C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

“ She knew, and he must know, that, even in civilized Tunis, an attempt by a European to meet a well-born Arab girl might cost his life. Also, it might cost hers, and that was far more important to Laila; for she thought it would be thrillingly romantic to have a handsome Roumi die for love of her.
But she did not wish to die, nor even to lose the prospect of a comfortable future; though if she had loved a man with the fierce, tigerish love of which she was capable, she might have been ready to risk something for his sake. ”

“ We ourselves know that we shall be doing no wrong, so our consciences are clear. I have already written to Miss Luck, saying that we may be able to call; and she has promised that her brother shall not see us. No doubt it seems stupid to her and to him, that we must not be looked on by a man; but it is our custom, and it will be respected by them.”
“Oh, let me see her letter!” cried Ourïeda, brightening. “Is there a message in it for me?”
“I wrote to her, but she sent back an answer by word of mouth. Miloud brought it,” said the elder girl. “Come! It is time now for us to start.” ”

“ Thou wilt be a great lady, and can look down, if thou wilt, on thy father, thy sister, and her husband.”
As he spoke, he glanced at Laila. Her face was cold as if carved in stone; but there was a smoldering spark under her eyelashes. She looked older than he had ever seen her, more like her mother in the days when trouble was already brewing.
Then Ourïeda lost her head, and cried out passionately, a thing unwise for an Arab girl who would win a man to her wishes. ”

“ Besides, if she married, she would expect her husband to love her till death, even more tenderly when the color had left her pink cheeks and her thick brown hair. As this thought sprang into her head, she seemed suddenly to see Winthrop's eyes looking at her. She was ashamed, and blushed deeply; but nobody saw. The attention of all was directed upon Ourïeda.
“I have thee to cherish me,” the young girl pleaded with her father. “I want no other man.”
“Thou art a child, and knowest not what is good for thee,” smiled El Khadra. ”

“ He had never seen a Frenchman so tall as this grand gentleman, who was almost big enough to be called a giant. Miloud could not make him out at all. He was dressed like some of the Englishmen—the very best Englishmen—who came in the season of tourists. Miloud had seen them in the streets of French Tunis, when he had permission to absent himself from home and wander past the shops and open-fronted cafés in the wide and brilliant modern streets, so different from the secretive alleys of old Tunis. ”

“ What the last act might be for Norah the Arab girl did not know, or much care; or even whether the beloved brother's fate might be tragically affected or not. But she thought that she did know what it would be for Ourïeda: not marriage with a rich noble, but shame, and sorrow, and repudiation by father and lover.
Laila had told only the truth when she assured her sister that she had written to Miss Luck; but she had not told the truth about her letter, or Norah's answer to it. ”

“ Laila, on the contrary, lost all her beauty seen against the background of a modern hat. She looked darker, older, and harder in outline; and, seeing this herself, she pettishly tossed aside a black Leghorn in which Ourïeda had looked distractingly pretty. “I am Arab,” the elder girl said, “and I am proud of it. My face belongs to all time, not to the moment. Things like these take away the mystery which gives women their greatest charm. I want nothing but the chechia or the veil, ever!”
And it was then that Laila reminded Miss Luck of her promise to show them her brother's picture. ”

“ If there is anything disagreeable, it is better not to know it beforehand, since I cannot escape. Ah, I can see by thy face that thou art shocked, and that thou hast pity for me.”
“I'm not shocked,” said Norah, “and, anyhow, nobody else pities thee. It would seem that thou art considered a fortunate girl.”
“Oh, yes,” answered Ourïeda, almost indifferently, like one already accustomed to some dull pain. “My father is very pleased.”
“He believes thou wilt be happy.”
“Yes. For though he loves me, he does not know my heart. Could a man know a girl's heart?'
“My brother knows mine.” ”

“ It appears she has given Si Mohammed such accounts of my little daughter that he has fallen in love with the description. Never has a bride been adored as thou wilt be; and this man stoops from a height above thy father's. Nor needst thou fear that he is old or ill-favored. He is but thirty-four, and handsomer than thy Cousin Mahmoud. Accomplished, too, and rich enough to buy and sell thy cousin. Thou wilt have more jewels than thou canst count.”
This was more than Laila could bear in silence. ”

“ Ourïeda always won the love of every one—the teachers, the scholars; and at home it was the same. The servants, all but Nouna, who liked Laila's briberies, preferred to wait upon Ourïeda. Aunt Aïssa loved the younger girl better, even while she scolded her for longings that could never be gratified—longings for a wider life than Arab girls should even desire. ”

“ El Khadra answered. “I had thought to have thy sister married before thee, but Mahmoud's house is not ready for Laila. She knows that, by her own wish, he is having it beautified to receive her; and there are other reasons for the delay, reasons which concern his family. Yet it does not matter. Since Laila was affianced first, she suffers no humiliation. And Si Mohammed is impatient.”
“But, sidi, Miss Luck has only just come. We cannot both marry and leave her,” Ourïeda pleaded. ”

