to Allah in that I have found her worthy to wait upon you, and
who also prepares some dishes for your refreshment. You are not
hungry, and you do not wish her presence! Then shall she not disturb
you."

And Jill found herself alone, upon which she took stock of herself in a
long mirror which stretched from floor to ceiling, and hurriedly
removed her outer garments.

CHAPTER XXIV

It was a very beautiful girl who stood by the fire listening to the
intense silence which precedes the dawn. The golden shimmering garment
fell from her shoulders in soft folds, clinging here and there as
though it loved the beautiful form it covered; her feet slipped in and
out of the golden mules, in which, try as she would, she could not
walk; her hair fell in two great plaits far below her knees; she was
perfumed with the perfumes of Egypt, than which there is no more to say.

And she was afraid.

There was absolutely no sound, save for the fall of a charred log which
sounded like a pistol shot, the rustle of her raiment, which sounded
like the incoming tide of some invisible sea, and the quick intake of
her breath, which might have meant unadulterated terror, and--did.

She shivered slightly, for of a sudden she saw a woman's face in a
corner unreached by the light of the lamp. A long brown hand drew back
the coarse hair, which curled and tangled under a veil, black brows
frowned down on great eyes, which looked at her steadily, but the
mouth, crimson as blood, parted in a smile wonderful to behold in its
understanding, as Jill called softly:

"Speak, woman! who are you?"

But when the silence remained unbroken, and the girl, rushing swiftly
across the room, touched just ordinary wood, she looked quickly round
for escape; then hesitating, raised her hands and clapped them softly;
raised them again when the silence remained unbroken, dropped them and
once more shook with terror, which was really fatigue, when a something
rustled behind, being in truth the catching of her garment on the
fretted edge of a table; then once more she clapped her hands as she
whispered, so low that the words hardly seemed to carry beyond the
firelight:

"Hahmed! Hahmed!"

Whereupon there was a faint rustle, the swinging to and fro of the
curtain door, and the man stood before her. Not a sound broke the
stillness, not a movement caused a flicker to the name of the shaded
hanging lamp, which, just above the girl's head, threw down the light