“’And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.  And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

“’And he commanded the chariot to stand still:  and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.’”

Scarcely had the reader ceased when Abdullah sprang to his feet.  “Father,” he cried, “see, here is water.  What doth hinder me to be baptized?”

“My son,” said the old man, “how canst thou believe with all thine heart?  No Philip has preached Jesus unto thee.”

“What need?” exclaimed Abdullah.  “Can a man’s belief need preaching to in such a case as this?  How long must I believe a religion that saves her I love?  A month, a year, until it avails nothing, and she is gone?  This eunuch was a blacker man than I; like me, he was a man of the desert.  He did not ride with Philip long.  I have not only heard what Philip said to him, but I have also heard what you have said to me.  Both of you have preached unto me Jesus.  What right have you to doubt my belief in a God who will save my love to me?  Again, I ask you, what doth hinder me to be baptized?”

“Nothing,” said the old man, and they went out both to the well, sparkling beneath the palms, both Abdullah and the Man who Keeps Goats; and he baptized him.

When Abdullah rose from his knees, his forehead dripping, he drew his hand across his face and asked, “Am I a Christian?”

“Yes,” said the priest, “so far as I can make you one.”

“Thank you,” said Abdullah; “you have done much, and in the morning you shall do more, for then you shall baptize the damsel and shall marry us according to your—­pardon me—­our religion.”

They entered the hut, and the priest, pointing toward the chamber-door, asked:  “Does she believe?”

“She believes what I believe,” said Abdullah.

The priest shook his head.  “You speak,” he said, “not as a Christian, but as a Moslem.  You were brought up to look upon woman as a mere adjunct, a necessary evil, necessary because men must be born into the world.  A female child, with you, was a reproach; she was scarcely seen by her parents until she was brought out to be sold in marriage.  With Christians it is different.  A woman has a soul—­”

“Hush,” said Abdullah, “or you will awaken the camels with that strange doctrine.  A woman has a soul, has she?  You read me no such proposition from your prophets, a half-hour ago.  Woman was not mentioned by Philip or by the Ethiopian in what you read to me.  Is there aught in your book that argues that woman has a soul?”

“Doubtless,” said the priest, “but I do not recall it.”

He caught up his Bible.  He opened it unluckily, for the first words that met his eye were these, and he read them:  “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” and he paused, embarrassed.

“Whose words were those?” asked Abdullah.