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diff --git a/32234-8.txt b/32234-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cac6ce1 --- /dev/null +++ b/32234-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9404 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lion of Janina, by Mór Jókai + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lion of Janina + The Last Days of the Janissaries + +Author: Mór Jókai + +Translator: R. Nisbet Bain + +Release Date: May 3, 2010 [EBook #32234] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LION OF JANINA *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +MAURUS JOKAI + +THE LION OF JANINA +OR +THE LAST DAYS OF THE JANISSARIES + +A Turkish Novel + +TRANSLATED BY +R. NISBET BAIN + + +HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS +NEW YORK AND LONDON +1898 + + + + + BY THE SAME AUTHOR. + + THE GREEN BOOK; or, Freedom Under the Snow. A Novel. + Translated by Mrs. Waugh. 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental, + $1 50. (In "The Odd Number Series.") + + BLACK DIAMONDS. A Novel. Translated by Frances A. + Gerard. With a Photogravure Portrait of the Author. + 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 50. (In "The Odd Number + Series.") + + HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, + NEW YORK AND LONDON. + + + + +Copyright, 1897, by Harper & Brothers. + +All rights reserved. + + + + +THE LION OF JANINA + + + + +PREFACE + + +The first edition of _Janicsárok végnapjai_ appeared forty-five years +ago. It was immediately preceded by the great historical romance, +_Erdely aranykora_ (_The Golden Age of Transylvania_), and the still +more famous novel of manners, _Egy Magyar Nábob_ (_A Hungarian +Nabob_), which Hungarians regard as, indisputably, Jókai's +masterpiece, while only a few months separate it from _Kárpáthy +Zoltán_ (_Sultan Karpathy_), the brilliant sequel to the _Nabob_. Thus +it belongs to the author's best literary period. + +It is also one of the most striking specimens of that peculiar group +of Turkish stories, such as _Törökvilag Magyarorszagon_ (_Turkey in +Hungary_) and _Török mozgolmak_ (_Turkish Incursions_), _A kétszarvú +ember_ (_The Man with the Antlers_), and the extremely popular _Fehér +rózsa_ (_White Rose_), which form a genre apart of Jókai's own +creation, in which his exuberant imagination revels in the rich colors +of the gorgeous East, as in its proper element, while his ever alert +humor makes the most of the sharp and strange contrasts of Oriental +life and society. The hero of the strange and terrible drama, or, +rather, series of dramas, unfolded with such spirit, skill, and +vividness in _Janicsárok végnapjai_, is Ali Pasha of Janina, +certainly one of the most brilliant, picturesque, and, it must be +added, capable ruffians that even Turkish history can produce. +Manifold and monstrous as were Ali's crimes, his astonishing ability +and splendid courage lend a sort of savage sublimity even to his +blood-stained career, and, indeed, the dogged valor with which the +octogenarian warrior defended himself at the last in his stronghold +against the whole might of the Ottoman Empire is almost without a +parallel in history. + +With such a hero, it is evident that the book must abound in stirring +and even tremendous scenes; but, though primarily a novel of incident, +it contains not a few fine studies of Oriental character, both Turkish +and Greek, by an absolutely impartial observer, who can detect the +worth of the Osmanli in the midst of his apathy and brutality, and +who, although sympathetically inclined towards the Hellenes, is by no +means blind to their craft and double-dealing, happily satirized in +the comic character of Leonidas Argyrocantharides. + +Finally, I have taken the liberty to alter the title of the story. +_Janicsárok végnapjai_ (_The Last Days of the Janissaries_) is too +glaringly inapt to pass muster, inasmuch as the rebellion and +annihilation of that dangerous corps is a mere inessential episode at +the end of the story. I have, therefore, given the place of honor on +the title-page to Ali Pasha--the Lion of Janina. + +I have added a glossary of the Turkish words used by the author in +these pages. + +R. NISBET BAIN. + + + + +Contents + + Chapter Page + I. THE CAVERNS OF SELEUCIA 1 + II. EMINAH 19 + III. A TURKISH PARADISE 45 + IV. GASKHO BEY 62 + V. A MAN IN THE MIDST OF DANGERS 72 + VI. THE LION IN THE FOX'S SKIN 78 + VII. THE ALBANIAN FAMILY 105 + VIII. THE PEN OF MAHMOUD 110 + IX. THE CIRCASSIAN AND HIS FAMILY 129 + X. THE AVENGER 160 + XI. THE FLOWERS OF THE GARDEN OF BEGTASH 187 + XII. THE SHIPWRECK OF LEONIDAS 198 + XIII. A BALL IN THE SERAGLIO 213 + XIV. KURSHID PASHA 238 + XV. CARETTO 244 + XVI. EMINAH 252 + XVII. THE SILVER PEDESTAL IN FRONT OF THE SERAGLIO 262 + XVIII. THE BROKEN SWORDS 275 + GLOSSARY OF TURKISH WORDS 293 + + + + +The Lion of Janina + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CAVERNS OF SELEUCIA + + +A savage, barren, inhospitable region lies before us, the cavernous +valley of Seleucia--a veritable home for an anchorite, for there is +nothing therein to remind one of the living world; the whole district +resembles a vast ruined tomb, with its base overgrown by green weeds. +Here is everything which begets gloom--the blackest religious +fanaticism, the darkest monstrosities of superstition--while an +eternal malediction seems to brood like a heavy mist over this region, +created surely by God's left hand, scattering abroad gigantic rocky +fragments, smiting the earth with unfruitfulness, and making it +uninhabitable by the children of men. + +Man rarely visits these parts. And, indeed, why should he come, or +what should he seek there? There is absolutely nothing in the whole +region that is dear to the heart of man. Even the wild beast makes no +abiding lair for himself in that valley. Only now and then, in the +burning days of summer, a lion of the wilderness, flying from before +the sultry heat, may, perchance, come there to devour his captured +prey, and then, when he is well gorged, pursue his way, wrangling as +he goes with the echo of his own roar. + +Solitary travellers of an enterprising turn of mind do occasionally +visit this dreary wilderness; but so crushing an impression does it +make on all who have the courage to gaze upon it, that they scarce +wait to explore the historic ground, but hasten from it as fast as +their legs can carry them. + +What is there to see there, after all? A battered-down wall, as to +which none can say who built it, or why it was built, or who destroyed +it. A tall stone column, the column of the worthy Simon Stylites, who +piled it up, stone upon stone, year after year, with his own hands, +being wont to sit there for days together with arms extended in the +shape of a cross, bowing himself thousands and thousands of times a +day till his head touched his feet. The northern and southern sides of +the valley are cut off from the rest of the world by gigantic masses +of rocks as steep and solid as the bastions of a fortress; only +towards their summit, at an elevation of some three to four hundred +yards, is a little strip of green vegetation visible. + +Darkly visible at intervals in this long and steep rocky wall are the +mouths of a series of caverns, of various sizes, all close together. +It looks as if some monstrous antediluvian race had cut two or three +stories of doors and windows into the living rock, in order to make +themselves palaces to dwell in. + +The walls of these caverns are so rugged, their bases are so +irregular, that it is scarcely conceivable that they could be the +work of human hands, unless, indeed, the arched concavities of the +chasms and the regular consecutiveness of the series may be assumed to +bear witness to the wonder-working power of finite forces. + +Three of the entrances to these caverns have all the loftiness of +triumphal arches; nay, one of them, carved in the base of the rock, is +so exceptionally vast that it rather resembles the nave of a huge +church, and is said to penetrate the whole mountain to the sea beyond. +It is said that if any one has the courage to attempt the journey, he +will discover mysterious hieroglyphics carved on the walls. Who could +have been the authors of this unknown runic language? The Chaldeans +perhaps, or the worshippers of Mithra. What hidden secrets, what human +memorials are enshrined in these symbols? That question must remain +forever without an answer. + +Most probably this valley was used as a burial-place by some +long-vanished nation, whose tombs have survived them, making the whole +region still more dreadful; the gaping crevices of the rocks seem to +proclaim, as from a hundred open throats, that here an extinct race +has found its last resting-place. + +Moreover, the largest cavern of all has the unusual property of +sometimes emitting whistling sounds like interrupted human voices. The +shepherds on the mountain summits listen terror-stricken to this +bellowing of its rocky throat. At first it resembles the buzzing of +imprisoned wasps, but the din gradually gathers force and volume till +it seems as if the demons of the wind had lost their way within the +cavern, and were roaring tumultuously in their endeavors to find an +exit. This noise is generally followed by the blast of the simoon, +which no doubt penetrates into the cavern through a gap on the other +side, and thus gives rise to the mysterious voices of the valley. + +But not on these occasions only; at other seasons also the cavern is +wont to speak. It happens now and then that a shepherd, more foolhardy +than his fellows, ventures into the hollow of the cavern to light a +fire, and, full of bravado, provokes the _dzhin_ of the cavern to +appear, till the cavern suddenly re-echoes his voice; but it does not +re-echo the words he utters, but replies in a soft, low accent to the +insolent youth, bidding him withdraw and cease to mock God's +creatures. + +On another occasion an adulterous woman and her paramour strolled +towards the spot with the intent of using the deep darkness as the +cloak for their sinful joys; but what terror filled the guilty lovers +when their sweet whispering was interrupted by a voice which was +neither near nor far, and belonged neither to man nor spirit, but +whose cold sigh turned their hot blood into ice as it whispered, +"Allah is everywhere present!" + +Once, too, some robbers were lying in wait for their comrades, whom +they intended to murder in that place, when a roaring began in the +cave which seemed to make the very welkin ring, and the murderers +clearly distinguished the terrible words: "The eye of Allah is upon +you, and the flames of Morhut are burning for your souls!" whereupon, +insane with fright, they rushed from the cave. + +Every one who lived near the place knew of, and believed in, the +_dzhin_ of the cavern, who, they said, harmed not the good, but +persecuted evil-doers. + +But it was not only terror-stricken hearts who knew of the voice of +the invisible _dzhin_--crushed and bleeding hearts likewise repaired +thither. And the invisible _dzhin_ read their secrets; they had no +need to acquaint him with their griefs, and he gave them good counsel, +and, for the most part, sent them away comforted. Doubtless anybody +else might have given them similar counsels; but if the advice had +come from ordinary men, the suppliants would not perhaps have welcomed +it with such enthusiasm, or have turned it to such good account. + +And people often came thither to inquire into the future; and the +invisible being, it was found, could distinguish between those who +came to him in real anguish of mind and those whom only curiosity had +attracted thither, or who merely wished to prove him. To the latter he +made no answer, but to the former he often spoke in prophetic +parables, whose deeply figurative meaning was frequently fulfilled +word for word. + +The superstitious common folk made a merit of sacrificing to this +unknown being. The dwellers round about made a point of living on good +terms with him, took care not to provoke him with vain words, did not +fly to him at every trifle; nay, on one occasion, the Kadi[1] of +Seleucia even laid by the heels a couple of wanton rascals who were +caught throwing stones into the cavern. + +[Footnote 1: For this and all other Turkish words see the glossary at +the end of this book.] + +From the mouth of the cave inward extended a sort of staircase +consisting of about forty steps, terminating at a point whither the +light of day scarcely ever reached. Here stood a huge stone, not +unlike a rude altar, in the midst of which was a slight hollow. This +hollow the pious inhabitants of the district used to fill with rice or +millet, and on returning next day they would see that the _dzhin_ had +removed it from thence, and, by way of payment, had left a small +silver coin in this natural basin--a coin belonging to that old silver +money which had been struck in the brilliant days of the Turkish +Empire, and was worth thrice as much as the present coinage. Thus the +_dzhin_ would take nothing gratis, but paid for everything in ready +money. + +Those who wished to speak with him had to penetrate into the depths of +the cave where no daylight was visible, for he was only to be found +where the darkness was complete. If any one went with sword or dagger +he got no answer at all. And a visitor standing alone there in the +darkness was as plainly visible to the _dzhin_ as if the glare of +noonday were beating full upon him; not a change of countenance was +hidden from this mysterious being. So they more readily believed that +he who could thus see through the darkness of earth could also see +through the darkness of human hearts and the darkness of the +unrevealed future. + +This marvel had now been notorious for fifty years, the ordinary span +of human life, and princes, pashas, generals, wise men, priests, +ulemas, were in the habit of visiting the abode of the _dzhin_, who +seemed to know about everything that was going on in the world above. +To many he prophesied death, and to those who pleased him not he +foretold the Nemesis that was to come upon them as a reward for their +iniquities. + + * * * * * + +In the year one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, at the season +immediately following the raging of the simoon, it chanced that a +pirate ship sailed into the haven of Suda, whence the magnificent +ruins of the ancient Seleucia are still to be seen. The corsair +carried the French flag, but her crew consisted entirely of Albanians. +The deck was encumbered with wreckage, cast down upon it by the +happily weathered tempest, and this the crew were energetically +engaged in removing; but every one on shore was astounded to see her +there at all, much more in such trim condition, for she had lost +neither mast nor sail. But then, after the manner of corsairs in +general, she was very much better equipped with both masts and sails +than ships of ordinary tonnage are wont to be. In the same hour that +the ship cast anchor the largest of her boats was lowered, and manned +by four and twenty well-armed Trinariots. Every one of these stout +fellows carried orders of merit on his cheek, the scars of many a +battle, which accentuated the savage sternness of their weather-beaten +faces. + +A little old man descended after them into the boat; presently his +horse was also let down by means of a crane. This was the officer in +command. He was a middling-sized but very muscular old fellow, already +beyond his seventieth and not very far from his eightieth year; but he +was as vigorous now both in mind and body as he had been when his +beard, which now swept across his breast like the wing of a swan, was +as dark as the raven's plume. + +His broad shoulders spoke of extraordinary strength, while the firm +expression of his face, the flashing lustre of his eyes, and his calm +and valiant look, testified to the fact that this strength was +squandered upon no coward soul. + +Some stout rowing brought the boat at last near to the shore, but not +all the efforts of the men could bring her to land; the wash of the +sea was so great that the foam-crested waves again and again drove the +boat back from the shore. + +At a sign from the old man three of the ship's crew leaped into the +waves in order to drag after them the boat's hawser, but the sea tore +it out of the hands of all three as easily as a wild bull would toss a +pack of children. + +Then the old man vaulted upon his steed, kicking the stirrups aside, +and leaped among the churning waves. Twice the horse was jostled back +by the assault of the foaming billows, but at the third attempt the +shore was reached. The people on the shore said it was a miracle; but +he, wasting no words upon any one, directed his way all alone along +the shore of the haven, and leaving behind him the lofty turreted row +of bastions--which crowns the edge of the rocky promontory, encircles +the town, and hangs upon the shoulders of the hill like an ancient and +gigantic necklace--picked his way among the lofty, scattered bowlders, +and, unescorted as he was, quickly disappeared from view amid the +wilderness. + +He had scarcely proceeded more than half an hour among the fig and +olive trees which covered the slopes of the hills, and whose scorched +and withered leaves marked the passage of the burning wind, when he +arrived at the place he sought. It was a crazy, tumble-down hut, whose +shapeless mass was so clumsily compounded of wood, stone, and mud, +that a swallow would have been ashamed to own it, let alone a beaver, +whose ordinary habitation is an architectural masterpiece compared +with it. Nature, however, had been gracious to this shanty, and +clothed it with creeping plants, which nearly hid away all the +superfluous cracks and crevices which the architect had left behind +him. + +It was here that the new-comer dismounted from his horse, tied it to a +tree, and, proceeding to the latchless door, amused himself by reading +the scrawl which had been written on the outside of it, and was, as +usual, one of those sacred texts which the Turks love to see over +their door-posts: "Accursed be he who disturbs a singing-bird!" + +The stranger fell a listening. Surely there was no singing-bird here, +he thought. Then he went on reading what followed: "He who knocks at +the gate of him who prays will knock in vain at the gate of Paradise." + +The stranger did not take the trouble to knock; he simply kicked the +door down. + +Within was kneeling an anchorite of the order of Erdbuhár on a piece +of matting. He was naked to the girdle, and before him stood a wooden +tub full of fresh water. He was just finishing his ablutions. + +He did not seem to observe the violent inroad of the stranger, but +concluded his religious exercises with great fervor. First of all he +washed his hands, reciting thirty times the sacred words, "Blessed be +God, Who hath given to water its purifying power, and hath revealed +the true faith to us!" Next he thrice conveyed water to his mouth in +his right palm, and prayed, "O Lord! O Allah! refresh me with the +water Thou didst give to Thy Prophet Muhammad in Paradise, which is +more fragrant than balm, whiter than milk, and sweeter than honey, and +satisfies eternally those who pine with thirst!" Then, with the palm +of his hand, he cast water upon his nostrils, and exclaimed, +fervently, "O Lord! cause me to smell the perfume of Paradise, which +is sweeter than musk and ambergris, and suffer me not to inhale the +accursed fumes of hell!" Then, filling both palms with water and well +washing his face, he said these words, "Purify my face, O Lord, like +as Thou wilt purify the faces of Thy prophets and servants on the +great Day of Judgment!" But even this did not suffice, for now he put +water in his right palm again, and, letting it run down his elbows, he +sighed, "Lord, suffer me at the last day to hold in my right hand, +which is the hand of Thine elect, the book of my good deeds, and admit +me to Thy Paradise!" With that he dipped his head into the tub of +water, but so as to keep his mouth clear of it, and spake in this +wise, "O Lord, when I appear before Thee, encompass me with Thy +mercies, and crush not my head beneath the fiery wreath of my sins, +but adorn it with the golden crown of my merits!" Then came the turn +of his ears, the worthy man crying the while, with unction, "Grant, O +Lord, that mine ears may hear, for ever and ever, those joyous sounds +which are written in the Kuran!" This accomplished, he sprinkled his +neck and throat, suitably exclaiming, "O Lord, deliver me from those +fetters which will be cast upon the necks of the accursed!" After +which pious ejaculation he sat down on the ground, and, reverently +washing his right foot, exclaimed, "O Lord, suffer not my feet to slip +on the bridge of Alserat which leads across hell to heaven!" Then he +cleansed thoroughly his left foot also, and sighed, "May the Lord +forgive me my trespasses and listen to my supplications!" + +And the honest dervish did not utter all these pious ejaculations in a +low mumble, but in an intelligible, exalted voice, as becomes an +orthodox Mussulman, who does not consider it a shameful thing to pray +to God in the presence of men. + +After that he took up the tub and, carrying it out, sprinkled the +water it contained over the wild flowers growing there, blessing them +severally and collectively; then he filled it full again with fresh +water from the spring, and bringing it back into the hut and turning +the mat over, placed the tub full of water on it, whereupon the +stranger immediately divested himself of his slippers and upper +kaftan, unwound his turban, removed his red fez from his head, and +proceeded to perform his ablutions also in the self-same manner. + +When he had finished he kissed the hand of the dervish, and when the +latter drew from his girdle a long manuscript reaching to the very +ground, and began, from its eighty sections, to laud and magnify the +eighty properties of Allah, the stranger repeated them after him with +great unction, and, at the end of each one of them, intoned with him +twice over the verse, "La illah, il Allah, Muhammad roszul Allah!"--in +the chanting of which he was as practised as any muezzin. + +All these pious practices were accomplished with the utmost devotion; +but when the new-comer arose from his place, the expression of +lowliness vanished from his features and he reassumed his former +commanding look, while the dervish now humbly bowed down before him to +the very earth and murmured: + +"What are my lord's commands to his servant?" + +The stranger let him lie there and slowly raised his sword. + +"Art thou," cried he, "that dervish of Erdbuhár[2] to whom I +despatched a fakir of the Nimetullahitas, who dwelleth in Janina?" + +[Footnote 2: The orders of Erdbuhár and Nimetullahita are the severest +of all the Turkish religious fraternities: the former fast so +rigorously twice a week that they do not even swallow their saliva; +the latter observe the fast only during their year of probation, after +which they are free to return to the joys of this world.] + +"Thy servant is that man." + +The stranger thereupon, with his right hand, drew a dagger from his +girdle, and with his left hand a purse. + +"Dost thou see this dagger and this purse?" said he. "In the purse are +a thousand sequins; on the blade of this sword is the blood of at +least as many murdered men. I ask thee not--Dost thou recognize me? or +dost thou know my name? Maybe thou dost know--for thou knowest all +things--and, if so, thou dost also know that none hath ever betrayed +me on whom I have not wreaked my vengeance. If, therefore, thou dost +want a reward, listen; but if chastisement, speak!" + +The dervish raised his hand to his ear to signify that he would prefer +to listen. + +"Arise, then! take my horse's bridle, and lead me to that cavern where +dwelleth the _dzhin_ of prophecy. Dost thou know him?" + +"I know him, my master, but go to him I will not, for he is wroth with +me. He loves not the dervishes, because they would always be teaching. +If I go to him he throws stones at me from out of the cavern, or leads +me into deep pitfalls. Therefore, if thou so desire it, I will lead +thee thither; but I would not go with thee if I had as many heads upon +my shoulders for thy sword to sever as there are sequins in that +purse." + +"There is no need of that. Thou canst remain outside and hold my +horse." + +And with that the herculean old man flung himself haughtily on his +horse, and the dervish, seizing the steed's bridle, began to lead him +along the mountain path among the rugged rocks and bowlders. + +The moon was already high in the heavens when they reached the mouth +of the cavern. + +Looking back upon the country whence they came, the region seemed more +desolate than ever. In front, the savage, natural ruins; behind, the +black cedar forests, where thick foliage cast night-black shadows even +at noonday; on each side, the endlessly sublime masses of rocks, which +stood out still vaster in the moonlight. The caverns looked still +blacker at night, and the rock and ruins more sterile; but, night and +day alike, the place was deserted. + +On reaching the cavern of the _dzhin_, the old man dismounted from his +horse and, bidding the dervish stand and hold it till he returned, +disappeared in the cavern without the slightest hesitation. + +He could only grope his way, step by step, through the blinding +darkness; cautiously he advanced, but without fear. He tested the +ground in front of him as he advanced, with one hand over his eyes and +the other on the hilt of his sword. It must, indeed, be a resolutely +wicked spirit that would venture to attack him. + +Every now and then a bat sped rapidly past him, close to his ears, +with a sound like a mocking titter; at other times he trod upon some +cold, moving body. But what cared he for these? The deep silence which +encircled him was far more terrible than all the voices of hell; and +not even the darkness terrified him, for his powerful voice now +pierced that subterranean stillness as with a sword. + +"I summon thee, thou spirit, whether thou art good or evil, whom Allah +permits to hold discourse with living men--I summon thee to speak with +me!" + +"I am even now beside thee," a voice suddenly whispered. It was low +and hollow, just as if the atmosphere of the cavern were speaking. + +The stranger made a clutch after the voice, as if his audacious hand +would have seized the spirit; but he found nothing. It was a voice +without a shape. + +"Speak to me!" cried the old man, in a voice that never quavered. +"Dost thou know my fate?" + +"I know it," answered the invisible voice; "thou art a poor man who +hast lost what thou hadst, and what thou now hast is not thine." + +"Thou art a senseless spirit," growled the stranger. "Go back to thy +tomb and slumber; I will inquire nothing more of thee. Thou dost not +even know my present fate; how canst thou know my future? Go back to +thy hole, I say, and sleep in peace." + +"I know thee," continued the voice, "and I have spoken the truth. Do +not they call thee Ali Tepelenti?" + +The stranger was amazed. "That is indeed my name," he answered. + +"Wert thou not a fugitive yesterday, and wilt thou not be dust and +ashes to-morrow?" + +"True; but that yesterday was eighty years ago; and who shall say when +to-morrow will be?" + +"Thou knowest that here there is neither morning nor evening," +answered the voice. "To me yesterday was when I last saw the sun, and +to-morrow will be when I see it again. Ali Tepelenti, Lord of Janina, +thou art poorer than the lowliest Mussulman who girds himself with a +girdle of hair, for thou hast lost everything which thou didst account +precious. Thy kinsmen, who were for thy defence, thou hast slain; thy +mother, who loved thee, thou hast strangled; thy right hand has pulled +down the house which thou didst build up; thy glory, in which thou +didst exalt thyself, has become a curse to thee; and thou hast made +bitter haters of those who loved thee best." + +"So it is. I know what I have done. I repent me of nothing. The hare +nibbles the flower, the vulture seizes the hare, the hunter slays the +vulture, the lion fells the hunter, the worm devours the lion. All of +us turn to earth. Allah is mighty, and He orders it so. What am I? +Only a bigger worm than the rest. Who shall strive with God? What is +my fate in the future?" + +"But yesterday thou wert younger than thy newborn son, to-morrow thou +shalt die older than thy oldest ancestors." + +"Speak more plainly. I perceive the meaning of thy words as little as +I perceive thyself." + +"'He who sins with the sword shall perish with the sword,' saith +Allah. He who sins with love, shall perish by love. Thou hast two +hands, the right and the left; thou hast two swords, one covered with +gold and one with silver; thou hast three hundred wives in thy harem, +but only one in thy heart; thou hast twelve sons, but only one whom +thou lovest. Look, now! Take good heed of thy life, for thy death +lieth in what is nearest to thee; thine own weapon, thine own child, +thine own property, thine own two hands, shall one day slay thee." + +"Mashallah! Death is inevitable. Tell me but one thing. Shall I one +day pass in triumph through the gates of the seraglio at Stambul?" + +"Thou shalt. Thou shalt stand there on a silver pedestal in the face +of the rejoicing multitude." + +"When?" + +"That day will come when thou shalt be in two places at the same time, +in Janina and in Stambul; the days to come will explain it." + +"One word more. Wherefore didst thou mention that woman whom I love +best?" + +"She will be the first to betray thee." + +"Accursed one!" roared Ali, drawing his sword and madly striking in +the direction of the voice. + +The sword hissed fiercely through the vacant air, and the next moment +the voice replied from a respectable distance: + +"It has happened already." + +"This is a dream, all a dream!" moaned Ali. + +"'Tis no dream; thou art wide awake," cried the mysterious voice. + +"If it be no dream, give me a sign that I may know before I depart +hence that I have not been dreaming." + +"First put thy sword into its sheath." + +"I have done so," said Ali; but he lied, for he had only slipped it +into his girdle. + +"Into the sheath, I say," cried the voice. + +It was with a tremor that Ali felt that this being could distinguish +his slightest movement in the dark. + +"And now stretch forth thy hand!" cried the voice. It was now quite +close to him. + +Ali stretched forth his hand, and the same instant he felt a vigorous, +manly hand seize his own in a grasp of steel; so strong, so cruel was +the pressure that the blood started from the tips of his fingers. + +At last the invisible being let go, and said in a whisper as it did +so: + +"Not a muscle of thy face moved under the pressure of my hand; only +Tepelenti could so have endured." + +"And there is but one man living who could press my hand like that," +replied Ali. "His name was Behram, the son of Halil Patrona,[3] who, +forty years ago, was my companion in warfare, and has since +disappeared. Who art thou?" + +[Footnote 3: The extraordinary adventures of this Mussulman reformer +are recorded in another of Jókai's Turkish stories, _A feher rózsa_ +(_The White Rose_).] + +"Aleikum unallah!"