CHAPTER XII.
Katharina slept little and rose very early, as was her habit, whileHeliodora was glad to sleep away the morning hours. In this scorchingseason they were, to be sure, the pleasantest of the twenty-four, andthe water-wagtail usually found them so; but to-day, though a splendidIndian flower had bloomed for the first time, and the head gardenerpointed it out to her with just pride, she could not enjoy it and beglad. It might perish for aught she cared, and the whole world with it!
There was no one stirring yet in the next garden, but the tall leechPhilippus might be seen coming along the road to pay a visit to thewomen.
A few swift steps carried her to the gate, whence she called him. Shemust entreat him to say nothing of her last night's expedition; butbefore she had time to prefer her request he had paused to tell her thatthe widow of the Mukaukas, overcome by alarm and horror, had followedher husband to the next world.
There had been a time when Katharina had been devoted to Neforis,regarding her as a second mother; when the governor's residencehad seemed to her the epitome of all that was great, venerable, andillustrious; and when she had been proud and happy to be allowed to runin and out, and to be loved like a child of the family. The tears thatstarted to her eyes were sincere, and it was a relief to her, too, tolay aside the gay and defiantly happy mien which she wore as a mask,while all in her soul was dark, wild, and desperate.
The physician understood her grief; he readily promised not to betrayher to any one, and did not blame her, though he again pointed out thedanger she had incurred and earnestly insisted that every article ofclothing, which she or Heliodora had worn, must be destroyed. The subtlegerm of the malady, he said, clung to everything; every fragment ofstuff which had been touched by the plague-stricken was especiallyfitted to carry the infection and disseminate the disease. Shelistened to him in deep alarm, but she could satisfy him on this point;everything she or her companion had worn had been burnt in the bath-roomfurnace.
The physician went on; and she, heedless of the growing heat, wanderedrestlessly about the grounds. Her heart beat with short, quick, painfuljerks; an invisible burthen weighed upon her and prevented her breathingfreely. A host of torturing thoughts haunted her unbidden; they were notto be exorcised, and added to her misery: Neforis dead; the residence inthe hands of the Arabs; Orion bereft of his possessions and held guiltyof a capital crime.
And the peaceful house beyond the hedge--what trouble was hanging overits white-haired master and his guileless wife and daughter? A stormwas gathering, she could see it approaching--and beyond it, like anothermurky, death-dealing thunder-cloud, was the pestilence, the fearfulpestilence.
And it was she, a fragile, feeble girl--a volatile water-wagtail--whohad brought all these terrors down on them, who had opened thesluice-gates through which ruin was now beginning to pour in on allaround her. She could see the flood surging, swelling--saw it lappinground her own house, her own feet; drops of sweat bedewed her foreheadand hands from terror at the mere thought. And yet, and yet!--If she hadreally had the power to bind calamity in the clouds, to turn the tideback into its channel, she would not have done so! The uttermost thatshe longed for, as the fruit of the seed she had sown and which shelonged to see ripen, had not yet come to pass--and to see that she wouldendure anything, even death and parting from this deceitful, burning,unlovely world.
Death awaited Orion; and before it overtook him he should know who hadsharpened the sword. Perhaps he might escape with his life; but theArab would not disgorge what he once had seized, and if that youngand splendid Croesus should come out of prison alive, but a beggar,then--then.... And as for Paula! As for Heliodora! For once her littlehand had wrenched the thunderbolts from Zeus' eagle, and she would findone for them!
The sense of her terrible power, to which more than one victim hadalready fallen, intoxicated her. She would drive Orion--Orion who hadbetrayed her--into utter ruin and misery; she would see him a beggar ather feet!--And this it was that gave her courage to do her worst; this,and this alone. What she would do then, she herself knew not; that layas yet in the womb of the Future. She might take a fancy to do somethingkind, compassionate, and tender.
By the time she went into the house again her fears and depression hadvanished; revived energy possessed her soul, and the little eavesdropperand tale-bearer had become in this short hour a purposeful and terriblewoman, ready for any crime.
"Poor little lamb!" thought Philippus, as he went into Rufinus' garden."That miserable man may have brought pangs enough to her little heart!"
