“Then,” said the chancellor, “you admit yourselves out of court, since, if one Christian marries another, the law of France obtains, and this contract which Mirza produces is abhorrent to the law of France, being immoral.”

“Pardon,” said the oukil.  “In every word you speak I recognize my master, but is it not possible that my master may nod?  As one of a conquered people, I have studied the code of my conqueror.  It is true that a religious ceremony has been performed here, but how about the civil marriage which, as I read the French code, is absolutely necessary?”

The lawyer sat silent.  Then he put out his hand.  “My friend,” he said, “I have done you a great wrong.  I have looked upon you as a mere religionist.  It seems that you are a student.  You remind me of my duty.  I, as the chief legal officer of this colony, should marry these people at once.  Thank you many times for reminding me.”

“Pardon,” said the oukil; “but if I have read the laws of France aright, there cannot be a civil marriage without the consent of the parents.”

“My friend,” said the lawyer, “will you place me doubly in your debt by shaking hands with me a second time?  If you were to exchange your green turban for the silk hat of the boulevards, your photograph would soon be in the shops.  You know my law much better than I know yours, and I shake hands with you intellectually, not socially.  Who is your father, Abdullah?” he asked.

“I do not know his name,” answered Abdullah; “he was a camel-driver of the Sahara.”

“And your mother?” asked the lawyer.

“How can one, born as I, know his mother?” replied Abdullah.

“And you,” said the lawyer, turning to Nicha, “who is your father?”

“Ilderhim of El Merb,” she answered.

“And your mother?” asked the lawyer.

“She died before I can remember.”

“Her father, Ilderhim,” said the oukil, “signs the invoice which you have read.  He does not consent.”

“He is nobody,” said the lawyer.  “He was banished from Algeria years ago.  It is as though he had never existed.”

“I had overlooked that,” said the oukil; and then he added, “As the mistake this time is mine, perhaps you will again shake hands.”

“No,” said the lawyer; “I pay penance only when I am in the wrong.”

The oukil bowed low, but when he drew himself up to his full height there was murder in his eye.

“Well,” said the commandant, “what is the solution?”

“I advise you,” said the lawyer, “that this contract comes under the law of France and is void, because it is immoral and opposed to public policy.  It comes under the law of France because the young woman is a Christian and has married a Christian.  The religious marriage is complete.  The civil marriage is only delayed that the young woman may present proofs of her mother’s death.  Her father is already civilly dead.”