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The entire plot of Manöel's love drama, from the first grim scene of stunning the prospective bridegroom on the way to his unwilling bride, to the escape from the douar in the quiet hours when Tahar was supposed to be left alone with the "Agha's Rose," on to the hiding at Djazerta, and stealing away in disguise with a caravan while the hunt took another direction, all had played itself out according to his plan.
"Ben Ali Tidjani's blessing could never rest on an Ouled Naïl, who, like a little viper of the sand, has stolen into the Agha's bosom, and filled his veins with subtle poison.
The customary week of feasting and rejoicing was at its height, but, to the disappointment of every one, the bride and all the Agha's family had in the midst of the celebrations suddenly gone out to the douar, the desert encampment of the tribe over which Ben Râana ruled as chief.
This, thought the Agha's head gatekeeper, was a foolish decision, no matter how pressing might be the soldier's business with Ben Râana, for already it was past sunset, and there was no moon. These men were strangers, and could not know their way to the douar except as it was described to them. But what could one expect?
All through her long desert journey, she had felt as if she had wandered into a dream of the Old Testament. There was nothing there more modern than "Bible days," as she said to herself, simply, except the French quarters in the few Arab towns through which they had passed. Not yet, however, had she seen any figure as venerable as the Agha's, and she thought at once of Abraham at his tent door.
And instinctively realizing this, Sanda ceased to feel that the Arab girl was of an entirely different world from hers, remote as a creature of another planet. The Agha's daughter was transformed in the eyes of her guest. From a mere picturesque figure in a vivid fairy tale, she became pathetically, poignantly human.
"I have put the hair with the text," said Ourïeda. "Look, in its place this tiny bottle of white powder. Canst thou guess what it is for?" The blood rushed to Sanda's face, then back to her heart. But she did not answer. She only looked at Ourïeda: a wide-eyed, fascinated look. "Thou hast guessed," the Agha's daughter said in a very little voice like a child's.
Not far away sat the bride, raised high above the rest of the company on a kind of throne made of carved wood, painted red and thickly gilded. It had served generations of brides in the Agha's family, and had been brought out from Djazerta. Sanda glanced up from the divan of cushions on which she and the other women guests reclined to see if Ourïeda was looking her way.
That is why I ask, as a favour from one man to another, whether you would be willing to go to the Agha's house and escort my daughter here to Touggourt. I know how much I am exacting of a born soldier like yourself." "My Colonel, you are conferring on me the Cross of the Legion of Honour!" Max cried out impulsively. "Then you accept?" "I implore you to accept me for the service."
Care must be taken to sail by the west branch of the two streams, as there is no water in the east channel. "For six miles we have had nothing but shallows. Even at this season there is only a depth of four feet in many places, and a month hence the river will be impassable. "Tayib Agha's boats are in sight, about four miles distance, bearing north.
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