He came in the evening, with his mother, to thank me; for he had heard that I had spoken a good word for him. He had been flogged, but looked very submissive, and well pleased at his unexpected and sudden release. When the doors of a Turkish prison are closed, they are not readily opened, except with a golden key; and this man knew that his friends were too poor to offer an efficient bribe.
He said to me, "O my protectress, in memory of your intercession, I will seek occasion at all times to render service to you, and, for your sake, to all English people." I replied, "Take care of your mother, and try to live peaceably with all men."
They went away, murmuring blessings. When, a few weeks afterward, the Protestants of Nablûs were cruelly attacked by the Moslems, this man proved himself a stanch friend to them. For Protestants are regarded as English protégés, even as the Latins are looked upon as French, and the Greeks as Russian subjects.
I had some very interesting conversations with the Arab schoolmaster of the little community of Protestants at Nablûs. He is a native of Nazareth, about thirty years of age, the uncle of our coffee-boy and pipe-bearer, Yusef, described in a former chapter. He was educated at the Diocesan School, Jerusalem, and there learned to speak English pretty freely. His foreign accent, peculiar idioms, and Orientally-constructed phrases, amused me exceedingly. He seemed delighted to have an opportunity of talking English. He was very anxious to be made acquainted with the rules of domestic life in England, and especially the customs and laws relating to betrothals, weddings, divorces, and the settlement of property. I satisfied him on these points as well as I could, and he, in return, gave me an account of his marriage. I will repeat it, as nearly as possible, in his own words, which I noted down on Sunday, March 2d, the day on which he related it to me.
"I shall make you see how, in this country, marriages
