"'What did Antinea say when she saw them?'
"'Antinea? She laughed so hard that she spared them. Ceghéir-ben-Cheikh was vexed to see her laugh so. Since then, he has never made a mistake.'
"'He has never made a mistake?'
"'No. I have cared for the hands and feet of all that he has brought here. All were young and handsome. But I think that your comrade, whom they brought to me the other day, after you were here, is the handsomest of all.'
"'Why,' I asked, turning the conversation, 'why, since she spared them their lives, did she not free the pastor and M. Le Mesge?'
"'She has found them useful, it seems,' said the old woman. 'And then, whoever once enters here, can never leave. Otherwise, the French would soon be here and, when they saw the hall of red marble, they would massacre everybody. Besides, of all those whom Ceghéir-ben-Cheikh has brought here, no one, save one, has wished to escape after seeing Antinea.'
"'She keeps them a long time?'
"'That depends upon them and the pleasure that she takes in them. Two months, three months, on the average.
It depends. A big Belgian officer, formed like a colossus, didn't last a week. On the other hand, everyone here remembers little Douglas Kaine, an English officer: she kept him almost a year.'
"'And then?'