The wife of Besso placed the orphan infant at her own breast, and the
young Fakredeen was brought up in every respect as a child of the house;
so that, for some time, he looked upon the little Eva, who was three
years younger than himself, as his sister. When Fakredeen had
attained an age of sufficient intelligence for the occasion and the
circumstances, his real position was explained to him; but he was still
too young for the communication to effect any change in his feelings,
and the idea that Eva was not his sister only occasioned him sorrow,
until his grief was forgotten when he found that the change made no
difference in their lives or their love.
Soon after the violent death of the father of Fakredeen, affairs had
become more tranquil, and Besso had not neglected the interests of his
charge. The infant was heir to a large estate in the Lebanon; a fine
castle, an illimitable forest, and cultivated lands, whose produce,
chiefly silk, afforded a revenue sufficient to maintain the not
inconsiderable state of a mountain prince.
When Fakredeen was about ten years of age, his relative the Emir
Bescheer, who then exercised a sovereign and acknowledged sway over all
the tribes of the Lebanon, whatever their religion or race, signified
his pleasure that his kinsman should be educated at his court, in the
company of his sons.
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