Fool! whither is
thy fancy wandering? I will not wait for tardy justice. I will do the
deed myself. Shall I not kill my Sisera?' She seized a dagger from the
ottoman, a rare and highly-tempered blade. Up she raised it in the air,
and dashed it to his heart with superhuman force. It struck against the
talisman which Jabaster had given to Alroy, and which, from a lingering
superstition, he still wore; it struck, and shivered into a thousand
pieces. The Caliph sprang from his couch; his eyes met the prophetess,
standing over him in black despair, with the hilt of the dagger in her
hand.
'What is all this? Schirene! Who art thou? Esther!' He jumped from
the couch, called to Pharez, and seized her by both hands. 'Speak!' he
continued. 'Art thou Esther? What dost thou here?'
She broke into a wild laugh; she wrestled with his grasp, and pulled him
towards the gallery. He beheld the chief tower of the Serail in flames.
Joining her hands together, grasping them both in one of his, and
dragging her towards the ottoman, he seized a helmet and flung it upon
the mighty shield. It sounded like a gong. Pharez started from his
slumbers, and rushed into the chamber.
'Pharez! Treason! treason! Send instant orders that the palace gates be
opened on no pretence whatever.
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