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The commandant read the paper and his face grew troubled. "Chancellor," he said, "is this binding?" The lawyer read the paper twice. "Yes," he said, "it is a mere hiring; it is not a sale. I don't see how we can interfere." "Mirza," said the commandant, "it seems that you have a good contract, under Moslem law." "Excellent," cried the oukil, rubbing his hands. "Silence," thundered the commandant.
"Corporal," he said, "take your men to the mosque, join your comrades, and bring to me Abdullah, his wife, Mirza, and the oukil." The corporal saluted, gave an order, and the little troop trotted across the square. The commandant closed the shutters of the window. "I do not care to see the row," he said, and he lit a cigarette.
The oukil wrung his hands and exclaimed: "What have we lost!" Abdullah stood, proud and happy. The corporal at the door shifted his feet and rattled his side-arms, and Mirza laughed. Then she stepped back a pace; the laughter died upon her lips, and her hands flew to her bosom.
There are three thousand religionists who have passed through the hands of the oukil and Mirza, and she, making the most money, has the last word. Do you ask, now, why she is the most powerful person in Biskra?" "It seems," said the commandant, "that it is because she is a woman, and is bad." "And beautiful," added the lawyer. "Do you think her beautiful?" asked the commandant.
"Then," said the chancellor, "you admit yourselves out of court, since, if one Christian marries another, the law of France obtains, and this contract which Mirza produces is abhorrent to the law of France, being immoral." "Pardon," said the oukil. "In every word you speak I recognize my master, but is it not possible that my master may nod?
"No," said the lawyer; "I pay penance only when I am in the wrong." The oukil bowed low, but when he drew himself up to his full height there was murder in his eye. "Well," said the commandant, "what is the solution?" "I advise you," said the lawyer, "that this contract comes under the law of France and is void, because it is immoral and opposed to public policy.
I pay thirty ounces to Ilderhim for two years' hire of a girl. The girl turns Christian and I lose the thirty ounces." "Not so," said Abdullah; "they are here," and he placed a bag upon the commandant's table. "Take it," said Mirza; and she tossed it to the oukil.
The oukil is the man who governs the mosque. He is the man in the green turban whom you saw talking with Mirza. They are partners. He attends to the world, she to the flesh, and both to the devil. It is a strong partnership. It is what, in America, they call a 'trust. The oukil sends his clients to Mirza, and she sends hers to the oukil. Look out of the window again.
"To make his contract good," she continued, "Ilderhim, my former husband, pays sixteen or seventeen ounces' freight on the girl and her maid. The girl turns Christian. Who loses the freight?" "I," said Abdullah, and he placed another bag upon the table. "Take it," said Mirza, and the oukil grasped it. "Let us see this girl who has kept us all up so late," said Mirza, and she strode over to Nicha.
It seems that you are a student. You remind me of my duty. I, as the chief legal officer of this colony, should marry these people at once. Thank you many times for reminding me." "Pardon," said the oukil; "but if I have read the laws of France aright, there cannot be a civil marriage without the consent of the parents."
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