"Monsieur," I said to him, "I am Mirza. I would not _sell_ myself to you, but if you will take me as a gift, behold, here am I." He took me to Paris, to Vienna, to St. Petersburg. For a year he did not tire of me. That was a long time for a savage to amuse a Grand Duke, was it not? Then one day he gave me money, bade me keep the jewels he had given me, and sent me back to Biskra. Since then I have been, first a dancing-girl, and then, the mother of them all. I have never given the authorities any trouble. I have observed the laws of France. What will the laws of France do for me?" and she handed to the commandant the invoice which Abdullah had brought with his freight.
The commandant read the paper and his face grew troubled.
"Chancellor," he said, "is this binding?"
The lawyer read the paper twice. "Yes," he said, "it is a mere hiring; it is not a sale. I don"t see how we can interfere."
"Mirza," said the commandant, "it seems that you have a good contract, under Moslem law."
"Excellent," cried the _oukil_, rubbing his hands.
"Silence," thundered the commandant. "Speak French, and that only when you are spoken to. Abdullah, have you anything which you wish to say to me?"
Abdullah bent and whispered in the ear of the girl who sat trembling; then he stepped forward.
"Monsieur le Commandant," he said, "will you have the kindness to read this?" and he held out a paper. It was yellow with age and of quarto size and twice folded. The commandant took it, unfolded it, and read aloud, "_The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen_."
"Why, this is the last page of a Bible," he said.
"I do not know," said Abdullah. "He tore it from a book upon his table.
It was the only paper that he had. Upon the other side is writing."
The commandant reversed the paper and again read:
_THIS is to Certify that on the nineteenth day of February, 187-, in the Oasis of Zama, in the Great Sahara, having first baptized them, I did unite in marriage Philip (formerly Abdullah) and Marie (formerly Nicha), in accordance with the rites of our holy Church_.
JOSEPH, _Who Keeps Goats_.
_Witness_, his Ali, _the son of Ali_ X mark
her ZINA, _parentage unknown_ X mark
"Ah, ha," exclaimed the lawyer, "this changes the complexion of affairs," and he threw the cards upon the floor. "I could swear to Joseph"s handwriting, I have his IOU"s, but as I am now sitting as a magistrate, I cannot swear to anything. Where are the witnesses, Abdullah?"
"With the camels, across the square," said Abdullah; "if you will permit the corporal to go for them--"
"Pardon," said the _oukil_; "if I am permitted to speak I can save you the trouble. We admit all that the goatherd certifies."
"Then," said the chancellor, "you admit yourselves out of court, since, if one Christian marries another, the law of France obtains, and this contract which Mirza produces is abhorrent to the law of France, being immoral."
"Pardon," said the _oukil_. "In every word you speak I recognize my master, but is it not possible that my master may nod? As one of a conquered people, I have studied the code of my conqueror. It is true that a religious ceremony has been performed here, but how about the civil marriage which, as I read the French code, is absolutely necessary?"
The lawyer sat silent. Then he put out his hand. "My friend," he said, "I have done you a great wrong. I have looked upon you as a mere religionist. It seems that you are a student. You remind me of my duty.
I, as the chief legal officer of this colony, should marry these people at once. Thank you many times for reminding me."
"Pardon," said the _oukil_; "but if I have read the laws of France aright, there cannot be a civil marriage without the consent of the parents."
"My friend," said the lawyer, "will you place me doubly in your debt by shaking hands with me a second time? If you were to exchange your green turban for the silk hat of the boulevards, your photograph would soon be in the shops. You know my law much better than I know yours, and I shake hands with you intellectually, not socially. Who is your father, Abdullah?" he asked.
"I do not know his name," answered Abdullah; "he was a camel-driver of the Sahara."
"And your mother?" asked the lawyer.
"How can one, born as I, know his mother?" replied Abdullah.
"And you," said the lawyer, turning to Nicha, "who is your father?"
"Ilderhim of El Merb," she answered.
"And your mother?" asked the lawyer.
"She died before I can remember."
"Her father, Ilderhim," said the _oukil_, "signs the invoice which you have read. He does not consent."
"He is n.o.body," said the lawyer. "He was banished from Algeria years ago. It is as though he had never existed."
"I had overlooked that," said the _oukil_; and then he added, "As the mistake this time is mine, perhaps you will again shake hands."
"No," said the lawyer; "I pay penance only when I am in the wrong."
The _oukil_ bowed low, but when he drew himself up to his full height there was murder in his eye.
"Well," said the commandant, "what is the solution?"
"I advise you," said the lawyer, "that this contract comes under the law of France and is void, because it is immoral and opposed to public policy. It comes under the law of France because the young woman is a Christian and has married a Christian. The religious marriage is complete. The civil marriage is only delayed that the young woman may present proofs of her mother"s death. Her father is already civilly dead."
"Mirza," said the commandant, "do you hear?"
"Yes," she said, "I hear, and, being a woman, I am accustomed to such decisions. I pay thirty ounces to Ilderhim for two years" hire of a girl. The girl turns Christian and I lose the thirty ounces."
"Not so," said Abdullah; "they are here," and he placed a bag upon the commandant"s table.
"Take it," said Mirza; and she tossed it to the _oukil_.
"To make his contract good," she continued, "Ilderhim, my former husband, pays sixteen or seventeen ounces" freight on the girl and her maid. The girl turns Christian. Who loses the freight?"
"I," said Abdullah, and he placed another bag upon the table.
"Take it," said Mirza, and the _oukil_ grasped it.
"Let us see this girl who has kept us all up so late," said Mirza, and she strode over to Nicha. Abdullah put out his hand to keep her off.
"You"ve won," she said; "why be disagreeable? Let us see what you have gained and I have lost," and she stripped the veil and the outer garment from the girl, who sat pa.s.sive. When the veil and the burnoose fell, the beauty of the girl filled the room as would a perfume.
The commandant and the lawyer sat speechless, gazing. The _oukil_ wrung his hands and exclaimed: "What have we lost!" Abdullah stood, proud and happy. The corporal at the door shifted his feet and rattled his side-arms, and Mirza laughed. Then she stepped back a pace; the laughter died upon her lips, and her hands flew to her bosom.
"Little one," she said, "the life you would have lived with me would not have been so hard when one remembers what the life of woman is, at best. It is to amuse, to serve, to obey. You are too young to understand. You are, perhaps, fourteen?"