldier; and by marrying Omm Habiba, daughter of Abu Sofian, he hoped to gain the friendship of his ancient and inveterate enemy.

But time seemed to lag, and his restless spirit soon set itself to look about for some pretext by which he might attack Mecca. A casual skirmish of a few soldiers of the Koreish with a detachment of his soldiers gave the necessary excuse, and he at once charged the Koreish with having broken the truce. They were anxious to make overtures of peace, but Mohammed would listen to nothing.

All saw plainly that no concessions would conciliate a conqueror thus bent upon hostility, and the att.i.tude of Mecca became that of a patient waiting, a dread looking for a surely impending calamity ready to fall at any hour.

And yet, when it did come, the Meccans were not expecting it, so silent, so sudden was the swoop of the conqueror. Every road leading to Mecca was barred by Mohammed, so that none might tell of his plans. All his allies received a mysterious summons to meet him at a point some distance from Mecca, and they came none the less readily that they did not know why they were thus a.s.sembled.

With a host of ten thousand men, Mohammed set out over the barren plains, and through the defiles of the mountains. Like a vast funeral procession the long train wound its way in a silence broken only by the dull tread of the beasts and the whispered e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns of the soldiers.

In the night they reached the appointed valley. Lines of men came pouring in from every side, and at last, as a signal to all the rest, Omar, the chief in command, gave the order that the watch-fires be lighted,--and at once every summit sent up its spire of flame.

The citizens of Mecca were stricken with awe.

"I myself will go and see what this means," said Abu Sofian; and with a single companion he set out over the hills. As they stood in sight of the great host below, the step of men sounded near them. They were seized as spies, and hurried off to the tent of Omar.

The bright light of Omar's camp-fire revealed the white hair and flashing eye of the grim old warrior.

"By the prophet of Allah! Ye have brought in a rich prize!" exclaimed Omar, and his dagger flashed in the firelight as he drew it to plunge into Abu Sofian's bosom. But deliverance was near. Out from the darkness galloped Al Abbas, uncle of Mohammed, mounted on the prophet's white mule. He caught the Meccan up with him, and hastened off to the tent of the prophet.

"Ha!" exclaimed Mohammed, "you have come at last, Abu Sofian, to acknowledge the supremacy of the prophet of Allah?"

"I come," said Abu Sofian surlily, "to beg mercy for my people."

"Will you, then, acknowledge Mohammed as the prophet of G.o.d? Do this, Abu Sofian, and thy life shall be spared, and terms of peace granted to all Meccans who are willing to follow their leader's example."

Abu Sofian gave a surly a.s.sent, and was set free. Favorable terms for the inhabitants of the city were then presented to him; and, that he might be able to take back with him a full account of the strength of the prophet's army, he was placed with Al Abbas at the head of a narrow defile, through which the whole army, with fluttering banners and proudly flapping standards, pa.s.sed before him.

Even the stern old warrior stood aghast at the mighty mult.i.tude. He returned to the city, and, from the roof of the Caaba, once more a.s.sembled the people of Mecca. Then, while they listened, with bowed heads and heaving sobs, he told them of the great host, of the uselessness of resistance, and of the terms offered in case of submission. To this course, humiliating as it was, he strongly urged them. Silent in despair, or weeping wildly, they returned to their homes, and that night the darkness which fell seemed like a pall upon the stricken city.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE TRIUMPHANT ENTRANCE INTO MECCA.

"One murder made a villain; millions, a hero."--_Porteus._

Upon the following morning ere the sun rose, a deputation was sent to the prophet to inform him that his terms had been accepted.

The people of Mecca were curious to note the triumphant entrance of the great conqueror. Many, indeed, threw themselves upon their faces in agony of lost hope; but the housetops swarmed with people, and the side of Abu Kubays was moving with a dense crowd of women and children, who, at a safe distance, watched for the strange pageant.

The prophet was allowed to enter the borders of the town unmolested, but when the deserter, Khaled Ibn Waled, appeared, the rage of the Koreish knew no bounds; a howl of derision arose, and an ungovernable mob fired straight upon him with their arrows. Khaled dashed upon them with sword and lance, but Mohammed, noting the commotion, rode up and ordered him to desist.

The melee subsided, and, just as the sun rose over Abu Kubays, the conqueror entered the city. He was habited in scarlet, and mounted upon a large Syrian camel; and, as he rode, followed by the whole host of his army, he repeated aloud pa.s.sages from the Koran.