“Ha! Yakoot,” said the timid girl, returning his salutation, “I bring you joyful intelligence. You will not long have to toil in these gardens under the scorching sun to rear flowers and trim shrubs. The prowess which you exhibited yesterday has won the admiration of your royal mistress, and she has declared her intention of having you numbered among her household.” “I desire not, lady, so near a contact with sovereigns. Slaves are foils to those poor worms of might, and I seek not to illustrate one of the extremes of high and low.” “But you will find her an indulgent mistress, if you do your duty.” “That is, if I do not thwart her royal will. The tawny lion will purr under your touch if you cram his ravenous maw, and leave him the fierce liberty of his instincts. Sovereigns are never kind, lady, either from humanity or compassion, but merely to gratify their own selfishness; I therefore despise royal favours, and would rather labour in this garden under the fierce glow of a meridian sun, with such an object near me, to inspirit the dull hours of toil, as my eyes are now permitted to gaze upon, than be the fantastic puppet of a queen’s bounty.” “Well, but you will be summoned shortly before the presence,” said Bameea, reddening; “and--and--I trust you will throw no impediments in the way of being near the Sultana, because----” “Why that pause?” “Oh! because----” “Nay, my decision will depend upon your answer, lady.” “Because, I think you would be pleasant company sometimes, when our royal mistress lacks amusement, and our wits are dull, and cannot furnish it. Believe me, you’ll find agreeable companions.” Saying this, she tripped lightly off, as if she feared something from his reply that she would rather avoid hearing. The Abyssinian watched her receding figure as she glided down the path, until she was lost amidst its sinuosities, the walk being bounded on either side by tall shrubs. Yakoot mused upon the past event. Bameea had not been sent to summon him. Why then did she come to apprise him of the Sultana’s intention. No such intimation was necessary. It was evidently given at the suggestion of her own wishes. The slave was a man of ready penetration, and with instinctive sagacity peculiar to eastern nations in all matters concerning a reciprocation of the senses, he began to think that he was not an object of indifference to the interesting girl who had just quitted him. This was a sunlight to the darkness that had lately clouded his soul, and the fountain of life seemed again to gush fresh and sparkling within him, as if animated with new energy. Slavery might be a boon instead of a bane, and his soul was comforted.