"Then may Allah accompany you! " said she, with a profound sigh.
"But let me say one thing more. When you behold my husband Mourad,
up there, among the blessed, standing under the green flag of the
prophet, say to him: `Your wife has done her duty, she gave Osman
the warning! She is innocent of our death!' and say to him also that
his wife remains faithful to him in all things, and that she will
love him alone throughout life. And now, farewell, Osman Bey
Bardissi, and think of me in your death-hour!"
She raised her hands as if in a blessing, and then turned slowly
away, drew aside the curtain, and stepped out of the tent to where
her slaves and eunuchs awaited her.
Slowly she walked down the pathway between the tents, towing to the
right and to the left to the Mamelukes, who threw themselves down
before her in profound reverence. But when she passed by the tents
of the Turks she veiled her countenance more closely, and her eyes
glanced angrily through the delicate fabric.
"Traitors are they all!" murmured she, as she entered the tent where
she dwelt with the women of Cousrouf, the second Mameluke chieftain.
"Yes, traitors, and our Mamelukes will be their victims! Yet I will
endeavor to save as many of them as possible!"
While Sitta Nefysseh sat sorrowing on her cushion, paying but little
attention to the songs which the slaves sang, and to the dances with
which they sought to entertain their mistress, the joyous
festivities of the Mamelukes and Turks were still going on.
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