"It is as I expected. He hath attempted to strike me to earth, and had
it not been for this stranger, I should have been murdered. Three days
ago I gave thee certain instructions--carry them out."
"We will, O Lady of Great Beauty," they both replied.
"Then remove him."
The two black giants opened the small door by which I had entered, and
almost before the old Arab could mumble a protest, they had hurried him
out and down into the dark subterranean passage that led away into the
unknown maze below.
"That course is my only chance of escape," she said, turning to me in
explanation, when the door had closed. "Had I fallen, thou too must
have perished, for thy food in the secret chamber could not have lasted
long," she panted, holding her hand to her breast as if in pain.
"I have to thank thee for rescuing me from death," I said. "I had no
idea who was my deliverer until I overheard thy conversation."
"But thou didst not obey the instructions I left thee in my letter," she
said in a tone of reproach. "Searching for a means of exit, it seemeth,
brought thee unto the Chamber of Assembly; hence my disgrace and thine
own peril."
"But thine husband--whither have they taken him?"
"To the chamber in which thou hast remained hidden these few days.
Before he is placed there, he will be rendered unconscious, so that he
may not know of the secret entrance. There will he remain while I reach
a place of safety."
"Merely detained?" I asked dubiously.
"Yes. Though in his wrath he tried to kill me, I bear him no malice,
for when I get back to mine own people, I shall be safe. If he
discovers how to get out of his prison, then he will live. If not"--and
she shrugged her shoulders.
"Though thou art his wife, thou dost not appear to regret thy
departure."
"Why should I, when I have been detained here over a year against my
will? If thou only knewest the dreary life a woman leadeth in the hands
of a brute she hates and despises--ah!" and she shuddered.
"Then thou wilt now regain freedom?" I said, surprised.
"Yes. For many moons have I waited in patience for this moment, and at
last I have accomplished what I sought. Already the preparations are
being made. My two trusty slaves will return when their work hath been
accomplished, and in an hour camels will be packed in readiness for our
journey."
"Our journey? Dost thou intend that I should accompany thee?" I asked.
"Certainly. To disguise thyself as a female slave, veiled and
enshrouded by a haick, is thine only chance of escape. _La bodd annak
tarooh maaki_!" ["You must go with me"] and she sank back again upon
her divan, as if the exertion had utterly exhausted her.
"Thou art stronger than when I found thee lying as one dead in the ruins
of the great Palace of the White Sultan," she exclaimed, as she lay
stretched among her cushions, with her bright, beautiful eyes looking up
to mine. "Dost thou feel well enough to withstand the fatigue of
travel?"
"Yes, quite," I answered. "But ought we not to prepare for flight
immediately?"
"There is no need for haste," she answered. "This is mine own private
apartment where none dare enter, so take thine ease, for we must journey
far before _el maghrib_."
All trace of her agitation had now disappeared, and as we chatted
calmly, I asked, "Why didst thou take compassion upon me--a stranger?"
"I had accompanied two of the wives of the man who hath held me in
hateful bondage on a portion of their journey towards Assiou, and in
returning we halted to rest under the shadow of the Hall of the Great
Death. There I discovered thee, and, in order to give thee succour, was
compelled to resort to the expedient of placing thee within the secret
chamber. Some time previously I had heard that thou wert journeying
south."
"Who told thee? What didst thou know of me?"
"I knew that thou, a Roumi, hadst undertaken to reach Agadez in order to
perform a secret mission, and that thou hadst proved loyal and true to
the woman who loved thee. For her sake as well as for thine I snatched
thee from certain death, and if Allah giveth us His mercy and blessing,
we both shall now regain our freedom."
"Art thou aware of the name of the woman to whom I am betrothed?" I
inquired, in amazement.
"She is--or was--called Zoraida, and was known to our people as the
Daughter of the Sun."
"Thy people? Then thou art of the tribe of the Ennitra?" I exclaimed.
"True," she answered, with a smile. "I am the daughter of those who
have so long and eagerly sought thy destruction."
"But what of Zoraida? Tell me; is she still alive?" I asked anxiously.
"Alas! I am uncertain. Here in this my prison only strange and vague
rumours have reached me. Once I heard that she had been murdered in
Algiers, but soon afterwards that report brought by the caravans was
denied, and since then much curious gossip regarding her hath been
circulated. The last I heard was, that, disguised as a camel-driver,
she had followed thee to Agadez."
"To Agadez?" I cried. "How long ago did that astounding news reach
thee?"
"Early last moon. One of my slaves heard it while travelling with some
of the women to Assiou. I am inclined to regard it, however, like so
many other rumours, as mere idle talk of the bazaars, for only a few
days before that, I heard of her holding sway at the palace of our lord
Hadj Absalam."
"Canst thou tell me nothing authentic?" I asked, disappointedly.
"Alas! nothing," she answered, with a sigh. "Our Lalla Zoraida is
mighty and of wondrous beauty, but the mystery that surroundeth her hath
never been penetrated."