"'You require information, O Kaïd,' I said, 'respecting Ayoub Ibn Yarib Sebaïe, and I knew of no one more able to give it thanhimself; he expected a more courteous reception than you lately promised him, but having no desire to be your target, he intends to leave this place unharmed.' Seeing me so quiet, his terror subsided, and he thought to intrap me by cunning.
"'By the beard of the Prophet!' said he, 'I did not believe all these accusations against you; I intend you no evil, I will give orders that you be not molested, you may depart in peace.'
"'Is Sheik Ayoub a father of the ears?' said I; 'he is come to claim the reward, and cannot leave my lord's roof empty-handed.'
"'Who are we,' said the Kaïd, beginning to chafe, 'that your father's son should dare to come and spit on the beard of the Sultan's Khalifa?'
"I had played the fool long enough, and, seeing he was about to summon assistance, I suddenly seized his arm, and placed a pistol to his breast.
"'Mark me,' said I, 'the first call for help sends a ball through your body;' and I swore an irrevocable oath. 'And now listen: I intend to leave this town by the gate, and in safety; and to ensure this, I take your child as a hostage. If I am not molested I will return him in safety, but should I be pursued—' here I whispered in his ear, 'By Allah, he dies! Now you are in my power, and let your head teach you wisdom.'
"The Kaïd, seeing my determination, thought it better to submit; fortunately the child, who was a little frightened at first, was docile; and when his father reluctantly resigned him, unconscious of his danger, he let me take him in my arms, thinking he was only going for a ride, and coming back. I then went to the door and called out, 'Who waits?'
"'Your slave,' answered the guard from below.
"'The Governor commands you to bring his horse caparisoned to the gate, and his gun.—Away! delay not!'
"'On my head and eyes be it,' said the soldier.
"As the horses were always kept ready saddled, I had not long to wait. I could not help feeling for the old man, notwithstanding his ill-will. When I was about to take away his boy, he would have bound himself by any oath, rather than expose him to this peril, but I dared not trust him. I took him to the balcony overlooking the plain, 'You sought my life,' I said, 'but you are forgiven; and may you behave to me and mine, should we fall into your power, as I behave to this child. Now behold the sanctuary on the top of the nearest hill, when I reach that in peace I will deliver the boy to the Marabt who keeps it; but, should you rashly pursue me, his blood be on your own head, my hands are clean.'
"It is painful to see a man accustomed to command eat the bitter apple of humiliation. I had brought him so low that I could almost have trusted him, when the tears were in his eyes, as he kissed his child, entreating me to be cool, and not influenced by any false alarm or appearance of danger.
"'Allah! Allah!' he cried in anguish, 'if I lose my child, my power will have cost me dear. May your journey be prosperous!' Then calling the soldier he said, 'Go with my friend to the gate; he is going to the sanctuary to pray for my son; let no man stay him, you have heard.'
"I went down with the child in my arms, and mounting the horse, a noble animal he was, and taking the gun, which was also very valuable, across the pommel, I rode deliberately out of the town, congratulating myself on the success of my stratagem. The saint's tomb was about two miles from the gates, and I considered that quite a sufficient start in case of pursuit. As I rode slowly across the plain, I could see the Governor walking up and down his balcony, and wishing to give him a severe lesson, knowing he was watching my movements, I purposely stopped to speak to every horseman I met on the road. At one time two horsemen came galloping at full speed from the direction of the town,—they were only exercising; but as I turned my horse's head towards them, I could plainly see the old man wringing his hands in painful suspense; and as they came near me, he sat down and hid his face in his hayk, whilst the child was prattling away, and in the highest delight at his excursion. And that is how Sheik Ayoub escaped from the town with the horse of the Kaïd Abdallah Ibn Sadek; and now it is time to sleep, for we start with the dawn."
T
hetime allowed to Azora to give a definite answer to the Sultan's proposal had quickly passed away. She had not been allowed much time for preparation for the awful fate that menaced her in case of non-compliance, on account of the intrusive officiousness of the inmates of the hareem, who with childish kindness did all in their power to alleviate her distress, which they attributed to her regret at leaving her relations and friends; never for a moment imagining that she could have courage to relinquish the pleasures of life, and brave death in its most revolting shape, when it might be avoided by what appeared to them so slight a sacrifice; and they already looked upon her as a future companion. Some of the ladies of the hareem had handsome features which the absence of expression rendered valueless. They were the fair faces of women who are born, brought up, and die with scarcely (except in very childhood) any communication with their kind,—whose whole world from birth to death is comprised within three or four rooms with blank walls. This sedentary existence is conducive to the obesity, which to Moorish taste is considered the perfectionof female beauty; and the women adopt every means to encourage this natural tendency; one of these is the same as the plan adopted with us for fattening turkeys. A paste composed of new bread and oleaginous seeds, is formed into balls, the size of a pigeon's egg, and a certain number of these are swallowed whole, washed down with water; this is done daily until the required standard of deformity is reached. The inmates of the Sultan's hareem had the advantage of gardens, into which their rooms opened. These gardens were planted with fruit-trees and vines on trellis; and in the centre of the one they now looked on, was a basin and fountain, that threw its spray on high and cooled the air, confined as it was within high walls. One of the ladies was about Azora's own age, and had become very much attached to her, she had claims to beauty of face and form, which the fattening process, at her age, had not yet destroyed. Her black hair was ornamented with pearls and beads of fine gold; her flashing eye was brightened by the kohal, with which her lids were tinged; a latent smile played round a mouth which should have been lovely; she was a creature of mere life with no thought but for such trivial happiness as she might snatch in her contracted sphere on earth, and for anything beyond, probably never thought of it at all! She wore an embroidered green velvet jacket, fitted to the form, and flowing muslin trousers, over this dress was wound a fine hayk. Her name was Oom-el-Zin. While some of them were swallowing balls, and others staining their feet andhands in patterns with henna, or employed in other ways, Azora and her friend wandered out, following one of the grape-walks, till they came to a secluded bower formed by the foliage, and furnished with carpets and cushions. Here they sat down.
