A new thought struck him: “we are not many leagues from Benzeroel,” he cried, “let us go thither Tefza! you venerate the worthy dervise who dwells among its mountains: we will state our case--you shall urge every argument suggested by this fruitless wish of converting me,--I will simply state the mode by which I became a slave, my desire of freedom, my dutiful care of you in illness, and your indefinite promise:--if he bid me go with you to Arabia, I will comply,--if he exhort you to torture me no longer, but fulfil your promise, may I not expect that you will obey him?” Transported out of himself, Tefza caught the ardent King in his arms, exclaiming--“I consent--we set out to-morrow.” Leaving him no time for consideration, Sebastian hastily obtained permission, and left the garden to order preparations for their journey: while doing so, he reflected with some confusion upon the stratagem he had used: his ingenuous nature abhorred even the appearance of artifice, and this was not the first time in his life that he had given that name to prudence. To conceal any thing from another, interested in the subject of that concealment, had uniformly seemed to him a species of insincerity, which he never practised without extreme repugnance: this noble prejudice now covered his brow with the colouring of shame: he paused and considered “But what advantage do I mean to make of this artifice? none that the Hadgé will not himself sanction; we shall both gain the benefit of Abensallah’s counsel; he will perhaps convince Tefza, that equity demands my freedom, and that not even their religion authorizes unjust actions; he will persuade him, possibly, from this perilous journey into Arabia,--if not, I do not mean to take sanctuary with Abensallah, I will perform my engagement, and hasten back from Mecca to Benzeroel; alas! all the good this stratagem may bestow, will be only the satisfaction of seeing my beloved, of knowing that she is safe, and can wait securely for me.” Sebastian’s heart said all this sincerely, and he endeavoured to think, that by withholding the principal motive of his present conduct from Tefza, he was not deceiving, though he was not confiding in him. By day-break on the morrow the travellers set forth: Tefza on a camel, attended by two trusty servants, Sebastian on a stout mule, guarded by the faithful Barémel, and cherishing in his bosom Kara Aziek’s dove. This tender little creature, seemed in her lover’s eyes, a part of Aziek herself: whenever he softly kissed its warm plumage, delightful emotions thrilled through his veins; the balmy breath of its gentle mistress appeared to be yet there, and he could fancy a thousand fond caresses lavished on Babec, meant for him, and so rendered to him at last.