Produced by Al Haines
[Frontispiece: Trembling from head to foot the girl stood before thetent which no foot but his had trod.]
[Transcriber's note: the frontispiece page was too badly damaged toproduce a usable image.]
By
Author of "Desert Love", "Leonie of the Jungle."
Copyright, 1922,
By The Macaulay Company
Printed in the United States of America
Author's Note: All names in this book are fictitious.
[Transcriber's note: A number of words in this book are Arabic, usingcharacters that require Unicode to render properly. Refer to thetranscriber's note at the end of this book for more information.]
"For in the days we know not of
Did fate begin
Weaving the web of days that wove
Your doom."
". . . allahu akbar—la ilaha—illa 'llah!"
Across the golden glory of the sky floated the insistent call of themuezzin just as Damaris, followed closely by Wellington, her bulldog,turned out of the narrow street into the Khan el-Khalili. Shrill andsweet, from far and near it came, calling the faithful to prayer,impelling merchants to leave their wares, buyers their purchases,gossips their chatter, and to turn in the direction of Mecca and offertheir praise to Allah, who is God.
As the entire male population of the native quarter knelt, the girldrew back beneath an awning of many colours which shaded silken goodsfrom the rays of the sun, whilst curious eyes peeped down upon her frombehind the shelter of the masharabeyeh, the harem lattice offinely-carved wood. Yards of silk of every hue lay tumbled inside andoutside the dukkan or shop in the silk-market; silken scarves, plainand embroidered, hung from strings; silk shawls were spread uponPersian carpets; a veritable riot of colour against the yellow-whiteplaster of the shop walls, above which flamed the sky, a cloak of blue,embroidered in rose and gold and amethyst.
The native women behind the shelter of the wood lattice or theyashmak or the all-enveloping barku, talked softly together as theywatched the beautiful girl who serenely and quite unveiled walkedamongst men with an animal of surpassing hideousness at her heels.
She stood with her head uncovered—it is permissible at sunset—andwith her face lifted, as she listened to the call to prayer, so that asun-ray silting in through the silks blazed down upon the positivelyred curls which rioted all over her head and were of a tone sharperthan henna, yet many times removed from the shades of red known ascarrots or ginger.
Her skin was matte, her mouth crimson, and curved, the teeth perfect,and her heavily-lashed eyes of so deep a purple as to appear bla