, for some time, he looked upon the little Eva, who was three
years younger than himself, as his sister. When Fakredeen had
attained an age of sufficient intelligence for the occasion and the
circumstances, his real position was explained to him; but he was still
too young for the communication to effect any change in his feelings,
and the idea that Eva was not his sister only occasioned him sorrow,
until his grief was forgotten when he found that the change made no
difference in their lives or their love.

Soon after the violent death of the father of Fakredeen, affairs had
become more tranquil, and Besso had not neglected the interests of his
charge. The infant was heir to a large estate in the Lebanon; a fine
castle, an illimitable forest, and cultivated lands, whose produce,
chiefly silk, afforded a revenue sufficient to maintain the not
inconsiderable state of a mountain prince.

When Fakredeen was about ten years of age, his relative the Emir
Bescheer, who then exercised a sovereign and acknowledged sway over all
the tribes of the Lebanon, whatever their religion or race, signified
his pleasure that his kinsman should be educated at his court, in the
company of his sons. So Fakredeen, with many tears, quitted his happy
home at Damascus, and proceeded to Beteddeen, the beautiful palace of
his uncle, situate among the mountains in the neighbourhood of Beiroot.
This was about the time that the Egyptians were effecting the conquest
of Syria, and both the Emir Bescheer, the head of the house of
Shehaab as well as Prince of the Mountain, and the great commercial
confederation of the brothers Besso, had declared in favour of the
invader, and were mainly instrumental to the success of Mehemet Ali.
Political sympathy, and the feelings of mutual dependence which
united the Emir Bescheer and the merchant of Damascus, rendered
the communications between the families so frequent that it was not
difficult for the family of Besso to cherish those sentiments of
affection which were strong and lively in the heart of the young
Fakredeen, but which, under any circumstances, depend so much on
sustained personal intercourse. Eva saw a great deal of her former
brother, and there subsisted between them a romantic friendship. He
was their frequent guest at Damascus and was proud to show her how he
excelled in his martial exercises, how skilful he was with his falcon,
and what horses of pure race he proudly rode.

In the year '39, Fakr