His old friend's garden-plot was deserted. Under the sycamore, however,he perceived the figures of a very tall young man and a pretty woman,delicate, fair-haired, and rather pale. The big young fellow was holdinga skein of wool on his huge, outstretched hands; the girl was windingit on to a ball. These were Rustem the Masdakite and Mandane, both nowrecovered from their injuries; the girl, indeed, had been restored tothe new life of a calm and understanding mind. Philippus had watchedover this wonderful resuscitation with intense interest and care. Heascribed it, in the first instance, to the great loss of blood from thewound in her head; and secondly, to the fresh air and perfect nursingshe had had. All that was now needful was to protect her againstagitation and violent emotions. In the Masdakite she had found a friendand a submissive adorer; and Philippus could rejoice as he looked at thecouple, for his skill had indeed brought him nothing but credit.
His greeting to them was cheery and hearty, and in answer to hisenquiry: "How are you getting on?" Rustem replied, "As lively as a fishin water," adding, as he pointed to Mandane, "and I can say the same formy fellow-countrywoman."
"You are agreed then?" said the leech, and she nodded eager assent.
At this Philippus shook his finger at the man, exclaiming: "Do not gettoo tightly entangled here, my friend. Who knows how soon Haschim maycall you away."
Then, turning his back on the convalescents, he murmured to himself:"Here again is something to cheer us in the midst of all thistrouble-these two, and little Mary."
Rufinus, before starting on his journey, had sent back all the crippledchildren he had had in his care to their various parents; thus theanteroom was empty.
The women apparently were at breakfast in the dining-room. No, he wasmistaken; it was yet too early, and Pulcheria was still busy laying thetable. She did not notice him as he went in, for she was busy arranginggrapes, figs, pomegranates and sycamore-figs, a fruit resemblingmulberries in flavor which grow in clusters from the trunk of thetree-between leaves, which the drought and heat of the past weeks hadturned almost yellow. The tempting heap was fast rising in an elegantmany-hued hemisphere; but her thoughts were not in her occupation, fortears were coursing each other down her cheeks.
"Those tears are for her father," thought the leech as he watched herfrom the threshold. "Poor child!"--How often he had heard his old friendcall her so!
And till now he had never thought of her but as a child; but to-day hemust look at her with different eyes--her own father had enjoined it.And in fact he gazed at her as though he beheld a miracle.
What had come over little Pulcheria?--How was it that he had nevernoticed it before?--It was a well-grown maiden that he saw, movinground, snowwhite arms; and he could have sworn that she had only thin,childish arms, for she had thrown them round his neck many a time whenshe had ridden up and down the garden on his back, calling him her finehorse.
How long ago was that? Ten years! She was now seventeen!
And how slender, and delicate, and white her hands were--those hands forwhich her mother had often scolded her when, after building castles ofsand, she had sat down to table unwashed.
Now she was laying the grapes round the pomegranates, and he rememberedhow Horapollo, only yesterday, had praised her dainty skill.
The windows were well screened, but a few sunbeams forced their way intothe room and fell on her red-gold hair. Even the fair Boeotians, whom hehad admired in his student-days at Athens, had no such glor
ious crown ofhair. That she had a sweet and pretty face he had always known; but now,as she raised her eyes and first observed him, meeting his gaze withmaidenly embarrassment and sweet surprise, and yet with perfect welcome,he felt himself color and he had to pause a moment to collect himselfbefore he could respond with something more than an ordinary greeting tohers. The dialogue that flashed through his mind in that instant beganwith sentences full of meaning. But all he said was:
"Yes, here I am," which really did not deserve the hearty reply:
"Thank God for that!" nor the bewitching embarrassment of theexplanation that ensued: "on my mother's account."
Again he blushed; he, the man who had long since forgotten his youthfulshyness. He asked after Dame Joanna, and how she was bearing hertrouble, and then he said gravely: "I was the bearer of bad newsyesterday, and to-day again I have come like a bird of ill-omen."
"You?" she said with a smile, and the simple word conveyed so sweet adoubt of his capacity for bringing evil that he could not help saying tohimself that his friend, in leaving this child, this girl, to hiscare, had bequeathed to him the best gift that one mortal can deviseto another: a dear, trustful, innocent daughter--or no, a youngersister--as pure, as engaging, and as lovable as only the child of suchparents could be.
While he stood telling her of what had happened at the governor's house,he noted how deeply, for Paula's and Mary's sake, she took to heart thewidow's death, though Neforis had been nothing to her; and he decidedthat he would at once make Pulcheria's mother acquainted with her deadhusband's wishes.
