_ 226 _ her younger brother, the last being the one the Christian went to teach to write, together with many other persons associated with Bifatima. So great was the truth and purity of our faith that the matter would be argued without deceit or bribery around it, but with freedom and trust in the light of day, in the open field. If this religion won over a free young woman [...] of noble blood, so much greater was the glory of God, so much greater was the confusion of the enemy at the outcome of the battle. The Captain, in the presence of all, ordered her to state through the interpreter if she had been persuaded by deceit or forced to make things change. She said that another, new, majesty, was born which moved her inner being and which possessed a solemnity and a natural assurance. She affirmed that she was not a woman whom one could presume to influence by deceit or force, and that since she clearly perceived the truth of the Christian religion, she wished to leave the base Mohammedan sect for it. The Mohammedan priests were amazed and the barbarous company rose to its feet with a clamour, interpreted with the oaths peculiar to them. Her mother, her women-friends and her maidservants manifested their sorrow at this with tears and sighs. But Bitafima remained firm and still, in every way like a hard rock amid
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