"Well," said I, "since the matter has come to this issue, that her life or death is in my hands, I consent;" and I arose, and went with her. Oh, with what joy the unhappy girl received me! long she hung upon my bosom, and blessed me as her preserver, and kissed her slave when she related what she had said to me, and that I had agreed to her wishes. "It is to save your precious life," I cried, "that I thus expose myself to the sneers and taunts of my friends and your own: think on the sacrifice I make in losing their love, and you will behave cautiously and decently on the road; we need not meet--nay we must not, the temptation would be too strong for us both; but I swear by your head and eyes I will not leave you, and you shall travel in our company." The slave had gone out, and she drew towards me. "Beware," said she, "how you deceive me, for I know your secret, and if you are unfaithful I will expose it; your life is in my hands, and you know it." "What secret?" cried I in alarm. "What can you mean?" "I know that you are a Thug," she said, in a low and determined voice; "my slave has discovered you, and a thousand circumstances impress the belief that you are one upon my mind--your men, the way you encamp, the ceremonies my slave has seen your men performing, and the freedom with which you go forward or return at your pleasure. All these are conclusive, and I bid you beware! for nothing that you can say will persuade me to the contrary; you have even now the property of those you have killed in your camp--you cannot deny it, your looks confirm my words." I inwardly cursed the prying curiosity of the slave, and feared she had discovered us through one of our men with whom I had seen her conversing, and I determined to destroy him. But I had now fairly met my match, and though abashed for a moment, I replied to her: "Then, Shurfun, since you have discovered us, I have no alternative, we must be united, I to save my life and the lives of my men, you to save your own. It is a fearful tie which binds us, but it cannot be broken." "I thought so," she said; "fool that I was not to have urged this before! I might have saved myself the agony which I have endured. Now, go; I will hear of you from day to day, and it may be that we shall have an opportunity of conversing unobserved. Now I am sure of you, and my mind is at ease."