Page:Marion Crawford - Khaled.djvu/262

 'Praise be to Allah,' he said, 'for this and all blessings. But now let us defend ourselves if we can, my beloved, for I think my enemies are at hand.'

And so he would have stooped to take up his sword which had fallen upon the floor. But still Zehowah held him and would not let him go.

'Not yet, Khaled!' she cried. 'Not yet, soul of my soul! The gates are very strong, and will withstand this battering for some time.'

'Would you have him whom you love sit still in the net until the hunters come to catch him?' he asked in a tender voice.

'You said you would wait here,' she pleaded. 'If we must die, let us die here—our life will be a little longer so.'

'Did I say so? I thought you did not love me then, and I would have slain a few only, for my own sake, that my blood might not be unavenged. But now I will slay them all, for your sake, and the bodies of the dead shall be a rampart for you.'

'Oh, do not go!' she cried again. 'I know a secret passage from the palace, that leads out by the wall of the city—come quickly, there is yet time, and we shall escape—for Allah will protect us. Surely, when I was fainting in your arms I heard an angel's voice—and surely the angel is yet with us, and will lighten the way as we go.'