A little more than an hour later, a man entered the caravanserai. He was an enormous black man, tall of build and broad of shoulders and chest. He wore no Sadre, but just a yellow cotton shirt, open down the front almost to the waist, and white sirwaal trousers, and simple niaal on his feet. His white turban was wrapped casually about his head in the manner often affected by seamen. His eyes surveyed the dining room almost scornfully, and then he caught sight of Umar’s white robes. Having been told he would deal with a priest—and since there was almost no one else in the dining room right now—he walked directly over to them with a swagger characteristic of men who sailed the waters.
He confronted Umar, Jafar, Prince Ahmad, and Leila, who sat on benches around a table in a dark corner; Sel
