the other two women were her attendants and sat without saying a word. We spent the time in the happiest of talk about the years during which we had not seen each other, and during which we had left behind our girlhood, and crossed the threshold of womanhood; for in the East we become women at an early age.
After I had told her all about myself, at her insistence—she being the elder, and I having therefore to tell my story first—I said:
"You are married now, I suppose. I remember you were to belong to a young man in Anatolia, to whom you were betrothed when you were an hour old, while he boasted of the great age of seven."
She sighed. "No, I am not—not yet—although I am getting on in years."
"Why are you waiting?" I inquired. All my French manners and training had gone. I was again delightfully Oriental, asking personal questions in the most direct way, as I had answered all that had been put to me.
"It is quite a story, and we are nearly there. Since you are not going home, why not come to my house till to-morrow, where I can tell you all about it?"
"I cannot," I answered. "I must go to my relatives, or there will be too much rumpus, if I am discovered."
"Very well, then, drive with me first to my