[4] said the voice, instead of replying. + +[Footnote 4: "God be with thee!"] + +"Who art thou?" again cried Ali, advancing a step. + +"Aleikum unallah!" was the parting salutation of the already +far-distant voice. + +The mighty pasha turned back in a reverie, and when he got back into +the moonlight, he still saw plainly on his hand the drops of blood +which that powerful grasp had caused to leap forth from the tips of +his fingers. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +EMINAH + + +And now for a story, a marvellous story, that would not be out of +place in a fairy tale! Away to another clime where the very sunbeams +and blossoms, where the very beating of loving hearts, differ from +what we are accustomed to. + + * * * * * + +In whichever direction we look around us, we shall see the land of the +gods rising up before us in classical sublimity, the mountains of +Hellas, the triumphal home of sun-bright heroes. There is the mountain +whence Zeus cast forth his thunderbolts, the grove where the thorns of +roses scratched the tender feet of Aphrodite, and perchance a whole +olive grove sprung from the tree into which the nymph, favored and +pursued by Apollo, was metamorphosed. The sunlit summits of snowy OEta +and Ossa still sparkle there when the declining sun kindles his +beacons upon them, and Olympus still has its thunderbolts; yet it is +no longer Zeus who casts them, but Ali Tepelenti, Pasha of Albania and +master of half the Turkish Empire, and the rose which the blood of +Venus dyed crimson blooms for him, and the laurel sprung from the love +of Apollo puts forth her green garlands for him also. + +The poetic figures of the bright gods are seen no more on the quiet +mountain. With a long gun over his shoulder, a palikár walks hither +and thither, who has built his hut in a lurking-place where Ali Pasha +will not find it. The high porticos lie level with the ground; the +paths of Leonidas and Themistocles are covered with sentry-boxes, that +none may pass that way. + +From the summit of the mighty Lithanizza you can look down upon the +fairy-like city which dominates Albania. It is Janina, the +historically renowned Janina. + +Beside it stands the lake of Acheruz, in whose green mirror the city +can regard itself; there it is in duplicate. It is as deep as it is +high. The golden half-moons of the minarets sparkle in the lake and in +the sky at the same time. The roofless white houses, rising one above +another, seem melted into a compact mass, and they are encircled by +red bastions, with exits out of eight gates. + +But what have we to do with the minarets, the bazaars, the kiosks of +the city? Beyond the city, where Cocytus, rippling down from the +wooded mountain, forms, with the lake into which it flows, a +peninsula, there, on an isthmus, stands the strong fortress of Ali +Pasha, with vast, massive bastions, a heavy, iron-plated drawbridge, +and a ditch in front of the walls full of solid sharp-pointed stakes +in two fathoms of water. From the summits of the ramparts the throats +of a hundred cannons gape down upon the town--iron dogs, whose barking +can be heard four miles off. On the walls an innumerable multitude of +armed men keep watch, and in front of the gate the guns look out upon +each other from the port-holes of the steep bastions on both sides of +it. Woe to those who should attempt to make their way into the citadel +by force! The gate, fastened with a huge chain, is defended by three +heavy iron gratings, and from close beneath the lofty projecting roof +circular pieces of artillery shine forth, in front of which are +pyramidal stacks of bombs. + +The court-yard forms a huge crescent, in which nothing is visible but +instruments of warfare, engines of destruction. In the lower part of +the semicircular barracks stand the sentry-boxes, while in the +opposite semicircle a long pavilion cuts the fortress in two, +extending from the end of one semicircle to the end of the other, and +here are three gates, which lead into the heart of the fortress. + +In all this long building there are no windows above the court-yard, +only two rows of narrow embrasures are visible therein. All the +windows are on the other side overlooking the garden, and there dwell +the odalisks of Ali Pasha's three sons. The three sons, Omar, Almuhán, +and Zaid, inhabit the building with the three gates. The back of this +building looks out upon the garden, in which the harems of the pasha's +sons are wont to disport themselves. + +Here again a long bastion barricades the garden, a bastion also +protected by trenches full of water, across whose iron bridge you gain +admission into the pasha's inmost fortress. + +And what is that like? Nobody can tell. The brass gates, covered with +silver arabesques, seem to be eternally closed, and none ever comes in +or goes out save Ali and his dumb eunuchs, and those captives whose +heads alone are sent back again. The bastion surrounding this central +fortress is so high that you cannot look into it from the top of the +citadel outside; but if any one could peep down upon it from the +summit of the lofty Lithanizza he would perceive inside it a fairy +palace, with walls of colored marble protected by silver trellis-work, +with blue-painted, brazen cupolas, with golden half-moons on their +pointed spires. One tower there, the largest of all, has a roof of red +cast-iron, and this one roof stands out prominently from among all the +other buildings of the inner fortress. The colored kiosks are +everywhere wreathed with garlands of flowers, and the spectator +perched aloft would plainly discern cradles for growing vines on the +top of the bastion. He might also, in the dusk of the summer evenings, +distinguish seductive shapes bathing in the basins of the fountains, +and lose his reason while he gazed; or it might chance (which is much +more likely) that Ali Pasha's patrols might come upon him unawares and +cast him down from the mountain-top. + +This wondrous retreat was Ali's paradise. Here he grouped together the +most beautiful flowers of the round world--flowers sprung from the +earth or from a human mother. For maidens also are flowers, and may be +plucked and enjoyed like other flowers. But the most beautiful among +so many beautiful flowers was Eminah, Tepelenti's favorite damsel, the +sixteen-years-old daughter of the Pasha of Delvino, who gave her to +Ali just as so many eminent Turks are wont to give their daughters. On +the day of their birth they promise to give them to some powerful +magnate, and by the time the _fiancée_ is marriageable the _fiancé_ +has already one foot in his grave. + +A pale, blue-eyed flower was she, looking as if she had grown up +beneath the light of the moon instead of the light of the sun; her +shape, her figure, was so delicate that it reminded one of those +sylphs of the fairy world that fly without wings. Her voice was +sweeter, more tender, than the voices of the other damsels; and, wiser +than they, she could speak so that you felt rather than heard what she +said. Ali loved to toy with her light hair, unwind the long folds of +her tresses, cover his face with their silken richness, and fancy he +was reposing in the shades of paradise. + +And the child loved the man. Ali was a handsome old fellow. His beard +was as glossy and as purely white as the wing of a swan; the roses of +his cheeks had not yet faded; when he smiled he was no longer a tiger, +but revealed a row of teeth even handsomer than her own. And, in +addition to that, he was valiant--a hero. Even in old men love is no +mere impotent desire when accompanied with all the vigorous passion of +youth. + +And Eminah knew not that there were such beings as youths in the +world. Excepting her father and her husband, she had never seen a man, +and therefore fancied that other men also had just such white beards +and silvery eyelashes as they. Brought up from the days of her +childhood in the midst of a harem, among women and eunuchs, she had +not the remotest idea of the romantic visions which the hearts of +love-sick girls are wont to form from the contemplation of their +ideals; to her her husband was the most perfect man for whom a +woman's heart had ever beaten, and she clung to him as if he had been +a supernatural being. + +In her heart Eminah pictured Ali as one of those beneficent genii who +in the marvellous tales of the Arabs rise up from the bowels of the +earth and the depths of the sea, a hundred times greater than ordinary +men, ten times younger, and a thousand times more powerful, who are +wont to give talismanic rings to their earthly favorites, appearing +before them when they turn this ring in order to instantly gratify +their desires, their wishes; to transport them from place to place +with their huge muscular hands, to make them ride a cock-horse on +their middle fingers, play hide-and-seek with them in the thousand +corners of their vast palaces, watch over them when they sleep, +overwhelm them with heaps and heaps of gifts and treasures, and yet +are gentle and complacent in spite of their immense power. They need +but take one step to crush the towers and bastions of the mightiest +fortress in the dust, and yet they walk so warily as not even to graze +the tiny ant they meet upon their path. Why, once Ali had waded into +the lake up to his waist to rescue two amorously fluttering +butterflies that had fallen into it! Oh! Ali has such a sensitive soul +that he weeps over the bird that has accidentally beaten itself to +death against the bars of its cage; whenever he plucks a flower from +its stalk he always raises it to his lips to beg its pardon; and when +they told him how at the siege of Kilsura all the poor doves were +burned, the tears sparkled in his eyes! + +Eminah does not fully know the meaning of a siege; she only grieves +for the poor doves. How they would hover above the burning town in +white clusters amid the black smoke, and fall down into the fire +below! + +In reality the matter stood thus: Ali was besieging Kilsura, but could +not take it; the besiegers fought valiantly, and the natural +advantages of the place prevented him from drawing near enough to it. +So he signified to the inhabitants that he would make peace with them +and depart from their town, and desired them, in earnest of their +pacific intentions, to send him a number of white doves. The besieged +fell in with his proposal, and collecting together all the white doves +in the town they could lay they hands upon, sent them to Ali. He +immediately withdrew his siege artillery, with which he had already +wrought no small mischief, but at night, when every one was asleep, he +fastened fiery matches by long wires to the feet of the doves, and +then set them free. The natural instincts of the doves made them fly +back to their old homes, the familiar roofs where their nests were, +and in a moment the whole town was in flames, the doves themselves +carrying the combustible material from roof to roof and perishing +themselves among the falling houses. + +Ali wept sore as he told to Eminah the story of the doves of Kilsura; +yes, Ali was certainly a sensitive soul! + +The beautiful woman had everything that eye could covet or heart +desire. In her apartments were mirrors as high as the ceiling, +masterpieces of Venetian crystal, and the floor was covered with +Persian carpets embroidered with flowers. Blossoming flowers and +singing birds were in all her windows, and a hundred waiting-women +were at her beck and call. From morn to eve Joy and Pleasure were her +attendants, and each day presented her with a fresh delight, a fresh +surprise. + +Thirty rooms, opening one into another, each more magnificent than the +last, were hers, and hers alone. The eye that feasted on one splendid +object quickly forgot it in the contemplation of a still more splendid +marvel, and by the time it had taken them all in was eager to begin +again at the beginning. + +But there was one thing which did not please Eminah. When one had got +to the end of all the thirty rooms, it was plain that they did not end +there, for then came a round brass door; and this door was always +closed against her--never was she able to go through it. Now this door +led into that huge tower with the red cast-iron roof, which could be +seen such a distance off. + +The inquisitive woman very much wanted to know what was inside this +door through which she was never suffered to go, though Ali himself +used it frequently, always closing it most carefully behind him, and +wearing the key of it fastened to his bosom by a little cord. + +Now and then she had asked Ali what was in this tower that she was not +allowed to see, and what he did when he remained there all night +alone? At such times Ali would reply that he went there to consort +with spirits who were teaching him how to find the stone of the wise, +how to become perpetually young, how to foresee the future, and make +gold and other marvels--all of which it was easy to make a woman +believe who did not even know that all men do not wear white beards. + +After all such occasions Eminah, when she was alone again, would +conjure up before her all sorts of marvellous blue and green denizens +of fairyland appearing before Ali in the elements of air, fire, and +water, to teach him how to make gold. And Ali always proved to Eminah +that what he told her was no idle tale, for whenever he returned the +next day he was followed by a whole procession of dumb eunuchs +carrying baskets filled with gold and precious stones. Thus Ali not +only knew how to make gold, but also those things that are made of +gold--that is to say, coined money and filigreed ornaments, which he +piled up before her; and to Eminah it seemed a very nice thing, and +quite natural that if these peculiar spirits could manufacture gold +from nothing, they should also be able to make necklaces and bracelets +out of smoke, as Ali told her they did without any difficulty at all. + +Now any one would have been curious to get to the bottom of such +mysteries, especially if they were close at hand; how much more, then, +a spoiled and pampered young woman, who frequently was not able to +sleep for the joy which the presents heaped upon her by Ali excited in +her breast. How much she would have loved to see these benevolent +spirits who had given her so much pleasure! + +Frequently she implored Ali to take her with him when he went into the +red tower; but the pasha always tried to frighten her by saying that +these spirits were most cruel to strangers in general, and women in +particular, whom they would be ready to tear limb from limb, so that +Eminah always had to abandon her desire. + +But when once a woman has made up her mind to do a thing, do it she +will, though a seven-headed dragon were to stand in the way; and if +fear is a great power in this world, curiosity is a still greater. + +One evening Eminah accompanied Ali right up to the brass door, and as +he went in she dexterously thrust a little pebble between the door and +the threshold. Thus the door not being completely closed, the catch of +the lock, despite a double turn of the key, shot back again; so +instead of closing the door behind him, as Ali fondly imagined, he +left it ajar. + +Eminah waited till the sound of her husband's footsteps had quite +ceased. Then she softly opened the door, and at first contented +herself with peeping in. Perceiving nothing to frighten her back, she +ventured right in, cautiously peering around at every step lest any +angry spirit should suddenly rise up before her. + +Before her lay a long corridor, and she went right to the very end of +it. Then she came upon a spiral staircase, which was so dark that she +had to painfully grope her way along. A fatal curiosity goaded her on +in spite of the darkness, and presently she found herself in a large, +round room, dimly lit by a hanging lamp. + +All round the walls of this room were arranged marble benches, +pitchers of water, funnels, and curious instruments of iron, leather, +and wood, of all shapes and sizes, looking all the more +incomprehensible in the semi-darkness. These were, no doubt, the +implements with which Ali was in the habit of making gold, thought +Eminah to herself, and, discovering a convenient niche at the head of +the staircase, she squeezed herself into it so that she could see +everything from thence without being seen herself. + +A few moments afterwards the door at the opposite end of the room +opened, and Ali and twelve dumb eunuchs entered with torches. The room +was illuminated at once, the eunuchs thrusting the torches into large +iron sconces; one of them then proceeded to light the fire and pile up +various instruments around it; some sort of liquid also began bubbling +in a caldron. Ali meanwhile was sitting down on a camp-stool and +distributing his commands in a low voice. "Now we shall see how Ali +makes gold," thought Eminah. + +But now at a sign from Ali two of the eunuchs entered a trap-door, and +a few moments afterwards the rattling of chains was audible; the +trap-door opened again, and in came two old men, peculiar-looking +creatures, with long gray hair, closely cropped beards, and strange +garments, the like of which Eminah had never seen before. + +"Ah! no doubt these are the spirits which help Ali to make gold," +thought Eminah to herself. "Well, at any rate, they are in chains, so +I need not be afraid of them." And, like the timid spectator of some +strange drama, she looked out from her hiding-place at the scene which +followed. + +The two old men were led up to Ali, who, smiling and rubbing his +hands, stood up before them, and for a long time did not speak, but +only smiled. At last he gently stroked the face of the younger of the +two. + +"Merchant of Naples, thou still dost not know, then, where thy +treasures lie hidden?" said he, gently. + +"My lord," replied the other, with desperate obsequiousness, "I have +given up everything that was mine. I am indeed a beggar." + +"Merchant of Naples! how canst thou say so? Let me refresh thy memory! +Thou didst go to Toulon with a full cargo of Indian goods, and there +sold it all. When we met together on thy return journey thou didst +offer me a thousand ducats, which I also took. But where is the +remainder? A profit of twelve thousand ducats appears entered in thy +trading-books." + +"Those books are false, my lord," said the merchant, in a tearful +voice. "I made those totally fictitious entries simply to preserve my +credit." + +"Merchant of Naples, thou dost calumniate thyself. Thou dost want to +make me believe that thou art not an honest man. Forgive me if I +enliven thy memory a little." + +With that he beckoned to the eunuchs, and they, undressing the +merchant, laid him on the torturing slab and tortured him for two +mortal hours. It would be too horrible to say what they did to him. +Oh, that curious woman amply atoned for her curiosity! She was obliged +to look upon tortures which made her limbs shake and shiver as if she +were in the grip of an ague. She covered her face, but the howls of +the tortured wretch penetrated to her very soul, and her sensitive +nerves suffered almost as much as if she had felt these torments +herself. Gradually, however, a curious sort of torpor seemed to stop +the beating of her heart; her limbs ceased to tremble, she opened her +eyes and, motionless as a statue, watched the hellish scene to the +very end. + +Ali was evidently a past-master in this horrible science. He himself +elaborately graduated the whole process, indicating briefly when and +how long the thumb-screws, the Spanish boot, the boiling oil, and the +water funnel were to be used. Last of all came the culminating +torment. They wrapped the merchant round in a raw buffalo-skin and +laid him down before the fiercely blazing fire. As the fire began to +compress the raw hide, and slowly press together the tortured limbs, +the limit of the poor wretch's endurance was reached, and he confessed +that his treasures were concealed in an iron chest, fastened by a +chain to the bottom of the ship. + +Then they freed him from the torturing hide; in a state of collapse, +with foaming lips, a bleeding body and dislocated limbs, he flopped +down upon the cold marble. + +"Thou seest now, my dear," observed Ali, gently, "what trouble thou +mightest have saved thyself and me also." Then he beckoned to the +eunuchs to remove the merchant. + +So this was the way in which Ali made gold! A very simple sort of +alchemy, certainly! + +And now it was the turn of the second man. And a haughty, +broad-shouldered fellow he was, who had regarded the torments of his +comrade without moving a muscle of his face. + +"Then thou wilt not tell me thy name, valorous warrior?" inquired Ali. + +"I will tell thee thine--Devil, Belial, Satan!" + +"I thank thee! Thou dost me too much honor. But it is thy name I +should like to know. I suppose thou art some wealthy Venetian noble, +whose whereabouts his kinsmen are rather anxious to discover, and who +would not be ungrateful if any one sent thee back to them. For I +value thee very highly." + +"Know, then, that I _am_ a rich noble, and that at home I have a +palace and treasures, but not a para of my property shalt thou ever +see, for I have taken poison. Dost thou not see the blue spots upon my +hand? Presently thou wilt see them on my face. In five minutes' time I +shall be dead." + +And so indeed it fell out. The haughty noble died, while Ali, furious +with passion, cursed the Prophet. + +And Eminah, from her hiding-place, looked intently upon Ali's face. +What must have been her thoughts at that moment? + +The eunuchs removed the dead body, and Ali beckoned once more to them, +whereupon they brought in through the opposite doors a wondrously +beautiful damsel and a handsome youth. When the youth and the damsel +beheld each other the tears gushed from their eyes. They were lovers, +and lovers meet for each other. + +Eminah now perceived with amazement that there were other kinds of men +besides those who wore gray beards. The captive youth, with his frank +and comely countenance and long black locks, so rejoiced her eyes that +she could not take them off him. She had never seen anything of the +sort before. + +Ali approached the pair and smiled upon them both, and each of them +said to him, "I curse thee!" + +He said to the youth, "Renounce thy bride and thou shalt live!" and +the youth replied, "I curse thee!" + +He said to the damsel, "Love me, be mine, and thy betrothed shall +live!" and the girl replied, "I curse thee!" + +And Eminah unconsciously murmured after them each time, "I curse +thee!" without knowing what she was saying. + +Then Ali forced the youth down on his knees, and the eunuchs stripped +off his robe. One of them then seized him by his beautiful long black +hair, and raised him up into the air thereby, while the other stood +behind him with a large sharp sword. + +"Thy beloved shall die this instant," roared the infuriated Ali, "if +thou dost not set him free! Embrace either me or his headless body." + +Eminah turned her loathing eyes from the vile face of Ali, which, in +that moment, was deformed out of all recognition. + +And the young couple replied with one voice, "We curse thee!" It was +as though they had taken an oath to say nothing else. The same instant +the sword flashed around the youth. His beautiful head bounded into +the air, then rolled along the floor to the foot of the spiral +staircase, and stood still before the very niche where Eminah was +concealed--at her very feet, in fact. The headless body, convulsed by +a final spasm, rent its fetters in twain, and then falling prone, +stretched out its hands towards the terror-stricken girl, while the +severed head, which had rolled up to Eminah's feet, seemed to be +murmuring something--anyhow the lips moved. Eminah bending down +towards it, put her ears close to the quivering mouth and whispered, +"I hear! I hear what thou sayest!" And she really believed she heard +something. Perhaps it was only her heart that was speaking. + +After that she wrapped the head in her shawl, and hastened away from +the tower back into her own room, concealing the ghastly but still +beautiful trophy beneath the pillows of her sofa. Then she commanded +her odalisks to appear before her, that they might dance and sing. + +Dawn was now not far distant, and still the entertainment was going +on. Then Ali returned from the red tower--his face was gentle and +smiling--and after him came two eunuchs carrying gold and treasure in +large baskets; and they emptied them all at Eminah's feet. The damsel +rejoiced, laughed at the sight of the treasures, and, throwing herself +on Ali's neck, repaid him with kisses, and dragged him down to her on +the sofa. + +"Behold, the _dzhins_ have sent thee treasures," said Ali. "But a +strange thing hath befallen me; one of my treasures rolled away upon +the floor, and, search where I will, I cannot find it." + +Eminah laughed, and fell a-teasing him. "Perchance the _dzhins_ have +stolen it from thee," cried she. Suppose she had said, "Thou art +sitting upon it, Ali Pasha?" + +Ali Pasha took the damsel upon his lap, and rejoiced in her innocent, +artless eyes and her childlike smile. He fancied he could look through +those eyes down to the very depths of her heart. If only he _could_ +have seen into it! + +And while he was thus toying with her, the kadun-keit-khuda entered +the room of the odalisks, bringing with him a veiled damsel. + +"Gracious lady," said he to Eminah, "I bring thee a Greek maiden, who +hath heard the fame of thy benevolence, and hath come of her own +accord to bask in the light of thy countenance, and gather fresh +strength from my smiles;" and he drew the maiden forward towards +Eminah, who immediately recognized the girl whose lover Ali Pasha had +decapitated, and said, playfully, to the guardian of the harem: + +"Lo, kadun-keit-khuda, the damsel is trembling! If thou dost not +support her she will fall!" + +"It is by reason of her great shyness, gracious lady." + +"But how pale she is!" + +"Thy beauty casteth a shadow upon her." + +"But look!