colouring, plus brain and charm.

Not even love had she brought it seemed, or obedience, for had not her
lord and master uncomplainingly allowed her to keep the door of her
apartments closed, neither had he insisted on the dyeing of her golden
hair to that henna shade, of which so much is thought in the land of
black hirsute coverings.

The feasting and rejoicings of the past ten days had surpassed anything
ever dreamt of on the banks of the Nile.

There had been tournaments and exhibitions of strength and agility and
horsemanship in the day, and dancing by the most famous dancers in the
land by night--dances, let me tell you, in spite of what you gather by
hearsay or ocular proof in such cesspools as Port Said and kindred
towns, which were lessons in modesty compared to that blush-producing
exercise called the Tango and its descendants.

The harem was a cage of excited love-birds to whom were duly brought
detailed accounts of the nightly and daily doings. Never had there
been such a commotion within the somewhat over-decorated walls, nor had
the great mirrors reflected such sheen of wondrous silks, and satins,
and flashing jewels; whilst sweetmeats, coffee, and cool drinks were
the order of the day for the sustenance and refreshment of the
never-ending stream of high-born ladies, who from far and near and in
all kinds of covered vehicles hastened with the excuse of greeting the
wife of the great Arab, to gather first hand delectable morsels of
gossip anent her strange methods of procedure, and her master's still
stranger leniency towards her.

"Truly," remarked Fatima (which is not her real name), the
thirteen-year-old and latest addition to the harem, and therefore
favourite of the old Sheikh, as for the eighth time she changed her
costume, and with the tip of her henna pink finger skilfully removed a
too liberal application of kohl from about her right and lustrous eye,
whilst chatting with her maid. "Truly, I say, the man is either
besotted with love, or suffering from some strange malady. Nigh upon
the passage of ten days and nights, and yet he bends not the woman to
his will, and she more luscious than a peach from the southern wall.
Thinkest thou it's love, oh Fuddja? And thinkest thou the whiteness of
my bosom shows to advantage against the gold of my neckband?"

CHAPTER XXXV

Having just wrested a promise from Hahmed that he would take her one
moonlight night to the summit of the Great Pyramid, in s