All this did not supplant his old passion for Paula; far from it--thattortured him still as deeply and hotly as ever. But at the same time hewas conscious of its evil influence; he knew that by cherishing it hewas doing himself harm--nay a real injury since it was not returned.He knew that within reach of Paula, and condemned to live with her, hecould never recover his peace, but must suffer constant pangs. It wasonly away from her, and yet under the same roof with Joanna and herdaughter, that he could ever hope to be a contented and happy man; buthe dared not put this thought into words.
Pulcheria detected that he had something in reserve, and feared lest heshould know of some new impending woe; however, on this head he couldreassure her, telling her that, on the contrary, he had something inhis mind which, so far at least as he was concerned, was a source ofpleasure. Her grieved and anxious spirit could indeed hardly believehim; and he begged her not to lose all hope in better days, asking herif she had true and entire trust in him.
She warmly replied that he must surely feel that she did; and now, asthe others came into the room, she nodded to her mother, whom she hadalready seen quite early, and offering him her hand shook his heartily.This had been a restful interval; but the sight of Paula, and the newshe had to give her, threw him back into his old depressed and miserablemood.
Little Mary, whose cheeks had recovered their roses and who looked quitewell again, threw her arms round Paula's neck as she heard the eviltidings; but Paula herself was calmer than he had expected. She turnedvery pale at the first shock, but soon she could listen to him withcomposure, and presently quite recovered her usual demeanor. Philippus,as he watched her, had to control himself sternly, and as soon aspossible he took his leave.
It was as though he had been fated once more to see with agonizingclearness what he had lost in her; she walked through life as thoughborne up by lofty feeling, and a thoughtful radiance lent her noblefeatures a bewitching charm which grieved while it enchanted him.
Orion a prisoner, and all his possessions confiscated! The thought hadhorrified her for a little while; but then it had come to her that thiswas just as it should be--that what had at first looked like a dreadfuldisaster had been sent to enable her love to cast off its husks, toappear in all its loftiness and purity, and to give it, by the help ofthe All-merciful, its true consecration.
She did not fear for his life, for he had told her and written to herthat Amru had been paternal in his kindness; and all that had occurredwas, she was sure, the work of the Vekeel, of whose odious and cruelcharacter he had given her a horrible picture that day when Rufinus hadgone to warn the abbess.
When Philippus had left his friends, he sighed deeply. How differenthe had found these women from what he had expected. Yes, his old friendknew men well!
From trifling details he had succeeded in forming a more accurate ideaof Pulcheria than the leech himself had gained in years of intimacy.Horapollo had foreseen, too, that the danger which threatened theMukaukas' son would fan Paula's passions like a fresh breeze; andJoanna, frail, ailing Joanna! she had behaved heroically under the lossof the companion with whom she had lived for so many years in faithfullove. He could not help comparing her with the wretched Neforis; whatwas it that enabled one to bear the equal loss with so much moredignity than the other? Nothing but the presence of the tender-heartedPulcheria, who shared her sorrow with such beautiful resignation,such ready and complete sympathy. This the governor's widow had whollylacked; and how happy were they who could call such a heart their own!He walked through the garden with his head bent, and looking neither tothe right hand nor the left.
The Masdakite, who was still sitting with Mandane under the sycamore,as indifferent to the torrid heat as she was, looked after him, and saidwith a sigh as he pointed to him:
"There he goes. This is the first time he ever said a rude word to youor to me: or did you not understand?"
"Oh yes," said she in a low voice, looking down at her needlework.
They talked in Persian, for she had not forgotten the language which hermother had spoken till her dying day.
Life is sometimes as strange as a fairy-tale; and the accident wasindeed wonderful which had brought these two beings, of all others, atthe same time to the sick room. His distant home was also hers, and heeven knew her uncle--her father's brother--and her father's sad history.
When the Greek army had taken possession of the province where theyhad lived, the men had fled into the woods with their flocks and herds,while the women and children took refuge in the fortress which defendedthe main road. This had not long held out against the Byzantines, andthe women, among them Mandane with her mother, had been handed over tothe soldiers as precious booty. Her father had then joined the troops torescue the women, but he and his comrades had only lost their lives inthe attempt. To this day the valiant man's end was a tale told in hisnative place, and his property and valuable rose gardens now belonged tohis younger brother. So the two convalescents had plenty to talk about.
It was curious to note how clearly the memories of her childhood werestamped on Mandane's mind.