--she weeps!" + +"They are tears of joy, lady." + +Eminah gave the guardian of the harem a handful of ducats for his good +answers, and allowed the bashful damsel to stand before her. Then she +sent for sweetmeats, golden bread-fruits, wine with the lustre of +garnets, and her opium narghily; and, cradling Ali's gray head in her +bosom, seized her mandolin and sang to him Arab love-songs--hot, +burning, rose-scented, dew-besprinkled love-songs--and the pasha drew +over his face the long silken tresses of the damsel, as if he would +envelop himself in the cool shade of Paradise, and sleep a sleep of +sweet melody, intoxicating rapture, and soothing opium. + +When the ivory stem of the narghily dropped from the hands of the +pasha, Eminah sent from the room all the damsels; only the newly +arrived Greek maiden remained behind. She made her sit down before her +on a cushion, and, putting into her hands a large silk fan to fan the +pasha with, she asked the damsel her name. + +The damsel shook her head--she would not say. + +"Why wilt thou not tell me?" + +"Because I have still a sister at home." + +Eminah understood the answer. "Come nearer," said she. "Last night I +had a dream. Methought I was in a large tower, the interior of which +was illuminated by twelve torches. Whichever way my eyes turned they +lit upon horrors--strange, terrifying objects appeared before me; and, +although, twelve torches were burning, darkness was still all around. +And it seemed to me as if this darkness was not vapor or thick smoke, +but a black mass of human beings all wedged together, who raised their +eyelids every now and then. After that I saw Ali Pasha sitting in a +red velvet chair with golden tiger feet, and as he sat cross-legged, +after the Turkish manner, it looked as if the tiger feet were his own +feet. Many terrifying shapes passed before me, and at last a young man +and a young woman were all who remained in the room, and to every +question put to them they replied, 'I curse thee!' Ali Pasha said to +the damsel, 'Love me!' and she replied, 'I curse thee!' And +immediately the head of the youth began rolling from one end of the +marble floor to the other, right up to my feet; and a drop of blood +dripped from it on to my slipper, and, strange to say, the drop of +blood was still there when I awoke. Look, is that really a drop of +blood, or is it only my imagination?" + +And therewith Eminah put out her pretty little foot, which hitherto +she had kept hidden beneath the folds of her garment, and showed it to +the Greek girl. Then the girl fell weeping at her feet and kissed the +slipper. But it was not the foot of her mistress that she kissed--no, +no; what she kissed was the drop of blood that had dropped upon the +slipper. + +"Look! that drop of blood has burned right through the morocco leather +of my shoe! What will it do, then, to the soul on which it has +fallen?" + +And with that she withdrew her hair from the pasha's face and looked +at him with loathing. Yet he slept as calmly as if he were sleeping +the sleep of the just. + +For nine and seventy years he had lived happily, joyously, +triumphantly, beloved by angels; and all the curses, all the murders, +that were upon his aged head were unable to carve one wrinkle on his +forehead, or distort a feature of his face, or cut off one day of his +life, or even to disturb one of his dreams; and there he lies on one +and the same couch with the head of his victim, the only difference +being that his head lies on the pillow, while the head of the murdered +man lies beneath it. + +Eminah bent over him and bared the breast of the sleeper, who slept +calmly and regularly all the time. + +"On that table lies an enamelled dagger," said she to the girl; "bring +it hither." + +The girl darted away for the dagger, and came back with it. There she +stood, grasping it convulsively in her hand, as if she only awaited a +signal to drive it home. + +"No, not so," said Eminah. "Cut not off his life, but cut through this +cord!" and, taking the key which Ali wore round his neck, she cut it +from its cord with the dagger. "This key opens the red tower. When +they pitched the dead bodies through the trap-door I heard the roar +of falling water. It is certain, therefore, that one can get through +the torture-chamber to the lake of Acheruz. We can get down to it by +ropes. I can swim, and thou canst also, I am sure; for art thou not a +Hydriot girl?[5] When we have reached the heights of Lithanizza we +shall find a safe refuge in the midst of the forests. Wherever it is, +it will be all one to me. Better to be among wolves and lynxes than +near Ali Pasha. Will you do what I say?" + +[Footnote 5: An inhabitant of the isle of Hydra. The Hydriots were +remarkable for their enterprise and daring.] + +The damsel's bosom heaved violently; she hid her head on Eminah's +shoulder and kissed her. + +"Freedom!" she whispered, full of rapture; "freedom above all things! +It is now my only joy." + +"Nobody will observe us," said Eminah, spurning aside the jewels, +which she loathed now that she knew whence they came. "It is the last +night of the Feast of Bairam. Every one is hastening to compensate +himself for the privations of the Fast of Ramadan, every one is +sleeping or enjoying himself; the greater part of the garrison is +making merry in the apartments of the beys; even the sons of Ali +Pasha, all three of them, are feasting with Mukhtar Bey. We shall be +able to escape them, and then the whole world lies before us." + +The Greek girl pressed the lady's hand. "We will go together!" she +cried. "My brother dwells among the mountains of Corinth; he is a +valiant warrior, and will give us an asylum." + +"Then go thither! I shall seek refuge with my kinsmen at Stambul. Now +go into the apartments of the odalisks and ask for apparel. I have +already hatched a good plan. If they are all asleep come softly back +with thy clothes. The kadun-keit-khuda only sleeps with half an eye; +beware of him! If he ask thee whither thou art going, show him the +pasha's handkerchief, and he will fancy Ali awaits thee." + +The face of the Greek girl blushed purple at these words; even to lie +on such a subject was a horrible thought to her. But Eminah beckoned +to her to be gone, and when she found herself alone she drew forth the +head she had concealed beneath the pillow and placed it on a round +table in front of her. For a long time she gazed at the sunken eyes, +the gaping mouth, and the long black tresses which rolled over the +table on both sides. The lady smoothed the raven-black tresses with +her soft hand, and passed her fingers right across the noble features +without a shudder at their icy coldness. + +There she sat an hour long opposite the dead head; and beside her Ali +Tepelenti, the terror of the whole region, lay prone in a deep, +motionless slumber. It was a strange sight, this young girl alone +there between these two horrors. She had resolved to quit Ali and set +the Greek damsel free; but what she meant to do after that she herself +could not have said. + +In an hour's time the Greek damsel returned. She came so softly that +nobody could have heard her; even Eminah did not perceive her till the +damsel stood before the severed head and uttered a cry of terror. Only +for an instant, only for the duration of a lightning-flash did this +cry last; the damsel stifled it at once, and if it awoke any one in +the palace he must have fancied he was dreaming or had dreamed it, and +would go on sleeping again. Then the damsel, in an agony of speechless +grief, bent over the head of her betrothed, and her tears flowed in +streams, though not a word escaped her lips. + +At last Eminah grasped the girl's hand and bade her make haste. So she +dried her tears, and after placing the severed head in front of that +of the sleeping pasha so that they confronted each other, and cutting +off one of the locks from its temples, she covered the cold eyes with +bitter, burning kisses, and then, taking up her things, rapidly +followed Eminah through the long suite of rooms. + +A few minutes later they were in the torture-chamber. It was quite +empty; the blood stains had been washed away, there was nothing to +recall the horrors of the night before. + +They opened the trap-door through which the dead bodies were wont to +be cast. At the bottom of the deep black void there was a roaring +sound as if the lake were in a commotion. No doubt a tempest was +raging outside. How were these girls to escape by way of the +subterranean stream? Perhaps some of the headless corpses were also +swimming down yonder amidst the foaming waves. Would those who +ventured down into those depths ever see the light of day again? But +to them it was all one. Better to perish in the deep void than be +condemned to the embraces of Ali Pasha. How the two girls abominated +him!--the one because he had murdered her love, the other because he +had loved her. + +"Don't be afraid," they said to each other; and fastening their +bundles to a long rope which was used in torturing, they let it down +into the deep well, with a lamp at the end of it, and when the water +put out the light they fastened the other end of the rope to the hinge +of the door, and each in turn let herself down by it. + +And whether they lived or whether they died, Ali Pasha lost on that +day two talismans which he should have guarded more jealously than the +light of his eyes: one was the spirit of blessing, the other the +spirit of cursing, both of which he had held fast bound, and both of +which had now been let loose. + + * * * * * + +At the moment when the two damsels plunged into the lake of Acheruz +the slumber of tranquillity disappeared from the eyes of Ali Pasha, +and he began to see spectres. + +A peculiar feeling came over him. He whom phantoms avoided even when +he slept, he who had never even dreamed of fear, he whom the angel of +sleep had never known to be a coward, now began to experience a +peculiar sensation which was worse than any sickness and more painful +than any suffering. He was afraid! + +He dreamed that the head of the young Suliot, which had been cut off +by his order, and which had rolled away and disappeared so that nobody +could find it, was now standing face to face with him on a table, +staring at him fixedly with stony eyes, and repeatedly addressing the +sleeper by name: "Ali Pasha! Ali Pasha!" + +The limbs of the sleeper shook all over in a strange tremor. + +"Ali Pasha!" he heard the head call for the third time. + +Groaning, writhing, and turning himself about, he contrived to knock +the head off the cushion, smearing all the bed with blood. And now he +saw and heard more terrible things than ever. + +"One, two," said the severed head. And Ali understood that this was +the number of the years he had still to live. "Thy head hath no longer +either hand or foot," continued the head; and Ali was obliged to +listen to what it said. "Two severed heads now stand face to face, +mine and thine. Why dost thou not reply to me? Why dost thou not look +into my eyes? Two headless trunks stand before the throne of God, mine +and thine. How shall the Lord recognize thee? He inquires which is +Ali. For every soul there is a white garment laid up. And thou deniest +thy name, with thy right hand on thy heart. Thou _art_ Ali, for on thy +white garment are five bloody finger-prints." + +Ali writhed in his sleep, and covered with his hand that part of his +caftan which lay over his heart. And all the time the head never +disappeared from before his eyes and its lips never closed. Presently +it went on again. + +"Listen, Ali! Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin! The hand which guided thee +in the performance of thy mighty deeds is also bringing thine actions +to an end, and thou shalt no longer be a hero whom the world admires, +but a robber whom it curses. Those whom thou lovedest will bless the +day of thy death, but thine enemies will weep over thee. Moreover, God +hath ordained that thou shalt be the ruin of thine own nation." + +Ali tossed, sighing and groaning, upon his couch, and could not awake; +a world of crime lay upon his breast. He felt the earth shake beneath +him, and the sky above his head was dark with masses of black cloud, +and the thought of death was a terror to him. + +The head went on speaking. "Two birds quitted thy rocky citadel at the +same hour, a white dove and a black crow. The white dove is Peace, +which has departed from thy towers; the black crow is Vengeance, which +will return in search of carcasses at the scent of thy ruin. The white +dove is thy damsel, the black crow is mine; and woe to thee from them +both!" + +Ali, in the desperation of his rage, roared aloud in his sleep, and +his violent cry tore asunder the light fetters of sleep. He sprang +from his couch and opened wide his eyes--and lo! the severed head was +standing before him on the table. + +The pasha looked about him in consternation; he was not sufficiently +master of himself at first to tell how much of all this was a dream +and how much reality. He still seemed to hear the terrible words which +had proceeded from those open lips, and his hand involuntarily +clutched at his breast as if he would have covered there the five +bloody finger-marks. Then the cut cord from which the key was missing +fell across his hand, and immediately his presence of mind returned. +Drawing his sword, he rushed towards the brazen door, and discovered +that the fugitives had had sufficient forethought to close the door +and leave the key in the lock outside, so that it could only be opened +by force. He turned back and rushed to the end of the dormitories. +Some of the odalisks were awakened by the sound of his heavy +footsteps, and perceiving his troubled face, plunged underneath their +bedclothes in terror; in front of the doors stood the dumb eunuch +sentries, leaning on their spears like so many bronze statues. + +He rushed down into the garden to the end of the familiar walks, and +when he came to the gate was amazed to perceive that the drawbridge +which separated his palace from the dwellings of his sons had been let +down and nobody was guarding it. The topidshis, the negroes, knowing +that Ali always turned into his harem on the Feast of Bairam, had gone +across to the palace of Mukhtar Bey, who was giving a great banquet in +honor of Vely Bey and Sulaiman Bey, his brothers. All three had +brought together their harems to celebrate the occasion, and while the +masters were diverting themselves upstairs, their servants were making +merry below. Music and the loud mirth of those who feast resounded +from the house; every gate of the citadel was open; slaves and guards +lying dead drunk in heaps, victims of the forbidden fluid, cumbered +the streets. A whole hostile army, with drums beating and colors +flying, might easily have marched into the citadel over their +prostrate bodies. + +Wrath and the cold night air gradually gave back to Ali his soul of +steel. Wary and alert, he entered the palace of Mukhtar Bey. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A TURKISH PARADISE + + +Ali Pasha himself had built the whole citadel of Janina, and had been +wise enough, as soon as the fortress was finished, to at once and +quietly remove out of the way all the builders and architects who had +had anything to do with it, so that he only knew all the secrets of +the place. There were secret exits and listening-galleries in every +part of the building, and each single group of redoubts which, viewed +from the outside, seemed quite isolated, was really so well connected +together by means of subterranean passages, that one could go backward +and forward from one to the other without being observed in the least. +At a later day Ali Pasha's enemies were to have very bitter experience +of these architectural peculiarities. + +One could go right round the palace of the three Beys, both above and +below, by means of a secret corridor, and not one of the inhabitants +of the building had the least idea of the existence of this corridor. +It was in the midst of the fathom-thick wall between two rows of +windows, and within this space invisible doors opened into every +apartment, either between windows, or behind mirrors, or beneath the +ceiling between two stories, and these doors could not be opened by +keys, but turned upon invisible hinges set in motion by hidden +screws, and they closed so hermetically as to leave not the slightest +orifice behind them. + +Ali Pasha stood there in the banqueting-chamber unobserved by any one. +He stood beside a huge Corinthian column, and here hung a black board +indicating the direction in which Mecca lay. He had no fear that any +one would look thither. That place, towards which every truly +believing Mussulman must turn when he prays, was carefully avoided by +every eye, for fear it should encounter the golden letters which +sparkle on the walls of the Kaaba.[6] + +[Footnote 6: The chief sanctuary of the Mussulmans standing in the +midst of the great mosque at Mecca.] + +For now is the time for enjoyment. There is no need of a heavenly +Paradise, for Paradise is already here below. There is no need to +inquire of either Muhammad or the angel Izrafil concerning the wine +which flows from the roots of the Tuba-tree; far more fiery, far more +stimulating, is the wine which flashes in glass and goblet. The houris +may hide their white bosoms and their rosy faces, for what are they +compared with the earthly angels whose mundane charms intoxicate the +hearts of mortals? Truly Muhammad was but an indifferent prophet, he +did not understand how to arrange paradise; let him but regard the +arrangements of Mukhtar Bey--they will show him how that sort of thing +ought to be managed. + +Muhammad imagined that the embraces of seven and seventy houris would +make an enraptured Moslem eternally happy. Why, the bungler forgot the +best part of it. Would it not be more satisfactory if now and then, +say once in a thousand years or so, the Moslems were to exchange their +own houris for those of their neighbors? In this way the aroma of +brand-new kisses would prevent their raptures from growing stale, and +the Paradise of Muhammad would be worth something after all. With all +eternity before him, a man would scarcely mind waiting for his own +wives for a paltry millennium or two while he enjoyed the wives of his +neighbors, and when he returned to his seven and seventy original +damsels again, what a pleasant reunion it would be! + +Now the Prophet had forgotten to introduce this novelty into his own +Paradise, and Mukhtar Bey was the happy man to whom the fairy Malach +Taraif whispered the idea during the fast preceding the Feast of +Bairam while he slept, and he immediately proceeded to discuss the +matter with his kinsmen. + +All three brothers lived under one roof, each of the three had his own +special harem, and each of them possessed in their harems beauties far +surpassing what the angels Monkar and Nakir could promise them in the +next world. After the Feast of Bairam, when Mukhtar Bey had well plied +his brethren with good wine, he said to them, "Let us exchange +harems!" + +Sulaiman Bey immediately gave his hand upon it; Vely Bey laughed at it +as a good idea at first, but afterwards drew back. The other two +worthies laughed uproariously at his simplicity, made fun of him, and +proceeded at once to transfer to each other their respective damsels, +and on the morrow and the following days aggravated Vely by extolling +before him the exchanged odalisks, each of them confiding to him what +novel attractions he had discovered in this or that bayadere. Thus +Sulaiman could not sufficiently extol the extraordinary brilliance of +the eyes of Mukhtar Bey's favorite damsel, while Mukhtar protested +that the languishing Jewish maiden he had got in exchange from +Sulaiman quivered in his arms like a dancing flame. + +Vely laughed a good deal over the business, but still continued to +shake his head, confessing at last that the reason why he did not +exchange his harem was because it contained an Albanian damsel whom he +had neither purchased nor captured, but who had come to him of her own +accord, and whom he had promised long ago never to abandon, and her he +would not give for both their harems put together; nay, he said he +would not give her up for a whole world full of damsels. The two +brethren thereupon assured Vely that if he loved this particular +damsel so very much, he might exclude her from the others and keep her +for himself, and it need make no difference. Then Vely Bey also +acceded to this fraternal division of delights, and transferred his +harem also, with the exception of Xelianthé. + +Mukhtar Bey had fixed the last night of the great Bairam feast for the +entertainment that was to rival Paradise, inviting his brethren and +the Prophet Muhammad himself, in order that he might learn from them +how to be happy, and might regulate heaven accordingly. To this end +they had a fourth divan added to their three, with its own +well-appointed table in front of it, and bade the attendant odalisks +be diligent in keeping the fourth goblet well filled, and do their +best to entertain the invited guest. Mockery of religious subjects was +no unusual thing with Turkish magnates in those days. Blasphemy had +gone so far as to become an open scandal; popular fanaticism and +official orthodoxy made it all the more glaring. + +So the sons of Ali Pasha invited the Prophet to be their guest, and +had made up their minds that if he did appear among them he would not +be bored. + +All the odalisks danced and sung before them in turn, and the brethren +diverted themselves by judging which of the damsels was the sweetest +and loveliest. + +In every song, in every dance, Rebecca, Mukhtar Bey's beautiful Jewish +damsel, and the blue-eyed bayadere Lizza, who was Sulaiman Bey's +favorite, equally excelled. It was impossible to decide which of the +twain deserved the palm. At last they were made to dance together. + +"Look!" cried Mukhtar, his eyes sparkling with delight, "look! didst +ever behold a more beautiful figure? Like the flowering branch of the +Ban-tree she sways to and fro. How proudly she throws her head back, +and looks at thee so languishingly that thou meltest away for very +rapture! Would that her light feet might dance all over me; would that +she might encompass every part of me like the atmosphere!" + +"She really is charming," admitted Sulaiman, "and if the other were +not dancing by her side, she would be the first star in the firmament +of beauty. But ah! one movement of the other one is worth all the life +in her body. She is but a woman, the other is a sylph. She kills you +with rapture, the other raises you from the dead." + +"Thou are unjust, Sulaiman," said Mukhtar; "thou dost judge only with +thine eyes. If thou wouldst take counsel of thy lips, they would speak +more truly. Taste her kisses, and then say which of them is the +sweeter." + +With that he beckoned to the two odalisks. Rebecca, the lovely Jewish +damsel, sank full of amorous languor on Sulaiman's breast, while +Lizza, with sylph-like agility, sat her down upon his knee, and the +intoxicated Bey, in an access of rapture, kissed first one and then +the other. + +"Rebecca's lips are more ardent," he cried, "but the kisses of Lizza +are sweeter. The kiss of Rebecca is like the poppy which lulls you +into sweet unconsciousness, but Lizza's kiss is like sweet wine which +makes you merry." + +"Lizza's kiss may perchance be like sweet wine," interrupted Mukhtar, +"but Rebecca's kiss is like heavenly musk which only the Blessed may +partake of, and those who partake thereof _are_ blessed." + +And with that Mukhtar caught up both the odalisks in his arms, that he +might pronounce judgment as to the sweetness of their lips. It was an +enviable process. The contending parties themselves were in doubt as +to which of themselves should obtain a verdict. At length they called +upon Vely Bey to decide--Vely, who was now lying blissfully asleep +beside them on the divan, overcome with wine, his head in Xelianthé's +bosom. His two brethren awoke him that he might judge between them as +to the sweetness of rival kisses. + +It took a good deal of trouble to make the stupidly fuddled Bey +understand what was required of him, and when he did understand, the +only answer he made was, "Xelianthé's kisses are the sweetest;" and +with that he embraced his favorite damsel once more and, reclining his +head on her bosom, went off to sleep again. + +Then cried Mukhtar, "Wherefore dost thou ask for _his_ judgment, when +amongst us sits the Prophet himself? Let him judge between us." + +With these words he pointed to the empty place which had been left for +a fourth person. Rich meats were piled up there on gold and silver +plate, and wine sparkled in transparent crystal. + +"Come, Muhammad!" exclaimed Mukhtar, addressing the vacant place; +"thou in thy lifetime didst love many a beauteous woman, and in thy +Paradise there is enough and to spare of beauty. I summon thee to +appear before us. Here is a dispute between us two as to whose damsel +is the sweeter and the lovelier. Thou hast seen them dance, thou hast +heard them sing; now taste of their kisses!" + +With that he beckoned to the two damsels, and they sat down, one on +each side of the empty divan, and made as if they were embracing a +shape sitting between them, and filled the air with their burning, +fragrant kisses. + +"Well, let us hear thy verdict, Muhammad!" cried Mukhtar, with drunken +bravado; and, taking the crystal goblet from the empty place and +raising it in the air, looked around him with a flushed, defiant face, +and exclaimed, "Come! drink of the wine of this goblet her health to +whom thou awardest the prize!" + +Ali Pasha, shocked and filled with horror at the shamelessly impudent +words he heard from his hiding-place, drew a pistol from his girdle +and softly raised the trigger. + +"Drink, Muhammad!" bellowed Mukhtar, raising the goblet on high, +"drink to the health of the triumphant damsel! Which shall it be, +Rebecca or Lizza?" + +At that same instant a loud report rang through the room, and the +upraised crystal goblet was shivered into a thousand fragments in +Mukhtar's hand. Every one leaped from his place in terror. But +whichever way they looked there was nothing to be seen. The only +persons in the room were the three brothers and the damsels. Only at +the spot from whence the shot had proceeded a little round cloud of +bluish smoke was visible, which sluggishly dispersed. Nobody present +carried weapons, and there was no door or window there by which any +one could have got in. + +From the minarets outside the muezzins proclaimed the prayer of dawn: +"La illah il Allah! Muhammad razul Allah!"