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A common source of conversation among our men now was the desertion of their comrades, all fancying how bitterly they would repent it when they heard how we had succeeded, eating beef every day; and Uledi now, in a joking manner, abused Mektub for having urged him to desert.
But the voice of Asad called upon them to bear in mind what in their name he had promised, and since the voice of Asad alone might not have sufficed to quell that sudden spark of revolt, there came down to them the voice of Sakr-el-Bahr himself issuing his last command. "Remember and respect the terms I have made for you! Mektub! May Allah guard and prosper you!"
If she showed herself to the men, it could not be helped. What was to be, would be. Mektûb! "Far be it from me to distrust my friend's servants," said Maïeddine; "but if in their zeal they go too far and give an impression of something to hide, it would be as bad as if they let drop a word too many." "I will ride on and break any such impression if it has been made," Ben Sliman consoled him.
But so soon as the kaid has amassed sufficient wealth, the governor of his province, or one of the high wazeers in the Sultan's capital, will despoil him and sell his place to the highest bidder, and in the fulness of time the Sultan will send for that wazeer or governor, and treat him in similar fashion. "Mektub," it is written, and who shall avoid destiny?
He would not leave Bana, and if he had not stopped, Mektub would have gone, for they both served one master at Zanzibar, and therefore were like brothers; whilst Mektub, laughing over the matter as if it were a good joke, said, "I packed up my things to go, it is true; but I reflected if I got back to the coast Said Majid would only make a slave of me again."
Such risks are minimized every year, and protection is greatly sought after by Moors and Jews. From the French they get it easily enough. The system is a bad one: that it prevails at all is a proof of the corruption of the Moorish Government. Why curse? Mektub.
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