They have
done no harm, or, at most, one of their number has tried to escape,
for which they are not to be blamed. I always have them shot, whether
that is the mode of execution ordered or not. It is a soldier's death,
and the one I should choose myself, and so that they are dead it can
matter little to the sultan how they die. If they were all shot, as
soon as they were taken, I should not think so much of it; but after
being held captive for years, and compelled to work, it seems to me
that their lives should be spared. As far as giving up my own life is
concerned, I would willingly do it at the orders of the sultan, but
these executions make me ill. I lose my appetite for weeks afterwards.
Let us talk of something else."
And the governor puffed furiously away at the hookah he had just
lighted. Then the conversation turned to the forts again.
"No, I do not find the life dull," he said, in answer to a remark of
Dick's. "I did so at first, but one soon becomes accustomed to it. I
have my wife and two daughters, and there are ten officers, so that I
can have company when I choose. All the officers are married, and that
gives society. Up here, we do not observe strictly the rules of the
plains, and although the ladies, of course, wear veils when they go
beyond the house, they put them aside indoors, and the families mix
freely with each other, so that we get on very well.
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