Now her courage is strengthened, her mind lit up by sweeter lights. Did not the picture of her whole life, which passed before her, show her that her beauty must be incomparable, since after having dwelt at her ease in her father’s house, she had been an object of speculation for her brother-in-law surpassing his extremest hopes? In the bazaar of the women two purchasers had alone appeared, and they, notwithstanding the choice offered them, had disputed for her possession. But that which above all appeared to prove her power, was the boldness of the young Frank, who at the risk of his life had passed the dreaded entrance of the palace of Djezzar; who at the sight of her was so overcome as to lose his presence of mind; who, after having seen her, had again wished to behold her, and had anew placed himself in her way. Did he not fear death as the price of his temerity? He did not fear because he loves—and it is thus the Franks love. Had they not seen the most celebrated of them, Napoleon, then Sultan, conquer Egypt with an army, in order to seek there for a beautiful female, whose beauty and whose country had been revealed to him in a dream sent by God.[1] Is it not also in a dream that this young Frank has received a revelation of the charms of Baïla? Perhaps he had seen her during her residence at Trebizond, or on her voyage to Constantinople? What matters it; she owes it to him that she now feels confident and reassured. Let Djezzar bestow his affections for one night on the daughter of Amasia; to-morrow he will return to the Mingrelian. And Baïla went to sleep thinking of the young Frank. Did she feel already for him one of those inexplicable affections that sometimes spring up in the hearts of recluses? By no means; his scanty costume and beardless chin did not render him very seductive in her eyes, and he had not been enabled to charm her by his eloquence. But she thought she owed him gratitude; besides, she perhaps wished to try to avenge herself on Djezzar, even during her sleep. ----- [1] The Arabians, Egyptians, and Turks still believe this. CHAPTER II. On the following morning, Baïla, followed by Mariam, again traversed the garden, under the pretext of erasing the tracks of the unknown, should he have left any. The wind and the night had caused them to disappear from the walks which were covered with fine sand. Returning, however, from the neighborhood of the river, she found the recent mark of a boot impressed on a flower border. The foot-mark was small, straight, and graceful. Baïla hesitated to efface it. Why? Was the stranger speaking decidedly to her heart? No; it was a woman’s caprice, and among women the odalisks are perhaps the most enigmatical. After having undertaken this expedition for the very purpose of effacing all traces of the Frank, she was now tempted to retain the only one that remained.