"I hear you, my daughter," replied the sheik, in a quiet tone. "I
expected you, for I know my Masa's heart well."

"Masa," murmured Mohammed; "what a beautiful, glorious name! It
falls like music upon my ear, and makes my heart beat strangely.
What does this mean? Allah, protect thy servant!"

Against his will, he still listens to this heavenly voice that now
entreats her father to yield, to submit to the inevitable. But the
sheik, as she continued her supplications, commanded silence, and
forbade her to burden his heart with her tears.

"Life, my daughter, is but a short span; but eternity is long, and
woe to those who have not done their duty during that short period!
They will suffer for it throughout eternity, for Allah is strong in
his wrath, and just in his punishment. I have sworn that I will
watch over the welfare of my community while I live, and Sheik Alepp
will keep his word to the end of his life."

"But, father, beloved father!" urged the maiden, "you have also
sworn to be a parent and a guardian to me all the days of your life.
Keep this oath, too; save your life, in order to save mine. Then you
must know, my father, that Masa will not remain on the earth if you
leave it. Your child has naught upon this earth but you; early was
my mother taken, and it has become lonely in Sheik Alepp's harem. My
father said: 'I will not take in a strange woman: no second wife
shall ever fill the place in my heart that has been wholly
consecrated to my dear Masa. My only child shall not have to suffer
from the severity and caprice of a strange woman.' This was nobly
said and nobly done, my father, to devote your entire life to your