She had laid her wounded head on the pillow of sickness with a darkenedbrain, and the new pain had lifted the veil from her mind as a stormclears the oppressive atmosphere of a sultry summer's day. She loved tolinger now among the scenes of her childhood--the time when she hada mother.--Or she would talk of the present; all between was like anight-sky black, and only lighted up by an awful comet and shiningstars. That comet was Orion. All she had enjoyed with him and sufferedthrough him she consigned to the period of her craziness; she had taughtherself to regard it all as part of the madness to which she had beena victim. Her nature was not capable of cherishing hatred and she couldfeel no animosity towards the Mukaukas' son. She thought of him as ofone who, without evil intent, had done her great wrong; one whom shemight not even remember without running into peril.
"Then you mean to say," the Masdakite began once more, "that you wouldreally miss me if Haschim sent for me?"
"Yes indeed, Rustem; I should be very sorry."
"Oh!" said the other, passing his hand over his big head, on whichthe dense mane of hair which had been shaved off was beginning to growagain. "Well then, Mandane, in that case--I wanted to say it yesterday,but I could not get it out.--Tell me: why would you be sorry if I wereto leave you?"
"Because--well, no one can have all their reasons ready; because youhave always been kind to me; and be
cause you came from my country, andtalk Persian with me as my mother used."
"Is that all?" said the man slowly, and he rubbed his forehead.
"No, no. Because--if once you go away, you will not be here."
"Aye that is it; that is just the thing. And if you would be sorry forthat, then you must have liked being here--with me."
"And why not? It has been very nice," said the girl blushing and tryingnot to meet his eyes.
"That it has--and that it is!" cried Rustem, striking his palm with theother huge fist. "And that is why I must have it out; that is why, if wehave any sense, we two need never part."
"But your master is sure to want you," said she with growing confusion,"and we cannot always remain a burthen on the kind folks here. I shallnot work at the loom again; but as I am now free, and have the scrollthat proves it, I must soon look about for some employment. And astrong, healthy fellow like you cannot always be nursing yourself."
"Nursing myself!" and he laughed gaily. "I will earn money, and enoughfor three!"
"By your camels always, up and down the country?"
"I have done with that," said he with a grin. "We will go back to ourown country; there I will buy a good piece of pasture land, for myeldest brother has our little estate, and you may ask Haschim whether Iunderstand camel-breeding."
"But Rustem, consider."
"Consider! Think this, and think that! Where there's a will there's away. That is the upshot of it all. And if you mean to say that beforeyou buy you must have money, and that the best may come to grief, allI can tell you is.... Can you read? No? nor I; but here in my pocketI have my accounts in the master's own hand. Eleven thousand, threehundred and sixty drachmae were due to me for wages the last time wereckoned: all the profit the master had set down to my credit sinceI led his caravan. He has kept almost all of it for me; for food wasallowed, and there was almost always a bit of stuff for a garment tobe found among the bales, and I never was a sot. Eleven thousand, threehundred and sixty drachmae! Hey, little one, that is the figure. And nowwhat do you say? Can we buy something with that? Yes or no?"
He looked at her triumphantly, and she eagerly replied: "Yes, yesindeed; and in our country I think something worth having."
"And we--you and I--we will begin a quite new life. I was seventeen whenI first set out with my master, and I was twenty-six last midsummer. Howmany years wandering does that make?"
They both thought this over for some time; then Mandane said doubtfully
"If I am not mistaken it is eight."
"I believe it is nine," he exclaimed. "Let us see. Here, give me yourlittle paw! There, I begin with seventeen, that is where I started.First your little-finger--what a mite of a thing, and then the rest." Hetook her right hand and counted off her fingers till he ended with thelast finger of the left. The result puzzled him; he shook his head,saying: "There are ten fingers on both hands, sure enough, and yet itcannot be ten years; it is nine at most I know."
He began the counting, which he liked uncommonly, all over again; butwith the same result. Mandane said it was but nine, she had counted itup herself; and he agreed, and declared that her little fingers must bebewitched. And this game would have gone on still longer but that sheremembered that the seventeen must not be included at all, and that heought to begin with eighteen. Rustem could not immediately take this in,and even when he admitted it he did not release her hand, but went onwith gay resolution:
"And you see, my girl, I mean to keep this little hand--you may pull itaway if you choose--but it is mine, and the pretty little maid, and allthat belongs to it. And I will take you and both your hands, bewitchedfingers and all, home with me. There they may weave and stitch as muchas you like; but as man and wife no one shall part us, and we will leada life such a life! The joys of Paradise shall be no better than a rapon the skull with an olive-wood log in comparison!"
