" with one foot on sea and one on shore " ! Where were the sympathies of the ladies of France — with the royal husband or the gallant Saracen who had roused the Queen's love by the mere report of his brilliant deeds ? There is not much room for doubt. Good Christians though they were, to whom all Moslems must be abhorrent, the cunning author had given the irresistible fillip to his romance, and it is safe to say that many a little foot stamped the floor in protest against its interruption, as many a gurgle of approving laughter greeted Eleanor's reply to the King's demand for an explanation : " God's name ! because of your poltroonery. You are not worth a rotten apple. And I have heard such fine things of Saladin ! " There is one tale from Arab sources which the suspicious may think open to different interpretations. It refers to a fascinating singer of Kifa. The facts seem clear enough. Saladin invaded the lands of Kilij Arslan in support of the latter's son-in-law, Nur ad-din, master of the Castle of Kifa, thereby intervening in favor of the singer as against Nur ad-din's wife. Kilij Arslan sent a messenger to Saladin to say: "He has treated my daughter so that it is unavoidable I invade his country and inflict upon him the punishment he deserves." Saladin, usually a firm supporter of the laws and customs of his people, not only disregarded this message but told its bearer sternly he would be in his master's capital within two days and deprive him of all his possessions. Was it merely his good will for his ally that made him thus truculent and impervious