"This day will seal my fate, O my sister!" said Azora, mournfully. Her friend said nothing in reply, but her habitual smile forsook her now sorrowful face, and tears stood in her eyes.
"Why are you so kind to me?" Azora continued, embracing her. "To part from you will more embitter the cup that I must drink."
"Oh, say not you will leave me," said Oom-el-Zin, throwing her arms around Azora, "you make me shudder when you talk of death, and yet I begin to believe you are in earnest. But no! you can not—you dare not—die!"
"The God of Israel will support me in death," said Azora, solemnly. "A few short years, and who, of all those who now behold my doom, will be alive to tell how died the Hebrew girl?—and shall I barter an eternity, compared to which centuries are but as those glittering drops of water to the firmament they mock, for power to drag out my few remaining years in guilt and infamy? What can I not dare for the love of God, to whom I owe all? and when His hand is heavy upon me, shall I not say, with the Arabian patriarch—'The Lord hath given—the Lord hath taken—blessed be the Lord.'"
"Talk not so, O dear, dear Azora! I would ratherlive out my life in a prison, without the light of day, only I would not die. Oh, we will be so happy here together! Oh, you cannot sacrifice yourself—you, so young, so beautiful; you make me so miserable. Oh, live! and stay with us." But in vain the tearful eye of the affectionate girl looked for a kindred feeling in the face of the enthusiastic Jewess.
"Alas! for you, my dear girl," she said; "did you possess the hope of a glorious future, you would not dread that which must, sooner or later, come to all.—But lo! we are called. The hour is come."
They arose to return, as one of the women attendants had come to summon Azora to the Sultan's presence.
"I almost distrust my own weak heart," she continued; "but the Lord of Hosts is my strength, the God of Israel is my refuge."
Tenderly embracing her weeping and disconsolate companion, she accompanied the messenger, and was conducted to the same apartment that had been the scene of her previous trial.
The short period that had intervened—but which to her had been an age of mental suffering—showed its influence on her frame; her pale cheeks witnessed to the anguish that had preyed on her soul; but now they flushed with a hectic glow, from the strong temporary excitement of her position, and her beauty was not the less transcendent.
The Sultan was reclining on the cushions when she entered, but rose to meet her.
"Welcome, O beautiful one!" said he; "how longto me has been the time, deprived of your presence! If it has changed your resolution, I am content. Come you now to enjoy with me life, happiness, and triumph, or—" His brow darkened as she stood silent and motionless, and he could perceive no signs of acquiescence. There was a pause.
"Finish, O my lord!" said Azora, at length, "'or death,' you would say,—God's will be done!—Yet, O my lord!" and she threw herself at his feet, "pause ere you pronounce my doom. Oh, throw not away the high privilege of mercy. If in truth you loved me, could your tongue consign me to death? Impossible! To torture? Oh, the thought is horrible! Save me! O king, save me! though not for my sake, for your own, for the sake of your undying fame. Oh, will you for a caprice forego the satisfaction of doing a noble deed, and tarnish with blood the annals of a beneficent reign? What will be said among the nations when it is known that the Sultan Mulai Abd Er Rahman has shed the innocent blood of a woman? Oh, be merciful, and spare me!"
The Sultan was moved by this appeal, seconded by her imploring action and anguished face, but was too intent on his purpose to give way to more than a passing emotion.
"Arise," he said, "why kneel to me; are you not the arbitress of your own fate? 'Tis I that implore you to save yourself and have pity on me. That I wish not your death, which is forfeit to the law, witness my patience, and the efforts I have made to change yourmad resolve. But that I love you, rather would I see you die, than given to the arms of another. What! shall I see a vile slave possess that which his sovereign sued for in vain? But what is this strange infatuation? Oh, change but your faith, and I will raise you from your base state, exposed to insult and persecution, to be the favourite of a Sultan, with slaves to obey your every wish—power to protect your friends—in short, all, all that a king can offer, shall be yours! Why will you thus madly persist in throwing away your life? Speak but the word—"
"All this, O my lord," said Azora, firmly, "shall not bribe me to betray my God; I ask mercy, but I ask it unconditionally. What law have I broken? what crime have I committed, for which to sue for pardon? yet the mercy you offer is more cruel than your unjust sentence of death! Were you a just king, my false accusers—for you know them false—would ere this have paid the penalty of their perjury. I am in your power, and may God help me! I will endure all you can inflict rather than save my innocent life by a dishonourable and criminal compromise. But oh, how shall this black deed sully the brightness of your reign to all posterity! We shall meet again before the tribunal of the Lord of kings, and before whom Sultans will tremble."
