through her brain, and it was evident that she had seized it and was
feeding on it.

Orion, sitting opposite to her, noticed this; still, he did not
understand what her beseeching gaze had to say to him, what it asked of
him as she pressed her hand on her breast, and looked into his eyes with
such urgent entreaty that it went to his very heart.

The interpreter ceased; but what he had read had had a great effect on
the judges. The Kadi's benevolent face expressed extreme apprehension,
and the contents of the letter were indeed such as to cause it. It ran
as follows:

"After waiting for you a long time in vain, I must at last make up my
mind to go; and how much I still had to say to you. A written farewell."

Here a few lines were effaced, and then came the--fatal and quite legible
conclusion:

"How far otherwise I had dreamed of ending this day, which has been for
the most part spent in preparations for the flight of the Sisters; and I
have found a pleasure in doing all that lay in my power for those kind
and innocent, unjustly persecuted nuns. We must hope for the best for
them; and for ourselves we must look to-morrow for an undisturbed
interview and a parting which may leave us memories on which we can live
for a long time. The noble governor Amru is, among the Arabs, such
another as he whom we mourn was among the Egyptians . . ." Here the
letter ended; not quite three lines were wanting to conclude it.

The Kadi held the tablets for a few minutes in his hand; then looking up