She drew her friend into a chamber where the childless mother lay, face downward, moaning, while the others tried to soothe her.

“It is no matter,” was the burden of their consolations. “It is not as if thou wert left altogether desolate. Are we not one, we four? Thou hast two children left, since ours are thine, and in a day or two Gulbeyzah will present thee with a third, inshallah!”

“Inshallah!” cried Gulbeyzah. “And it shall be thine entirely. Directly it is born it shall be sent to thee to nurse. I will forget it. And when it is thy turn again, thou wilt repay me. Is not that a good idea?”

Oh that English people, who regard polygamy as something dreadful, could have witnessed that small scene! The wish, escaping Barakah at unawares, begot a heartache, as she realized that all she saw and heard for their instruction was thwarted of its natural vent forevermore.