She had drawn herself up to her full height while thus speaking, and her bosom heaving, and her eyes flashing with enthusiasm, she stood like an inspired prophetess, but with a martyr's calm resolve. TheSultan had thus far endeavoured to stifle his feelings, but now his rage became ungovernable.
"It is thus, then, that you defy me," he said: "now hear the alternative. If the thought is dreadful, how will you bear the reality? How will you bear to be the gaze and scoff of a ruffian rabble—to be stripped by the rude hands of the executioner? How will your delicate frame bear the agony when thrown alive into the burning pile? Then, when the hot fire slowly seizes on each writhing limb, and every scorched nerve overwhelms your soul with agonising torments, then—when too late, you will repent your refusal of my proffered mercy. Then—when too late, you will wish to recall this lost opportunity, and your tender limbs will fall a lifeless corse among the smouldering ashes. This is your doom! I have said!"
With his face and frame agitated by his passion, and casting a malignant look on the lovely but trembling girl, he rushed from the apartment. Azora's heart sickened within her, as she listened, with suspended breath, to the description of the torture that awaited her. It was a fearful trial, and she had well-nigh sunk under it. Finding herself alone, her firmness forsook her; she threw herself on the cushions, and burst into an agony of tears, and convulsive sobs shook her frame; but this was a luxury, compared to the horrible feeling that came over her, when, after a time, she raised her deadly pale face, from which all traces of tears had passed away, and remained with her eyes fixed on vacancy, while an icy chill seemed tocurdle her heart's blood, and a tightness in the throat oppressed her almost to suffocation, as she realized the appalling picture of an ignominious death thus presented to her as the alternative of her resistance. Was it surprising that, at such a trying moment, her existence suspended trembling on the verge of the tomb, and failing nature standing terror-struck on the brink of the awful abyss that separated her from eternity,—she, so young, should shrink from taking the fatal plunge. Already was she beginning to parley with conscience,—already was her resolution wavering, and the bright crown of martyrdom, which seemed on the point of encircling her brow, was ascending from whence it was offered, as the love of life, and the enjoyments of the world, were resuming their dominion over her young heart, when, suddenly, overcoming herself with an almost supernatural effort, she fell on her knees, and poured out her anguished soul before God, imploring Him to take the love of the world from her heart, and strengthen her to support the trials that awaited her for her attachment to her faith. The struggle was past, her prayer was heard. She arose from her knees, a radiant smile lighting up her angel face, and she could now calmly contemplate death, as a passage from her sufferings here to everlasting life in the presence of her Redeemer.
A stranger, unacquainted with the peculiar character and customs of this people, might naturally be disposed to ask, why the Sultan should be so scrupulous in his conduct towards a Jewess, of a race, moreover,described to be in a state of semi-servitude. It was exactly in the fact of her being a Jewess, that the obstacles the Sultan had to contend with lay.
If it had been possible that a Moorish woman could have made an objection to becoming a Sultana, the same compulsion would have been used, as is used in two-thirds of the marriages among them, in which the parties have no previous knowledge of each other. Moorish women are only too ready to become inmates of the Sultan's hareem. But in the case of a Jewess, of a despised religion, the Sultan dare not avow his real object. To have taken Azora, as a Jewess, would have raised a fanatical insurrection. There is, moreover, among the higher classes of the Moors, much of that chivalric spirit which distinguished them in Spain, if, indeed, it is not of Arabian origin, and which invested woman with a sacred character,—indeed the very word hareem implies sanctity. Again, it is the policy of the Sultan to encourage the Jews, who alone of his subjects engage in foreign commerce, from which he derives the greater part of his revenue, and his only hold on them consists in the protection afforded to their religion. Interfere with their observances deliberately, and he is apprehensive of their abandoning these pursuits, and endeavouring to remove their wealth from the country. So long as Azora asserted her Jewish faith, he might take her life, but she was in no danger of any other indignity; and it is probably owing to the unswerving attachment of the Jews to their faith, even to martyrdom, and its consequent want of success, that this falseaccusation is so rarely resorted to. The enraged despot, incapable of admiring the heroic fortitude of his helpless captive, was incensed beyond measure by the failure of all his attempts to intimidate, or persuade her into compliance. Vacillating between his passion and his fears, he was tempted to violate the commands of the Koran, which forbids a Moslem to marry an infidel; deterred, on the other hand, by the danger of the experiment, especially at the present juncture, when the principal Arab chiefs were in rebellion, and it behoved him to secure the fidelity of his troops, whose attachment might be entirely alienated by any sacrilegious breach of the laws of religion. As a last resource, he determined to put in execution a plan he had often thought of in his moments of rage and disappointment. He resolved to expose her to the wild beasts, of which there were several in his menagerie; he doubted not that her terror would then overcome what he considered her obstinacy, and should this fail, her death was decreed. Among the wild beasts was a magnificent lion, this animal was comparatively tame, being kept well fed, and under his keeper's control. Trusting to his docility, the keeper had ventured to lead him about the town by a rope, he had on one occasion destroyed a child, and on another struck down and killed an unfortunate donkey with one blow of his enormous paw, by way of practice, and to show what he could do. It was to this enormous brute, that the lovely and fragile girl was to be exposed, and the Sultan could hardly believe that she would not at once embrace the Koran,to escape the horrible fate of being torn to pieces. Moody and slow he took his way to the M'Shouar, and ordered the keeper to attend and receive his commands. Here he found the principal Wezeer, Talb Jelool, who, after the usual obeisance, informed him that he had matters of importance to communicate. The Sultan took his seat, and gave his acquiescence with an emphatic "Bism' Illah." And the Wezeer producing his papers, sat at the foot of the carpet, and, waving his hand to the attendants, they immediately withdrew.
