The end of this corridor also
was masked by a curtain of wool, dyed and woven by the hands of nomad
tribes, tent-dwellers in the desert; and when Hsina had lifted it,
Victoria saw a small square court with a fountain in the centre.
It was not on a grand scale, like those in the palace owned by Nevill
Caird; but the fountain was graceful and charming, ornamented with the
carved, bursting pomegranates beloved by the Moors of Granada, and the
marble columns which supported a projecting balcony were wreathed with
red roses and honeysuckle.
On each of the four sides of the quadrangle, paved with black and white
marble, there were little windows, and large glass doors draped on the
inside with curtains thin enough to show faint pink and golden lights.
"O my mistress, Lella M'Barka, I have brought thy guest!" cried Hsina,
in a loud, sing-song voice, as if she were chanting; whereupon one of
the glass doors opened, letting out a rosy radiance, and a Bedouin
woman-servant dressed in a striped foutah appeared on the threshold. She
was old, with crinkled grey hair under a scarlet handkerchief, and a
blue cross was tattooed between her eyes.
"In the name of Lella M'Barka be thou welcome," she said. "My mistress
has been suffering all day, and fears to rise, lest her strength fail
for to-morrow's journey, or she would come forth to meet thee, O Flower
of the West! As it is, she begs that thou wilt come to her.
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