isit a humble dwelling wherein my sister resided. She--poor
silly maiden! was so struck by his almost god-like beauty--so dazzled by
his fascinating address--so enchanted by the sound of his voice, that
she surrendered up her heart suddenly and secretly--surrendered it
beyond all power of reclamation. Since then she has never ceased to
ponder upon this fatal passion--this unhappy love; she has nursed his
image in her mind, until her reason has rocked with the wild thoughts,
the ardent hopes, the emotions of despair--all the conflicting
sentiments of feeling, in a word, which so ardent and so strange a love
must naturally engender. Enthusiastic, yet tender; fervent, yet melting
in her soul; and while she does not attempt to close her eyes to the
conviction that she is cherishing a passion which is preying upon her
very vitals, she nevertheless clings to it as a martyr to the stake! Oh!
my lord, canst thou marvel if I feel deeply for my unhappy sister?"

"But wherefore doth she remain thus unhappy?" demanded Ibrahim-Pasha.
"Surely there are means of conveying to the object of her attachment an
intimation how deeply he is beloved? and he must be something more than
human," he added, in an impassioned tone, "if he can remain obdurate to
the tears and sighs of a beauteous creature, such as thy sister
doubtless is."

"And were he to spurn her from him--oh! your highness, it would kill
her!" said the page, fixing his large, eloquent eyes upon the
countenance of the grand vizier. "Consider his exalted rank and her
humble position----"

"Doth she aspire to become his wife?" asked Ibrahim.

"She would be contented to serve him as his veriest slave," responded
Constantine, now strangely excited, "were he but to look kindly upon
her: she would deem herself blest in receiving a smile from his lips, so
long as it was bestowed as a reward for all the tender love she bears
him."

"Who is this man that is so fortunate as to have excited so profound an
interest in the heart of one so beautiful?" demanded the grand vizier.
"Name him to me--I will order him to appear before me--and, for thy
sake, I will become an eloquent pleader on behalf of thy sister."

Words cannot express the joy which flashed from the eyes of the page,
and animated his handsome though softly feminine countenance, as,
casting himself on his knees at the feet of Ibrahim Pasha, he murmured,
"Great lord, that man whom my sister loves, and for whom she would lay
do