urse,
not in size or luxury of detail.

Here the cadi himself met his guests, and conducted them to the suite of
chambers on the second storey, which were devoted to the ladies. At the
principal entrance to these they were received by the cadi's wife, and,
with much display of friendliness and affection, were conducted into the
harem--that mysterious retreat which, in a Mohammedan household, is
never entered by mortal man, except the lord thereof.

It was Mrs Langley's first visit to such a scene, and, although she had
been prepared for something magnificent, the gorgeous nature of
everything far surpassed her expectations. The rooms, indeed, were
small, being, like those of all Moorish dwellings, rather long and
narrow, with recesses or antechambers. Some of these latter had
dome-shaped roofs, with little coloured glass skylights, such as we have
already described, and were delightfully snug retreats. The walls and
ceilings of all the apartments were profusely ornamented, and the
hangings and furniture were of the richest material.

On a silken couch, at the farther end of one of these small apartments,
sat the bride, Zara, youngest daughter of the cadi, and a lovely girl of
nineteen. Poor Zara! Her history--not by any means an uncommon one in
that land--goes to prove that Mohammedan women, far more than English,
have need of a "Women's Rights Society."

Zara was already a widow with two beautiful children! Her first
husband, to whom she had been married without her inclination being
consulted, had been strangled.

It was afterwards proved that he was innocent of the crime for which he
had suffered, but that gave very little pain to the consciences of those
who had strangled him, partly because their consciences were callous,
and partly because they regarded the event as one of the decrees of
"Fate."

After his death it became necessary that another husband should be found
for Zara. She, poor creature, would have been thankful to have remained
in a state of widowed felicity; but this was not deemed proper by her
wealthy relatives. Of course it was not difficult to find a suitor
where a pretty girl was the hook, and a large dower the bait. Sidi Omar
came forward, and all the relatives said that it was an excellent
match--all save one, Zara's eldest sister, Hanyfa.

Hanyfa was--to speak plainly--a bad girl. She was one of the wives of a
great officer of state--in other words, a particularly noted pirat