Most likely they
were defeated, especially as you saw no other captives in the party,
but in the confusion of the night attack, one of them probably came
upon you, and carried you off, thinking you would be an acceptable
present here, and that he would get a reward for you from the sultan.
"Are you not noticed, when you go into the streets on errands?"
"No; I always go veiled. Except the slaves who are old and ugly, all
the others wear veils when they go outside the Palace, and we all wear
a red scarf, which shows we are servants in the harem; and so, even
when the town is full of rough soldiers, no one ventures to speak to
us.
"Now tell me, Dick--you see I have not forgotten--all about how you
came to be here."
Dick told her, briefly, how he had come out with his mother; and how,
finding war had broken out, he had joined the army; and how, at the
end of the war, having been able to learn nothing about his father, he
had come up with Surajah to search for him.
"And then you saw that tiger break in," the girl said, eagerly. "That
was dreadful. I will tell you how it was the tiger came to seize me. I
was standing behind a lady, and could not see anything. Suddenly they
all began screaming, and ran, some to one side, some to the other, of
the window; and I, who could not think what was the matter, remained
where I was, when there was a great cry, and before I had time to
move, or even to wonder, some great thing knocked me down.
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