'Be
quick,' said ALMORAN: this moment I must leave thee; and in the next,
perhaps, the messengers of destruction may bind thee to the rack. 'I
will be quick,' said HAMET; 'and the sigh that shall last linger upon my
lips, shall bless thee.' They then bid each other farewel: ALMORAN
retired from the dungeon, and the door was again closed upon HAMET.
Caled, who waited at the door till the supposed Osmyn should return,
presented him with the beverage which he had prepared, of which he
recounted the virtues; and ALMORAN received it with pleasure, and having
eagerly drank it off, returned to the palace. As soon as he was alone,
he resumed his own figure, and fate, with a confident and impatient
expectation, that in a short time a messenger would be dispatched to
acquaint him with the death of HAMET. HAMET, in the mean time, having
grasped the dagger in his hand, and raised his arm for the blow, 'This,'
said he, 'is my passport to the realms of peace, the immediate and only
object of my hope!' But at these words, his mind instantly took the
alarm: 'Let me reflect,' said he, 'a moment: from what can I derive hope
in death?--from that patient and persevering virtue, and from that
alone, by which we fulfill the task that is assigned us upon the earth.
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