As the sufferer 's own home was at some distance , Dorothy willingly received him under her roof and became his tender and careful nurse . Ilbrahim was the unconscious possessor of much skill in physiognomy , and it would have deterred him in other circumstances from attempting to make a friend of this boy . The countenance of the latter immediately impressed a beholder disagreeably , but it required some examination to discover that the cause was a very slight distortion of the mouth and the irregular , broken line and near approach of the eyebrows . Analogous , perhaps , to these trifling deformities was an almost imperceptible twist of every joint and the uneven prominence of the breast , forming a body regular in its general outline , but faulty in almost all its details . The disposition of the boy was sullen and reserved , and the village schoolmaster stigmatized him as obtuse in intellect , although at a later period of life he evinced ambition and very peculiar talents . But , whatever might be his personal or moral irregularities , Ilbrahim 's heart seized upon and clung to him from the moment that he was brought wounded into the cottage ; the child of persecution seemed to compare his own fate with that of the sufferer , and to feel that even different modes of misfortune had created a sort of relationship between them . Food , rest and the fresh air for which he languished were neglected ; he nestled continually by the bedside of the little stranger and with a fond jealousy endeavored to be the medium of all the cares that were bestowed upon him . As the boy became convalescent Ilbrahim contrived games suitable to his situation or amused him by a faculty which he had perhaps breathed in with the air of his barbaric birthplace . It was that of reciting imaginary adventures on the spur of the moment , and apparently in inexhaustible succession . His tales were , of course , monstrous , disjointed and without aim , but they were curious on account of a vein of human tenderness which ran through them all and was like a sweet familiar face encountered in the midst of wild and unearthly scenery . The auditor paid much attention to these romances and sometimes interrupted them by brief remarks upon the incidents , displaying shrewdness above his years , mingled with a moral obliquity which grated very harshly against Ilbrahim 's instinctive rectitude . Nothing , however , could arrest the progress of the latter 's affection , and there were many proofs that it met with a response from the dark and stubborn nature on which it was lavished . The boy 's parents at length removed him to complete his cure under their own roof . Ilbrahim did not visit his new friend after his departure , but he made anxious and continual inquiries respecting him and informed himself of the day when he was to reappear among his playmates . On a pleasant summer afternoon the children of the neighborhood had assembled in the little forest-crowned amphitheatre behind the meeting-house , and the recovering invalid was there , leaning on a staff . The glee of a score of untainted bosoms was heard in light and airy voices , which danced among the trees like sunshine become audible ; the grown men of this weary world as they journeyed by the spot marvelled why life , beginning in such brightness , should proceed in gloom , and their hearts or their imaginations answered them and said that the bliss of childhood gushes from its innocence . But it happened that an unexpected addition was made to the heavenly little band . It was Ilbrahim , who came toward the children with a look of sweet confidence on his fair and spiritual face , as if , having manifested his love to one of them , he had no longer to fear a repulse from their society . A hush came over their mirth the moment they beheld him , and they stood whispering to each other while he drew nigh ; but all at once the devil of their fathers entered into the unbreeched fanatics , and , sending up a fierce , shrill cry , they rushed upon the poor Quaker child . In an instant he was the centre of a brood of baby-fiends , who lifted sticks against him , pelted him with stones and displayed an instinct of destruction far more loathsome than the bloodthirstiness of manhood .
The invalid , in the mean while , stood apart from the tumult , crying out XXXXX a loud voice , `` Fear not , Ilbrahim ; come hither and take my hand , '' and his unhappy friend endeavored to obey him .
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