"No we are strong, for we are in the right," said the cadi. "We cannot allow justice to be set at defiance, and the noblest of the women of Cairo to be shamefully insulted. The people look to us, their representatives, to protect them, and woe to us if we fail to discharge our duty! Come, let us to the mosque, and there render to the people an account of what we have done."
"Do this at your peril!" cried Mustapha. "O cadi, the viceroy is resolute and defies us with his troops. Let me at least make an attempt to settle the matter peaceably."
"Let him do so," cried the others. At last, the cadi consented to wait until the oualy should have seen the viceroy.
"If he liberates Sitta Nefysseh, and allows you to conduct her through the streets, will you be satisfied?"
"Not satisfied, but we will demand nothing more," said the cadi, "although the viceroy should be required to confess, publicly, that the accusation is unjust."
"That is too much. This the viceroy cannot and will not do," cried the oualy. "Be contented if he sets the Sitta at liberty, and allows you to show her to the people."
"But we demand, in addition," said the cadi, "that he with draw his police from her house."
"That he has already done," said the oualy, smiling. "Not finding what they sought, the soldiers have quietly with drawn."
"Then I shall go at once to the viceroy, and endeavor to soften his severity," cried Mustapha Aga. "Await my return here."
Mustapha hastened to the viceroy's apartment. In a few minutes he returned, his countenance radiant with delight.