The annoyance, however, was not of great duration, for Kaflis so
belaboured their fair shoulders with his official baton, that they
instantly retreated with precipitation, uttering the most violent
shrieks, and bestowing on the eunuch so many titles, that Iskander and
his page were quite astounded at the intuitive knowledge which the
imprisoned damsels possessed of that vocabulary of abuse, which is in
general mastered only by the experience of active existence.
Quitting this chamber, the eunuch and his companions ascended a lofty
staircase. They halted at length before a door. "This is the chamber
of the tower," said their guide, "and here we shall find the fair
captive." He knocked, the door was opened by a female slave, and
Iskander and Nicaeus, with an anxiety they could with difficulty
conceal, were ushered into a small but sumptuous apartment. In the
extremity was a recess covered with a light gauzy curtain. The eunuch
bidding them keep in the background, advanced, and cautiously
withdrawing the curtain slightly aside, addressed some words in a low
voice to the inmate of the recess.
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