"What easier, my lord, than to proclaim her innocence?"
"And so lose my own head! Ah! the infidel's gratitude. Shall I perjure myself and brave the Sultan? Is not Azora in his hareem? If I were not so poor, I have friends at court, whom I might pay for their interest and intercession. But without money—Moors are Jews—no better."
"You shall have gold," exclaimed Rachel, deceived by his apparent feeling. "I have some hundred dollars; do for us what you can, and blessings attend my lord. When and where shall I find you?"
"An hour after evening prayer, I shall be here," said he, scarcely able to conceal his satisfaction. "It shall be a sacred trust, and may it be the means of serving your cause."
Rachel's heart was too full for utterance, she kissed the hem of his dress, and rose to depart, when the door was thrown rudely open, and Abd el Aziz unceremoniously entered, without the usual "Peace be with you!" (It is the height of impropriety for a Moor to enter another's house uninvited.)
"So, you are Abdslem Ibn Hadj," said he.
"But whose dog's son are you," cried Abdslem, springing up and laying his hand on his gun, "that dare to break in on the sanctity of my dwelling?"
"You shall presently repent of your abuse, O son of a black slave! but now I advise you, to make your hand and gun more distant relations if you care for your head; which is likely soon to ornament the Bab el Kasba, by the side of a friend of yours. Do you know that?"
"The Sultan's seal!" exclaimed the astonished Jewess, while Abdslem started back terror-struck; his dark cheek blanched and his thick lip quivered as he saw the near punishment of the crimes of which his conscience accused him; and when Abd el Aziz, satisfied with the impression he had produced, ordered him to follow, he obeyed almost unconsciously. In the street he was seized by the soldiers who were in waiting and dragged to prison, and until he should be finally disposed of the following temporary punishment was inflicted on him. His hands were filled with quicklime and salt, and then sewn up in raw hide, which, as it dries, binds the hand like a vice, while the caustic contents eat into the flesh and cause the most excruciating pain. He was then heavily ironed and thrown into a damp dark cell, where we will leave him to meditate on his misdeeds, while we accompany Yusuf to the Desert.