which I took only a half-hearted interest. Then came supper and bedtime. I was spending the night there, and by the time I was to go to bed my smart, instead of being lessened, had grown tremendously. I undressed silently.
The old hanoum came in to hear us say our prayers. Up to this time I had not minded praying with Djimlah to Allah. I was sure it did not matter, because when I was tucked in bed, I crossed myself three times, and implored the Virgin Mary to watch over me and over those I loved. To-night it was different. If I were to show Djimlah that I did not believe in her words, I must stop praying to her god; so I said:
"I shall not pray to Allah to-night."
"Oh, but you must," Djimlah declared. "You wouldn't like to disappoint him, would you?"
"I don't belong to him," I asserted passionately. "I don't belong to him. I belong to God, so I don't care whether I disappoint Allah or not."
"Djimlah," interposed her grandmother, "you must let the little hanoum do as she likes. You and I can pray alone."
Djimlah stood before her grandmother, her face tilted upward, her hands outstretched, palms upward.
"Allah, the only true god of heaven and earth, be praised! There is no other God but God, the great, the wonderful, the just. Allah be praised!"
