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CHAPTER EIGHT AT GRIPS WITH THE ENVIOUS I T is alleged that at the last moment Saladin resisted the Caliph's wish to make him the successor of Shirkuh, and had to be coaxed and persuaded by ingenious arguments. There is no doubt that when he returned to the vizier's palace, clothed in the vizier's robe, and bearing the proud title of the Prince Defender, he had cause to wonder whether he had not made a mistake in allowing himself to be over-persuaded. Not one of the distinguished emirs who had served with him under his uncle was there to greet him, as ordinary politeness demanded. Their absence was significant of the opposition he was likely to meet with in his own camp. All of them had been candidates for the office, and none could condone the choice of the youngest among them, one moreover who had seen so little of war and had so little experience of affairs. It was even hinted, and may well have been so, that the choice had been dictated by the crafty Caliph's belief that this young and inexperienced man was the weakest of all those who might pretend to the honor. Both the Caliph and the emirs were mistaken, however; for the very lack of confidence and the opposi 80

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