"I got up immediately, and went out to where she was. As I approached what looked like a mere bundle of linen thrown against the gnarled trunk of the tree, I recognized the large, dark eyes, the tattooed stars, and the long, regular features of that semi-wild girl who had so captivated my senses. As I advanced towards her, I felt inclined to strike her, to make her suffer pain, and to have my revenge, and so I called out to her from a little distance: "'Where have you been?' "She did not reply, but remained motionless and inert, as if she were scarcely alive, resigned to my violence, and ready to receive my blows. I was standing up, close to her, looking in stupefaction at the rags with which she was covered, at those bits of silk and muslin, covered with dust, torn and dirty, and I repeated, raising my hand, as if she had been a dog: "'Where have you come from?' "'From yonder,' she said, in a whisper. "'Where is that?' "'From the tribe.' "'What tribe?' "'Mine.' "'Why did you go away?' "When she saw that I was not going to beat her, she grew rather bolder, and said in a low voice: "'I was obliged to do it.... I was forced to go, I could not stop in the house any longer.' "I saw tears in her eyes, and immediately felt softened. I leaned over her, and when I turned round to sit down, I noticed Mohammed, who was watching us at a distance, and I went on, very gently: "'Come, tell me why you ran away?' "Then she told me, that for a long time in her Nomad's heart she had felt the irresistible desire to return to the tents, to lie, to run, to roll on the sand; to wander about the plains with the flocks, to feel nothing over her head, between the yellow stars in the sky and the blue stars in her face, except the thin, threadbare, patched stuff, through which she could see spots of fire in the sky, when she awoke during the night. "She made me understand all that in such simple and powerful words, that I felt quite sure that she was not lying, and pitied her, and I asked her: "'Why did you not tell me that you wished to go away for a time?' "'Because you would not have allowed me...' "'If you had promised to come back, I should have consented.' "'You would not have believed me.' "Seeing that I was not angry, she began to laugh, and said: "'You see that is all over; I have come home again, and here I am. I only wanted a few days there. I have had enough of it now, it is finished and passed; the feeling is cured. I have come back, and have not that longing any more. I am very glad, and you are very kind.' "'Come into the house,' I said to her. "She got up, and I took her hand, her delicate hand, with its slender fingers, and triumphant in her rags, with her bracelets and her necklace ringing, she went gravely towards my house, where Mohammed was waiting for us, but before going in, I said: "'Allouma, whenever you want to return to your own people, tell me, and I will allow you to go.' "'You promise?' "'Yes, I promise.'