That is to say, I may have seen her
once or twice, with Osman, when we happened to pass the veiled woman
and her husband on the street, and I believe she did stand still and
look after us. I thought, at the time, it was on Osman's account,
and probably it was. How could the rich lady have turned to look at
the poor lad Mohammed Ali? And now to other matters. Show me goods,
show me carpets, and I want the best and the handsomest. The carpet
is to lie where my mother's mat once lay, and on which she died; and
this spot cannot be too handsomely adorned. Therefore, give me a
costly carpet."
"Let it be just as you say," said the merchant, smiling. He then
called his servants, and ordered them to bring down his handsomest
carpets, and spread them out before the young captain, in order that
he might select one.
"You want nothing else, only a carpet?"
Mohammed turned his head a little to one side, and avoided meeting
the merchant's keen gaze. " O yes, a number of other things. I want
some table-ware, cups, glasses, and the like. I also want," he
continued talking rapidly, and with forced indifference, "I also
want a warm woollen cloak, such as women wear. I promised a cloak to
an old friend of my mother. Give me a warm woollen cloak."
The merchant made no reply. He only smiled significantly, and
brought out the goods; dark, plain goods, such as became an old
woman, and a friend of poor Sitta Khadra.
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