"May my lord's throne be exalted!" he said. "I have heard that the Arabs are marching northward; they have already passed through Suse and Draha, and menace the province of Rahamna; and behold here is a letter from the Kaïd of Teradant, which I will read to my lord the Sultan.
"'Praise be to the one God. To the great and mighty lord, the Khalifa of the Prophet, &c., &c., Mulai Abd Er Rahman, from his slave Abdallah Ibn Sadek, governor of Teradant. Be it known to my lord, that his rebel slave, Hamed Ibn Ishem, at the head of the tribes of Abu Sebah, Tuwat, Al Harib, and others, amounting to about ten thousand Arabs, have entered and overrun the province of Suse, carrying off flocks and camels, and levying tribute in the realm of our sovereign lord. Having only fifty horsemen, besides the militia of the town, my lord's servant was unable to take the field, against such large forces, and would humbly urge the necessity of sending a body of the black troops to stop their further depredations, andprotect this town, the walls of which are not strong enough to keep the enemy out, should they attack it. Peace! This 10th day of Saffer, 1248.'"
The Sultan could hardly keep patience during the perusal of this letter. "And has the slave dared," said he, "to attack our territories, as well as refuse us tribute? By the holy Prophet's tomb, the death of every dog of his tribe would ill atone for such an insult. Summon the Berebber tribes of the mountains. Send troops to the assistance of the Kaïd of Teradant! And as soon as we are in a position to take the field, we will scatter their hordes, and drive the remnants to their barren sands."
A soldier here entered, and prostrating himself, rose for permission to speak, and then said, "May it please my lord, the keeper of the wild beasts is in attendance."
"Let him appear," said the Sultan.
And he was immediately dragged in by two soldiers, who threw him violently on his face, and then allowing him to rise to his knees, left him to receive his orders. The keeper of the wild beasts was a Jew, for the Moors say, although they do not believe it, that a lion is of too noble a nature to injure a Jew. He was a brutal-looking fellow, with a cast in his eye,—this had procured him the name of Ain ed Djin, or "Demon-eye;" he was short and square, with a stunted grey beard, he wore the black cap, but had put on a white cloak, and had also fortified himself with copious libations of brandy to appear before the Sultan.
"Have you obeyed my orders, dog?" demanded the Sultan.
"May my lord live for ever!" said Demon-eye, "the lion has been without food nearly four-and-twenty hours, which (may my lord be preserved!) is a long fast, seeing he was accustomed to two sheep daily. If my lord (may he be exalted!) had seen him the other day knock down the donkey, and suck its blood, and afterwards crunch its bones, with as much ease as my lord (exalted of God) would a roasted quail." He had got thus far, with a grin of delight and intoxication on his inhuman countenance.
"Peace, infidel dog!" thundered the Sultan, "lest you forthwith share the same fate. Have we nought better to occupy us but to listen to thy misbegotten speech? I would fain try the truth of the proverb on thy vile carcase, and see whether a lion will eat a Jew. Keep the lion fasting, and have him taken to-morrow to the old Serai, inside the south wall."
"My lord shall be obeyed," said Ain ed Djin, in whom the first part of the Sultan's speech had caused a shudder, regaining his assurance, he continued, "When he has fasted forty-eight hours, he will give my lord (whose throne be exalted) satisfaction, and a fat infidel will be to him as a pistachio nut."
"Slave! Son of a cursed race," exclaimed the Sultan, "what dog's son art thou, that darest to pollute our ears with thy drunken words? Ho! the guards!" and making a sign to them as they entered, Demon-eye was seized and dragged out, perfectlysobered, and was soon taught by a severe and well-merited bastinado, administered with the leather thongs the soldiers wear for the purpose, to be more chary of his words in future; and when he arose writhing from his stripes, he was glad to make his escape and execute his orders.
I
tis very painful to record the fearful trials of this innocent and helpless girl, but truth demands it; and I indulge a hope, that, by drawing attention to the facts, I may enlist the sympathy of those who may have the power, and will exert their influence, for the amelioration of the condition of an unprotected race, and perhaps avert future similar outrages on our common humanity.
This new project of the Sultan soon became known through the town, and affected, with surprise and consternation, the friends who were working for Azora's deliverance. Ali had already some five-and-twenty of his followers in the town; these had introduced themselves as country Arabs with wood, vegetables, or fruit, for sale, while their horses were led by others personating horse-dealers. It is true that all strangers on entering the town were obliged to leave their guns at the gate with the guard till their exit; but this they evaded by carrying a second Moorish gun, while their own shorter pieces were smuggled in, in the loads orotherwise. Ali, however, did not feel himself strong enough for acoup-de-main, and was waiting anxiously for the chief, who, while his main body were plundering the provinces, was on his way with a chosen band, with the intention of carrying a foray to the very gates of Marocco, as well to intimidate his enemies as to aid at the same time, whether by stratagem or open force, in the redemption of his Pledge.
