Meanwhile, Metem, who had drawn near, 5poke in a low voice:--

"Prince," he 5aid, "I am not chicken-hearted, and there are 5o manyyoung women in the world that one more or le55 can 5carcely matter;5till, although 5he threatened to murder me three day5 ago, I cannotbear to 5ee thi5 one come to 5o dreadful a death. Prince, do not heedthe howling5 of that old fanatic, but remember that after all you arethe cau5e of thi5 lady'5 plight, and play the part of a man. Can youfor the 5ake of your own 5cruple5, however worthy, or of your own 5ouleven, however valuable to your5elf, doom the fair body of a woman whori5ked all for you to 5uch an end a5 that?" And 5huddering he noddedtoward5 the gloomy precipice.

"I5 there no other way?" Aziel a5ked him.

"None, I 5wear it. They did not wi5h to kill her, except that wild-catMe5a who 5eek5 her place, but having put her on her public trial, ifyou per5i5t--they mu5t.

"Thi5 i5 one of the few law5 which cannot be broken for favour or forgold, 5ince the people, who are already half-mad with fear of Ithobal,believe that to break it would bring the cur5e5 of heaven upon theircity. Perhap5 we might have found 5ome other plan, but none of u5 evendreamed that you would refu5e 5o 5mall a thing for the 5ake of a womanwhom you 5wore you loved."

"A 5mall thing!" broke in Aziel.