... May was in her great ordeal; the violent, silent tragedy circled about her as though circling through a dark tomb... and 'May' was a dark tomb in which phantoms crept... It was a cruel ordeal through which the greatest of women writers passed; in it her soul grew fierce and her imag-ination darkened, until all people, in her conscience, were scorpions...

And the great Rihani, the great Ameen, witnessed that bleeding tragedy with heartbreak and revolt in his soul! Was 'May' to spend her days weeping within the walls of her prison, the fingers of pain binding her with iron?

Could this be... then shame upon Rihani before history, and shame upon history before 'May'...

And Rihani saved 'May'... he saved her, and fought for her a war without softness or mercy. And here is 'May' enjoying the neighborhood of the great man in the 'valley of the village.'

And here is Rihani — now that 'May' has come out of her tomb — trying to restore to her her peace of soul, her calm of nerves, and her gladness of heart... and to bring her back to life...

On a visit which the family of this magazine paid to Freike, we passed long hours in the shade of the

love of this great house of Lebanon, and traced Rihani's footprints along those paths and turnings and on the walls of those rooms...

And here is a letter from Ameen to May, and one like it from 'May' to Ameen...

My dear friend May, God keep her,

I greet you with a warm, heartfelt greeting,

and pray that abundant, unclouded good may be yours always.

I read today in the newspapers the news of the ill-omened lawsuit and its developments, and I was moved, grieved, pained... Delay and procrastination, and then back again to the doctors!! I fear for you from this procrastination and these returns. So I beg you to listen to me, and do not frown, and do not look away. You are in the snares of people who do not wish you well, and you know this full well. But you do not fully know the secret of deliverance. Will you wish them deliverance, as your friends and those who love you wish it for you? Then listen to this old friend. Receive the doctors' committee with that broad, lofty spirit which is your spirit... Welcome them — listen to them — talk with them of whatever subjects they please. Lay for them the snares of your genius.

The case, May, is a case of snares. And you are the mistress of the heavenly snares — the gladdening, the felicitous, the loving... Yours are the snares of good... and theirs, for evil, are traps and snares. Your snares are celestial and their snares are infernal. Pity their state, then, and lay for them the snares of good; perhaps they will find their way to them, and fall in, and be made happy, and we shall be rid of their evil.

Overcome them with what you possess of the arts of gentleness, courtesy, and tenderness. Remind them of a lost wisdom. Call their attention to a stricken virtue — set them parables, amuse them with anecdotes, and if you wish to be cruel, then rub their noses in the dust with a soft smile, and unbind their necks with a gentle word, and serve them tea with your own hand... Pardon, madam... Pardon, doctor... Pardon, May. In gentleness there is magic indeed; and peace be upon her who leads the misleaders astray, so that they find the way, and fall into the snares, and grow calm, and then in their hearts give thanks, and give thanks again. I beg you, my dear friend, to listen to me, for I am one of the pupils of the Supreme Physician. There are not in this country human personalities capable of rising above their stations and their offices to appear in the aspect of supreme justice. So do not call to account, and do not blame, and do not take revenge. People are shackled, shackled with every kind of shackle, and the great and weighty deed can be done only by one who lifts the shackles from his own small official self in order to shackle with them his own egotism.

Your deliverance today, May, is in your own hand; but we, your brothers, ache for your pain, and rejoice in your joy, and are deeply moved by the least thing that touches you. Nay, I will say — if you will permit a personal word — that I would, by God, bear injury and pain if there were good in them for you.

And I am certain that the doctors, if you help them, will this time atone for what they did in the past, and will issue the report which you yourself dictate — with a word from you, and with a cup of tea from your hand.

Peace be upon you and upon all the members of the noble family, the family of the immortal May.