vered in sand upon it; on either side was
a chair; but it was upon a cushion on the floor that Damaris seated
herself, with her back against the canvas drapery of the wall,
motioning the Arab to a cushion near her, whilst her eyes swept the
loose cotton tunic, the _kaleelyah_ or head-kerchief, which almost
completely hid the face, the great white mantle and the sandals upon
the naked feet.

Oh! the game of make-believe they played, those two with the
jewel-hilted, razor-edged dagger of love between them.

There fell a silence.

And then the fortune-teller spoke in his own tongue, and too absorbed
were they in the game of make-believe to notice that he made use of
neither sand nor stars nor the lines upon her hands, which were clasped
above her heart, as he read her future in her eyes.

"Two paths lie before thee, O woman, and both stretch, through the
kingdom of love.

"The one to thy right hand has been marked out upon the Field of
Content by feet bound in the sandals of custom and convention. There
is shade upon this path, for, behold, the scorching sun of passion may
not penetrate the leaves of the trees of tranquillity; the storm breaks
not, neither do the biting winds of fear, nor the drenching torrents of
desire, encompass those who walk thereon.

"The river, the slow, full-blossomed river of patience, flows ever
beside it, on its way to the Ocean of Life in which all waters must
mingle in eternity."

There fell a silence, broken by the swaying, throbbing music from the
distant ball-room, causing the girl suddenly to stretch out her hands,
upon which shone the ring, and the man to stretch out his, though he
touched not hers at all.

"And to the left?"

"To the left, O woman whose eyes are like unto the pools of Lebanon at
night, to thy left, lies the desert. The desert, where the feet are
blistered by the gritting sands of passion and the eyes are blinded in
desire. The vast plain where knowledge walks hand-in-hand with death;
where the footprints of horror, fear, starvation, thirst, which are but
the footprints of jealousy and love desired and fulfilled, mark the
sands for one little second and then are gone; the desert, where there
is no shade, no cool waters, no content, no peace until the wanderer
lies still, with sightless eyes turned towards Eternity."

"And if a woman's feet trod upon it?"

"Then will she cut her feet upon the stones of pain; then will the
scorpion of bitter experience sti