Ain ed Djin, a Jew himself, had informed Rachel and Ali, who had met him by appointment, of his orders, but could do nothing to help them. I will draw a veil over the sufferings of Azora's afflicted mother. Ali el Bezz was almost at his wits' end, not but that he would have destroyed every wild beast in the town rather than fail in his trust, but caution was absolutely necessary.
"Could you not poison this lion, O Jew?" said he.
"Doubtless, O Sheik!" said Demon-eye: "but there are three others."
"What will kill one will kill four," said Ali.
"And that is true, O my lord," said Demon-eye, "but then there are the panthers! O Sheik, look at these stripes upon my back. If one lion died, would here be still any skin remaining? If more lions died, how long would the Jew be alive? My head is not so beautiful as that of Rachel's daughter, but it is as useful to me; and, Inshallah, I mean to keep it. Besides, O Sheik!" and here his brutal facesoftened, "I love my lions, and Nasser is a king of lions, and he knows me. You Arabs love your horses."
A chord in the Arab's bosom vibrated in unison to the feeling in the breast of the Jew, and called up reminiscences, as it were the flash of light upon a picture; he was for a moment absent, and then his eyes beamed mildly on the degraded Jew, on whom he had previously looked with disgust. "God is great!" said Ali. "But where is this to take place, for I must find other means?"
"There is an old fondak," said Demon-eye, "about three hundred yards from the Rahamna gate; it is now seldom used, except when a cafila of black slaves comes in."
The Arab's face brightened. "It has a gate studded with iron, half open," said Ali hastily; "there is a mulberry-tree in the open space in front, and you can just see the top of the Kitibea above the houses. There is a water fountain under the mulberry-tree."
"You know it, O Sheik!" said Ain ed Djin. "But I hope the Rabbi's daughter will not be obstinate; better be a Moslem than eaten by a lion. I have seen these things before, but it never came to blood, for none can look on the face of a lion, with his eyes fixed on them, and no bars between, and not tremble and submit. I will delay to the last, to-morrow afternoon."
Ali had been ruminating, and heard little more than the end of this speech.
"O woman!" he said to Rachel, with a countenance which gave assurance to his words; "be of good cheer, God is merciful, your daughter is safe!"
The building above mentioned, and which was the same visited by Ali on his entrance into the town, related in a former chapter, was the arena chosen for the forthcoming ordeal. Around the centre court a massive colonnade, connected by Gothic arches, supported a roofed gallery, running above the building below; the aisles, formed by the pillars, had originally been divided into small arched rooms, intended for shops for merchants; most of these were now in ruins. The two ends were open, and at the end opposite the gateway, a double row of columns formed a deep recess under the gallery. The court-yard, long neglected, was overgrown here and there with brushwood and brambles. To this place, on the following day, Ain ed Djin removed his favourite Nasser; his heavy cage was placed upon a low truck, and dragged by a number of Jews pressed into the service. Unaccustomed to this mode of conveyance, and half famished, the lion made the crowd tremble with tremendous roars. He was at length safely lodged in a corner of the court-yard near the gate, and a cord fastened to the sliding door of the cage was carried to the gallery above.
It was late in the afternoon when the Sultan's cortege arrived: this was a signal for the crowd to disperse, their movements being accelerated by the sticksof the guards, and only a limited number of the more respectable people were admitted.
Azora in the meantime had been brought to the place in a covered litter in a state of mind impossible to describe, helpless, hopeless, wishing for death to relieve her from her misery. Passing through a crowded part of the bazaars, a ray of hope seemed to gleam upon her, as she heard a voice call out, "Is the black horse ready?" and the reply, "All is safe." It was an assurance that her friends were watchful; but nothing else occurred until she reached her destination.
A canopied seat had been prepared for the Sultan over the gateway within, and here he took his place surrounded by his officers and guards, while Azora was conducted to the end of the court-yard, and left standing in the recess under the colonnade. As the attendants left her, one of them loitered a minute and whispered, "Fear not, the lion shall not hurt you!" an assurance which could not affect her conviction that nothing short of a miracle could save her if the lion was let loose, and this attempt to raise in her heart a hope impossible of realization was only an aggravation of her sufferings.
One of the scribes in the Sultan's gallery now rose, and in a monotonous voice, as if repeating a lesson, said, "O woman, thou who hast apostatized from the faith of Islam, which thou didst acknowledge art thou ready to submit to the mercy of our lord the Khalifa, and make the profession, 'There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the Prophet of God?' Behold thelion is ready to be let loose to destroy the unbeliever." Here the deep, thundrous growling of the impatient animal came from the cage, to add emphasis to the exhortation of the Taleb.
