The boy approached the guard at the front of the huge white tent at the center of the . "I want to see the chieftains. I've brought from the desert."
Without responding, the guard entered the tent, where he remained for some time. When he emerged, it was with a young Arab, dressed in white and gold. The boy told the younger man what he had seen, and the man asked him to wait there. He disappeared into the tent.
Night fell, and an of fighting men and merchants entered and exited the tent. One by one, the campfires were extinguished, and the oasis fell as quiet as the desert. Only the lights in the great tent remained. During all this time, the boy thought about Fatima, and he was still unable to understand his last conversation with her.
Finally, after hours of waiting, the guard bade the boy enter. The boy was astonished by what he saw inside. Never could he have imagined that, there in the middle of the desert, there existed a tent like this one. The ground was covered with the most beautiful carpets he had ever walked upon, and from the top of the structure hung lamps of hand-wrought gold, each with a lighted candle. The chieftains were seated at the back of the tent in a semicircle, resting upon richly silk cushions. Servants came and went with silver trays with spices and tea. Other servants maintained the fires in the hookahs. The atmosphere was with the sweet of smoke.
There were eight chieftains, but the boy could see immediately which of them was ............