an
escort--not Tahar, because Tahar must stay for his marriage--but some
trustworthy men of his _goum_, and good camels. On the camel prepared
for her would be of course a bassourah with heavy curtains: probably the
one in which she had already travelled. It went also without saying that
Sanda would make the journey in Arab dress, such as she had worn during
her visit. Ourieda would pretend to be ill with grief because her friend
must leave her at such a time; already she had prepared the Agha's mind
by complaining of weakness. She would take to her bed and refuse to see
any one but her nurse, Embarka. Lella Mabrouka, glad to be rid of the
Roumia girl (of whom, beneath her politeness, she had always
disapproved), and hating illness, would gladly keep out of the way for
two or three days, while the wedding preparations went on. It would be
easy, or almost easy, if no accident happened, Ourieda argued, for her
to go away veiled and swathed in the bassourah, while Sanda lay in bed
in a darkened room. At Touggourt the veiled lady would be met by that
Captain Amaranthe and his wife of whom Sanda had spoken: they must be
written to immediately and told to expect Mademoiselle DeLisle. Then
trouble might come, if they suspected, but perhaps they would not, if
Sanda wrote that she had been ill with influenza and had nearly lost her
voice. They might send her off by train, guessing nothing, or, if they
did guess, she must throw herself on Madame Amaranthe's mercy. No woman
with a heart would give her up! And if the plan succeeded, instead of
going to Sidi-bel-Abbes she would go to Oran where she could find a ship
that would take her to Marseilles. Her jewels (some which had been her
mother's, and many new ones given by her father) would pay the expenses
and keep her in France, hidden from Ben Raana and beyond his power,
until perhaps Manoeel found her through advertisements she would put into
all the French papers.

As for Sanda, the result for her when the trick was discovered (as it
ought not to be until Ourieda had got out of Algeria) would be simple.
She was the daughter of Ben Raana's friend, a soldier of importance in
the eyes of France. Colonel DeLisle had entrusted her to the Agha's
care, and she could not be punished as though she were an Arab woman. If
Embarka or any member of Ben Raana's household so betrayed him and his
dearest hopes the right revenge would be death, and no one outside would
ever hear what had been do