human
If thy people seek my death, am I not unwise in accompanying thee into their midst?
gpt
By thine aid I, one of their daughters, have escaped from the bonds of their enemies, therefore fear not, for though the Ennitra rule the Desert harshly with rifle and bastinado, they harm not those who lend them assistance.
human
she exclaimed, when I had concluded.
gpt
His brutality is fiendish to us and to strangers alike; but when Infidels are brought into his presence, his rage is absolutely ungovernable. Thy torture was not so horrible as some I myself have witnessed. Once, near Tehe-n-Aieren, at the foot of Mount El Aghil, a young Zouave soldier strayed into our camp, and, being captured, was brought before him. Because the Infidel's eyes had rested upon one of his women, he ordered them both to be gouged out and sent to the French commandant at Ideles. Then the man's ears followed, then his nose, then his hands, and after keeping him alive in fearful torture for nearly three weeks, the body of the wretched prisoner was covered with date juice and placed upon an ant-hill, where he was literally devoured by the insects.
human
Horrible! I said, shuddering.
gpt
Are such tortures common among thy tribe?
human
Alas! she answered, rearranging her pillow;
gpt
Yet thou art anxious to return among them?
human
Yes, she replied, with an earnest look. As she lay curled up in her cage-like litter, she had the air of a little savage with the grace of a child.
gpt
I do not wish to be loved as I have been, like a slave,
human
But thou hast ruled the harem of the Sheikh, and hast been chief of his great household,
gpt
True, she answered.
human
But there are circumstances in our lives we cannot forget; there are people who dwell always in the house of our memory.
gpt
Two days before being torn from my people, she continued bitterly,
human
I met, by mere chance, a man of mine own people whom I have never ceased to remember. It was a chance meeting, and by no fault of mine own was my veil drawn aside. Neither of us spoke, but I knew we loved each other. My father told me he was one of the most daring of the men-at-arms Hadj Absalam sends against the _homards_, a notorious thief and cut-throat, to secure whose capture the Roumis away at Algiers have offered two bags of gold. She sighed, then added simply,
gpt
Though he may be a murderer, I shall love him, even until Allah bringeth me to Certainty.