--"There is no God but God, +and Muhammad is His Prophet!" + + * * * * * + +Ali Pasha did not pursue the fugitives. That day he was praying all +the morning. He locked himself up in his inmost apartments, that +nobody might see what he was doing. He now did what he had not done +for seventy years--he wept. For a whole hour his inflexible soul was +broken. So that woman whom he had loved better than life itself, she +forsooth had given the first signal of approaching misfortune, the +first sign of the coming struggle! Let it come! Let her veil be the +first banner to lead an army against Janina! Tepelenti would not +attempt to stay her in her flight. For one long hour he thought of +her, and this hour was an hour of weeping; and then he bethought him +of the approaching tempest which the prophetic voice had warned him +of, and his heart turned to stone at the thought. Ali Pasha was not +the man to cringe before danger; no, he was wont to meet it face to +face, and ask of it why it had tarried so long. He used even to send +occasionally for the _nimetullahita_ dervish who had been living a +long time in the fortress, and question him concerning the future. It +must not be supposed, indeed, that Tepelenti ever took advice from +anybody; but he would listen to the words of lunatics and soothsayers, +and liked to learn from magicians and astrologers, and their sayings +were not without influence upon his actions. + +The dervish was a decrepit old man. Nobody knew how old he really was; +it was said that only by magic did he keep himself alive at all. Every +evening they laid him down on plates of copper and rubbed invigorating +balsam into his withered skeleton, and so he lived on from day to day. + +Two dumb eunuchs now brought him in to Tepelenti, and, bending his +legs beneath him, propped him up in front of the pasha. + +"Sikham," said Ali to the dervish, "I feel the approach of evil days. +My sword rusted in its sheath in a single night. My buckler, which I +covered with gold, has cracked from end to end. A severed head, which +hid itself away from me so that I could not find it, came forth to me +at night and spoke to me of my death; and in my dreams I see my sons +make free with the Prophet. I ask thee not what all these things +signify. That I know. Just as surely as in winter-time the hosts of +rooks and crows resort to the roofs of the mosques, so surely shall +my sworn enemies fall upon me. I am old compared with them, and it is +a thing unheard of among the Osmanlis that a man should reach the age +of nine and seventy and still be rich and mighty. Let them come! But +one thing I would know--who will be the first to attack me? Tell me +his name." + +The dervish thereupon caused a wooden board to be placed before him on +which meats were wont to be carried; then he put upon it an empty +glass goblet, and across the glass he laid a thin bamboo cane. Next he +wrote upon the wooden board the twenty-nine letters of the Turkish +alphabet, and then, thrice prostrating himself to the ground with +wide-extended arms, he fixed his eyes steadily upon the centre of the +goblet. + +In about half an hour the goblet began to tinkle as if some one were +rubbing his wet finger along its rim. This tinkling grew stronger and +stronger, louder and louder, till at last the goblet moved up and down +on the wooden board, and began revolving along with the light cane +placed across it, revolving at last so rapidly that it was impossible +to discern the cane upon it at all. + +Then, quite suddenly, the dervish raised his fingers from the table, +and the goblet immediately stopped. The point of the cane stood +opposite the letter _ghain_--G.[7] + +[Footnote 7: The marvels of our modern table-turning and table-tapping +spirits, and all the wonders of this sort, were known to the Arab +dervishes long ago.--JÓKAI.] + +"That signifies the first letter of his name," said the dervish--"G!" + +And then the mysterious operation was repeated, and the magic stick +spelled out the name letter by letter: "G--a--s--k--h--o B--e--y." At +the last letter the goblet stopped short and would move no more. + +"I know no man of that name," said Ali, amazed that he whose name was +so world-renowned was to tremble before one whose name he had never +heard before. + +"Where does the fellow live?" he inquired of the dervish. + +The magic jugglery was set going again, and now the dancing goblet +spelled out the name, "Stambul." + +That was enough. Ali beckoned to the eunuchs to take the dervish away +again. + +Ali thereupon summoned forty Albanian soldiers from the garrison, and +gave to each one of them twenty ducats. + +"This," said he, "is only earnest money. I want a man put to death +whose name and dwelling-place I know. His name is Gaskho Bey, and he +lives in Stambul. This man's head is worth as many gold pieces as +there are miles between him and me. He who brings the head can measure +the distance and be paid for it. The first who brings but the report +of his death shall receive two hundred ducats; he who slays him, a +thousand." + +The Albanians consulted together for a brief moment, and then +intimated that if a bey of the name of Gaskho really existed, he was +as good as dead already. + +Towards mid-day Ali sent for his sons. He said not a word to them of +the anxieties, the visions, and the apparitions of the night before, +but made them, after they had respectfully kissed his hands, sit down +all around him. Mukhtar Bey he invited to sit down on his left hand, +Vely on his right, and Sulaiman directly opposite. + +He addressed himself first of all to Sulaiman. + +"Thou art the youngest and boldest," said he. "To-morrow thou must go +to sea and take three ships with thee. These ships thou must take to +Sicily, load them there with sulphur, and return without losing an +instant." + +"Oh, my father!" replied Sulaiman, "the tempest is now abroad upon the +sea. Who would venture now with a ship upon the billows? All the +monsters of the ocean are now running upon the surface seeking whom +they may devour, and the phantom ship, with her shadowy rigging and +her shadowy crew, pursues her zigzag course across the waters." + +Ali Pasha said no more, but turned towards Mukhtar Bey. + +"Thou art the most crafty," said he; "go then to the captains of the +Suliotes and invite them to assemble with their forces at Janina with +all despatch. Spare neither promises nor assurances nor fair winds." + +Mukhtar Bey's face turned quite angry, and, wagging his head, still +heavy from his overnight debauch, he answered, sullenly: "In the +mountains the snow is now thawing; every stream is swollen into a +river; naught but a bird can find a place for its foot on the dry +ground; how, then, can armies move hither and thither? Wait for a +week, till the inundations have subsided. Truly there is no enemy on +thy borders. In thy whole realm there is not so much as a rat to +nibble at thy walls. What dost thou want now with chariots and armed +men?" + +Ali now turned to Vely, who was sitting on his right hand. "Go thou +over to Misrim," said he, "and purchase for me two thousand horses; a +thousand of them shall be meet for war-chargers, and a thousand for +drawing guns." + +"Oh, my father!" answered Vely, who was the eldest and wisest of Ali's +sons, "I will not object to thy command that the simoon has now begun +in Misrim, before whose burning, suffocating breath every living +creature is forced to fly. I reck little of that, but the horses, thy +precious horses, will perish. And, moreover, I would ask of thee one +question. Wherefore dost thou get together a host, and horses and +guns, without cause, and with no danger threatening thee? Will not all +these warlike preparations excite the rage of the Padishah against +thee, and so thy preparing against an imagined peril will saddle thee +with a real war?" + +Ali Pasha laughed aloud--a very unusual habit with him. + +"Well," said he, "it is for me to prove to you, I suppose, that you +are all wrong in your calculations. Dine with me and be merry. After +dinner you shall see that the sea is not stormy, that the rivers are +not in flood, and that the simoon is not suffocating. I have a +talisman which will convince you thereof." + +So he entertained his sons till late in the evening, and immediately +after dinner he whispered to one of the dumb eunuchs, and then he took +his sons with him into the red tower, the doors of which were left +wide open. He stopped short with them in one of the rooms, the +solitary semicircular window of which looked out upon the lake of +Acheruz. The window was guarded by an iron grating. Here he sat down +with them to smoke his narghily and sip his coffee. The sons would +have preferred to mount upon the roof of the tower, where the fresh +air and the fine view would have made their siesta perfect; but Ali +facetiously observed that in the open air cold and hot winds were just +then blowing together at the same time, and he did not want the simoon +to make them sweat or the trade-winds to make them shiver. + +As they were sipping their coffee there the splashing of oars was +audible beneath the tower, and the sons beheld three large, +flat-bottomed boats propelled upon the surface of the water, in which +sat the damsels of their harems; the boats were rowed by muscular +eunuchs. + +The faces of the three beys lighted up when they saw the damsels being +rowed on the water, and Mukhtar Bey whispered roguishly in Sulaiman's +ear, "Shall we make the old man also one of our party?" + +Ali overheard the whisper, and replied, with a smile, "Truly your +damsels are most beauteous"--here he stroked his white beard from end +to end--"I am not surprised, therefore, that you like to stay at home +here and call the wind hot and cold, though it is nothing but the +breath of Allah, and what comes from God cannot be bad. But your +damsels _are_ beautiful, of that there can be no doubt. Now, last +night I dreamt a dream. Before me stood the Prophet, and he told me +how you had challenged him to say which of your damsels was the +sweeter and the more beautiful." (Here the sons regarded each other, +full of fear and amazement.) "The Prophet replied," continued Ali, +"that it was not meet that he should come to your damsels; they should +rather go to him. So I mean to send them to Paradise." + +"What doest thou?" cried all three sons, horror-stricken. + +The only answer Ali gave was to give a long shrill whistle, at which +signal the eunuchs drew out the plugs from holes secretly bored at the +bottom of the three boats, leaping at the same time into the water, +and leaving the boats in the middle of the lake. + +The damsels shrieked with terror as the water began to rush into the +boats from all sides. The air was filled with cries of agony. + +Mukhtar rushed madly to the door and found it locked. With impotent +violence he attempted to burst it open. Sulaiman meanwhile tore away +at the iron window-grating with both hands, as if he fancied himself +capable of pulling down the whole of the vast building by the sheer +strength of his arms. The blue-eyed Albanian girl and the languishing +Jewish damsel, with the fear of death in their eyes, looked up at the +closed window; the waves had already begun to swallow their beautiful +limbs. + +Only Vely Bey remained motionless. He, at any rate, had not sinned. He +had not angered the Prophet in that orgie of amorous rivalry. He had +loved one only, by her only had he been loved, and she, yes, she was +perishing there among the others! + +The boats sank deeper and deeper; nothing could be heard but the +cries of the drowning wretches in all the accents of despair. The two +sons saw their damsels dying before their eyes, and were unable to +rush out and save them; not even one could be rescued. One more shriek +of woe, and then the boats sank. For a few moments the surface of the +water was covered with bright gauze veils and shiny turbans and white +limbs and dishevelled tresses, and then a few solitary turbans floated +on the water. + +Sulaiman, sobbing in despair, fell down in a heap close by the window, +while Mukhtar fell madly on the door and kicked it with all his might, +as if he would drown in the din the cries for help of the perishing +damsels. Only Vely Bey looked in bitter silence upon the detestable +waves, which within a minute had swallowed three heavens. + +Far, far away on the crest of the rising waves a black object appeared +to be swimming. What was it? Perhaps one of the damsels. One moment it +vanished in the wave-valleys, the next it appeared again on the top of +a high ridge of water. What could it be? But farther and farther it +receded. Perchance some one had escaped, after all. Greek girls are +good swimmers. + +And now Ali Pasha arose from his place and said, with a smile, to his +sons: + +"Methinks that neither the storms of ocean, nor the swollen waters, +nor the breath of the simoon will now appear so terrible to you as +they did a few hours ago. Depart now with all speed. When you return +you will find new harems here, which will make you forget the old +ones." And with that he quitted them. + +Sulaiman and Mukhtar immediately went their way. Woe to whomsoever +shall now give them a pretext for wreaking their vengeance upon him! + +But Vely Bey remained there looking out upon the water, and as the +evening grew darker he thought upon Ali Pasha. His brothers had loaded +their father with curses; he had not said a word. They will soon make +their peace with their father--he never will.[8] + +[Footnote 8: It is a fact that Ali drowned the harems of his +sons in the lake of Acheruz because he feared their excessive +influence.--JÓKAI.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +GASKHO BEY + + +The lightning strikes to the earth the man that flies from it. Ill +luck is a venomous dog, which runs after him who would escape it. + +Ali Pasha's band of Albanians, on arriving at Stambul, began to make +inquiries about Gaskho Bey. + +He turned out to be a good honest man, by profession an inspector of +the ichoglanler of the Seraglio, and a particularly mild and peaceful +Mussulman to boot. In temperament he was somewhat phlegmatic, with a +leaning to melancholy. A palmist would have told you that the +sympathetic line on the palm of his hand was so little prominent as to +be scarcely visible, whereas on Tepelenti's palm there was such an +abundant concourse of sympathetic lines that they even ran over on to +the back of the hand. In those days the Mussulmans frequently diverted +themselves with such superstitious games as palmistry. + +As to his figure--well, Gaskho Bey might have stood for a perfect +model of the Farnese Hercules; his huge shoulders were almost out of +proportion with the rest of his body. He could stop the wing of a +windmill with one hand; on the birthday of the Sultan's heir he +hoisted a six-pound cannon on his shoulders and fired it off, and he +could break a hard piastre in two when he was in a good humor. + +It could not be said that he had hitherto used this terrible strength +to injure any one; on the contrary, he was universally known as the +most forbearing of men. The pages of the court, whom he taught to +fence, would sometimes in the midst of a lesson, as if by accident, +but really from sheer petulance, batter him with their blunt swords +till they rang again, and Gaskho Bey would always reprimand them, not +for striking him but for striking so clumsily. He had never gone to +war, and those who did not send him thither flattered themselves not a +little on their humanity, for if it came to a serious tussle there was +really no knowing what damage he might not do. + +At home he was the gentlest paterfamilias conceivable. You would +frequently find him on all-fours, with his little four-year-old son, +Sidali, riding on his back, and persecuting his father with all sorts +of barbarities. He did nothing all day but teach the pages of the +Seraglio games and exercises, and at home he made paper birds for his +own little boy, flew kites for and played blind man's buff with him. +Whatever time he could spare from these occupations he would spend in +leaning out of the window of the Summer Palace overlooking the +Gökk-sü, or Sweet Waters, and looking about him a bit with a pipe in +his mouth, the stem of which reached to the ground, and if any one had +asked him while so engaged what he was looking at, he would assuredly +have answered, "Nothing at all." + +Now there were always the liveliest goings-on in the Gökk-sü Park of +an evening. The harems of the beys and pashas who dwelt on its banks +took the air there under the plantain-trees, and swung and danced and +sang; the wandering Persian jugglers exhibited their hocus-pocus, and +the magnificent Janissaries resorted thither to fight with one +another. Every Friday afternoon whole bands of these rival warriors +flocked thither as if to a common battle-field, and frequently left +two or three corpses on the scene of their diversions. + +Gaskho Bey appeared to take very little notice of all these things, +his chibook curled comfortably on the ground beneath him. At every +pull at it large light-blue clouds of smoke rolled upwards from its +crater, taking all manner of misty shapes and forms till they +disappeared through the window, and Gaskho Bey buried himself in the +contemplation of these smoky phantasms as deeply as if he were intent +on writing a dissertation on the philosophy of pipe-smoking, oblivious +of the fact that below the very house in which he was sitting two +Albanian soldiers, in high-peaked, broad-brimmed caps and coarse black +woollen mantles, who seemed to be taking the greatest possible +interest in him and trying to get as near him as they could, had +already strolled past for the third time, always separating and going +in different directions, somewhat nervously, if they perceived any one +coming towards them. + +Only now and then a sly expression on Gaskho's face betrayed the fact +that he was conscious of something going on behind his back. There +little Sidali was amusing himself, while Gaskho Bey was leaning out of +the window, by kneeling on the ottoman behind, and tickling the +uplifted naked soles of his father's feet with a blunt arrow. +Sometimes the arrow would slip and come plumping down on Gaskho's +head, and then the bey would smile indulgently at the naughtiness of +his little son. + +And now the evening was falling, and the crowd beneath the +plantain-trees grew thinner. The two Albanians, side by side, again +came towards Gaskho Bey, who now puffed forth such clouds of smoke +from his chibook that one could see neither heaven nor earth because +of them. But the two Albanian mercenaries could make him out very +well, and both of them standing a little way from the window drew +forth their pistols, and one of them standing on the right hand and +the other on the left, they both aimed at Gaskho Bey's temples at a +distance of three paces. + +But little Sidali was too quick for them, for he now gave his father +such a poke with the arrow that the latter, provoked partly by the +pain and partly by the tickling, sharply turned his head, and the same +instant there was the report of two shots, and two bullets--one on the +right hand and one on the left--buried themselves in the window-sill. + +Gaskho's movement was so unexpected that the two Albanian braves, who +had imagined that their bullets must of necessity have met each other +in the middle of the bey's brain, were so terrified when they saw him +still sitting there unwounded, that they stood as if nailed to the +earth. Indeed, before they could make up their minds to fly, Gaskho +was already outside the window, upon them with a single bound, and +immediately seizing the pair of them with his terrible fists, flung +them to the ground as if he were playing with a couple of dummies, +and without wasting so much as a word upon them, tied them together +with their own leather belts, so that on the arrival of the members of +his own family, who flew to the spot, alarmed by Sidali's shrieks, the +two hired assassins lay half dead and all of a heap upon the ground, +for Gaskho Bey's grip had wellnigh broken all their bones. + +They were conveyed at once to the Kapu-Kiaja, and Gaskho Bey went too. +For a long time he was unable to contain himself, and bellowed out all +along the road, "I never heard of anything like it--never!" + +"It is an unheard-of case, sir," said he, on arriving at the +Kapu-Kiaja's. "To furtively shoot at a peaceful Mussulman when he is +smoking his pipe and amusing himself with his children, I never heard +the like. If any one wants to kill me, he might at least, I think, let +me know beforehand, so that I may perform my ablutions, say my +prayers, and take leave of my children. But just when I am smoking my +chibook!--I never heard of such a thing!" + +It was plain that what he took to heart the most was that they should +have tried to shoot him while he was smoking his chibook. + +The Kapu-Kiaja, on the other hand, looked upon the case from another +point of view. To him it was a matter of comparative indifference +whether the deed was attempted before or after prayers. Why, he wanted +to know, should these madmen run amuck of their fellow-men at all? He +therefore asked the assassins who had set them on to murder Gaskho +Bey. They, at the very first stroke of the bamboo, made a clean breast +of it, and threw the blame on Tepelenti. + +At first the Kapu-Kiaja regarded this confession as incredible. Why, +indeed, should Tepelenti be wrath with Gaskho Bey, who knew nothing at +all of Ali except by report? Nay, he greatly revered him as a valiant +warrior, and had never said a single word to his discredit. + +Nevertheless, the two assassins not only stuck to their confession, +but maintained that besides themselves eight and thirty other soldiers +had been sent to Stambul by Ali on the self-same mission. + +Ciauses were immediately sent to every quarter of the city to seize +the described Albanians. Five or six of them hid or escaped, but the +rest were captured. + +The confessions of these men were practically unanimous. Every +circumstance of the affair, the amount of the promised reward, the +words spoken on the occasion--everything, in fact, corresponded so +exactly that no doubt could possibly remain that Tepelenti had +actually sent them out to murder Gaskho Bey. + +The affair made a great stir everywhere. Ali Pasha was as well known +in Stambul as Gaskho Bey. The former was as famous for his power and +riches, his envy and revengefulness, as was the latter for his +strength and gentleness, his sympathy and tenderness. + +The great men of the palace, jealous for a long time of Ali's +greatness, brought the matter before the Divan, and great debates +ensued as to what course should be taken against this mighty protector +of hired assassins. And for a long time the opinions of the +counsellors of the cupolaed chamber were divided. Some were for taking +Ali by the beard and despatching him there and then. Others were for +advising Gaskho Bey to be content with seeing the heads of the Arnaut +assassins rolling in the dust before the Pavilion of Justice, and at +the same time privately informing Ali that if he were wise he would +waste neither his money nor his powder on such quiet, harmless men as +Gaskho Bey, who had never done, and never meant in future to do, him +any harm. + +The latter alternative was the opinion of the wiser heads, and among +these wiser ones was the Sultan himself. + +"Ali is my sharp sword," said Mahmud. "If my sword wounds any one +accidentally, and without my consent, is that any reason for snapping +it in twain?" + +Nevertheless, the enemies of the pasha kept goading Gaskho on to +demand satisfaction of Ali personally. The worthy giant, hearing his +own name on everybody's lips for weeks together, grew as wild as a +baited heifer, and began to believe that he was a famous man, that he +alone was ordained to clip the wings of the tyrant of Epirus, and at +last was so absorbed by his dreams of greatness that when he had to +give the usual lessons to the youths of the Seraglio he trounced them +all, in his distraction, as severely as if they had been the soldiers +of Ali Pasha. + +The pacific Viziers promised him a house, a garden, beautiful horses, +and still more beautiful slaves. But all would not do; what he did +want, he said, was the head of Tepelenti, and he cried to Heaven +against them for their procrastination. + +But Sultan Mahmud was a wise man. He had no need to consult +star-gazers or magicians, or even the caverns of Seleucia, as to the +future, in order to discover and discern the storm whose signs were +already visible in the sky. + +"Ye know not Ali, and ye know not me also," he said to those who urged +him to pronounce judgment against Ali. "If I were to say, 'Ali must +perish!' perish he would, even if my palaces came crashing down and +half the realm were destroyed in consequence. If, on the other hand, +Ali said 'No!' he would assuredly never submit, and would rather turn +the whole realm upsidedown, till not one stone remained upon another, +than surrender himself. Therefore ye know not what ye want when ye +wish to see Ali and me at war with one another." + +The conspirators, however, were not content with this, but distributed +some silver money among the Janissaries, and egged them on to appear +before the palace of the Kapu-Kiaja and demand Ali's head. + +The Kiaja, warned in good time of the approaching storm, took refuge +in the interior of the Seraglio, which was speedily barricaded against +the Janissaries, and the mouths of the cannons attached to the gates +were exhibited for their delectation. As it did not meet the views of +the Janissaries just then to approach any nearer to the cannons, they +gratified their fury by setting fire to the city and burning down a +whole quarter of it, for they considered it no business of theirs to +put out the blazing houses. + +The next day, however, the tumult having subsided as usual, when the +Sultan and his suite were trotting out to inspect the scene of the +conflagration, and had got as far as the fountain in front of the +Seraglio, the figure of a veiled woman cast herself in front of the +horse's hoofs, and with audacious hands laid hold of the bridle of the +steed of the Kalif. + +The Sultan backed his horse to prevent it from trampling upon the +woman, and, thinking she was one of those who had been burned out the +day before, ordered his treasurer--who was with him--to put a silver +piece in her hand and bid her depart in the name of the Prophet. + +"Not money, my lord; but blood! blood!" cried the woman; and, from the +ring of her voice, there was reason to suspect that she was a young +woman. + +The Sultan in amazement asked the woman her name. + +"I am Eminah, the daughter of the Pasha of Delvino, and the wife of +Ali Tepelenti." + +"And whose blood dost thou require?" asked the Sultan, scandalized to +see the favorite wife of so powerful a man prostrate in the dust +before his horse's feet. + +"I demand death upon his head!" cried the woman, with a firm +voice--"on the head of Ali Tepelenti, from whose gehenna of a fortress +I have escaped on the waters of a subterranean stream in order that I +might accuse him to thee; and if thou dost not condemn him, I will go +to the judgment-seat of God and accuse him there!" + +The Sultan was horrified. + +It is a terrible thing when a woman accuses her own husband, who has +loaded her with benefits. He must, indeed, be an evil-doer whom +turtle-doves, the gentlest of all God's creatures, attack! + +The Sultan listened, full of indignation, to the woman's accusations. + +After happily escaping from the fortress of Ali Pasha with the Greek +girl, she learned, during her short sojourn among the Suliotes, of all +Ali's cruelties, and learned also, at the same time, that in Delvino +had just died a rich Armenian lady, who had been the flame of Gaskho +Bey in his younger days, and had left him all the property she owned +in Albania. Of this nobody as yet knew anything. What more natural +than that every one should immediately fancy he had found the key to +the riddle of the mysterious attempt at assassination? Why, of course, +Ali wanted to slay Gaskho Bey in order that he might take possession +of his Albanian property. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A MAN IN THE MIDST OF DANGERS + + +The Pasha of Janina, for thirty successive days, received nothing but +ill tidings; and twice within the period of two waxing moons did his +own power as steadily wane. + +The first Job's-messenger which reached him was the Arnaut horseman, +who had escaped from Stambul, and whom the Sultan's Tartars had +pursued as far as Adrianople. This man told him that the attempt on +the life of Gaskho Bey had failed, and that the captured assassins had +revealed the name of their employer. + +"Behold, I have wounded myself with my own sword," exclaimed Ali. "The +prophetic voice of Seleucia spoke the truth; yea, verily, it spoke the +truth." + +And still more of the prophecy was to be accomplished. + +A few days later the report reached him that Eminah had cast herself +at the feet of the Sultan and demanded judgment on the head of her +husband. + +"I knew it beforehand," sighed Ali. "The Prophet told it all to me. +Nevertheless, I shall stand at the gates of the Seraglio on a silver +pedestal." + +Next day he heard that Gaskho Bey had been appointed Pasha of Janina. + +"They act as if I were dead already," murmured the veteran, with as +bitter a feeling as if he already saw his youthful supplanter standing +on his threshold. "They bury me before I am dead, they divide my +property before I have made my will. Nevertheless, one day I shall +stand in the gates of the Seraglio on a richer pedestal." + +And with that Tepelenti sent forth his ciauses to all the towns within +his domains, and to all the local governors, commanding all who had +sons to send their sons and all who had brothers to send their +brothers to him without delay. Then he ordered that every beast of +burden that could be spared should be driven into the mountains, and +that every barque they could lay their hands upon should be brought +from the sea-coast into the Gulf of Durazzo. The arsenal of Janina +bristled with terrific rows of cannons and bombs, and the commanders +of the various army corps received instructions to concentrate their +forces under the walls of Janina. At any rate, he was determined not +to be taken unawares. At least, he would have time to unfurl the red +flag before the dread message arrived from Stambul that the Padishah +demanded his head. + +Ah, ha! Ali Tepelenti would not surrender his gray beard so easily. +The hunters shall find out what manner of lion they are pursuing. A +firman of the Grand Signior nominated the banished Pehliván Pasha, +Lord of Lepanto; Sulaiman Pasha was made Governor of Trikala, and the +two mountain passes guarding it; Muhammad Bey, whose father Ali had +slain, was proclaimed Lieutenant-General of Durazzo. Thus they had +divided his territories beforehand among his most bitter and most +dangerous enemies. Ah! this will, indeed, be a magnificent chase. + +Ali called together his sons, of whom Vely was Lord of Lepanto, +Sulaiman of Trikala, and Mukhtar Pasha of Durazzo. He showed them on +the map where their territories lay, and pointed out that if they lost +them they would have nothing left. Let all three of them, therefore, +gird upon their thighs the swords he intrusted to them and fight like +men. The two younger sons swore fervently that they would conquer +Fortune with their weapons, but Vely Bey preserved a gloomy silence. + +"Art thou not my son?" asked the veteran. + +"Allah hath so willed it," answered Vely, "and I also will fight, not +for thee but for myself, not for life nor for what is on the other +side of death, but because I have a little child in Lepanto, and the +enemy is besieging that fortress. That little child is all the world +to me. I will fight as only a father can fight for his son. I will +rescue him if possible. Thy glory or thy ruin is alike indifferent to +me. If the report reach thee that the enemy hath taken Lepanto and +slain my son, then count no more upon the sword which thou hast +intrusted to me." + +And with these words Vely turned his back on his father and softly +withdrew. + +As Ali saw his son quietly pass before him, it occurred to him whether +it would not be as well to draw his pistol from his belt and shoot +down the waverer before he quitted Janina. It is true that he had +known all this beforehand. His own wife, his own sons, his own +weapons, were to turn against him; but then, on the other hand, was +he not to stand at the gate of the Seraglio on a silver pedestal? + +A host of more than twenty thousand men stood under arms at his +disposal, Albanians and Suliotes. A gallant host, if only it would +fight. But for whom would it fight?--for him or for the Sultan? And +these soldiers, when they saw him besieged, would they forget their +murdered kinsfolk, their plundered fields, their burned villages? Did +not every man of them know that Ali Tepelenti had been amassing +treasures all his life, but had never troubled himself about good +deeds? And now these treasures would surely be his ruin. + +Time brought the answer. While his enemies were still afar off, the +Suliotes arose, under the leadership of a girl among the mountains of +Bracori, where one of Ali's grandsons, Zaid, was recruiting soldiers, +and massacred Ali's men to the very last one. The last one, however, +they suffered to escape and convey to Ali Zaid's severed head, at the +same time informing him that it was sent by that girl the head of +whose betrothed he had cut off before her very eyes, and she meant to +send him still more. + +This was the Greek's declaration of war. There at Janina, under his +very nose, the Greek captain, Zunga, deserted the Albanian camp, and +when the Grand Signior's army reached Trikala, and Gaskho Bey's herald +galloped between the two armies with the imperial firman hanging round +his neck, and summoned the vassals to take up arms against the Pasha, +the whole camp went over to Gaskho Bey. Alone, without the smallest +escort, Sulaiman, Ali Pasha's youngest son, fled without having had +the opportunity of testing his father's sword, and they captured him +on the road. + +Still he had the other two. Mukhtar Bey, with a powerful fleet, lay in +the Gulf of Durazzo, and Vely Bey, wroth though he might be with his +father, was a valiant warrior, and his son was in Lepanto, and save +him he must and would. + +But not only his son, some one else was there also. On that cruel, +murderous day when Ali Pasha drowned the harems of his sons in the +lake, one person among so many escaped, and this was Xelianthé. The +damsel loved Vely as much as he loved her, and contrived to let him +know that she was alive. Vely Bey sent her to Lepanto, and kept her in +hiding there with his little son in order that she might be far from +his father. + +And now the bey himself hastened to Lepanto, arrived at night in the +neighborhood of the town, and perceived already from afar that the +citadel in which he had concealed his darlings was in flames. + +What if he had arrived too late! + +With the fury of a savage wild tiger he flung himself upon the +besieging Pehliván, and in a midnight battle routed him beneath the +walls of Lepanto, the Albanians fighting desperately by the side of +their leader. But what was the use of it? The fortress was saved, +indeed, but it was already in flames. Vely, roaring with grief and +pain, flung himself on the gate, scarcely recognizing again the place +he had quitted so short a time ago. + +He reached the pavilion where he had concealed his wife and child. It +was built entirely of wood, except the roof, which was of copper. A +curious mass of molten dark-red metal gleamed among the fire-brands. +Vely rushed bellowing to the spot, and his soldiers, tearing aside the +charred beams and rafters, came upon two skeletons burned to cinders. +A coral necklace lying there, which the fire had been unable to +calcine, told him that these were the remains of his wife and son. + +Not a word did Vely say to a living soul; but he plunged his sword +into its sheath, and that same night he rode unarmed into the camp of +the discomfited Pehliván Pasha and surrendered himself to the enemy. + +His army, utterly demoralized, immediately fled back to Janina, +bringing the tidings to his father that Vely Bey, immediately after +his victory, had surrendered of his own accord to the Sultan. + +So every one abandoned Ali. His cities opened their gates to his +enemies, his best friends betrayed, his two sons forsook, him. Still +the third son remained. And Mukhtar Bay was the best man of the three. +He was the bravest, and he loved his father the best. + +Two days later came the tidings that Mukhtar Bey with his whole fleet +had surrendered before Durazzo to the Kapudan Pasha. + +"The soothsayer foretold it all to me," said Ali, calmly, when the +news was brought to him. "So it was written beforehand in heaven. +Nevertheless, at the last, I shall stand at the gates of the Seraglio +on a silver pedestal!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE LION IN THE FOX'S SKIN + + +Blow upon blow rain down upon thee, thou veteran warrior! Thine armies +go over to the enemy, thy friends leave thee desolate, thy sons betray +thee, they capture thy cities without unsheathing their swords, thine +allies turn their arms against thee, and with thine own artillery, of +the best French manufacture, the Suliotes from the walls of Janina +shoot down thine Albanian guards! + +Ah, those Suliotes! How they can fight! If only now they would raise +their swords on thy behalf, how thine enemies would fall in rows! But +now it is thy soldiers that fall before _them_! A brother and a sister +lead them on--a youth and a girl; the youth's name is Kleon, the +girl's name is Artemis. Every time thou dost hear their names, it is +as if a sword were being plunged into thy heart, for the girl is she +whom thou wouldst have sacrificed to thy lust, and with whom thy wife +didst escape; and thou never dost hear that name without hearing at +the same time of the loss of thy bravest warriors! + +Like the destroying angel Azrael, she fares through the din of battle, +waving her white banner amidst the showers of bullets, and not one of +them touches her. Before thy very eyes she plants the triumphant +banner on thy bastions, and thou hast not strength of mind enough left +to wish her to fall; nay, rather, when thou dost see her appear before +thee, thou dost forbid thy gunners to fire upon her! + +Danger approaches Janina from all sides. Thou must drain the cup, +Tepelenti, to the very last drop, to the last bitter drop; and what +then? Why, then thou wilt stand before the Seraglio on a silver +pedestal! + + * * * * * + +One night there was a rolling of drums before the seven gates of +Janina, and a bomb flying down from the heights of Lithanizza exploded +in the market-place of the town. Up, up, ye Albanians! up, up, ye who +have any martial blood in your veins, the enemy has seized the guns on +the seven gates! Ali throws himself on his prancing steed, and in his +hand is the good battle-sword which has befriended him in so many a +danger. How many times has it not been the lot of Ali to lose +everything but this one sword, and then to win back everything by +means of it? + +In a moment the army of the besieged stood in battle-array. Ali +contemplated the ranks of the enemy, and a smile passed across his +face. That worthy captain, Gaskho Bey, was leading his troops to the +shambles. In an hour's time Ali will so completely have annihilated +them that not even the rumor of them will remain behind. It will be a +battle-field worthy of the veteran general. Every one who sees it will +say--there is no escaping from him! Only let them advance, that is +all! And again he was disappointed. At the first shot, before a sword +had been drawn, his army surrendered to the enemy. If only they had +fired once, the victory would have been his; but no, the army laid +down its arms and the cunningly concealed gunners turned his own +artillery against him. + +It was all over! Only seven hundred Albanian horsemen remained with +Ali, the rest either went over to the enemy or allowed themselves to +be taken. + +The old lion waved his sword above his head, and turning to his +handful of heroes exclaimed, with a voice that rang out like a brazen +trumpet, "Will ye behold Ali die?" + +And with that he galloped towards the market-place of Janina, the +faithful seven hundred following closely upon his heels. + +The enemy poured into the town through every gate, but the +market-place cut off one part of the town from the others, and the +triumphant hordes came upon some very evil-looking trenches bristling +with _chevaux de frise_, and the long narrow streets were swept by +Ali's last twelve cannons, ably handled by the pasha's dumb eunuchs, +who stood at their posts like the symbols of constancy on a tomb. + +Ali Pasha put down his foot in the middle of Janina. Of his ten +thousand horsemen only seven hundred remained with him. The enemy had +twenty thousand men and two hundred guns, and yet all the skill of +Gaskho Bey was incapable of dislodging Ali from the market-place of +Janina, and although the enemy held one portion of the city, it was +unable to take the other portion. If only they could have come to +close quarters with him, they would have crushed him with one hand; +but get at him they could not--that required skill, not strength. + +At last the besiegers set the town on fire all around him, but still +Ali did not budge from his place, and the wind blew the flames in the +face of Gaskho Bey, who began to look about him uncomfortably when the +two Suliote kinsfolk, Kleon and Artemis, at the head of their +squadrons, urged him to boldly assault the market-place. + +Tepelenti saw the girl with her white banner, and as her troops filled +the broad space at the head of the square, he himself, at first, drew +near to her. Four cannons were pointed at the Suliotes, loaded with +chain-shot and broken glass. Ali looked towards them with a gloomy +countenance, then stuck his sword in its sheath, bade his gunners turn +the guns round, harness the horses to them, and take refuge in the +citadel. He would not let a single shot be fired at the Suliotes. + +The moment Ali turned his back, the besieging host captured the field +of battle. They followed hard upon the heels of the retreating band +all the way, and when Ali reached the bridge, the Spahis and +Timariots, like two swarms of bees mingled together, gained the head +of the bridge at the same time, and swarmed after him with a shout of +triumph. The real struggle began on the bridge itself. Man to man they +fought at close quarters with their shorter weapons (they could use no +other), and clubs and dirks did bloody work in the throng which poured +from two different quarters, along and over the overcrowded bridge +like ants coming out of a slender reed. Six hundred of the Albanians +succeeded in escaping into the citadel, and then, at Ali's command, +the iron gates were clapped to, leaving the remaining hundred to +perish on the bridge, where the overwhelming crowd swallowed them up. +Each single Albanian fought against ten to twenty Timariots. The +bridge rang with the din of combat, and trembled beneath the weight of +the heavy crowd. Then suddenly the guns on both sides of the bastions +which were attached to the bridge began to roar, the supports of the +captured bridge collapsed, and the bridge itself, with its load of +fighting Turks and Albanians, plunged down into the deep trenches +below. + +Down there were sharp-pointed stakes beneath the deep waters, and +those of the besiegers who remained on the bank were horrified to +perceive that not one of the fallen crowd reappeared on the surface of +the water, while the water itself gradually grew redder and redder, +till at last it was a bright crimson, painted by the blood of the +corpses below. + +And opposite to them stood the fast-barred gate. + +Ah--ha! 'Tis not so easy to capture Tepelenti as ye thought. + +Everywhere else ye have triumphed; ye have triumphed up to the very +last point. And now ye _have_ come to the last point, and your +victories are worth nothing, for the last point is still to be won. + +The fortress is unapproachable. The bastions are built in the middle +of the lake, and from their dark quadrangular cavities rows of guns +(each one of them a sixty-pounder) sweep the surface of the water, so +that it is impossible to draw near in boats. On the land side one +hundred cannons defend the bastions, and who can surmount the triple +ditch? + +Ye will never capture Ali there. He has sufficient muniments of war +to last him for an indefinite period, and to show them how determined +he was, he caused the solitary gate of the fortress to be filled with +masonry and walled up. So the fortress has no longer a gate. Even +desertion is now an impossibility. + +There he will remain, then, walled up as in a tomb, buried alive! The +only roads from thence lead to heaven or hell; the exit from the land +side is guarded by the Suliotes; even if he could fly he could not +escape from them. + +The campaign is ended. The victorious Gaskho Bey proclaims himself +Pasha of Janina. The whole of Epirus does homage to him, and deserts +the fallen Vizier. In Stambul thanksgivings are offered up in the Ejub +mosque and the church of St. Sophia for the accomplished victory, +which is proclaimed, amidst the roaring of the cannons, by heralds in +the great market-place; and all the newspapers of Europe amazedly +report that the mighty and terrible adventurer, the ever-victorious +veteran of seventy-nine, the party-leader who grew to such a height +that it was doubtful whether he or the Sultan were the real ruler of +Turkey, the man who had been the ally of the great Napoleon, who a few +months before had sent as a present to England a precious +dinner-service of pure gold worth 30,000 thaler, who had heaped up +more treasures than any Eastern nabob--is suddenly crushed, +annihilated, shut up in a fortress! It now only remains for him to +die. + +And not very long afterwards he did die. One night a couple of bold +Albanian horsemen descended the bastions by means of a long rope, and, +crossing the lake of Acheruz on a pine log, sought out Gaskho Bey in +his camp that very night. + +Ali Tepelenti was dead. They were the first to bear the joyful tidings +to the bey. He died in his grief, in his wretchedness. Perhaps also he +had taken poison. On the morrow, at three o'clock, they had arranged +to bury him in the fortress! Before his death he had called together +his lieutenants, and taken an oath of them that they would defend the +fortress to the very last gasp of the very last man. His treasures +were piled up in the red tower--more than thirty millions of piastres. +He had left it all to them. But what was the use of all this treasure +to them if they could not get out of this eyrie? They would not +surrender themselves, for Ali had made them swear by every Turkish +saint that they would defend the fortress to the death. But the rank +and file were of a different opinion; they would joyfully retire from +the fortress if they were assured of a free forgiveness. Gaskho Bey +had only to stretch out his hand and the fortress of Janina, the +impregnable fortress with its two hundred cannons and its enormous +mass of treasure, would be his. + +Early in the morning the gray moonless flag, the sign of death, was +waving on the red tower of Janina, and the guns overlooking the water +fired three and thirty volleys, whose echo proclaimed among the +mountains that Ali Tepelenti was dead. Within the fortress sounded the +roll of the muffled drums, and it was also possible to distinguish the +dirges of the imams. + +Gaskho Bey and his staff, from the top of the Lithanizza hills, +watched the burial of the pasha. There was an observatory here from +whose balcony they could look down into the court-yard, and the +splendid telescopes, which the sultan had got from Vienna, rendered +powerful assistance to the onlookers, who through them could observe +the smallest details of what was going on in the court-yard of the +fortress; one telescope in particular brought the objects so near that +one could read the initial letters of the verses of the Kuran which +the imams held in their hands. + +In the midst of a simple coffin lay Ali Pasha. It was really he; of +that there could be no doubt. Let every one look for himself! There he +lay--dead, cold, motionless. His lieutenants and his servants stood +around him weeping. Those who walked along by his side stooped down to +kiss his hands. + +In the town outside the Suliotes knew of Ali's death, and by way of +compliment they fired a bomb into the citadel. But the match of the +bomb was too short, and it exploded in the air. + +From the observatory they could see very well the fright of the crowd +assembled in the court-yard at the whizzing of the bomb over their +heads, and how every one looked anxiously at the little round white +cloud there; only he who lay dead in the midst of them remained cold +and tranquil. He will never again be disturbed by the roar of an +exploding bomb. + +The imams raised him on their shoulders, and, amidst the melancholy +dirges of the mourners and the muffled roll of the drums, they carried +him away to his open tomb, for his grave was already dug. + +The Moslems do not put their dead in a closed coffin; they only half +board the tomb up in order that the angels of death may have room to +place the corpse in a sitting posture when they come to take an +account of his actions. + +They really did lower Ali Tepelenti into his tomb. + +The garrison fired a triple salute, the imams thrice sang their sacred +verses, and then came the gravediggers and cast the earth upon the +corpse. A large marble slab was standing there, and with it they +pressed down the earth on the tomb, at the same time placing two +turbaned headstones, one at each end of the tomb. + +They really did bury Ali. + +When the imams and the officers had departed from the covered tomb, +Gaskho Bey summoned the keepers of the observatory to the summit of +Lithanizza and laid this command upon them: + +"Let a man stand in front of this telescope from morning to evening +(and mind that he is relieved every four hours), and never withdraw +his eye from that tomb. At night, when the moon goes down, a rocket is +to be fired every five minutes, that the watchers may see the tomb and +never leave it out of sight, and report upon it every hour." + +What? Is Gaskho Bey actually afraid that old Ali, a veteran of +seventy-nine, will be able to arise from his tomb and hurl away that +heavy marble slab with his dead hands? There are men of whom it is +impossible to believe that they are dead, and whom people are afraid +of even when they are buried. + +Every hour till late in the evening they reported to Gaskho Bey that +the tomb remained unchanged, and all the night through not a soul +approached it. + +Tepelenti, then, was really dead--totally dead. + +Early next morning Gaskho Bey heard a very curious story. + +In the artillery barracks, where the round guns stood, a drummer had +laid down his drum close beside him, with the drumsticks leaning over +it, when he suddenly perceived the two drumsticks begin to move of +their own accord over the tightly drawn skin of the drums as if some +invisible hand wished to beat a tattoo. The drummer cried out at this +marvel, and fancied that a _dzhin_ was in the drum. + +Gaskho Bey would not believe it till he had himself gone to the +barracks and seen with his own eyes how the two drumsticks vibrated +with sufficient force to tap the drum pretty loudly, moving in a +spiral line backward and forward across it, tap-tap-tapping as they +went. + +"It is very marvellous!" cried the bey; and he immediately summoned +the imams to drive the _dzhin_ out of the drum. + +The imams set to work at once. They fetched their fumigators and their +sacred books, and they fumigated the drum with nose-offending odors +and recited over it drum-expelling exorcisms in a shrill voice. And +certainly if the devil was in that drum, and had anything of a nose or +ears, he would have been obliged to escape from that noise and