k of the girl, or
of her relationship to one placed near him; and his face (which he
unmasked with a sigh of relief when he and his friend were alone) did
not change as he listened, or asked questions about the services
Maieddine would render the Cause. At first he seemed to doubt the
possibility of keeping such promises, some of which depended upon the
Agha; but Maieddine's enthusiasm inspired him with increasing
confidence. He spoke freely of the great work that was being done by the
important societies of which he was the head; of what he had
accomplished in Oran, and had still to accomplish; of the arms and
ammunition smuggled into the Zaouia and many other places, from France
and Morocco, brought by the "silent camels" in rolls of carpets and
boxes of dates. But, he added, this was only a beginning. Years must
pass before all was ready, and many more men, working heart and soul,
night and day, were needed. If Maieddine could help, well and good. But
would the Agha yield to his influence?

"Not the Agha," Maieddine answered, "but the Agha's people. They are my
people, too, and they look to me as their future head. My father is old.
There is nothing I cannot make the Ouled-Sirren do, nowhere I cannot bid
them go, if I lead."

"And wilt thou lead in the right way? If I give thee thy desire, wilt
thou not forget, when it is already thine?" the marabout asked. "When a
man wears a jewel on his finger, it does not always glitter so brightly
as when he saw and coveted it first."

"Not always. But in each man's life there is one jewel, supreme above
others, to possess which he eats the heart, and which, when it is his,
becomes the star of his life, to be worshipped forever. Once he has seen
the jewel, the man knows that there is nothing more glorious for him
this side heaven; that it is for him the All of joy, though to others,
perhaps, it might not seem as bright. And there is nothing he would not
do to have and to keep it."

The marabout looked intently at Maieddine, searching his mind to the
depths; and the face of each man was lit by an inner flame, which gave
nobility to his expression. Each was passionately sincere in his way,
though the way of one was not the way of the other.

In his love Maieddine was true, according to the light his religion and
the unchanging customs of his race had given him. He intended no wrong
to Victoria, and as he was sure that his love was an honour for her, he
saw no shame in taking