"Tut! Woman, you never saw the stars shine on the Balkans. They do shine there, though, like the very eyes of Allah. A woman with such eyes would frighten the Padishah himself."
Kala Hanoum took courage at this first evidence of interest on the part of the officer, and plied her advantage.
"And her teeth are as white as the snows in the grotto of Slatiza—"
"The grotto of Slatiza? You mean some bear's cave. But the snows are white there, whiter and purer than anywhere else on earth, except as I once saw them, so red with blood, there in the Pass of Slatiza. But how know you of Slatiza, my good woman?"
"And altogether she is as fair as the bride of Sigismund of Hungary," said Kala, without regarding his question.
"And who was she, Hanoum?" asked the man, with curiosity fully aroused.
"Why, Elizabeth Morsiney, of course."
The officer turned fully toward the woman, and scanned closely her features as if to discover something familiar. Was there not some hint to be picked from these words?
"Hanoum, who told you to say that?"
The woman in turn studied his face before she replied. She would learn whether the allusions had excited a pleasant interest, or roused antagonism in him. It required but a moment for her to discover that Morsinia had given her some clue that the man would willingly follow, so she boldly replied: