He did not speak much of Victoria, or
his love for her, but he knew that the marabout must reckon her beauty
by the price he was prepared to pay; and he gave the saint little time
to picture her fascinations. Nor did Sidi Mohammed talk of the girl, or
of her relationship to one placed near him; and his face (which he
unmasked with a sigh of relief when he and his friend were alone) did
not change as he listened, or asked questions about the services
Maieddine would render the Cause. At first he seemed to doubt the
possibility of keeping such promises, some of which depended upon the
Agha; but Maieddine's enthusiasm inspired him with increasing
confidence. He spoke freely of the great work that was being done by the
important societies of which he was the head; of what he had
accomplished in Oran, and had still to accomplish; of the arms and
ammunition smuggled into the Zaouia and many other places, from France
and Morocco, brought by the "silent camels" in rolls of carpets and
boxes of dates. But, he added, this was only a beginning. Years must
pass before all was ready, and many more men, working heart and soul,
night and day, were needed. If Maieddine could help, well and good. But
would the Agha yield to his influence?
"Not the Agha," Maieddine answered, "but the Agha's people. They are my
people, too, and they look to me as their future head. My father is old.
There is nothing I cannot make the Ouled-Sirren do, nowhere I cannot bid
them go, if I lead.
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