stink. +So long as the drum was in any one's hand the drumsticks did not move, +but when it was put down on the ground the mysterious tap-tapping +began again. + +The imams went on howling, and horribly they howled. + +The chief of the observatory was present during this scene. As a +French renegade he was a man of some education, and therefore he did +not accept the theory of the _dzhins_. When he perceived that the +imams were not successful in expelling the evil spirits, he called +Gaskho Bey aside and whispered in his ear: + +"I know nothing about your _dzhins_, and don't understand what you are +driving at with all this noise and stench, but I can tell you that +this beating of the drum is a sign that invisible hands are at work +here." + +"What?" + +"It means that we ought to get away from here, for they are digging +mines beneath us, and that is why the ground trembles and the +drumsticks vibrate." + +Gaskho Bey began smiling. He had as little idea of sapping and mining +as the French renegade had of Turkish monsters. + +"How superstitious thou art, my brave moosir!" said he, shrugging his +shoulders and looking down upon the Frenchman. + +The latter, however, did not remain there much longer, but hastened as +quickly as he could to the summit of the Lithanizza. + +After about an hour and a half's more hubbub the imams succeeded in +expelling the _dzhin_. The drum grew quiet, the excitement subsided, +and the soldiers were instructed to lay two swords crosswise in front +of the gate, so that the spirit might not be able to come back any +more; and with that termination of the affair every one was satisfied. + + * * * * * + +Opposite the gate of the fortress of Janina, at the head of the +collapsed bridge, stood a stone building, fenced about with redoubts +and palisades, which had now fallen into the hands of the Suliotes. +This building had been chosen by the two Greek kinsfolk for their +dwelling-place. They wanted to get as close to Ali as possible; they +would not suffer him to escape even in the shape of a bird or a +spirit; their large siege-guns were pointed at the walled-up gate. Let +him surrender or find his tomb in the fortress. + +And lo! he _had_ found his tomb without consulting them about it. In +vain they had sharpened their weapons against him--the sword of Death +is quicker and cuts down sooner. They had not been able to reach him +on the field of battle; they had not been able to plunge their +avenging swords into his heart; they had not been able to bring his +gray head to the block; it had been reserved for him to pass quietly +away--to die in his bed, untroubled, unmolested, to die the death of +the righteous. + +Kleon and Artemis were sitting sullenly in a room of the fort by the +light of a flickering candle. The girl had absently divested herself +of her cuirass and was walking up and down the room with folded arms. +There was not a single womanly trait in her face. It was as cold as +the face of a statue. + +"So he is dead, then--dead!" + +This phrase she repeated to herself again and again. She seemed unable +to get away from it. + +"Ali has died, and not by my hand." + +Kleon was strikingly like his sister; indeed, his young face scarcely +differed at all from hers, but in his eyes quite another sort of flame +sparkled. Her face, full of dark thoughts, was much more terrible; +his was free and open, and full of radiant hope. + +"My triumph has lost its worth if Ali is dead," she said, with a sigh. +"The old fox has dodged my steel by taking refuge in hell. Oh, would +that I might follow him thither also, that I might tear his gray +beard, which he has bathed in my kinsman's blood!" + +"Behold! here is my gray beard!" cried a voice at that instant from +the other end of the room, and the brother and sister beheld Ali +Tepelenti standing before them. + +The terror-stricken young people involuntarily crossed themselves. +Horror nailed them to the ground and petrified all their limbs, when +they saw what they imagined to be a spectre standing there before them +in the self-same gray robe in which he had been buried two days +before. + +"Behold, here I am, Ali Tepelenti!" + +With that the spectre clapped his hands, and from every corner of the +room rushed forth Albanians armed to the teeth, and before the brother +and sister could approach their weapons, they were overpowered and +tied together. + +It was really Ali Tepelenti who stood before them. + +They had put him away underground, it is true, but underground there +were paths and passages only too well known to him. The whole +spectacle of the interment had been arranged by himself, and there was +an exit from the bottom of his tomb into subterranean corridors. When +the general joy and satisfaction at the victory was at its height, he +was abroad and at work. + +A strongly built subterranean trench had been constructed below the +ditches encircling the redoubts, and its ramifications extended to the +fort at the head of the bridge. Ali had so completely surprised the +garrison that they had not been able to fire a shot; the Suliotes had +been surprised and disarmed while in their dreams. + +Up, up, Gaskho Bey! Arise, Muhammad Aga! To horse, ye captains! Seize +thy sword, Pehliván Pasha! Danger is at hand! This is a bad night for +sleeping! + + * * * * * + +Suddenly a frightful explosion shook the ground, just as if the earth +was being wrenched from its hinges, and amidst a flame brighter than +the light of day, which seemed to leap up to the very stars, huge +round cannons were seen flying. The gunners in the barracks were also +pitched into the air. The minarets tottered and fell before the +terrific shock, every building round about crumbled into ruins. In a +moment one-half of the town was reduced to a rubbish-heap, and the +next moment a hail of burning beams and lacerated human limbs fell +back upon the ruins from the blood and fire besmudged heavens. + +It was thus that Ali Pasha signified his resurrection to his enemies! +He had gone underground, and now from underground he began the war +anew. + +Gaskho Bey, his gigantic body half undressed (he had just leaped out +of bed), rushed to the end of the street, and was so confused that he +asked all whom he met where he was. The suddenly aroused soldiers, +half mad with terror, rushed hither and thither in confusion, crying +out, one for his horse, another for his weapons. And above their +heads, more terrible than heaven's thunder-bolts, resounded the dread +cry, "Ali, Ali!" There comes the entombed pasha on a white horse, with +his white beard; who will dare to look him in the face? The +panic-stricken throng falls in thousands beneath the swords of the +Albanians, blood flows in streams in the streets of Janina, and Ali +Pasha, the dead man, the buried captain, fills the hearts of their +warriors with the fear of death. There is none who can stand against +him. + +Only Pehliván, the stalwart hero, was able to prevent the vast +besieging army from being scattered altogether by a handful of +Arnauts. He rallied the fugitives outside the town, and, while Ali's +men-at-arms were murdering every one inside, he quickly seized all the +gates, advanced in battle-array, and stayed the triumph of the veteran +captain. + +And enough had surely been done. + +Three thousand of the besiegers lay dead, the guns were spiked or +overthrown, and the leaders of the Suliote band were prisoners--and +all this the result of Ali's nocturnal rally! It was time for him to +return. + +Pehliván thus recaptured the town and marshalled his men in the +market-place, without pursuing Ali any further. But he had reckoned +without Gaskho Bey, who now came rushing up and furiously accosted +him: + +"Why hast thou not pursued him right into the citadel?" + +"It would not do to press Ali too closely," replied the practised +general; "let him fly, if fly he will." + +At this, Gaskho Bey, foaming with rage, tore the sword out of +Pehliván's hand (where he had left his own sword he could not have +said for the life of him), and, placing himself at the head of a band +of Spahis, began to pursue the retreating foe. + +Ali was proceeding quite leisurely towards the fortress, as if he did +not trouble himself about his pursuers, although they were six times +as numerous as his forces. + +When Gaskho Bey had got within ear-shot, Tepelenti shouted back to +him: + +"Thou hast come to a bad place, brave Bey. This ground is mine, and +what is beneath it is mine also, dost thou not know that yet?" + +Gaskho Bey naturally did not understand a word of this till, at a +gesture from Ali, a rocket flew up into the air, at which signal those +inside the fortress suddenly exploded all the mines which had been dug +under all the streets of the town. Tepelenti had prepared these during +his fortunate days by piercing water conduits and making subterranean +vaults large enough to hold great stores of gunpowder. + +Ali rallied his own bands at the head of the bridge, and when, +suddenly, the explosion burst forth along the whole length of the +street, and the destroying flame tossed the pursuing squadrons into +the air one after the other, he amused himself by contemplating the +ruin from the top of the fort, and was the last who disappeared in the +hidden tunnel. For a long time those in the fortress could hear the +agonized cries of the vanquished. One-third of the besieging army had +been destroyed in a single night. The rest quitted the accursed town, +which seemed to have been built over hell itself, and took up a +position in the fields outside and on the heights of Lithanizza. + +The rising sun revealed a horrible spectacle. The town of Janina no +longer existed, the beautiful tall houses, the cupolaed mosques, the +slender white minarets, the imposing barracks--where were they? +Instead of them, all that could be seen was a shapeless mass of +piled-up ruins; here and there, on a dark background, scorched by +flickering flames, a huddle-muddle of broken rafters, mangled corpses, +charred black or gaping hideously open, lay scattered about amongst +the rubbish, and from the mouth of a conduit at the side of the +bastion there trickled sadly down into the lake a dark red stream, +which wound its way in and out amongst the ruins. + + * * * * * + +"Poor children, how sweetly they are sleeping!" + +Thus spoke Ali. + +In a corner of the red tower, sleeping side by side, were the two +Suliote kinsfolk, Artemis and Kleon. They slept in each other's +embrace, and not even the gaze of Ali awoke them. + +"Don't arouse them," said Ali to his dumb eunuchs; "let them sleep +on!" + +And again he regarded them with a smile--they slept so soundly. And +yet they knew not when they fell asleep whether they would ever awake +again. + +Ali did not arouse the slumberers. Thrice he sent to see if they had +awakened, but he would not have them disturbed. At last the hand of +the youth made his chain clank, and both of them opened their eyes at +the sound. + +"I was on my way to Akro-Corinth," said he, rubbing his large dreamy +eyes with his hands, "and I saw them rebuilding the Parthenon." + +"I stood at Thermopylć," said the girl, "and the enemy fell before me +by thousands." + +"And now we shall go to the block," sighed Kleon, listening as the +iron doors of his dungeon slowly opened. + +"Be strong!" whispered the girl, pressing the hand of her brother +which was enlaced in hers. + +The dumb eunuchs surrounded them, and led them before Ali Pasha. + +The pasha was sitting on a divan, and still wore his funeral robe; all +the furniture was shrouded with cinder-colored cloth; there was +nothing golden, nothing that sparkled in the room. + +The brother and sister stood before him, pressing each other's hands. + +"My dear children," said the pasha, in a voice that trembled with +emotion, "don't look into each other's eyes, but look at me!" + +At this unusual tone, at these kindly words, the brother and sister +did look at him, and perceived that the old man was looking at them +sadly, doubtfully, and that his eyes were full of tears. + +Ali beckoned to the eunuchs, and they freed the brother and sister +from their chains. + +"Behold, ye are free, and may return to your homes," said Ali. + +These words had the effect of an electric shock upon the youth, and +his face lit up with a flush of joy. + +"Why dost thou rejoice?" cried Artemis, casting a severe look upon +him; "dost thou not perceive that the monster is mocking us? He only +wants to excite joy within us that he may kindle our hopes, and then +make death all the more bitter to us. Why dost thou make sport of us, +thou old devil? Slay us quickly, or slay us with lingering torments, +'tis all one to us, but do not mock us!" + +Tepelenti devoutly raised his eyes to heaven. + +"My soul is an open book before you. Ye are free. Ye free Suliotes, we +understand one another. I have sinned grievously against you, but ye +have revenged yourself upon me. I burned your villages, ye, in return, +have destroyed my fortresses. I have pillaged your lands, and ye have +taken my possessions from me. I have slain your bridegroom and +snatched thee from thy parent's house; thou hast cut off the head of +my favorite grandson, and ravished from me my favorite wife. Now we +are quits, and owe each other nothing. Go in peace!" + +There was so much sincerity, so much repentant, contrite grief in the +words of Ali, that the watchful maid began to regard him with curious +sympathy. + +"Thou art amazed at my change of countenance," said Ali, observing the +impression his words had produced on Artemis. "Thou hast not seen me +like this before! That other Ali is no more. He died, and was buried. +A penitent kneels before thee who has a horror of his past sins, and +begs thy forgiveness, kissing the hem of thy garment." + +And, indeed, Ali fell down on his knees before Artemis, in order that +he might kiss the border of her robe, and breaking forth into moans, +shed tears at the girl's feet, so that she involuntarily bent down and +raised him up. + +She was a woman, after all, and could not bear to see any one weeping +before her. + +"Listen now to what I say," continued the pasha, "and do not fancy +that Ali has gone mad. This night I saw a vision. A beauteous and +radiantly majestic maiden descended at my threshold from the midst of +the bright, open heavens, surrounded by a company of winged children's +heads. The maiden looked at me so gently, so kindly. A divine light +shone from her countenance, and, on the earth beneath, all the flowers +turned their faces towards her as if she were the sun. In the arms of +this heavenly maid sat a child, but what a child! At the sight of him, +even I, old man as I am, trembled with joy. Round about the head of +this child was a wreath of stars, and the smile upon his face was +salvation itself. And when I raised my trembling hands towards her, +the heavenly lady and the child extended their arms towards me, and +from the lips of the maiden, in a sweet, inexpressibly sweet voice, +came these words: 'Ali Tepelenti, I call thee!' And I, all trembling, +fell down on my knees before her." + +The brother and sister involuntarily knelt down beside Ali and +stammered, full of devotion, "Blessed be the most holy Virgin!" + +Ali Pasha continued the recital of his vision. + +"With my face covered, I listened to the words of the bright +apparition, and now she addressed me once more in a dolorous voice, +which pierced my very heart, 'Ali Tepelenti, behold me!' And when I +raised my face, lo! I beheld seven swords pointing towards the heart +of the heavenly maid, and I felt my hand grow numb with fright. 'Ali +Tepelenti,' said the lady for the third time, 'these swords _thou_ +hast thrust into my wounds, and my blood be upon thy head!' And I, +groaning, made answer, 'How could I have done so when I do not know +thee?' And she replied, 'He who persecutes mine, persecutes me, and +who robs my temples, robs me; didst thou not pull down the churches of +Tepelen, Turezzo, and Tripolizza?' 'I swear that I will build them up +again,' I replied, raising my hand to give solemnity to my vow; and as +I spoke one of the seven swords fell from the heart of the lady. +'Didst thou not rob the Suliotes of their children,' inquired the +heavenly vision anew, 'in order to bring them up as Moslems?' 'I swear +that I will make them Christians again!' and at these words the second +sword fell out of her heart. 'Didst thou not carry off their maidens +for thine own harem?' 'I swear that I will give them back to the +Suliotes!' and with that the third sword fell from her heart. 'Didst +thou not gather together immense treasures from the heritage of widows +and orphans?' And, smiting the ground with my head, I answered: 'All +my treasures shall be dedicated to thy service.' And thus she recorded +my mortal sins one by one, and thus I swore to make rigorous +reparation for them with an irrefragable oath, and as many times as I +so swore a sword fell at my feet. Finally but one sword remained in +her bleeding heart, and then she asked me, 'Hast thou not sought the +death of that Suliote brother and sister who were the most faithful +defenders of my altars? Hast thou not plunged them into thy dungeon, +and is not their death already resolved upon in thy heart?' And, +terrified, I laid my hand upon my heart, for verily that thought was +in it, and not without a fierce struggle, I stammered, 'Oh, heavenly +vision! these two young people are my mightiest enemies, and they +have sworn to kill me; yet if thou dost command it I will lay my gray +head in their hands, and I will be in their power, not they in mine.' +At these words the last sword also fell from her heart, and she +answered, 'Ali Tepelenti, take these swords in thy hand, and do as +thou hast said.' And with that she reascended into heaven, the clouds +closed behind her, and I remained alone with the seven swords in my +hand, on which seven vows were written. This vision I saw in the night +that has just past; and now reflect upon my words." + +The minds of the brother and sister were deeply agitated. The old +Moslem before them had spoken with such devotion, with such enthusiasm +of his vision, that it was impossible to question its reality. The +emotion visible in his countenance, the tears in his eyes, the tremor +in his voice, proved that he really felt what he said. While they were +standing there pondering over the old man's vision, he took them by +the hand and led them into his treasure-chamber, and showed them the +heaps and heaps of gold and silver, the coins piled up in vats, and +the steel which had been melted into bars and stacked up there. + +"My treasures are at your disposal--use them as you will." Then, +selecting from amongst his choicest diamonds two stones, worth a +hundred thousand sequins, he placed them in the hands of Kleon and +Artemis, and said, "These I will send to the war-chest of the +Hetćria!" + +Why, what does Ali mean by mentioning this secret society, which had +already undermined the whole Turkish Empire--just as he had undermined +Janina? Perhaps he would fire these mines also! Of a truth the arm of +Ali reached as far as Stambul! aye, and as far as Bucharest also. + +And now he led the brother and sister into his armory, and there they +saw whole chests full of firearms from the manufactories of the best +English and French makers. + +"You see, I could arm a whole realm with the weapons I have in +Janina." + +The brother and sister sighed; one and the same thought suddenly +occurred to them both. + +"Tepelenti," said the girl. + +"Command me!" + +"Thou hast done much harm to us, we also have done much harm to thee; +let us act as if we now saw each other for the first time." + +"I forgive you." + +"I will forget that thou didst put to death my betrothed in this room, +and thou forget that we killed thy grandson. Call to mind, moreover, +that not only are we captives in this fortress, but thou art also +surrounded by the hosts of thine enemies." + +"I alone am a captive," said Ali, humbly. "I swear by Allah, as I have +promised the holy Virgin, that I will let you and all your companions +free! What may happen to you after that I care not. Ali has not long +to live now. But your days of combat are yet to be, and if ever the +time should come when your plans need the help of arms and treasures, +remember that there is enough of both at Janina." + +Artemis was constrained to believe in the sincerity of Ali's words. + +And now the pasha, with his own hand, selected two beautiful Damascus +blades from among his store of weapons, and bound them to the girdles +of the brother and sister. What a warmth of self-confidence came over +them when they felt once more that they had swords by their sides! + +Then he led them down to their companions, who were assembled in the +court-yard of the fortress, and informed them that they were free to +go whither they would. And then he put wine and pilaf before the +jubilant crowd of captives, and left them to eat and drink with his +own Arnauts; and, beneath the peace-making influence of the good wine, +it was not very long before they fell to kissing one another and +swearing eternal fellowship like brothers. + +Then Ali produced his best long-range rifles, with bayonets attached, +and distributed them amongst the captive Suliotes; he had not the +least fear now that they would turn these arms against him. Then he +kissed the brother and sister on their foreheads, and, giving them his +blessing, let them through that secret tunnel which led into the town. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile, in Gaskho Bey's camp outside curious reports began to +circulate. A pair of captured Albanians, who had been surprised +amongst the ruins of the town when Ali retreated, began to make the +most astounding revelations before their judges; amongst other things +they maintained that the Suliotes, in the camp of the bey, had a +secret understanding with the Pasha of Janina--their former master. +And, as a matter of fact, every one had observed that Ali had quitted +the field of battle rather than fire upon the Suliotes. + +But the captives confessed still more. They said that Artemis and +Kleon had had secret meetings with Ali in the subterranean tunnel, +and had surrendered to him voluntarily. It must have been so, argued +those who had survived the last sally. Ali had made his assault from +the tower at the head of the bridge, and yet the Suliotes there had +not so much as fired a gun to signify his approach. + +The captives also insisted that Ali was going to make another sally on +the following night against the besieging army, and then all the +Christians in the camp of the bey would join him. + +These reports, with still more terrible variations, began to extend +throughout the whole army, and here and there slight _męlées_ even +took place between Christians and Moslems. The Osmanlis began to +threaten the foreign soldiers, and the latter began to everywhere form +themselves into independent little bands for mutual protection. + +Gaskho Bey and Pehliván Pasha hastily summoned a council of war at +this disquieting symptom, and it was there resolved that the Greeks +should be disarmed. For this purpose they assembled them together in +the midst of the camp, surrounded them with Turkish veterans, and +then, pointing the guns at them, summoned them to instantly lay down +their arms or they should all be shot down like dogs. + +The Suliotes and Albanians listened to this summons with terror. They +beheld the bloodthirsty masses around them, and reflected how many +times men had lost their lives by surrendering the very weapons +wherewith they might have defended themselves, and, in their +hesitation, they chose out twelve youths from amongst their ranks to +go to the general and ask the reason of this alarming demonstration. + +Gaskho Bey was still in a towering passion, and the bold speech of the +young men irritated him still further. He had them dragged into the +midst of the camp, in front of the assembled battalions, and commanded +that their heads should be cut off, proclaiming at the same time that +any who dared to disobey this order should meet with the same fate. + +The garments of the twelve young men were stripped from off them in +the presence of their comrades, and the usual head severing giant +stood behind them, ready to force them down upon their knees and +decapitate them one by one. But he had not yet cut off a single head +when a loud noise was heard coming from the direction of Janina; it +was the liberated sister and brother. Artemis and Kleon, at the head +of their bands. They had beheld from the tower of Janina the danger +which threatened their comrades, and arrived just as the executioners +were preparing to carry out Gaskho Bey's commands. + +The Suliotes scattered here and there looked at each other. A +tremendous roar filled the air--a roar of grief and rage and +terror--breaking forth into despair. Those from before, those from +behind, fell upon the ranks of the Moslems. In a moment Gaskho Bey's +whole camp was converted into a chaotic mob, where Albanians and +Spahis. Suliotes and Timariotes, fought together without any fixed +plan, and, in utter defiance of all military science, recognizing +neither friend nor foe. In vain the standard-bearers raised their +banners, in vain the officers of the Spahis roared themselves hoarse, +and the Sorbadzhis and the gigantic Gaskho Bey himself did the same. +The army was so completely disorganized that not even the victorious +enemy could make head or tail of it. Towards evening the Suliotes, +under Kleon and Artemis, captured Lithanizza; while Gaskho Bey, in his +despair, fled all the way to Durazzo. When he got there he discovered +that of all his army only twelve ciauses remained with him. The whole +host had fled higgledy-piggledy along the first road it came across, +leaving behind it all its artillery, baggage, and ammunition wagons. + +But Ali Pasha, sweetly smiling, calmly looked on from the red tower of +Janina, while the enemy worried itself to death, and the besieging +thousands scattered in every direction without his having to waste a +single cannon-shot upon them. + +But as I have already said. Ali was often so reduced as to possess +nothing but his sword, and with this same sword he would win +everything back again. