KAMBALU.

【NTO the city of Kambalu,

By the road that leadeth to Ispahan,

At the head of his dusty caravan,

Laden with treasure from realms afar,

Baldacca and Kelat and Kandahar,

Rode the great captain Alau.

The Khan from his palace-window gazed, And saw in the thronging street beneath,

In the light of the setting sun, that blazed,

Through the clouds of dust by the caravan

raised,

The flash of harness and jewelled sheath,

And the shining scymitars of the guard,

And the weary camels that bared their teeth,

As they passed and passed through the gates

unbarred

Into the shade of the palace-yard.

Thus into the city of Kambalu

Rode the great captain Alau;

And he stood before the Khan, and said:

"The enemies of my lord are dead;

All the Kalifs of all the West

Bow and obey thy least behest;

The plains are dark with the mulberry-trees,

The weavers are busy in Samarcand,

The miners are sifting the golden sand,

The divers plunging for pearls in the seas,

And peace and plenty are in the land.

"Baldacca's Kalif, and he alone

Rose in revolt against thy throne:

His treasures are at thy palace-door,

With the swords and the shawls and the jewels he

wore ;

His body is dust o'er the desert blown.

"A mile outside of Baldacca's gate

I left my forces to lie in wait,

Concealed by forests and hillocks of sand,

And forward dashed with a handful of men

To lure the old tiger from his den

Into the ambush I had planned.

Ere we reached the town the alarm was spread,

For we heard the sound of gongs from within;

And with clash of cymbals and warlike din

The gates swung wide; and we turned and fled,

And the garrison sallied forth and pursued,

With the gray old Kalif at their head,

And above them the banner of Mohammed:

So we snared them all, and the town was subdued.