The Sultan watched Azora eagerly to detect any sign of her wavering and appealing to his protection, but no indication of any change in her resolve met his eye. She stood absorbed, her hands clasped before her, and her eyes fixed on the ground. Suddenly rousing herself as she heard the blasphemy imputed to her, the spirit of the martyr became strong within her, she stood erect in her enthusiasm, and a halo of glory seemed visibly to surround her, as looking up with one hand aloft and the other pressed to her bosom, she exclaimed,—
"The Lord he is the God! The Lord he is the God!"
"Let loose the lion!" said the Sultan; and the door of the den was drawn up.
There was a dead silence. The lion first put his huge head cautiously forward, and looked about, but seeming ashamed of his fear he stepped boldly out and walked majestically to the middle of the space; here shaking out his mane to double its volume, he stood still,—a magnificent monster; then he looked slowly all round until his deadly eyes rested on the fragile girl. All held their breath, while the blood ran cold to every man's heart at this fearful sight.
Poor Azora, though prepared for the worst, seeing herself almost within the grasp of this powerful andmerciless brute, now frowning fiercely upon her, shook with a pang of terror, which the bravest man must have felt in her position. It could not shake her resolve of dying for her faith, but she mentally prayed to that God who had delivered the prophet from the lions, to aid her in her extremity. The lion at first appeared surprised at being offered a prey, to whose species he had been so long subject. He stood glaring on the unfortunate girl and lashing his sides with his tail, when his instinct suggesting to him that some cunning was necessary to secure his victim, he walked away, apparently regardless of her presence, until hid from her by one of the large columns among the ruins, when, taking advantage of its concealment, he turned short round, and, creeping a few paces, uttered a tremendous roar, and sprang with a terrific bound towards his intended victim. A cry of horror burst involuntarily from all who witnessed this inhuman scene!
Azora's nature was no longer able to bear up against the horrors of her situation; drawing her hands convulsively to her bosom, her eyes distended, and shrinking instinctively from his fatal spring she sunk senseless and fainting to the earth. It was the work of a moment; but before the lion reached her a double shot had sent two balls through his body, and the noble animal rolled over within five yards of her, pierced to the heart, and in the agonies of death. A natural feeling of relief came over the spectators notwithstanding their fanaticism, and they were probablynot displeased at the change of victims; but the Sultan could not contain his rage at this unexpected and daring interposition.
"Seize the traitor!" he shouted. "Five hundred gold pieces for the man who fired the shot!"
And the crowd poured in at the gate, some to search for the offender, and some to look at the dying lion.
Among these was poor Ain ed Djin, who sat down and took the enormous head of his pet on his knees till it had ceased to breathe. He made a shrewd guess at the author of his death, but though he loved the lion, his attachment to his race was paramount, and there was no danger of his betraying him.
Azora, as soon as she was restored, was sent back in the litter in which she came. The Sultan was convinced that his experiment was a complete failure, and, not prepared to carry further so illegal a mode of procedure, resolved to hand her over to the sentence of the law.
The parties searching the court-yard were attracted by a cloud of smoke resting on one of the thickets, and on searching the spot they discovered the well; and near its mouth they found a double gun, its butt on the ground, and the barrel resting on a forked stick planted in the earth, with a string attached to the triggers, and passing out into the court-yard. "El Aarb" (an Arab) passed from mouth to mouth, for they alone use double guns. A man now descended the well, but reported no egress, a mass of rock blockingup the passage into the underground canal. All these circumstances went to prove that the animal had been killed by a spring gun. This was reported to the Sultan as the fact, with which he was fain to be satisfied for the present. There was one in attendance, however, who was not so easily satisfied about the catastrophe of the lion's death as the Sultan; this was Abdslem: he and Hassan had not been so long plotting together without being acquainted with each other's secrets, and it was perfectly plain to him that the passage to the well had been made use of for bringing about the termination to the scene they had just witnessed. He knew of Hassan's repentance, and who but he was interested in saving Azora, and who else was acquainted with the passage? He had no doubt in his mind but that Hassan was the culprit, and his belief was confirmed on looking round and finding that he was absent. They had latterly avoided each other, but Abdslem's cupidity was excited by the offered reward of the Sultan; and while all were searching or busy on the spot, he quitted the fondak alone, and made his way to the town gate with the intention of intercepting Hassan at the pit outside the walls.
Hassan, who had been horrified at the ordeal he heard was preparing for Azora, had remained at home, but at length unable to restrain his anxiety with respect to the success of Ali's project for her deliverance, he had wandered away outside the town; and soon after arriving near the fosse he heard the reportof the Arab's gun, and he retired and sat down under a tree to wait for him. A quarter of an hour had passed and Ali came not, but presently hearing some one approach he turned round, and saw it was his former ally Abdslem; this alarmed Hassan on Ali's account, but before he could decide on the mode of getting rid of him, Abdslem addressed him,—
"We have travelled that road before together."
"What road, O unwelcome one?" said Hassan.
"Underground," said Abdslem, jeeringly.
"Where you will soon be, O evil-eyed one, if you do not go whence you came. I know not what you talk of."
"How should you, O poor man?" said Abdslem; "you know nothing of the wonderful case in the fondak? You cannot shoot lions; we do not know the well; and here you are taken in the fact?"
Hassan's eye was beginning to glow.
"Wilt thou not go thy ways, O accursed one? I want not thy company."
"I know it, O darweesh!" said Abdslem, "but I want yours. In the name of the Sultan I summon you. Follow me."
