The Washington times., 1919-01-12
CHAPTER XIII.
Constance Chooses.


fore Constance in sheer exhaustion
fell asleep. And sleep had brought no
answer to her problems. Imprisonment
here-as alternative to Conrad Won Hen
gel, At first glance it had not seemed
difficult to choose, for any Imprisonment
seemed less vile than the arrangement he
proposed. But what did Imprisonment in
this house Of Hassan Isar mean?
1t frightened her to think how greatly
she was in the power of her enemies. All
through the night she had been aware of
Kahdeegeh or another awake and watch
ful There seemed no possibility of es-
cape. And to make matters worse, it
seemed as though the girl, Amneh, upon
whose friendship she had set such store,
had avoided her when she returned to the
harem after the departure of the Sheykh.
Without Amneh her situation seemed very
hopeless.
The revelations of the German had both
shocked and amazed her. It seemed as
though the robes he wore had translated
him by some magic into the age of mediae-
valism of which they were a part, obliter-
ating all that she remembered that was
fine In him. and leaving only that which
was unsentient and unspiritual.
The insult of his proposal was scarcely
less than The insult of his mere presence,
and yet she felt now in spite of herself,
as she had felt in New York, that Conrad
Won Hengel was a creature not to be de-
spised. He had, indeed, so far succeeded
in his plans and the confidence that he
felt in their ultimate success had been
shown in the freedom with which he had
spoken of them. And yet somehow she
knew that she must try to find some weak
strand in the mesh of the net in which she
had been taken. Amneha Perhaps. But
there were Zeyneb and Kahdeegeh, and
many others to be reckoned with
The alternative of going with Won Hen
gel on the expedition and later finding
some means of notifying Northby Pasha
of her whereabouts and the whereabouts
of the Black Stone occurred to her. but the
hazard was too obvious She had no money
or any means of bribing those whom she
might make her friends. She would be
completely in the Prussian officers power
and far from those from whom she might
hope for aid. The promises of friendship
that he had made did no: deceive her.
Here in this house. whatever the dangers
at the hands of Sheykh Hassan or his
friends. she was at least near help, il she
could find the means of invoking it. She
must stay and through the girl, Amneh.
do what she could to get message to the
Governorat
She had awakened after a troubled
sleep and now sat upon the edge of her
mattress which had been laid for her by
the slave girl. Zeyneb was already in the
kaah, and Amneh was just emerging from
her sleeping room. II Constance had
thought the manner of Amneh last night
indifferent to her, the girls greetings
quickly removed tina. impression, for after
a glance toward Zeyneb she came forward
Il am your friend" she said, softly. Il
will try to help you" And then in a
whisper, but l must now be very careful"
And with that crumb of comfort for
Constance, went on to perform her ablu-
tions.
Later in the morning an opportunity for
intimate conversation occurred. for Zeyneb
went out of the harem and only Kahdeegeh
remained. And so Amneh led the Ameri-
can girl into the kaah, where they could
sit alone.
! "Sheykh Hassan has given explicit or
ders regarding you. But you may well be-
heve that l do not wish you to share my
fate. | like you, Mademoiselle. and will
help you If l can, but, as you see. you are
watched by others who get their orders
direct from the Sheykh. | do not dare to
cisobey them. | do not dare even to let
these others know that I am too friendly
with you. Zeyneb is afraid of me, but if |
maste- 1t is who should be afraid"
1T is terrible, Amneh," said Constance.
soberly, that you, once free woman and
a Christian, should be no more than
slave. Do you never wish for your free
dom-to go and come as you wish?'
"Oh. perhaps. l did at first / was like
wild bird that had been taken. | tried
10 poison myself. | failed. And after that
I grew careless-indifferent The spell of
Islam fell upon me-"
But IL is not too late to find a place in
the world Of free men and women. You
are young and very beautiful
Amneh's eyes sparkled and her teeth
showed in joyous smile.
You think so? That is good Every
woman wishes that others should think
her beautiful" And then her face grew
sober again. But as to my going forth
into the world-that is impossible"
Why" asked Constance in a half whis-
per. 1T is your right. You were stolen
and sold into slavery-an act Of force.
And if an act of force should release
you
Amneh shook her head
But who should release me? And why?
And where should l go? Have / not told
you that l am not unhappy"