his temper and drove out Francesco, saying that he could not have any one in Hell who excelled him in any thing even though it were a game. On hearing this, fresh hope was roused in the poor sinner’s heart, and, recalling the Saviour’s pledge to grant him one more boon, he begged Azrael who had stopped to watch the game to take him back to the gates of Paradise, as he felt sure the Saviour would not treat him as harshly as the Prince of Saints and the chief of lost spirits had done.
So Azrael took the poor soul to Heaven’s gate and it once more knocked thereat, and when St Peter opened, and would have driven it away, it pleaded the Saviour’s promise to grant one more boon. So St Peter called his Master, Who, when Francesco asked for admission, confessing that his life had been one great mistake and offering to throw away his pack of cards, told Mar Butrus to let him in; and so the lifelong gambler entered Paradise.
VI
THE UNDERGROUND FOLK—OUR BETTERS—THE NAME OF ALLAH BE ROUND ABOUT US!
The people of Palestine, Christian as well as Moslem, believe in the existence of a race of beings of pre-adamite origin, called by the general name of “Jân.”[1]Whilst the angels dwell in the heavens and have
- ↑ Genis. Under the name of Shedim the orthodox Jews also believe in their existence and general character as here described.
