At night they halted again; and then, while Tefza slept, the anxious lover briefly sketched to Kara Aziek his situation and his views: Barémel once more played the part of Babec, but it was not till the succeeding day, that Sebastian learnt the effect of his letter.--Kara Aziek determined to visit the tomb of the prophet ere she went into Syria: she announced this intention to the captain of her guard, who dared not disobey the commands of his master’s bride, when those commands were associated with a pious object. Orders were then issued for the caravan to direct its course to the western bank of the Red Sea, instead of proceeding through Egypt. Tefza extolled the youthful devotee, and called on his slave to let so memorable an example influence his prejudices. It was only from these new movements that Sebastian joyfully gathered the intentions of Aziek: fearful of discovery, she would not trust their mute messenger too often, but contented herself with caressing him in her tent, soothed by the mere consciousness of his belonging to Sebastian. By slow stages the travellers had traversed the desarts of Zala and Nubia, skirted the kingdom of Sennaar, and proceeding along the western coast of the Red Sea, were preparing to cross it into Arabia: it was at this period that Aziek hazarded another letter to her lover. She informed him, that if on their arrival at Mecca, he would assume the disguise of a female merchant of perfumes, and present himself at her door, she would incur the risk of receiving him, as then they might concert together the means of escape. Impatient for this blissful moment, time seemed stationary to Sebastian, while the caravan proceeded along the varied land of Arabia towards the city of Mecca: at length they entered it, the different persons were dispersed, and Kara Aziek took up her abode in a habitation without the walls of the town. Inclination would have hurried the impatient Sebastian immediately to the feet of his beloved, but he sought to enjoy that felicity unalloyed, and he could not do so while he knew himself a slave: to shake off his servitude by fulfilling the conditions upon which freedom had been promised him, was his first determination. He reminded Tefza of their compact, he recapitulated the words of Abensallah, and declaring himself eager to witness the ceremonies that were expected to work his conversion, called on the old man to lead him quickly to the mosque. The admission of Christians into their holy city or their mosques is prohibited to the Mahometans, but this law is sometimes waved in singular cases; so that Tefza had procured a warrant from his spiritual superior, authorizing him to lodge his slave in the suburbs of Mecca, and to edify him by a view of the Mahometan worship.