“ Norah said, as Ourïeda clung to her.
The girl blushed faintly. “If Si Mohammed is 'advanced,' then certainly he will let me have thee there. But I do not know. From one or two things Lella Nedjma let drop, I fear he is old-fashioned in his ideas, like many of the beldi. Beldi is our word for noblemen—men of high birth. Such men fear Roumias, European ladies—thinking they put 'notions' in our heads.” ”

“ But all our lives—though we are parted—I love him, and he loves me, even when he is far away, at the other end of the world. We never forget the moment when we looked into each other's eyes, and our souls met. ”

“ Thou seest,” she went on to Norah, “there is something strange, almost frightening, about gazing into a pair of eyes like these—eyes from which I would have to veil my face instantly if they were real.”
“They are very handsome eyes,” said Laila more graciously, as she returned the photograph in the silver frame to Norah. “I do not think any man could really be as splendid as that picture of thy brother. ”

“ Miloud thanked mademoiselle many times for her kindness. There was only one thing of which he would warn her. This friend for whom he had sent was terribly marked with smallpox, and, having been a handsome man, and very vain of his looks, he was sensitive now, and could not bear to see a look of horror in the eyes of a stranger, especially those of a woman. Therefore, he showed his face only to old friends. Mademoiselle must not be surprised at sight of a very tall man wearing the hood of his cloak thrown over his head, and pulled together so closely that his features were hidden. ”

“ But the truth is, my sister has advanced ideas. She pretends not to care for French books, yet it is for French customs she is pining. She thinks herself too beautiful to be shut up in one man's harem.”
“Be silent, and thankful for Allah's gifts. Do not envy thy sister, since thou canst take nothing from her, or injure her in any way.”
“Oh, can I not?” Laila murmured, but in a voice so low that no one heard except Miss Luck, and perhaps Ourïeda. ”

“ This was hard on Winthrop, but he bore it without flinching outwardly. His heart yearned over the girl who was so alone, so far from her friends. He must not fail her.
“I haven't heard of any fighting there, and if there had been I certainly should,” he assured Miss Luck. “Besides, even if there should be another brush, there are ten chances to one against his being hurt. You've no idea what a lot of men escape even in the worst battles, without a scratch. Fighting's as safe as motoring, I reckon. ”

“ Names don't matter in the Foreign Legion, you see. A man is just a number—almost as if he were a convict, instead of a soldier. He was at Bel Abbès. Now he's gone from there, and is somewhere on the borders of Morocco—or still on his way. I can't tell which.”
“No, you can't tell. And it would be difficult for you to find out because you're a girl, and you're living in an Arab house, where the habits and customs for the women are at least two thousand years old. ”

“ We cannot go to thy flat because of thy brother being with thee there. Even though we need not meet him, our father would not consent. But this may be Ourïeda's last chance for a talk with thee; and she begs that at five o'clock thou wilt go and knock at the door of the flat on the floor next above thine own; that on the right-hand side of the ascenseur, and up the staircase. An old friend of ours lives there, a girl lately married to a young Arab doctor, who is very modern and European in his ideas. ”

“ My orders from the noble sidi are to stand outside a certain café, near enough to be within call of mademoiselle, and await her pleasure, till she wishes to return home again. If I find a friend there, to whom I have sent word, will the gracious young lady permit that I leave her in his charge for a few minutes, long enough to run to the house where my mother lives, and inquire for her health?”
“Go, of course,” said Norah. “But it is not necessary to leave any one in charge. I am to meet a friend, and drink tea with him at the Café Splendide. ”

“ We had a bully time.”
“You look, somehow, like one who has been a soldier,” said Norah thoughtfully. “I always think there's something different in their eyes from those of other men, when they've seen war and looked death in the face. It's very good of you to cheer me up. I knew you would! But you haven't heard all my reasons for being anxious yet. I telegraphed to Pat—the only address I knew—and paid to have the wire forwarded. ”

“ Initials only, never a name, signed his letters, which were typewritten in French; and though the man's distrust piqued her, it half amused her, too.
The description of him given by Miloud to Nouna, and passed on by the negress, made Laila wish to see if it had been exaggerated; and one day, when she and Ourïeda were going for a drive in their shuttered carriage, she stipulated, through Miloud, that her correspondent should stand just outside the gateway by which the carriage must pass from old into modern Tunis. ”

“ Then she took out a photograph of Si Mohammed, which had been made for the bey his cousin. Aunt Aïssa admired it a great deal, and passed it on to us. He is handsome in a way, but not a way that could interest me. He could never be a 'dream man' for any girl, I think! He is tall and big, more like a Turk than an Arab, one would imagine, with a large mustache, and a chin that begins to grow double, because he is fat. ”

“ Still, I cannot help thinking about the world, and what it must be to have freedom while one is young, as the Roumia girls have. And I make up stories to myself—foolish little stories, but they please me. ”

“ Duprez had a spirit lamp, with which he always traveled. It was in his bedroom, and, lighting it, he put water on to boil. But this he did, and all that followed, behind closed curtains; for these freed negro slaves were cunning, and he did not want Miloud to. learn how to open letters for himself if the temptation arose in future.
He had steamed the envelope, read the letter inside, copied it in shorthand, and was in the act of fastening down the flap, as if it had never been disturbed, when a knock came at the door. Then, without waiting for an “Entrez!” ”