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE ALBANIAN FAMILY + + +And now we will let the rumor of great deeds rest a while; we will +close our eyes to the wars that followed upon the siege of Janina; we +will shut our ears against the echoes of the names of a Ulysses, +Tepelenti, a Kolokotrini, those heroes who shook the throne of the +Sultan, and all of whom the Pasha of Janina called his very dear +friends. While these bloody wars are raging we will turn into the +grove of Dodona, where formerly the ambiguous utterances of sacred +prophecies were always resounding in the ears of contemplative +dreamers. Let us go back eighty years! Let us seek out that quiet +little glen whither neither good report nor evil report ever comes +flying, whose inhabitants know of nothing but what happens amongst +their own fir-trees; why, even the tax-collecting Spahi only light +down amongst them to levy contributions once in a century! + +The house of Halil Patrona's consort no longer stands beside the +rippling stream. Nobody even knows the tomb in which the beautiful, +the elfin Gül-Bejáze now lies; Gül-Bejáze, the White Rose,[9] blooms +no longer anywhere in that valley. Nobody knows the name even; only +the oldest old grandmother in the circle of the spinning maidens can +tell them tales, which she also has heard from her mother or her +grandmother, of a mad lady who used to dwell in this valley and lay a +table every evening and prepare a couch every night for an invisible +spirit, whom she called her husband, and whom nobody saw but herself. + +[Footnote 9: The heroine of another Turkish tale of Jókai's, _A feher +rózsa_ (_The White Rose_).] + +This old woman had a son called Behram, a brave, honest, worthy youth; +many a time with his comrades he would pursue the Epirot bandits, who +swooped down upon their valley and carried off their cattle. + +Near to him dwelt the widow Khamko, whose husband had been shot at +Tepelen, and who, with her son, little Ali, in her bosom, had sought +refuge amongst these mountains. + +Formerly Khamko was a gentle creature, but when they began to talk to +her about the mad lady she also grew as crazy as ever the other was. +She was ready to destroy the whole world, and over and over again she +would utter the wildest things; she would like, she said, to see the +whole four corners of the world set on fire so that the flames might +shoot up on all four sides of it, and every living man within it, good +as well as bad, might be burned. Listen not to such words. O Allah! + +Behram was a very quiet fellow, not more than six and twenty years +old; little Ali was scarce sixteen. But this wild, restless lad was +already wont to wander for days together amongst the glens and +mountains, and whenever he came home he invariably brought his mother +money or jewels. And nobody knew whence he got them save Behram, to +whom the youth confessed everything, for he loved him dearly. + +Ali joined the company of the Epirot adventurers and with them he +would go sacking villages, waylaying rich merchants, and shared with +them the easily gotten booty. + +And whenever he returned home without money, his mother. Khamko, would +rail upon and chide him, and let him have no peace until he had +engaged in fresh and more lucrative robberies. + +Behram looked askance at the perilous ways of his young comrade, and +as often as he was alone with him did his best to fill his mind with +honest, noble ideas, which also seemed to make some impression on Ali, +for he gradually began to abandon his marauding ways, and in order +that he might still be able to get money for his mother, he fell to +selling his sheep and his goats, and even parted with his long, +silver-mounted musket. At last he had nothing left but his sword. Dame +Khamko, meanwhile, scolded Ali unmercifully. If he wanted to eat, let +him go seek his bread, she said. And the lad wandered through the +woods and thickets, and lived for a long time on the berries of the +forest. At last, one day, when he was wellnigh famished and in the +depths of misery, he came upon an Armenian inn-keeper standing in the +doorway of his lonely little tavern. Ali rushed upon him, sword in +hand, like a wolf perishing with hunger. The Armenian was a worthy old +fellow, and when he saw Ali he said to him: + +"What dost thou want, my son?" + +The honest, open look of the old man shamed Ali, and casting down his +eyes, he replied: "I want to give thee this sword." Yet the moment +before he had determined to slay him with it. + +The Armenian took the sword from him, and gave him ten sequins in +exchange for it, besides meat and drink. So Ali returned home without +his sword. + +When Dame Khamko saw her son return home disarmed she was greatly +incensed and exclaimed: + +"What hast thou done with thy sword?" + +"I have sold it," answered Ali, resolutely. + +At this the mother flew into a violent rage, and catching up a +bludgeon, belabored Ali with it until she was tired. The big, muscular +lad allowed himself to be beaten, and neither wept nor said a word, +nor even tried to defend himself. + +"And now dost see that spindle?" cried Dame Khamko. "Learn to spin the +thread and turn the bobbins quickly; thou shalt not eat idle bread at +home, I can tell thee. A man who can sell his sword is fit for nothing +but to sit beside a distaff." + +So Ali sat down to spin. + +For a couple of days he endured the insults which his mother heaped +upon him, and on the third day he returned to the Armenian, to whom he +had sold his sword, robbed him of and slew of him with it, plundered +and burned down his house, and from thenceforth became such a famous +robber that the whole countryside lived in mortal terror of him. + +Dame Khamko lived a long time after this event, and ruined her son's +soul altogether by urging him to kill and slay without mercy, till one +fine day her son murdered her likewise, and thus added her blood also +to the blood of those whom, at his mother's instigation, he had +cruelly murdered. + +And this lad became the Pasha of Janina. Ali Tepelenti! + +Through what an ocean of treachery, perjury, robbery, and homicide he +had to wade before he attained to that eminence! How often was he not +so reduced as to have nothing left but his sword and his crafty brain? +But many a time, in the midst of his most brilliant successes, in the +very plenitude of his power, he would bethink him of the two quiet +little huts where he and Behram had been wont to dwell. He never heard +of Behram now, but he used frequently to think in those days and +wonder what would have become of himself if he had listened to +Behram's words and lived a quiet, contented life. 'Tis true he would +not have been so mighty a man as he was now, but would he not have +been a much happier one? + +Once, when he was a very great potentate, he had visited the little +village in the glen in which they had hidden away together. But nobody +would tell him anything of Behram. He had disappeared none knew +whither. Perhaps he had died since then! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE PEN OF MAHMOUD + + +When, during the reign of Mahmoud II., the caravan of Meccan pilgrims +was plundered by the Vechabites, lying in ambush, the Sultan ordered +the rulers of Mecca and Medina to immediately send to the lair of the +Vechabites and buy back the dervishes with ready money. + +The Vechabites gave up the captives in exchange for the ransom sent +them, but they adhered so rigidly to the terms of the bargain whereby +they were to surrender the captives only, that they even kept for +themselves the garments that happened to be on the captives, and let +nothing go but their bare bodies, on which account Mahmoud was obliged +to give his rescued subjects raiment as well as freedom. + +Amongst those who were so liberated was a dervish of the Nimetullahita +order, who, after this incident was over, arose, sought out the Sultan +and said to him, "Thou art a poor potentate. Thou art the most sorry +of all the caliphs. Thou art the greatest son of suffering[10] among +all the sultans who have gone before thee, or shall come after thee. I +thank thee for delivering me from the hands of the Vechabites,[11] +and as a reward, therefore, I bring thee a gift which, even when they +left me without any raiment, I was still able to conceal from them." + +[Footnote 10: _I.e._, patient of insult.] + +[Footnote 11: The Vechabites are accounted heretics by the orthodox +Mussulmans.] + +And with that he produced a writing-reed and gave it to the Sultan, +and when Mahmoud asked him in what way he had concealed it from the +eyes of the robbers, he explained how he had cunningly thrust it into +his thick black beard, where nobody had perceived it. + +Mahmoud accepted the gift of the dervish, and put it where he put his +other curiosities; but he did not think of it for very long, and +gradually it escaped his memory altogether. + +One day, however, when one of his favorite damsels, moved by +curiosity, had induced him to show her the treasures of his palace, +and they came to the spot where lay the pen of the dervish, the damsel +suddenly cried out, and said that she had seen the pen move. + +The Sultan looked in that direction, and, observing nothing, treated +the whole affair as a joke, and went on showing the damsel the +accumulated relics and curiosities of centuries which thirteen +successive Sultans had stored up in the khazné or treasury, and then +gave the damsel permission to choose for herself whichever of these +treasures might please her most. + +Many costly things were there covered with gems, and worth, each one +of them, half a kingdom; there were also rare and precious relics, and +antiquities rich in historical associations. But the Sultan's pet +damsel chose for herself none of these things; to the amazement of the +Padishah, she only asked for this simple black pen. + +Mahmoud was astonished, but he granted the damsel her wish, and making +light of it, he gave her the writing-reed which was fashioned out of a +simple bamboo cane, and was nothing very remarkable even at that. + +The odalisk took the pen away with her to her room, and waited from +morning to night to see it move. But the pen calmly rested where she +had placed it all day long and all night too, and the odalisk began to +be sorry that she had not rather selected for herself some other more +precious thing instead of the object of her curiosity; but one +evening, when the Sultan was visiting her in her flowery chamber, and +they were holding sweet converse together, they suddenly heard in the +room, where nobody was present but themselves, a faint sound as if +some one were writing in great haste, the scratching of a pen on the +extended parchment was distinctly audible. + +They both looked in the direction of the sound, and words failed them +in their astonishment, for behold! the writing-reed was half raised in +the air, just as when one is holding it in his hand, and it seemed to +be writing of its own accord on the parchment extended beneath it. + +The damsel trembled for terror, while the Sultan, who was a stranger +alike to fear or superstition, imagining that perhaps a spider had got +into the upper part of the reed, and consequently made it move up and +down, and anxious to convince his favorite thereof, approached the +table, and took up the pen in order to shake the spider out of it. +But there was nothing at all there, and the pen went on writing of its +own accord. + +The Sultan himself began to be astonished at this phenomenon. What the +pen seemed to be so diligently writing remained a hidden script, +however, for its point had not been dipped in ink. Wishing, therefore, +to put it to the test, the Sultan dipped the point of the reed in a +little box full of that red balsamic salve with which Turkish girls +are wont to paint their lips, and then placed it on a smooth, clean +sheet of parchment, whereupon it again arose, and wrote in bright, +plainly intelligible letters these words, "Mahmoud! Mahmoud!" + +The Sultan's own heart began to beat when he saw his own name written +before his eyes, and he inquired with something like consternation, +"What dost thou want of me?" + +The pen immediately wrote down again these two words, "Mahmoud! +Mahmoud!" and then lay still. + +"That is my name," said the Sultan; "but who then art thou. O +invisible spirit?" + +The pen again arose and wrote beneath the name of Mahmoud this name +also, "Halil Patrona!" + +Mahmoud trembled at this name. It was the name of a man who had been +murdered by one of his ancestors, and if the apparition of a spirit be +terrible in itself, how much more the spirit of a murdered man! + +"What dost thou want here?" exclaimed the terrified Sultan. + +The pen answered, "To warn thee!" + +"Perchance a danger threatens me, eh?" inquired the Sultan. + +"'Tis near thee!" wrote the pen. + +"Whence comes this danger?" + +And now the pen wrote a long row of letters, and this was the purport +thereof, "A great danger from the East, a greater from the West, a +greater still from the North, and here at home the greatest of all." + +"Where will the Faithful fight?" asked the Sultan. + +"In the whole realm!" was the reply. + +"Near which towns?" + +"Near every town and within every town." + +"How long will the war last?" + +"Nine years." + +It was now the year eighteen hundred and twenty, and there was not a +sign of danger at any point of the vast boundaries of the Turkish +empire. + +The Sultan permitted himself one more question: "Tell me, shall I +triumph in these wars?" + +The pen replied, "Thou wilt not." + +"Who will be my enemies?" + +There the pen stopped short, as if it were reflecting on something; at +last it wrote down, "Another time." + +The Sultan did not understand this answer, so he repeated his +question, and now the pen wrote, "Ask in another place!" + +"Where?" + +"Alone." + +Evidently it would not answer the question in the presence of the +Sultan's favorite. It did not trust her. + +The Sultan almost believed that he was dreaming, but now his favorite +damsel also drew near and, leaning on Mahmoud's shoulder, stammered +forth, "Prithee, mighty spirit, wilt thou answer me?" + +And the pen replied, "I will." + +The woman asked, "Tell me, will Mahmoud love me to the death?" + +The Sultan was somewhat offended. "By the prophet!" cried he, "that +thou shouldst put such a question!" + +But what is not a living woman capable of asking? + +The pen quivered gently as it wrote down the words, "He will love thee +till thou diest." + +"And when _shall_ I die?" + +To this the pen gave no answer. + +In vain the favorite pressed her question. How many years, how many +months, how many days had she to live? The spirit answered nothing. + +"And how shall I die?" asked the woman. + +The Sultan shivered at this senseless question, and would have made +the girl withdraw; but, in an instant, the pen had written out the +answer, "Thou shalt be killed." + +The woman grew as pale as a wax figure, and stammered, "Who will kill +me?" + +Both of them awaited in terror and with baited breath what the pen +would answer, and the pen, taking good care not to form a single +illegible letter, wrote on the parchment, "Mahmoud!" + +The favorite fell unconscious into the arms of the Sultan, who, +carrying her away, laid her on the divan, watching over her till she +came to herself again, and then comforting her with wise saws. + +An evil, mocking spirit dwelt in the reed, he said, consolingly, who +only uttered its forebodings to agitate their hearts. "Did it not say +also that I should love thee to the death? How then could I slay thee? +A lying spirit dwelleth in that reed!" + +And yet the Sultan himself was trembling all the time. + +That night no sleep visited his eyes, and early in the morning he took +the reed from his favorite by force, telling her that he was going to +throw it into the fire. + +But he did _not_ throw it into the fire. On the contrary, the Sultan +frequently produced it, and, inasmuch as he sometimes convicted the +spirit of a false prophecy, he began to regard the whole thing as a +sort of magic hocus-pocus, invented by the kindly Fates to amuse +mankind by its oddity, and he frequently made it serve as a plaything +for the whole harem, gathering the odalisks together and compelling +the enchanted pen to answer all sorts of petty questions, as, for +instance, "How old is the old kadun-keit-khuda?" "How many sequins are +in the purse of the Kizlar-Agasi?" "At what o'clock did the Sultan +awake?" "When will the Sultan's tulips arrive?" "How many heads were +thrown to-day into the sea?" "Is Sadi, the poet, still alive?" etc., +etc. Or they forced the pen to translate the verses of Victor Hugo +into Turkish, Arabic, and Persian. And the pen patiently accomplished +everything. At last it became quite a pet plaything with the odalisks, +and the favorite Sultana altogether forgot the evil prophecy which it +had written down for her. + +Now it chanced one day that the famous filibusterer Microconchalys, +who had for a long time disturbed the archipelago with his cruisers, +and defied the whole fleet of the Sultan, encountered in the open sea, +off Candia, a British man-of-war, which he was mad enough to attack +with three galleys. In less than an hour all three galleys were blown +to the bottom of the sea, nothing of them remaining on the surface of +the water but their well-known flags, which Morrison, the victorious +English captain, conveyed to Stambul, and there presented them to the +Divan. + +Boundless was the joy of the Sultan at the death of the vexatious +filibusterer, and there was joy in the harem also, for a feast of +lamps was to be held there the same night, and Morrison was to be +presented to the Divan on the following day to be loaded with gifts +and favors. + +At night, therefore, there was great mirth among the odalisks. The +Sultan himself was drunk with joy, wine, and love, and the hilarious +Sultana brought forth the magic pen to make them mirth, and compelled +it to answer the drollest questions, as, for instance, "How many hairs +are there in Mahmoud's head?" "How many horses are there in the +stable?" and "How many soldiers are there on the sea?" And, finally, +laughing aloud, she commanded it to tell her how many hours she had to +live. + +Ah, surely a life full of joy lay before her! But the Sultan shook his +head; one ought not to tempt God with such questions. + +The pen would not write. + +Then the favorite cried angrily, "Answer! or I will compel thee to +count all the drops of water in the Black Sea, from here to Jenikale +in the Crimea!" + +At these words the pen, with a quivering movement, arose, and +scratching the paper with a shrill sound, as if it would weep and +moan, wrote down some utterly unintelligible characters, with the +number "8" beneath them, and surrounded the whole writing with a +circle to signify that there was nothing more to come. + +Everybody laughed. It was plain that the spirit also loved its little +joke, and was angry with the Sultana for torturing it with so many +silly questions. + +It was then the third hour after midnight, all the clocks in the room +had at that moment struck the hour. After that the odalisks fell +a-dancing again, and the eunuch-buffoons exhibited a puppet show on a +curtained stage, which greatly diverted the ladies of the harem. But +the number "8" would not go out of the head of the favorite, and as +all the clocks in the room, one after the other, struck four, she took +out the pen, and with an incredulous, mocking smile on her face, but +with horror in her heart, she asked, "Come, tell me again, if thou +hast not forgotten, how many hours have I got to live?" + +The pen wrote down the number "7." + +Those who stood around now began to tremble. But Mahmoud treated the +whole affair as a joke, and assured them that the pen was only making +them sport. And again they went on diverting themselves. + +An hour later the clocks, in the usual sequence, struck the hour of +five. And now the favorite stole aside, and placing the reed on a +table repeated her former question. And the pen wrote down the number +"6." + +Thus, with each hour, the number indicated was lesser by one than the +previous number. The Sultan observed the gloom of his favorite, and to +drive away her sad thoughts, compelled her to retire to her +bedchamber, where she enjoyed two hours of sweet repose, leaning on +the Sultan's breast; whereupon the Sultan arose and went into his +dressing-room, for he had to hold a divan, or council. + +The first thing the favorite did on awaking was to look at the time, +and she perceived that it was now seven o'clock. She immediately +hastened to interrogate the pen, and asked the question of it with +fear and trembling; and now the pen wrote down the number "4." + + * * * * * + +The Sultan himself sent for Morrison. + +The English sailor was proudly conscious of owning no master but the +sea. During his long roamings in the East and South he had always made +it a point of visiting all the barbarous chiefs and princes who came +in his way. He regarded them simply as freaks of nature, whose absurd +rites and customs he meant to thoroughly investigate in order that he +might make a note of them in his diary, and he even went the length of +adopting for a time their manners and customs, if he could not get +what he wanted in any other way. + +A summons to appear before the divan was scarcely of more importance +in his eyes than an invitation to a wild elephant hunt, or initiation +into the mysteries of Mumbo Jumbo, or an ascent in the perilous aerial +ship of Montgolfier. He donned a dark-blue-colored garment and a +plumed three-cornered hat, and condescended to allow himself to be +conducted by the ichoglanler specially told off to do him honor to the +splendid canopied, six-oared pinnace, which was to take him to the +palace. + +They escorted him first to the Gate of Fountains, and left him waiting +for a few moments in the Chamber of Lions, allowing him in the +meanwhile to draw a pocket-book from his breast-pocket and make a +rapid sketch of all the objects around him. They then relieved him of +his short sword, as none may approach the Sultan with arms, and threw +across his shoulders an ample caftan trimmed with ermine. He did not +reflect for the moment what a distinction this was. His only feeling +was a slight surprise that he should be dressed in green down to his +very heels, as, with the dragoman on his left hand, he was conducted +into the Hall of the Seven Viziers, where the Sultan sat in the midst +of his grandees. + +Morrison greeted the Padishah very handsomely, just as he would have +greeted King George IV. or King Charles X., perhaps. + +"Bow to the ground--right down to the ground, milord!" whispered the +dragoman in his ears. + +"I'll be damned if I do!" replied Morrison. "It is not my habit to go +down on my knees in uniform!" + +"But that was why they put the caftan on you," whispered the dragoman, +half in joke. "'Tis the custom here." + +"And a deuced bad custom, too," growled Morrison; and, after +reflecting for a moment or two, he hit upon the idea of letting his +hat fall to the ground, and then bent down as if to pick it up again. +But, by way of compensation, immediately after righting himself he +stood as stiff and straight as if he were determined never to bend his +head again, though the roof were to fall upon him in consequence. + +The Sultan addressed a couple of brief words to the sailor, +metamorphosed by the dragoman into a floridly adulatory rigmarole, +which he represented to be a faithful version of the Sultan's +ineffable salutation. In effect he told the sailor that he was a +terrible hippopotamus, an oceanic elephant, who had ground to death +countless crocodiles with his glorious grinders, trampled them to +pieces with his mighty hoofs, and torn them limb from limb with his +trunk, and had therefore merited that the sublime Sultan should cover +him with the wings of his mantle. Let him, therefore, ask as a reward +whatever he chose, even to the half of the Padishah's kingdom. I may +add that if any one had in those days actually asked for half of the +Sultan's kingdom, he would probably have got that part of it which +lies underground. + +Morrison thanked the Sultan for his liberal offer, and asked that he +might see the favorite wife of the Grand Signior. + +At these words the dragoman turned pale, but the Sultan turned still +paler. The convulsive twitching of the muscles of his face betrayed +his strong revulsion of feeling, and, lowering his heavy, shaggy +eyebrows, he dashed at the sailor a look of deadly rage, while a heavy +sigh escaped from his deep chest. + +The Englishman only regretted that he could not acquit himself as +creditably in this play of eyebrows. His own were small, of a bright +blonde color, and somewhat pointed. + +The dragoman, however, could read an ominous meaning in this deep +silence. + +"O glorious giaour, rosebud of thy nation!" whispered he, "fleet +water-spider of the ocean, ask not so senseless a thing from the Grand +Signior! Behold his wrathful eyes, and ask for something else; ask for +his most precious treasure; ask for all his damsels, if thou wilt, but +ask not to see the face of his favorite. Thou knowest not the meaning +thereof." + +Morrison shrugged his shoulders. "I want neither his treasure nor his +damsels. I only want to see his favorite wife." + +Mahmoud trembled, but not a word did he speak. Two tear-drops twinkled +in his dark eyes and ran down his handsome, manly face. + +At this the Viziers leaped to their feet, and it was evident from +their agitated cries that they expected the Sultan to order the +presumptuous infidel to be cut down there and then. + +The dragoman, in despair, flung himself at the seaman's feet. + +"O prince of all whales!" he cried. "O unbelieving dog! Thou seest me, +a true believer, lying at thy feet. O wine-drinking giaour! Why wilt +thou entangle me with the words which the Sultan said to thee through +me? Art thou not ashamed to place thy foot on the neck of the lord of +princes? Ask some other thing!" + +In vain. The sailor changed not a muscle of his face. He simply +repeated, with imperturbable _sang-froid_, the words: + +"I want to see his favorite wife." + +The Viziers rushed at him with a howl of fury, but Morrison merely +threw back the caftan which had been folded across his breast, +revealing his dreaded uniform and the decorations appended +thereto--memorials of his services at Alexandria and Trafalgar. That, +he thought, would quite suffice to preserve him from any violence. + +But the Sultan leaped down from his throne, beckoned with his hand to +the Viziers, and whispered some words in the ear of the Kislar-Agasi, +who thereupon withdrew. This whispered word went the round of the +Viziers, who straightway did obeisance and disappeared in three +different directions through the three doors of the room, their places +being taken by two black slaves in red fezes and white robes, with +broad-bladed, crooked swords in their hands. Only the Sultan remained +behind there with the sailor. + + * * * * * + +The clocks in the rooms of the Seraglio struck a quarter to ten. The +pen of the dervish in reply to the question of the favorite as to how +many hours she had to live now wrote down "ź." + +At that moment the Kislar-Agasi entered. The favorite went to meet +him, trembling like a lost lamb coming face to face with a wolf. + +The Kislar-Agasi bowed deeply, and beckoned to the serving-women of +the Seraglio standing behind him to come forward. + +"Has the Sultana accomplished the prescribed ablutions?" said he. + +"Yes, my lord!" + +"Gird her round the body with a triple row of pearls; fasten on her +turban the bird of paradise with the diamond clasp. Put on her gold +embroidered caftan." + +The favorite let them do what they would with her without saying a +word. + +The waiting-woman, covering the favorite's face with a light fan, +thickly sewn with tiny gold stars, conducted her to the door which led +to the Porcelain Chamber, and there the Kislar-Agasi left her, after +indicating whither they had to go next. + +Guards stood in couples before each one of the doors; the last door +they came to was only protected by a curtain. This was the door of the +cupola chamber where the Sultan had received the sailor. + +The favorite could not see the sailor because of the lofty