CHAPTER XIII.
THE EMPTY PLACE.
Everything was now calm and quiet, and the world pursued its ordinarycourse; but far away among the Blue Mountains dwells a woman who knowsnothing of all that is going on around her, and who every eveningascends the highest summit of the hills surrounding her little hut andgazes eagerly, longingly, in the direction of Stambul, following withher eyes the long zig-zag path which vanishes in the dim distance--willhe come to-day whom she has so long awaited in vain?
Every evening she returns mournfully to her little dwelling, andwhenever she sits down to supper she places opposite to her a platterand a mug--and so she waits for him who comes not. At night she laysHalil's pillow beside her, and puts _their_ child between the pillow andherself that he may find it there when he comes.
And so day follows day.
One day there came a tapping at her window. With joy she leaps from herbed to open it.
It is not Halil but a pigeon--a carrier-pigeon bringing a letter.
Guel-Bejaze opens the letter and reads it through--and a second time shereads it through, and then she reads it through a third time, and thenshe begins to smile and whispers to herself:
"He will be here directly."
From henceforth a mild insanity takes possession of the woman's mind--aspecies of dumb monomania which is only observable when her fixed ideahappens to be touched upon.
At eventide she again betakes herself to the road which leads out of thevalley. She shows the letter to an old serving-maid, telling her thatthe letter says that Halil is about to arrive, and a good supper must bemade ready for him. The servant cannot read, so she believes hermistress.
An hour later the woman comes back to the house full of joy, her cheekshave quite a colour so quickly has she come.
"Hast thou not seen him?" she inquires of the servant.
"Whom, my mistress?"
"Halil. He has arrived. He came another way, and must be in the house bynow."
The servant fancies that perchance Halil has come secretly and she, alsofull of joy, follows her mistress into the room where the table hasbeen spread for two persons.
"Well, thou seest that he is here," cries Guel-Bejaze, pointing to theempty place, and rushing to the spot, she embraces an invisible shape,her burning kisses resound through the air, and her eyes intoxicatedwith delight gaze lovingly--at nothing.
"Look at thy child!" she cries, lifting up her little son; "take him inthine arms. So! Kiss him not so roughly, for he is asleep. Look! thykisses have awakened him. Thy beard has tickled him, and he has openedhis eyes. Rock him in thine arms a little. Thou wert so fond of nursinghim once upon a time. So! take him on thy lap. What! art thou tired?Wait and I will fill up thy glass for thee. Isn't the water icy-cold? Ihave just filled it from the spring myself."
Then she heaps more food on her husband's platter, and rejoices that hisappetite is so good.
Then after supper she links her arm in his and, whispering and chattingtenderly, leads him into the garden in the bright moonlit evening. Thefaithful servant with tears in her eyes watches her as she walks allalone along the garden path, from end to end, beneath the trees, actingas if she were whispering and chatting with someone. She keeps onasking him questions and listening to his replies, or she tells him allmanner of tales that he has not heard before. She tells him all that hashappened to her since they last separated, and shows him all the littlebirds and the pretty flowers. After that she bids him step into a littlebower, makes him sit down beside her, moves her kaftan a little to oneside so that he may not sit upon it, and that she may crouch up closebeside him, and then she whispers and talks to him so lovingly and soblissfully, and finally returns to the little hut so full of shamefacedjoy, looking behind her every now and then to cast another lovingglance--at whom?
And inside the house she prepares his bed for him, and places a softpillow for his head, lays her own warm soft arm beneath his head,presses him to her bosom and kisses him, and then lays her child betweenthem and goes quietly to sleep after pressing his hand once more--whosehand?
The next day from morn to eve she again waits for him, and at dusk setsout once more along the road, and when she comes back finds him oncemore in the little hut ... oh, happy delusion!
And thus it goes on from day to day.
From morn to eve the woman accomplishes her usual work, her neighboursand acquaintances perceive no change in her; but as soon as the sunsets she leaves everyone and everything and avoids all society, for nowHalil is expecting her in the open bower of the little garden.
Punctually she appears before him as soon as the sun has set. It hasbecome quite a habit with her already. She so arranges her work that shealways has a leisure hour at such times. Sometimes, too, Halil is in agood humour, but at others he is sad and sorrowful. She tells this tothe old serving-maid over and over again. Sometimes, too, she whispersin her ear that Halil is cudgelling his brains with all sorts of greatideas, but she is not to speak about it to anyone, as that might easilycost Halil his life.