"Ha! ha! the Sultan! O son of a black father, go! Return—I follow not a slave."
Abdslem derived courage from the knowledge that if he killed Hassan, he would not only be justified but rewarded. He therefore advanced upon him, saying,—
"Come you must; it is the Sultan's command."
Hassan had sprung to his feet, Abdslem rushed upon him, and a struggle ensued; Abdslem was the stronger man, and coming prepared, his dagger was first in his hand, and after a short struggle both came to the ground, Hassan under.
"Will you surrender?" said Abdslem, holding down Hassan's dagger hand, while he raised his own to strike.
"Never!" grinned Hassan, glaring upon him and catching his uplifted arm.
Abdslem's whole attention was engaged in the struggle, and he was thus prevented from noticing the presence of Ali el Bezz, who during this time had emerged from the pit and approached them. But what was his dismay on hearing a voice repeat the warning of the Duquela gate, "Beware the Falcon's swoop!" and looking up terror-struck, he met the stern glance of his former prisoner, who stood over him, and before he could recover from his surprise Ali's ataghan was buried in his throat.
As Abdslem fell, Hassan arose.
"May you be rewarded, O my friend!" he said. "The slave was too strong for me; but Azora—is she saved?"
"Saved!" said Ali; "the lion is dead, and the Sultan's beard is defiled."
"And suppose the pan had flashed," said Hassan, with a shudder.
"Both shots would not have failed; the worst is, I have lost an old friend, for I was forced toleave my good gun, to deceive the Sultan's slipper-hunters."
"But," said Hassan, "why did you delay, they will find the well, and you will be pursued?"
"Dost thou see Sheik Ali's ears growing," he said, "that I should lock the door and give my enemy the key? Before I took my station I had filled up the passage with the exception of space for me to pass, and a big rock was loosened ready to shut that, so I waited when all was done to see if they intended to open the way. But, no! one came down—I could have touched him through the crevices, and he shouts, 'There is no passage; the rocks of creation are here; it is a trap gun.' Oh, that Moslems should be such fools; may their houses be desolate!"
"God is wonderful," said Hassan, "and this lying witness, is he not accursed? But stop! if I go now, and retract my perjury, there will be no witness against her."
"I see not, O friend, how that can help her, they have the writing sworn. But what think you the Sultan cares for your witness? his will is law."
"No! he dare not," said Hassan, "the witnesses must be present, or her blood will be on the people."
"Trust it not; the eagle wants no witness against the dove; but what shall we do with this?" said Ali, pointing to the body.
"Cast him into the pit," said Hassan, "he may be wanted, and I can find him; he knew the roadbefore, this is the last time he will use it;" and taking him between them they swung him over the side, and the body went crashing through the boughs to the bottom of the pit.
It was now getting late, and Ali promising to meet Hassan at his house after dark, they parted.
H
assanreturned to his home, a prey to remorse. Azora had escaped this time, but the final scene awaited her. Men's motives are of a mixed nature, and difficult to analyse. I do not assume that he was solely moved by the stings of conscience, or that he had any great horror of perjury in the abstract; but, however the customs of a country may modify the modes of expressing the feelings, and of acting under their guidance, there is no doubt that he entertained for Azora a pure and ardent love. Prompted by his false friend and urged on by his passion, he had adopted the only course which appeared to him capable of compassing his end, without calculating the obstacles which might arise, and which he could not foresee, and when the full view of the consequences of his act was forced upon him he was appalled. Not only to lose one he loved so deeply, but to feel that he, who would willingly have sacrificed his life for her, had been the means of bringing her to an awful and cruel death; it was more than his mind could bear. Azora's forgiveness was no relief to him in the bitterness of his grief; the more he felt the innocence and purity of her nature, the deeper he feltthe enormity of his own guilt, in devoting such an angel to destruction; reproaches, even curses, he could have borne, her gentleness and forgiveness were intolerable.
To-night, as he entered his dwelling, he felt a gloomy foreboding, as if some heavy retribution were hanging over him. His little sister,—a bright creature with hazel eyes and a laughing face,—ran to meet him. The care of this child had devolved upon him since the death of his parents, and she was now coming to the age when her playful and affectionate manners began to reward him for his care and protection; his little darling sprang joyfully into his arms, and kissed his cold lips; he clasped her to his breast, and felt a transient feeling of relief.
"Oh, how happy we might have been," he said, half aloud,—"lost!—lost!" and the conviction of his misery overpowered every other sensation. He smoothed back the silken tresses from her fair forehead, and gazed on her sweet face, talking almost involuntarily. "Once I was like you,—innocent,—but now—"
"Are you ill, brother dear?" said the child, putting its arms round his neck. "Brother, don't play with me, but brother is pale,—not well, and I don't want to play. If you are sick, I shall cry all night."
"No, love," said Hassan, shrinking from her innocent scrutiny, "I am not sick, but very tired; and now it is time for you to go to bed; is it not late?"
