into her breast along with his kisses? And yet, he is not the
only one in Baalbek who returned from America with phthisis. O,
but that thought is horrifying. Impossible--he can not believe
it.

But whether it be from you or from another, O Khalid, there is the
ghost of it beckoning to you. Look at it. Are those the cheeks, those
the eyes, this the body which a year ago was a model of rural charm
and beauty and health? Is this the compensation of love? Is there
anything like it dreamt of in your philosophy? There she is, who once
in the ruined Temple of Venus mixed the pomegranate flower of her
cheeks with the saffron of thy sickly lips. Wasted and dejected broken
in body and spirit, she sits by your bedside nursing her baby and
coughing all the while. And that fixed expression of sadness, so
habitual among the Arab women who carry their punks and their children
on their backs and go a-begging, it seems as if it were an hundred
autumns old, this sadness. But right there, only a year ago, the
crimson poppies dallied with the laughing breeze; the melting rubies
dilated of health and joy.

And now, deploring, imploring, she asks: "Will you not come to me, O
Khalid? Will you not let me nurse you? Come; and your mother, too,
will live with us. I am so lonesome, so miserable. And at night the
boys cast stones at my door. My husband's relatives put them to it
because I would not give them the child. And they circulate all kinds
of calumnies about me too."

Khalid promises to come, and assures her that she will not long remain
alone. "And Allah willing," he adds, "you will recover and be happy
again."

She rises to go, when Mrs. Gotfry enters the room. Khalid introduces
his cousin as his dead bride. "What do you mean?" she inquires. He
promises to explain. Meanwhile, she goes to her room, brings some
sweetmeats in a round box inlaid with mother-of-pearl for Khalid's
guests. And taking the babe in her arms, she fondles and kisses it,
and gives its mother some advice about suckling. "Not whenever the
child cries, but only at stated times," she repeats.

So much about Khalid's mother and cousin. A few days after, when he is
able to leave his room, he goes to see them. His cousin Najma he would
take with him to Cairo. He would not leave her behind, a prey to the
cruelty of loneliness and disease. He tells her this. She is
overjoyed. She is ready to go whenever he says. To-morrow? Please
Allah, yes. But--

Please Allah, il