'And this service?' said I.
'Is to take charge of my wife in my absence.'
'I beg pardon—did I hear you aright? to take charge of——'
'My wife,' continued Hussein, grinding his teeth; 'there is none other here to whom I can apply. The Moolah Moustapha, curses on him! is—I know not where; and there is no Turkish officer in the castle, save myself. You are a beyzadeh (gentleman's son) as well as a soldier. I can trust you.'
'But your wife, Yuze Bashi—'tis a perilous trust, especially in Turkey.'
'I have no resource,' said he, stamping his feet with rage; 'none—I must leave this in ten minutes, and cannot apply to my soldiers, and still less to yours, to act for me in this delicate matter.'
'Excuse my plainness—but I do not like the duty.'
'I like you the better for this sincerity, and trust you the more.'
'But——'
'But me no buts! You are like Sadd Ebn Kais, who said to the Prophet on his march to Tabuc, "Give me leave to stay behind, and expose me not unto temptation;" because, as the Koran hints, he dared not trust himself among the black-eyed girls of Greece. Your scruples are just; but remember, they who do good shall obtain good, even in this world.'