in her hand made entirely of pea-cocks' feathers, and permitted her to
sit down by her side and hold the little dwarf in her lap. At a later
day Irene discovered that this was a mark of supreme condescension.
During the next six days the damsel lived amidst mortal terrors. Her
companions envied her. The damsels of the harem do not love each other,
they can only hate. Every day she beheld the Sultan, whose gentle face
inspired involuntary respect, but the very idea of loving him filled her
soul with horror. The Sultan spent the greater part of his time with his
favourite wife, but it happened sometimes that he cast a handkerchief
towards this or that odalisk, which was a great piece of good fortune
for her, or the reverse--it all depends upon the point of view. The
damsel whom the Grand Seignior seemed to favour the most was a beautiful
blonde Italian girl; on one occasion this beautiful blonde damsel
neglected to cast her eyes down as they chanced to encounter the eyes of
the Sultana. The following day Irene could not see this damsel anywhere,
and on inquiring after her was told by her bedfellow in a whisper that
she had been strangled during the night. And oftentimes at dead of night
the silence would be broken by a shriek from the secret dungeon of the
Seraglio, followed by the sound of something splashing into the water,
and regularly, on the day following every such occurrence, a familiar
face would be missing from the Seraglio. All these victims were
self-confident slave-girls, who had been unable to conceal their joy at
the Sultan's favours, and therefore had been cast into the water. Nobody
ever inquired about them any more."

Janaki shivered all over.

"It is well that this is all a tale," he observed.

But Gül-Bejáze only continued her story.