"What! Abd-el-Kader! How comes he here?"
"Oh! as a special favor, I suppose; he has a respite from his sad prison."
"What a splendid beard, and what keen black eyes!"
"No, his eyes are decidedly gray, but so shaded by his extraordinary lashes that they seem black. They say that he was more distinguished as a scholar, in Algeria, than as a soldier, statesman or priest. In fact, he is as erudite as an Arab can be, and his library, which is contained in two leathern trunks, accompanied him in all his wanderings prior to his submission."
"And what think you really induced him to surrender himself?"
"Policy of the deepest character, and worthy of Talleyrand, Metternich or Nesselrode, if we are to rely on the eloquent speech of Lamoricière in the Chamber, the other day."
"I remember. Bugeaud spoke first, and Lamoricière followed. He thought that the Arab Curtius leaped into the gulf because, by so doing, he was convinced he could injure French interests more than by his freedom. Well, perhaps he was right. He bids fair to be a hard bone of contention between the opposition and the Ministry."
"If I mistake not, Lamoricière disclaimed all responsibility for accepting the surrender, and placed it on the Governor-General, the young Duke, for whom the Ministry is liable?"
"Yes; and Guizot announced that he would send the Emir back to Alexandria, could security be given against his return to Algeria."
"As to the Emir's surrender, at which you wonder, the real cause is said to have been not policy, but the universal passion—love."