And though Death with his gloomy visage stood at the
entrance of this grotto ready to destroy me, what care I? And though
your father die and men bury him, what care we? We live and we
love."
He pressed her passionately to his heart. But now it was she who
drew him back to the world, to reality.
"No, Mohammed, my father must not die. Go to him, step to his
bedside and say to him: 'Pray and wait. When the gloomy stranger who
has purchased your Masa and made her his property shall have
embarked in his ship and sailed, your daughter will return to you in
love and happiness. Wait, father. Do not join my dear mother; wait
for your Masa.' Speak to him thus, and I know he will live to see
his Masa, again. No, I am not afraid. The ghins will not enter if
Masa kneels at the entrance and prays to the prophet who told men
that they were to love one another, and that love alone could secure
happiness. No, I am not afraid. And see, Mohammed, day is breaking;
the sun will soon shine in upon me, and then Masa will sing the song
taught her by Djumeila that speaks of love and stars. I am no longer
afraid, Mohammed, for I am your beloved, and the girl whom a hero
has chosen for his own; how could she lack courage?"
For the second time a loud report now resounded throughout the cave.
"I know what that means," said Mohammed, anxiously. "It is Osman
warning me to be on my guard.
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