He tried to take her hand again, but she drew it away, saying in deepconfusion and without looking up: "No, Rustem. I was afraid yesterdaythat it would come to this; but it can never, never be. I amgrateful--oh! so grateful; but no, it cannot be, and that must be theend of it. I can never be your wife. Rustem."
"No?" he asked with a scowl, and the veins swelled in his low forehead."Then you have been making a fool of me!--as to the gratitude you talkof...."
He stood up in hot excitement; she laid her hand on his arm, drew himdown on to the seat again, and ventured to steal an imploring look intohis eyes, which never could long flash with anger. Then she said:
"How you break out! I shall really and truly be very grieved to partfrom you; cannot you see that I am fond of you? But indeed, indeed itwill never do, I--oh! if only I might go back, home, and with you. Yes,with you, as your wife. What a proud and happy thought! And how gladlywould I work for us both--for I am very handy and hard-working, but..."
"But?" he repeated, and he put his big, sun-burnt face close to hers,looking as if he could break her in pieces.
"But it cannot be, for your sake; it must not be, positively, certainly.I will not make you so bad a return for all your kindness. What! haveyou forgotten what I was, what I am? You, as a freeman, will soon havea nice little estate at home, and may command respect and reverence fromall; but how different it would be if you had a wife like me at yourheels--if only from the fact that I was once a slave."
"That is the history of it all!" he interrupted, and his brow cleared."That is what is troubling your dear little soul! But do you not knowwho and what I am? Have I not told you what a Masdakite is?
[Eutychius, Bishop of Alexandria thus describes the communistic doctrine of Masdak: "God has given to men on earth that which is of the earth to the end that it may be divided equally among them, and that no more falls to the lot of one than another. And if one hath more than is seemly of money or wives or slaves or movable goods, we will take it from him to the end that he and the rest may be equal."]
We Masdakites believe, nay, we know, that all men are born equal, andthat this mad-cap world would be a better place if there were neithermasters nor servants; however, as things are, so they must remain. Thegreat Lord of Heaven will suffer it yet for a season; but sooner orlater, perhaps very soon, everything will be quite different, and it isour business to make ready for the day of equality. Then Paradise willreturn on earth; there will be none greater or less than another, but weshall all walk hand-in-hand and stand by each other on an equal footing.Then shall war and misery cease; for all that is fair and good on earthbelongs to all men in common; and then all men shall be as willing togive and to help others, as they now are to seize and to oppress.--Wehave no marriage bond like other people; but when a man loves a womanhe says, 'Will you be mine?' and if her heart consents she follows himhome; and one may quit the other if love grows cold. Still, no marriedcouple, whether Christian or Parsee, ever clung together more faithfullythan my parents or my grandparents; and we will do the same to the end,for our love will bind us firmly together with strong cords that willlast longer than our lives.--So now you know the doctrine of our masterMasdak; my father and grandfather both followed it, and I was taughtit by my mother when I was a little child. All in our village wereMasdakites; and there was not a slave in the place; the land belonged toall in common and was tilled by all, and the harvest was equallyshared. However, they no longer receive strangers, and I must seek forfellow-believers elsewhere. Still, a Masdakite I shall always remain;and, if I were to take a slave for my wife, I should only be acting onthe precepts of the master and helping them on. But as for you, thecase does not apply to you, for you are the child of a brave freeman,respected in all the land; our people will regard you as a prisoner ofwar, not as a slave. They will look up to me as your deliverer. And if Ihad found you, just as you are, the meanest of slaves and keeping pigs,I would have put my hand in my wallet at once and have bought yourfreedom and have carried you off home as my wife--and no Masdakite whosaw you would ever blame me. Now you know all about it, and there, Ihope, is an end of your
coyness and mincing."
Mandane, however, still would not yield; she looked at him with eyesthat entreated his pity, and pointed to her cropped ears.
Rustem shrugged his shoulders with a laugh. "Of course, that too, intothe bargain; You will not let me off any part of it! If it had been youreyes now, you would not have been able to see, and no countryman can dowith a blind wife, so I should leave you where you are. But you, littleone, have hearing as sharp as a bird's? And what bird--pretty littlethings--did you ever see with ears, unless it were a bat or a nastyowl?--That is all nonsense. Besides, who can see what you have lost nowthat Pulcheria has brought your hair down so prettily? And do not youremember the head-dress our women wear? You might have ears as long asa hare's, and what good would it do you?--no one could see them. Just asyou are, a lily grown like a cypress, you are ten times sweeter to lookat than the prettiest girl there, if she had three or even four ears.A girl with three ears! Only think, Mandane, where could the third eargrow?"