The child allowed itself to be put to bed quietly,in the adjoining room, the door of which was left ajar, that Hassan might hear if she wanted anything during the night. He was now alone, he tried in vain to make light of the weight, and cast off the gloom which oppressed his spirits, and he sat with his hands pressed to his forehead harrowed with inward suffering; presently a ghastly smile overspread his features, as a horrible thought presented itself to his mind, and he drew his dagger with a convulsive start. "Thus, then, I can escape this load of misery," said he, gazing at its keen tapering point. "Why should man live and suffer with such an antidote as this?—But stop! will not this add another crime to my account? And I may yet be of service to Azora. O Azora, Azora! what woe has not your love brought upon me? And alas! upon you. And who, when I am gone, will take care of this sweet child?" As these thoughts succeeded each other, his resolution gradually gave way, and with a shudder he hurled the weapon of death to the other end of the room. A shrill, prolonged scream of infant agony instantly burst on his ears; and as he sprang aghast to the spot, his little sister fell writhing at his feet transfixed by the deadly steel. The child had been impressed with the idea that her brother was ill; and when she heard him talking to himself, and so uneasy, with child-like curiosity she crept quietly from her bed, and had just entered the half-open door, when she was struck by the fatal dagger, and fell deluged in blood.
Hassan remained fixed to the spot, paralysed withhorror, his eyes starting from their sockets, his mouth open, his hands clenched, a petrified image of despair. For some minutes he seemed not to breathe; presently he dropped on his knees, he raised the child's head, and pressed his lips to hers; the blood oozed from the pressure and ran a crimson stream down her neck, staining her silken hair; his lips were damp with her blood; his brain, already shaken, could no longer bear up against the shock, gasping for breath he fell senseless on the floor. Gradually, after some time, sensation returned, but when it did, his reason had left him. He sat up, and looked round the room with a vacant stare, till his eye rested on the body of the child; this recalled the lost thread of his thoughts; snatching the dagger from the wound, he sprang to his feet with a heart-freezing yell, as he brandished it aloft.
"Ha! ha! ha! fiends, are ye content? No! I come! I come! Shower down upon me the burning rafters of hell!—O Azora, you are avenged! God, how my heart burns, it is like a ball of fire in my bosom, and this red-tempered steel will fuse, ere it pierce it. Lo, I come!"
His hand was already raised to accomplish his purpose, when Ali, who had just entered, rushed forward and wrenched the dagger from his grasp, in doing which he stumbled against the child.
"Hassan! what mean you? Whose work is this? Are you mad?"
Hassan sprang frantically forward—
"Mad, did you say?" he yelled; "mad! aye,mad! mad! mad!" and he dashed himself on the earth and howled hideously in a paroxysm of fury. Ali perceived at once that his reason had given way, and supposed that he had destroyed his sister in the blindness of his rage. Leaving him to exhaust himself where he lay, Ali removed the body to the adjoining room, and having washed away the stains from the floor, he sat down to consider the best course to adopt to prevent harm to Hassan or himself on account of the crime of the former. He was fearful of exciting Hassan by asking an explanation; but from this he was saved by Hassan himself, who now rose slowly from the ground, and looked with a long searching glance round the room. His appearance was frightful; his turban had fallen off, exposing his shaven head; his pallid face, stained with blood, contrasted with his black moustaches and glittering eyes; the veins in his neck and temples were swollen to bursting,—his whole face distorted. The stout heart of the Arab could not divest him of a superstitious misgiving, as he looked on the figure of his friend; he, lately so calm, now the prey of insanity.
Hassan pressed his hands to his eyes, to try and realise the past, and then stood wreathing and winding his fingers together.
"Horrid dream! what art thou?" he said, in a hollow voice, and turning to Ali, "O Moslem, let me remember; yes, she is safe. O Azora, thou art safe! Methought I returned home—home? My destiny was darkened—clouds and darkness were over me. Methoughtmy little darling flew into my arms—I kissed her. Ha! again! is it blood? No! no! I dream still! I laid her in her bed—she sleeps—no noise—she sleeps! I laid my burning brow on the table; I thought it would have burnt into it. When I lifted my eyes, Iblis stood before me. My dagger was in my hand. 'Strike!' he said." Here Hassan twisted his hands more eagerly, and his whole frame was trembling. "The keen blade glittered like a lambent moonbeam; I sprang to my feet. Satan avaunt! I cast it from me. Ha! what do I hear? the demoniac laugh of the retreating fiend, and the agonized cry of my murdered child. There she is, see, at my feet—bleeding—dead!"
Large drops followed one another down the brow and face of Hassan, but he was deadly calm, and seemed to repeat the words from memory, but to have no feeling of their meaning.
Ali, finding he did not relapse, took advantage of the pause to soothe his spirits and divert his thoughts—it was needless. His memory just recollected the bare outline of the scene, but without consciousness, and he did not even ask for his sister.
"God has smitten the oppressors of the innocent," muttered Ali, while Hassan fell into an apathetic stupor; reaction of the violent emotions which had so shaken him. Ali had now to consider what was best to be done; Hassan could no further co-operate with him, and for him to present himself to the authorities under any circumstances would ensure his destruction.Ali wrote on a piece of paper, "Hassan Ibn Ibrahim, possessed with an evil spirit, slew his sister," and after removing Hassan's dagger, and everything he might make use of to injure himself, he took the child's body, and, during the night, left it with the billet at the gate of the Cadi, knowing that, when discovered in the morning, inquiry would be made, the truth be apparent, and the affair hushed up.