“It can easily be proved,” he said. “I am not wont to put tests to those who come under my roof; but in order to quiet the foolish tongue of this low-born nephew of mine, let the Mirza’s disciple repeat the Kalima, that the ill-spoken boy may bow down in the dust before him.”
Much relieved by so easy a solution of the difficulty, Ferrers repeated promptly the Moslem creed, without hurry and with the proper intonation. The confusion of the student was complete, and his uncle and the other elders heaped reproaches upon him, while the Mirza’s face beamed. No further incident disturbed the harmony of the evening, and Ferrers returned home with his host in good spirits. His nerve, at any rate, must be untouched by the trials through which he had passed, since he could confront such an emergency without a single tremor. He had forgotten all about the remonstrance he had intended to address to the Mirza, and was going straight to his own room, when he was called back.
“A load has been removed from my mind to-day,” said the Mirza. “I had not looked to hear Firoz Sahib confess himself of his own free will a follower of Islam, and it has often grieved me to think of his returning to the dungeons whence I took him.”
“It was merely a joke, of course,” said Ferrers lightly, “but it served its purpose. Good thing I remembered the words all right!”
“There can be no jest in repeating the Kalima in the presence of witnesses,” was the reply. “It saved Firoz Sahib’s life to-day.”
“And will save it a good many times yet, I daresay; but of course it’s nothing but a joke. Hang it, Mirza! you don’t expect me to go on pretending to be a Mussulman when I get back to India?”
“You will never get back to India, sahib. Those that have seen the things that have been shown to you do not leave Gamara.”
“What in the world do you mean? I shall leave Gamara as soon as I can—in a few days, I suppose.”
“When you leave this house you will either leave it as a Mussulman, in which case honour and riches await you, or as a Christian, when you will return to the dungeon from which I brought you. Or rather, as one who has once professed the faith of Islam and afterwards denied it, you will pass to such tortures as are reserved for renegades. But you will never leave Gamara.”
Ferrers stood gazing at him, unable to utter a word, and the Mirza went on, speaking in a meditative tone—