How heartily he laughed, and how glad he was to have hit on this jestand have turned off a subject which might so well be painful to her! Buthis mirth failed of its effect, and only brought a silent smile to herlips. Even this died quickly away, and in its place there came such asad, pathetic expression, as she hung her pretty head, that hecould neither carry on the joke nor reproach her sharply. He saidcompassionately, with a little shake of the head:
"But you must not look like that, my pigeon: I cannot bear it. What isit that is weighing on your little soul? Courage, courage, sweetheart,and make a clean breast of it!--But no! Do not speak. I can spareyou that! I know, poor little darling--it is that old story of thegovernor's son."
She nodded, and her eyes filled with tears; and he, with a loud sigh,exclaimed: "I thought as much, I was right, poor child!"
He took her hand, and went on bravely:
"Yes, that has given me some bad hours, too, and a great deal to thinkabout; in fact, I came very near to leaving you alone and spoiling myown happiness and yours too. But I came to my senses before it wastoo late. Not on account of what Dame Joanna said the day beforeyesterday--though what she says must be true, and she told me thatall--you know what--was at an end. No; my own sense told me this time;for I said to myself: Such a motherless, helpless little thing, a slave,too, and as pretty as the angels, her master's son took a fancy to her,how could she defend herself? And how cruelly the poor little soul waspunished!--Yes, little one, you may well weep! Why, my own eyes are fullof tears. Well, so it had to be and so it was. You and I and the LordAlmighty and the Hosts of Heaven--who can do anything against us?--Soyou see that even a poor fool like me can understand how it all cameabout; and I do not accuse you, nor have I anything to forgive. It wasjust a dreadful misfortune. But it has come to a good end, thank God Iand I can forget it entirely and for ever, if only you can say: 'It isall over and done with and buried like the dead!'"
Before he could hinder her, she snatched his hand, to her lips withpassionate affection and sobbed out:
"You are so good! Oh! Rustem, there is not another man on earth so goodas you are, and my mother will bless you for it. Do what you will withme! And I declare to you, once for all that all that is past and gone,and only to think of it gives me horror. And it was exactly as you say:my mother dead, no one to warn me or protect me,--I was hardly sixteen,a simple, ignorant creature, and he called me, and it all came over melike a dream in my sleep; and when I awoke...."
"There we are," he interrupted and he tried to laugh as he wiped hiseyes. "Both laid up with holes in our heads.--And when I am in myown country I always think the prettiest time is just when the hardwinter-frost is over, and the snow melted, and all the flowers in thevalleys rush into bloom--and so I feel now, my little girl. Everythingwill be well now, we shall be so wonderfully happy. The day beforeyesterday, do you know, I still was not quite clear about it all. Yourtrouble gave me no peace, and it went against the grain-well, you canunderstand. But then, later, when I was lying in my room and the moonshone down on my bed..." and a rapt expression came into his facethat strangely beautified his harsh features, "I could not help askingmyself: 'Although the moon went down into the sea this morning, doesthat prevent its shining as brightly as ever to-night, and bringing acooler breeze?' And if a human soul has gone under in the same way, mayit not rise up again, bright and shining, when it has bathed and rested?And such a heart--of course every man would like to have its love allto himself, but it may have enough to give more than once. For, as Iremembered, my mother, though she loved me dearly, when another childcame and yet another gave them the best she had to give; and I was nonethe worse when she had my youngest sister at the breast, nor was shewhen I was petted and kissed. And it must be just the same with you.Thought I to myself: though she once loved another man, she may stillhave a good share left for me!"
"Yes, indeed, Rustem!" she exclaimed, looking tearfully but gratefullyinto his eyes. "All that is in me of love and tenderness is for you--foryou only."
At this he joyfully exclaimed:
"All, that is indeed good hearing! That will do for me; that is what Icall a good morning's work! I sat down under this tree a vagabond anda wanderer, and I get up a future land-holder, with the sweetest littlewife in the world to keep house for me."
They sat a long time under the shady foliage; he craved no more than togaze at her and, when he put the old questions asked by all lovers, tobe answered with lips and eyes, or merely a speechless nod. Her hands nolonger plied the needle, and the pair would have smiled in pity onany one who should have complained of the intolerable heat of thisscorching, parching forenoon. A pair of turtle doves over their headswere less indifferent to the sun's rays than they, for the birds hadclosed their eyes, and the head of the mother bird was resting languidlyagainst the dark collar round her mate's neck.