There were other white girls here, and they were all very kind to me, though they always seemed very sad, and I could not make out why they cried so often, especially when they were beaten for crying.
"As I grew bigger, I was not so happy.

I had ceased to be a plaything, and little by little I was set to work to sweep and dust, and then to sew, and then to do all sorts of work, like the other slave girls.

The other white girls gradually went away, the oldest first.

The last two, who were two or three years older than I was, went about three years ago.
"At first, I used to wonder why they cried so when they went, and why the others all cried, too; but by the time the last two left, I had come to know all about it, and knew that they had been given by the sultan to his favourite officers.
"There were many white men here, when I first came.

When I went out with one of the slaves, into the town, I saw them often.