"When?"
"Well, perhaps, when – "
"Go on."
"When we are married."
The young girl burst out laughing. It was a clear, silvery, spontaneous, merry laugh; but still, for a moment, it jarred upon Milenko's nerves. He looked rather downcast, for he was far from thinking the matter to be a joke.
"Why do you laugh?" said he, ruefully.
"Because, probably, I shall never know your friend's secret."
The poor fellow's brown complexion grew livid, the muscles of his heart contracted with a spasm, he gasped for breath; the pang he felt was so strong that he could hardly speak; still, he managed to falter:
"Why, are you, perhaps, already engaged to be married?"
"I?" said she, with another laugh. "No."
"Nor in love with anyone?"
"No."
"Then, don't you think – "
He stopped again.
"Think what?"
"Well, that you might love me a little some day?"
She gave him no answer.
"What, you don't think you could?" he asked, anxiously.
"But I didn't say that I couldn't, only – "
"Only what?"
"A girl cannot always choose for herself."
"Why not?"
"Suppose my father chooses someone else for me?"
"But surely he will not."
"Suppose he has already promised me – "
"Why go and suppose such dreadful things? Besides, he ought to remember that I risked my life to save yours; that – "
Milenko stopped for a moment, and then he added:
"Well, I don't like boasting; still, if it had not been for me – well, I suppose your caique would have foundered. No, tell me that you love me, or at least that you might get to love me. Let me ask your father – "
"No, no; not yet."
"Why not?"
"Well, we hardly know each other. Who knows, perhaps, the next port you go to – "
Here she heaved a deep sigh.
"Well, what?" asked the youth, ingenuously.
"You might see some girl that you might like better than myself, and then you will regret that you have engaged yourself to a girl whom you think you are obliged to marry."
"How can you think me so fickle?"
"You are so young."
"So is Uros young, and still – "
"Still?" she asked, smilingly, with an inquisitive look.
"He is in love."
"With?"
"A woman," said Milenko, gloomily.
"Of course."
"Well, I'll tell you, only please don't mention it – with a married woman. Are you not sorry for him?"
"No, not at all; a young man ought not to fall in love with a married woman – it's a sin, a crime."
"That's what I told him myself."
After a short pause, Milenko, having now got over his shyness:
"Well, Ivanitza, tell me, will you not give me a little hope; will you not try to love me just a little?"
"Would you be satisfied with only just a little?"
"No."
"Well, then – I am afraid – "
"What?"
"I shall have to love you a good deal."
He caught hold of her reluctant hand and covered it with kisses.
"If you think that your father might object to me because I am a seaman, tell him that my father is well off, and that I am his only son. Both Uros and I have gone to sea by choice, and to see a little of the world; still, we are not to be sailors all our lives."
Afterwards he began to ask her whether she would not like to come and sail with him in summer, when he would be master of the brig; then again he ended by begging her to allow him to speak to her father.
"No, not now. It is better for you to go away and see if you do not forget me. Besides, neither your father nor your mother know anything about me, and it may happen that they have other views about you."
"Their only aim is my happiness."
"Still, they might think that you were wheedled – "
"How could they think so ill of you?"
"You forget that they do not know me. Anyhow, it is more dutiful that you should speak to them before you speak to my father."
"Well, perhaps you are right. Only, you see, I love you so; I should be so frightened to lose you."
"It is not likely that anybody will think of me for some years yet."
"Well, then, promise me not to marry anyone else. In a year's time, then, I shall come and speak to your father. Will you promise?"
"I promise."
"Will you give me a pledge?"
She gave him her hand, but he gently pulled her towards him, clasped her in his arms, and kissed her rosy lips. Then they both went into the house.
CHAPTER VI
THE BULLIN-MOST
"I suppose you have been to Knin and Dernis?" said the captain by chance after dinner to his host, speaking about the trade with the interior, whilst puffing away at the long stem of his cherry-wood pipe.
"Of course. Haven't you?"
"Oh, no! we sailors are always acquainted with the coasts of countries, nothing more. What kind of a place is this Knin?"
"Much of a muchness, like other places. The country, however, is fine and picturesque. There is, besides, the Bullin-Most."
"What is that?"
"The name of a bridge at the entrance of the town, and almost at the foot of the fortress which tops the crags. It is called the Bullin-Most, or the Bridge of the Turkish Woman. Formerly it used to be called the Bridge of the Two Torrents."
"Well, and what is there remarkable about it?"
"Don't you know the tale of 'Hussein and Ayesha'?"
"No."
"It is the subject of one of Kacic's finest poems. Would you like to hear it?"
"Of course."
"Well, then, about two hundred years ago, more or less, Kuna Hassan was the governor of Knin and of the neighbouring province. The Agawas said to be a man of great wisdom and courage; but his many qualities were marred by his severity towards the Christians, whom he hated, and subjected to all kinds of vexations and cruel treatment.
"This Aga had a numerous family, being blessed with many children by his several wives; but Ayesha, the only daughter of his favourite wife, was the child in whom he had put all the fondness of his heart. She was, it is true, a girl of an extraordinary beauty. Her skin, they say, was as white as the snowy peaks of the Dinara, the mountain over against the fort of Knin; her eyes were black, but they sparkled softly, like the star which shines at twilight; her curly hair had the colour of the harvest moon's mellow light.
"All the vati of her father's palace were in love with her, only hearing her beauty extolled by the eunuchs of the harem, and seeing her glorious eyes sparkle through her veils, or the tips of her tapering fingers, as she held her feredgé.
"The principal lords of Kuna Hassan Aga's Court were, first, Ibrahim Velagic, the