Ada also
observes this change with dismay, and calls her sons to her side.
Aroused by her voice, Mohammed awakens from his stupor, and waves
his hand as if to ward off some spectre.
"And what have you brought me, Ismail?--and you, Toussoun?"
"We have also brought you keepsakes from Cavalla," they reply. "We
endeavored to make of ourselves what you were when a boy. We were
told that you had been a famous climber, that no rock was too high,
and the entrance to no cave too narrow, for you. And we discovered a
large cave down by the shore, near Praousta. It was necessary to
creep through a long, narrow passage to get into it, and what do you
think we found there? It seemed as if people had lived there--there
were cushions and all sorts of things scattered around on the floor.
Oh, we often enjoyed ourselves in the cave, singing songs, and
eating fruit we had taken there with us. However, when we visited
the cave for the last time, we determined, each of us, to bring you
a keepsake from it, and here are the things we have brought. I bring
you a beautiful little cup I found there."
"And I bring you a piece of cloth--a beautiful gold-embroidered
cuffei which I found in the cave. It is very handsome, only there
are a few spots, as though blood had dropped on it."
And, like Ibrahim, the two boys also lay the packages they had
brought at their father's feet.
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