"Because in a degree we have placed ourselves in your power, having spoken treason."
"I care not whether it be treason or not," replied Aphiz; "it was such as answered to the feelings of my own heart in every word. Betray you! I will die to achieve the object you name."
"This is singular," said Selim, surprised at his earnestness.
"It would not seem so had I dared to tell you my story at first."
"Then you know the girl?" asked the physician and Selim, in a breath.
"Know her? I have been her playmate from childhood. We have loved and cherished each other until our very souls seemed blended into one."
"Then how came she separated from you, and now in the Sultan's harem?" asked the Armenian.
"Ay," continued Selim, "how was it that I saw her offered for sale in the public bazaar?"
"Have patience with me and I will tell you all, of both her history and my own."
Aphiz then related to them the story that is already familiar to the reader, and seeing that those with whom he had to deal were in no way particularly partial to the Sultan, he told word for word the whole truth, even from the hour when he had saved him from the Bedouins, to that when he had been cast into the sea.