Let me pass, do not detain me! Let me
return to my father's house. Masa must obey her father and master.
Remove your hand from my shoulder. It does not beseem a stranger to
touch a chaste maiden with his impure hand. Let me pass."
"You say I am your enemy, your father's enemy. Believe me, Masa, I
am not your enemy, not your father's enemy. An evil destiny has
ordained that Mohammed Ali should be the instrument, the sword of
justice, that he should grieve and wound her he would so gladly
shield. The evil ghins have also ordained that I should carry out
the law and assume a threatening attitude toward your father. I must
submit to what Allah ordains, and proceed in the line of my duty.
But, Masa, you shall know that I am neither yours nor your father's
enemy. You must know that I would shed my heart's blood to make
undone that which I have commenced. O Masa, had I sooner beheld
these eyes, that now look upon me with the brilliancy of the stars
in heaven, had I sooner beheld the countenance that now beams upon
me with the brightness of the young day, never would my mother's son
have assumed a threatening attitude toward your father, never would
Mohammed have undertaken to enforce the law against him. True, the
evil ghins have brought this about, but hearken to me, Masa, and
consider well that your father's welfare is at stake."
"I will not hear you," said she, tremblingly.
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