Consider
this, Masa, and I will conduct you out into life again as soon as he
shall have left the harbor. The whole earth shall then be our
paradise. Let us, therefore, wait and be patient."
She stood there thoughtfully; she, too, was awakened from her dream,
and life with its cares and anxieties had laid its hold on her.
"How is my father? " asked she, anxiously. "O Mohammed, I have
forgotten him and his sufferings since you have been with me. You
are silent. He is dead. Oh, grief for his daughter has killed my
good father! "
"No, Masa! he is not dead, but he is ill. I do not deny it, grief
has gnawed at his heart. Therefore, let us hope that our happiness
will restore him to health. And to-morrow he will behold our
happiness when I bring you to him, for you will be free, Masa. as
soon as the ship has sailed."
"I shall never be free," she cried out, aloud. "He has purchased me,
and I shall remain his property. O Mohammed, my soul shudders, for I
am forsworn before Allah. By Allah and the spirit of my mother have
I sworn that I would return and restore to him his property. I am
forsworn, and therefore, Mohammed, when you leave me, the ghins come
and flutter about me, pursuing me everywhere and whispering in my
ear: 'You are lost and damned, for you have forsworn yourself by the
spirit of your mother.' And then I fall on my knees and pray to the
welis to guard and protect me in my terror and anxiety.
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