"My cousin spoke but truth of thee. Thou art worthy of a reward at the
end of that long journey we shall take together, thou, and he, and I. I
have never seen thy sister whom thou seekest, but I have friends, who
knew her in other days. For her sake and thine own, kiss me on my
cheeks, for with women of my race, it is the seal of friendship."
Victoria bent and touched the faded face under each of the great burning
eyes. The perfume of _ambre_, loved in the East, came up to her
nostrils, and the invalid's breath was aflame.
"Art thou strong enough for a journey, Lella M'Barka?" the girl asked.
"Not in my own strength, but in that which Allah will give me, I shall
be strong," the sick woman answered with controlled passion. "Ever
since I knew that I could not hope to reach Mecca, and kiss the sacred
black stone, or pray in the Mosque of the holy Lella Fatima, I have
wished to visit a certain great marabout in the south. The pity of Allah
for a daughter who is weak will permit the blessing of this marabout,
who has inherited the inestimable gift of Baraka, to be the same to me,
body and soul, as the pilgrimage to Mecca which is beyond the power of
my flesh. Another must say for me the Fatakah there. I believe that I
shall be healed, and have vowed to give a great feast if I return to
Algiers, in celebration of the miracle. Had it not been for my cousin's
wish that I should go with thee, I should not have felt that the hour
had come when I might face the ordeal of such a journey to the far
south.
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