It shall be so."
"Mercy! Mercy!" Achmet cried, horror-stricken, and turned to David. "Thou
art merciful. Speak for me, Saadat."
"When didst thou have mercy?" asked David. "Thy crimes are against
humanity."
Kaid made a motion, and, with dragging feet, Achmet passed from the
haunts of familiar faces.
For a moment Kaid stood and looked at Zaida, rigid and stricken in that
awful isolation which is the leper's doom. Her eyes were closed, but her
head was high. "Wilt thou not die?" Kaid asked her gently.
She shook her head slowly, and her hands folded on her breast. "My sister
is there," she said at last. There was an instant's stillness, then Kaid
added with a voice of grief: "Peace be upon thee, Zaida. Life is but a
spark. If death comes not to-day, it will tomorrow, for thee--for me.
Inshallah, peace be upon thee!"
She opened her eyes and looked at him. Seeing what was in his face, they
lighted with a great light for a moment.
"And upon thee peace, O my lord, for ever and for ever!" she said softly,
and, turning, left the court-yard, followed at a distance by Mahommed
Hassan.
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