Poor Halil! Long, long ago his body has crumbled into dust, Death can dohim no harm now.
And thus the "White Rose" grows old and grey and gradually fades away.Not a single night does the beloved guest remain away from her. Foryears and years, long--long years, he comes to her every evening.
And as her son grows up, as he becomes a man with the capacity ofjudging and understanding, he hears his mother conversing every eveningwith an invisible shape, and she would have her little son greet thisstranger, for she tells him it is his father. And she praises the son tothe father, and says what a good, kind-hearted lad he is, and shecompares their faces one with the other. He is the very image of hisfather, she says; only Halil is now getting old, his beard has begun tobe white. Yes, Halil is getting aged. Otherwise he would be exactly likehis son.
And the son knows very well that his father, Halil Patrona, was slainmany, many long years ago by the Janissaries.
THE END.
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The "GREENBACK" Series
OF
_Popular Novels_
BY AUTHORS OF THE DAY.
_Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, neat, 3s. 6d. each._
HELEN MATHERS.
CHERRY RIPE! (21) THE STORY OF A SIN. (22) EYRE'S ACQUITTAL. (23) JOCK O' HAZELGREEN. (24) MY LADY GREEN SLEEVES. (25) FOUND OUT. (26) THE LOVELY MALINCOURT. (39)
CURTIS YORKE.
THAT LITTLE GIRL. (8) DUDLEY. (9) THE WILD RUTHVENS. (10) THE BROWN PORTMANTEAU. (11) HUSH! (12) ONCE! (13) A ROMANCE OF MODERN LONDON. (14) HIS HEART TO WIN. (15) DARRELL CHEVASNEY. (16) BETWEEN THE SILENCES. (17) A RECORD OF DISCORDS. (20) THE MEDLICOTTS. (27) VALENTINE. (57)
MRS. LEITH ADAMS.
LOUIS DRAYCOTT. (1) GEOFFREY STIRLING. (2) BONNIE KATE. (3) A GARRISON ROMANCE. (40) MADELON LEMOINE. (46) THE PEYTON ROMANCE. (18)
MAY CROMMELIN.
FOR THE SAKE OF THE FAMILY. (49
) BAY RONALD. (50) LOVE KNOTS. (59)
J. S. FLETCHER.
OLD LATTIMER'S LEGACY. (7)
ROWLAND GREY.
BY VIRTUE OF HIS OFFICE. (44) THE POWER OF THE DOG. (53)
MRS. HERBERT MARTIN.
LINDSAY'S GIRL. (32) BRITOMART. (45)
JOHN MACKIE.
THE PRODIGAL'S BROTHER. (51)
DOROTHEA GERARD.
MISS PROVIDENCE. (56)
IZA DUFFUS HARDY.
A NEW OTHELLO. (4)
SOMERVILLE GIBNEY.
THE MAID OF LONDON BRIDGE. (5)
T. W. SPEIGHT.
THE HEART OF A MYSTERY. (28) IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT. (43)
MAJOR NORRIS PAUL.
EVELINE WELLWOOD. (6)
MRS. BAGOT HARTE.
WRONGLY CONDEMNED. (33)
LINDA GARDINER.
MRS. WYLDE. (36)
AGNES MARCHBANK.
RUTH FARMER. (38)
MRS. H. H. PENROSE.
THE LOVE THAT NEVER DIES. (48)
MRS. CONNEY.
JUDY A JILT. (54)
DR. PHILPOT CROWTHER.
THE TRAVAIL OF HIS SOUL. (58)
SCOTT GRAHAM.
A BOLT FROM THE BLUE. (42) THE GOLDEN MILESTONE. (19)
ESME STUART.
HARUM SCARUM. (41)
MRS. A. PHILLIPS.
MAN PROPOSES. (29)
MRS. E. NEWMAN.
THE LAST OF THE HADDONS. (30)
EASTWOOD KIDSON.
ALLANSON'S LITTLE WOMAN (31)
MARGARET MOULE.
THE THIRTEENTH BRYDAIN. (34)
ELEANOR HOLMES.
THROUGH ANOTHER MAN'S EYES. (35)
E. M. DAVY.
A PRINCE OF COMO. (37)
MARGARET PARKER.
THE DESIRE OF THEIR HEARTS. (47)
HADLEY WELFORD.
WHOSE DEED? (51)
GEO. KNIGHT.
THE WINDS OF MARCH. (55)
_Others in Preparation._
Jarrold & Sons, 10 & 11, Warwick Lane, E.C.
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