hould be abolished, and all the while the brave Fung wait without to
massacre our men and make our women slaves. Only the very poor and the
desperate, and those who have offended against the laws will serve in my
army, except it be as officers. Oh! and therefore are the Abati doomed,"
and, throwing back her veil, suddenly, she burst into tears before us
all.

I do not know that I ever remember seeing a sight more pathetic in its
way than that of this beautiful and high-spirited young woman weeping
in the presence of her Council over the utter degeneracy of the race
she was called upon to rule. Being old and accustomed to these Eastern
expressions of emotion, I remained silent, however; but Oliver was so
deeply affected that I feared lest he should do something foolish. He
went red, he went white, and was rising from his seat to go to her, had
I not caught him by the arm and pulled him back. As for Quick, he turned
his eyes to the ceiling, as though engaged in prayer, and I heard him
muttering:

"The Lord help the poor thing, the Lord help her; the one pearl in the
snout of all these gilded swine! Well, I understand I am a bit of a
general now, and if I don't make 'em sit up for her sake my name ain't
Samuel Quick."

Meanwhile there was much consternation and indignant murmuring
amongst the Court, which felt that reflections had been thrown upon it
collectively and individually. At such a crisis, as usual, Prince Joshua
took the lead. Rising from his seat, he knelt, not without difficulty,
before the throne, and said:

"O Child of Kings, why do you distress us with such words? Have you not
the God of Solomon to protect you?"

"God protects those who protect themselves," sobbed Maqueda.

"And have you not many brave officers?"

"What are officers without an army?"

"And have you not me, your uncle, your affianced, your lover?" and he
laid his hand where he conceived his heart to be, and stared up at her
with his rolling, fish-like eyes. "Had it not been for the interference
of these Gentiles, in whom you seem to put such trust," he went on,
"should I not have taken Barung captive the other day, and left the Fung
without a head?"

"And the Abati without such shreds of honour as still belong to them, my
uncle."

"Let us be wed, O Bud of the Rose, O Flower of Mur, and soon I will free
you from the Fung. We are helpless because we are separate, but together
we shall triumph. Say, O Maqueda, when shall we be wed?"