projecting +wings of the throne; she only saw the Sultan sitting on a divan. She +hastened up to him, and when she stood before him she suddenly caught +sight of the stranger regarding her with coldly curious eyes. +Shrinking away with terror, she screamed out "Giaour!" and, wrapping +her veil more closely around her, turned to the Sultan for protection. +Then Mahmoud seized the damsel's trembling hand with one of his, and +with the other raised the veil from the face of his dearest wife in +the presence of the stranger. + +The girl shrieked as if her face had been bitten by a serpent; then +she fell at the knees of the Sultan, and looked at the face of the +Grand Signior with an appealing glance for mercy. In the eyes of the +caliph of caliphs the moisture of human compassion sparkled. Poor +Sultana! who would not have pitied her? + +Morrison made a courtly bow, and the dragoman not being present, he +expressed his thanks by using the well-known Turkish salutation, +"Salám aláküm!" The extraordinary charms of the damsel made no more +impression upon him than the sight of any ordinarily pretty lady at a +court presentation at home would have done. + +The damsel meanwhile writhed in torments at the feet of the Sultan, +who, having had enough of it himself, covered her with her veil, and +beckoned to the Kislar-Agasi. He raised the damsel, and carried her +behind the curtains that surrounded the throne; the same instant the +two eunuch guards standing beside the throne also disappeared. + +The Sultan listened and covered his eyes. + +After a few moments of deep silence, it seemed to the sailor as if he +heard a long sigh behind the curtains. The Sultan shivered in every +limb, and immediately afterwards the clocks in the Seraglio began to +strike; they struck eleven. + +Then the Sultan arose from his place and said, with a deep sigh: + +"'Twas the will of Allah!" Then he descended from the divan and said +to Morrison in the purest Italian, "Thou didst see her; was she not +beautiful?" + +Morrison, astonished to hear Italian spoken by the Sultan, who, as a +rule, never spoke a word save through an interpreter, in his amazement +could not find an answer to this question quick enough. + +"Come now and see her once more," continued the Grand Signior, and +with these words he went towards the curtains. + +Morrison fell back confounded. The rosy-red damsel of a few moments +before lay there pale, lifeless, at full length, her lips and eyes +closed, her bosom motionless. A thin red line was visible round her +beautiful white neck--the mark of the silken cord! + +"But this is brutal!" exclaimed the sailor, beside himself with +indignation. + +The Sultan coldly replied, "Whenever a Christian man beholds the face +of one of our women, that woman must die." He then signified to the +sailor that he was dismissed. + +Morrison hastened from the room, immediately hoisted his anchor, and +the same night sailed out of the Golden Horn, everywhere pursued by +the memory of the beautiful Sultana, whom he had killed with a glance +of his eyes. + + * * * * * + +"Behold, behold!" cried the Sultan, pressing the cold, murdered limbs +to his bosom; "the _dzhin_ told the truth. Mahmoud loved thee to the +death, and yet Mahmoud slew thee!" + +These words he repeated two or three times to the dead woman, and +then, descending the steps of the throne, rent his garments across his +breast, and looking up to heaven with tearful eyes, exclaimed: + +"And now let the rest come too!" + +And the rest did come. It came from the east and from the west, from +the north and from the south--four empire-subverting tempests, which +shook the strong trunk of Osman to its very roots, and scattered its +leaves afar. + +Ali Pasha of Janina was the first to kindle the blood-red flames of +war in the west, and soon they spread from the Morea to Smyrna. In the +north the crusading banners of Yprilanti raised up a fresh foe +against Mahmoud, and the cries of "the sacred army" re-echoed from the +walls of Athens and the banks of the Danube and the summits of +Olympus. In Stambul the unbridled hosts of the Janissaries shed +torrents of blood among the Greeks of the city on the tidings of every +defeat from outside. And when the peril from every quarter had reached +its height, the Shah of Persia fell upon the crumbling realm from the +east, and captured the rich city of Bagdad. + +And still Mahmoud had the desire to live--to live and rule. A pettier +spirit would have fled from the Imperial palace and taken refuge among +the palm-trees of Arabia Felix when it recognized that an endless war +encompassed it on every side, that to conquer was impossible, and that +the nearest enemy was the most dangerous. A mine of gunpowder had been +dug beneath the throne, and around the throne a mob of madmen were +hurrying aimlessly to and fro with lighted torches. And yet it was +Mahmoud's pleasure to remain sitting on that throne. + +Frequently he would steal furtively at night from his harem. Alone, +unattended, he would contemplate the flight of the stars from the roof +of the Seraglio, and would listen to the nocturnal massacres and the +shrieks of the dying in the streets of Stambul. He would watch how the +conflagrations burned forth in two or three places at once, both in +Pera and Galata their lordships the Janissaries were working their +will. And he felt that cruelly cold piercing wind which began to blow +from the north, so that in the rooms of the Seraglio the shivering +odalisks began to draw rugs and other warm coverings over their +tender limbs. Never had any one in Stambul felt that cold wind before. +Whence came it, and what did it signify? + +Mahmoud knew whence it came and what it signified, and he had the +courage to look steadily in the face of the future, in which he +discerned not a single ray of hope. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CIRCASSIAN AND HIS FAMILY + + +In those days Kasi Mollah did not go by the name of Murstud--_i.e._, a +pillar of the faith. He was a simple sheik at Himri, in the northern +part of the land of Circassia, a remote little place, where the +Muscovite was no more than a rumor from afar. + +Nature herself had fashioned a strong fortress around Himri. Immense +mountain-chains enclosed it within massive walls on both sides, rising +bleak, interminable, and ever upwards into the dim distance. + +In the midst of this valley of eternal shadows arose a third rocky +mass, forming--on both sides--a steep, ladder-like wall; and, after +extending far among the other mountains, terminating in a +ragged-looking, concave hill, defended by the junction of the +impetuous mountain streams, which dug a deep hollow among the +excavated rocks. Along this channel, running like a spinal cord +throughout the backbone of the mountain, extended some few thousands +of acres of luxuriant corn--a long but narrow strip. + +At the head of an opening in the chain a rocky scaffolding was +visible, about one hundred feet in height, as regularly disposed as if +a number of gigantic dice had been designedly placed there one on the +top of another. By a marvellous freak of Nature, this rocky +conglomeration was provided apparently with towers, bastions, and +buttresses; so that, viewed from afar, it looked like a gigantic +fortress, and, on the very first glance at it, the thought +involuntarily occurs to one that if but four guns were planted on +those summits a few hundred men might defend themselves against an +army-corps. At the rear of the hill, moreover, where the cataracts +make any approach impossible, the flocks and herds of the defending +army could go on contentedly browsing for years together. + +A foolish idea! To whom would it ever occur to attack Himri, that tiny +Circassian village with scarcely five hundred inhabitants, who have +nothing in the world but their kine, their goats, and their pretty +girls? Who would ever come against Himri with guns and an +army--against those most worthy men who all their life long have never +done anything but make cheese and tan hides, who only exercise their +valor against the devastating bands of bears, and only extirpate with +their long, far-reaching muskets the wild goats of the rocks? + +They do not even build their houses on the summit of this wondrous +fortress of Nature, but among the rocks below, constructing them +prettily of regularly disposed logs, with roofs like dove-cots, +surrounding them with linden-trees and flower-gardens. And so far from +keeping a visitor at bay with cannon-shots, they go forth to meet him, +conduct him into their villages, hospitably entertain him, insist on +his tarrying long with them; and if the visitor be a handsome young +fellow, the loveliest eyes that ever smiled and wept grow moist at +his departure. Who amongst those who have been lulled to sleep in +Himri by the songs of the lovely and bewitching Circassian girls could +ever have dreamed that the time would come when these mountain walls +all round about would be dyed red with the blood of thousands and +thousands of strangers, who came thither to seek death, and found what +they sought? + +The house of the meritorious sheik differed in no respect from the +dwellings of the other inhabitants. It also was entirely built of +timber, consisted of four rooms leading one out of another, and two +venerable nut-trees stood in front of it. + +Kasi Mollah sits outside, leaning tranquilly against the door-post +beneath the projecting eaves, both sides of which are covered by large +scarlet-runners, plaiting with great care and solemnity a whip out of +twelve fine thongs of kid-skin hanging on a crooked nail. + +Squatting on the ground beside him on a bear-skin sits a +peculiar-looking stranger. Even if you had not seen it in his features +and clothing, his mules standing before the door would have told you +that he did not belong to these parts. He was, indeed, a Greek +merchant from Smyrna, who visited Circassia every year to purchase +kid-skins--or, so he said. He had three palaces in Smyrna; but it is +scarcely credible that he could have acquired them by his kid-skins +only. At any rate, his mules were laden now with whole bundles of furs +and pelts, and the merchant was toasting his host in a sour beverage, +made by the Circassian from horse's milk, the evil odor of which he +was striving to dispel with the smoke of good Latakia tobacco. + +It was for him also that the Circassian was making that long +mule-driving whip of thongs of twelve different colors, serpentine in +shape, and plaited at the ends with beautiful white horse-hair; and +when it was ready he smacked it so vigorously, by way of showing it +off, that the merchant could scarce save his eyes from it. + +"A pretty whip, and a good whip," he said, at last, in order that its +owner might leave off cracking it. + +"I'll very soon prove whether it is a good whip or not," said the +Circassian, without moving a muscle of his brown, oval-shaped, +apathetic face; and with that he began to make the handle of the whip +out of fine copper wire of a fantastically ornate pattern nicely +studded with leaden stars. + +"How will you prove that it is a good whip?" asked the merchant. + +"Stop till my children come home." + +"Your _children_?" + +"Yes, naturally. I should not think of proving it on other people's +children." + +"You are surely not going to prove the whip on your own?" + +"On whom else, then? Children should be whipped in order that they may +be good, that they may be kept in order, and that they may not get +nonsense into their heads. 'Tis also a good thing to train them +betimes to endure greater sorrow by giving them a foretaste of lesser +ones, so that when they grow up to man's estate, and real misfortune +overtakes them, they may be able to bear it. My father used always to +beat me, and now I bless him for it, for it made a man of me. Children +are always full of evil dispositions, and you do well to drive such +things out of them with the whip." + +A peculiar smile passed across the long, olive-colored face of the +Greek at these words; he seemed to be only smiling to himself. Then he +fixed his sly, coal-black eyes on the sheik, and inquired, +sceptically: + +"But surely you don't beat your children without cause?" + +"Oh, there's always cause. Children are always doing something wrong; +you have only to keep an eye on them to see that, and whoever neglects +to punish them acts like him who should forbear to pull up the weeds +in his garden." + +"Kasi Mollah," said the Greek, puffing two long clouds of smoke +through his nostrils, "I tell you, children are not your speciality, +for you do not understand how to bring them up. In the whole land of +Circassia there is none who knows how to bring up children." + +"Then how comes it that our girls are the fairest and our youths the +bravest on the face of the earth?" + +"Your girls would be still more beautiful and your lads still more +valiant if you brought them up in the land where dwell the descendants +of white-bosomed Briseis and quick-footed Achilles. O Hellas!" + +The Greek began to grow rapturous at the pronunciation of these +classical names, and in his excitement blew sufficient smoke out of +his chibook to have clouded all Olympus. + +"I tell you. Kasi Mollah," continued he, "that children are the gifts +of God, and he who beats a child lifts his whip, so to speak, against +God Himself, for His hands defend their little bodies. You do but sin +against your children. Give them to me!" + +"You are a Christian; I am a Mussulman. How, then, shall you bring up +my children?" + +"Fear nothing. I do not want to keep them for myself; I mean rather to +get them such positions as will enable them to rise to the utmost +distinction. I would place them with some leading pasha, perhaps with +the Padishah himself, or, at any rate, with one of his Viziers, all of +whom have a great respect for Circassians." + +"Thank you. Midas, thank you; but I don't mean to give them up." + +"Prithee, prithee, call me not Midas; that is an ominous name which I +do not understand. You might have learned any time these ten years, +when I first came to buy pelts from you, that my name is Leonidas +Argyrocantharides, and that I am a direct descendant of the hero +Leonidas, who fell at Thermopylć with his three hundred valiant +Spartans. One of my great-great-grandfathers, moreover, fell at Issus, +by the side of the great Alexander, from a mortal blow dealt to him by +a Persian satrap. If you do not believe me, look at this ancient coin, +and at these others, and at this whole handful which are in my purse, +all of which were struck under Philip of Macedon, or else under Michel +Kantakuzenos or Constantine Porphyrogenitus, all of whom were powerful +Greek emperors in Constantinople, which now they call Stambul, and +built the church of St. Sophia, where now the dervishes say their +prayers; and then look at the figures which are stamped on these +coins, and tell me if they do not resemble me to a hair. It is so. +No, you need not give me back the money; give me rather the two +little children." + +The Circassian, who had taken the purse with the simple intention of +comparing the figures on the coins with the face of the merchant, drew +the strings of the purse tight again at this offer, and thrust it back +into the merchant's bosom. + +"Thank you," said he, dryly. "I deal in the skins of goats, not in the +skins of men." + +The face of the merchant showed surprise in all its features. Not +every man possesses the art of controlling his countenance so quickly, +especially when his self-command is put to so sudden and severe a +test. The Georgians, more to the south, were a much more manageable +race of men. With them one could readily drive a bargain for their +daughters and give them a good big sum on account for their smallest +children. One could purchase of them children from two to three years +of age at from ten to twenty golden denarii a head, and sell them in +ten years' time for just as many thousands of piastres to some +illustrious pasha. This was how Leonidas was able to build himself +palaces at Smyrna. + +"You talk nonsense, my worthy Chorbadzhi," said the merchant, when he +had somewhat recovered himself. "Shall I prove it to you? Well, then, +in the first place, you do not sell your children, and, in the second +place, why shouldn't you sell them? If a Circassian wrapped in a +bear-skin comes to you and asks you for your daughter, would you not +give her to him? And at the very outside he would only give you a +dozen cows for her, and as many asses. I, on the other hand, offer you +a thousand piastres for them from good, worthy, influential beys, or +perhaps from the Sultan himself, and yet you haggle about it." + +The sheik's face began to show wrath and irritation. He was well aware +that the merchant was now dealing in sophisms, though his simple +intellect could not quite get at the root of their fallacy. It was +plain that there was a great difference between a Circassian dressed +in bear-skin, who carries off a girl in exchange for a dozen cows, and +the Captain-General of Rumelia, who is ready to give a thousand ducats +for her--and yet he preferred the gentleman in bear-skins. + +The Greek, meanwhile, appeared to be studying the features of the +Circassian with an attentive eye, watching what impression his words +had produced, like the experimenting doctor who tries the effects of +his medicaments _in anima vili_. + +"But I know that you will give them. Kasi Mollah," he resumed, filling +up his chibook. "No doubt you have promised them to another trader. +Well, well! you are a cunning rogue. Merchants of Dirbend or Bagdad +have no doubt offered you more for them. They can afford it, they do +such a roaring business. Those perfidious Armenians! They buy the +children for a mere song, and sell them when they are eight or nine +years old to the pashas, so that not one of them lives to see his +twentieth year, but all die miserably in the mean time. I don't do +such things. I am an honest man, with whom business is but a labor of +love, and who is just to all men. It is sufficient for me to say that +I was born where Aristides used to live. Numbers and numbers of my +ancestors were in the Areopagus, and one of my great-great-uncles was +an archon. Do not imagine, therefore, that I would do for every +foolish fellow what I offer to do for you. I only do kindnesses to my +chosen friends; the ties of friendship are sacred to me. Castor and +Pollux, Theseus and Pirithous are to me majestic examples of that +excellent brotherhood of kindred spirits which I constantly set before +me. Wherever I have gone people have always blessed me; nay, did I but +let them, they would kiss my feet. The daughter of a Georgian peasant +whose father trusted me is now the first waiting-woman of the wife of +the Governor of Egypt. Is that glory enough for you! The daughter of a +poor goatherd, whom I picked up from the mire, is now the premier +pipe-filler of the Pasha of Salonica. A high office that, if you like! +What Ganymede was to Jove in those classical ages-- Ah! the tears gush +from my eyes at the sound of that word. O Hellas!" + +The Circassian allowed his good friend to weep on, considering it a +sufficient answer to let his dark bushy eyebrows frown still more +fiercely, if possible, over his downcast eyes. Then he caught up a +hammer and hammered away with great fury at the handle he had prepared +for the whip, riveting the wire with copper studs. + +"Kasi Mollah, hitherto I have only been joking, but now I am going to +speak in earnest," resumed Leonidas Argyrocantharides, raising his +voice that he might be heard through the hammering. "You should +bethink you seriously of your children's destiny. I am your old +friend, your old acquaintance; my sole wish is for your welfare. I +love your children as much as if they were my own, and the tears gush +from my eyes whenever I part from them. What will become of them when +they grow up? I know that while you are alive it will be well with +them, but how about afterwards? You may die to-morrow, or the next +day; who can tell? We are all in the hands of God. Now I'll tell you +something. Mind. I'm not joking or making it all up. I know for +certain that Topal Pasha has been informed that you have two lovely +children. Some flighty traders of Erzeroum revealed the fact to him. +They are wont to trade with you here, and he has paid them half the +stipulated sum down on condition that they bring the children to him. +Now this pasha is a filthy, brutal, rake-hell sort of fellow, the +pressure of whose foot is no laughing matter, I can tell you; a +horrible, hideous, cruel man. I can give you proofs of it. And these +merchants have made a contract with him, and have engaged, under the +penalty of losing their heads, to deliver your children to him within +a twelvemonth. What do you say? You'll throw them down into the abyss, +eh? Ah! they are not as foolish as I am. They will not openly profess +that they have come here for your children, as I do, but they will lie +in wait for them when they go to the forest, and when nobody perceives +it they will clap them on the back of a horse and off they'll go with +them, so that nobody will know under what sky to look for them. Or, +perhaps, when you yourself are going along the road with them, they'll +lay a trap for you, shoot you neatly through the head, and bolt with +your children. Well, that will be a pretty thing, won't it? You had +better not throw me over." + +The Circassian did not know what to answer--words were precious things +to him--but he thought all the more. While the merchant was speaking +to him, his reflections carried him far. He saw his children in the +detested marble halls, he saw them standing in shamefully gorgeous +garments, waiting upon the smiling despot, who stroked their tender +faces with his hands, and the blood rushed to his face as he saw his +children blush and tremble beneath that smile. Ah, at that thought he +began to lash about him so vigorously with the whip that was in his +hand, that the Greek rolled about on the bear-skin in terror, holding +his hands to his ears. + +"Do not crack that whip so loudly, my dear son," said he, "or you'll +drive away all my mules. I really believe your whip is a very good +one, but you need not test it to the uttermost. I thank you for making +it; but now, pray, put it down. I must go. It is a good thing you have +not knocked out one of my eyes. You certainly have a vigorous way of +enjoying yourself. But let us speak sensibly. Do you believe that I am +an honest man, or not?" + +At this the Circassian did _not_ nod his head. + +"Very well, then. It is natural that you should believe, you ought to +believe it. Since Pausanias there has not been a sharper among my +nation. He was the last faithless Greek, and they walled him up in the +temple. I am a man without guile, as you are well aware. But I am more +than that, more than you suspect. Oho! in this shabby, worn-out caftan +of mine dwells something which you do not dream of. Oho! I know what I +really am. I am on friendly terms with great men, with many great +men, standing high in the empire, whose fame has never reached your +ears. In the palm of this hand I hold Hellas, in the other the realm +of Osman. I shake the whole world when I move. Why do I take all this +trouble? Oh, for the sake of your holy shades, Miltiades, +Themistocles, Lysippus, and Demosthenes! for the sake of your shades, +O Solon, O Lycurgus, O Pythagoras, and a time is coming in which I +will prove it! It is thy memory, Athene, which inspires me to heap up +treasures for the future! Thou, O holy Goddess of Liberty, hath +whispered in my ear that thou canst make use of the lowly as well as +of the mighty to promote thy cause!" Here the merchant leaped to his +feet in his enthusiasm, and, extending his hand towards the Circassian +exclaimed, "Kasi Mollah, you groan beneath the yoke just as much as we +do; let us join hands against our oppressors, and let us gradually +melt the hearts of their leaders by the strongest of fires, by the +fire of the eyes of the Greek and Circassian maidens, and we shall +catch them in a flowery net!" + +Kasi Mollah did not clasp the hand of the enthusiastic Greek; and, +without turning towards him, replied, coldly, "I do not grudge you the +drink which I put before you, worthy merchant, but I perceive that it +has begun to mount into your head, or else you would not talk such +rubbish as selling free people to your enemies from motives of +freedom. Nor do you say well in saying that we are under the yoke, for +that is not true. Nobody has ever made the Circassian do homage, nor +would any try to conquer us for the sake of the eyes of our poor +damsels. Say no more about my children. I will not give them up. If +any one comes to visit me, I'll send him about his business; if any +one tries to deceive me, I'll cudgel him; and if any one tries to rob +me, I'll slay him. And tell that to the merchants of Erzeroum also. +And now say no more about it." + +At these words the face of the merchant grew very long indeed. In his +spite he began pulling at the stem of his chibook with such force that +his face was furrowed right down the middle, and his eyebrows ascended +to the middle of his forehead. From time to time he kept on wagging +his head, and his scarlet, mortar-shaped fez along with it, and burned +the tips of his fingers by absently poking the red-hot bowl of his +pipe. But his indignation did not go beyond a shaking of the head, and +there he wisely let the matter rest. + +"Very well, Kasi Mollah. You are an honest fellow. We shall see--we +shall see." + +The sun was now setting, and from among the hills the bells of the +home-returning cattle resounded across the level plain which extended +in front of the rocky heights of Himri. Fifteen head of snow-white +kine strolled leisurely towards the house of Kasi Mollah, passing one +by one through the gate of their enclosure; behind the last of them +came the children of the sheik, who guarded the herd in the forest. + +The boy appeared to be about twelve, and the girl a year younger, and +so closely did they resemble each other that, viewed in profile, it +was impossible to distinguish one from the other. Both had the same +long, black hair, which flowed in wondrous ringlets down their +shoulders, the same soft complexion of a naďve maturity, and as smooth +as velvet, just as if they never walked in the sunlight, and yet they +had no head-coverings. The youth's face revealed so much girlish +tenderness, and the girl's so much vigor and expression, that by +changing their clothes it would have been possible to substitute one +for the other; and, but for the well-known, tight-fitting corset, +peculiar to the Circassian maidens, which caused her figure, slender +as a delicate flower-stalk, to bend somewhat backwards, throwing into +relief the contours of her childlike breasts, it would have been +scarcely possible to have distinguished her from her brother, +especially when, as now, they walked side by side, half embracing. The +snow-white arm of the girl was round her brother's neck, and her +humidly glittering black eyes seemed to be sucking the virile courage +from his face; the boy held the slim figure of his sister encircled by +one of his arms, tapping her, from time to time, caressingly on the +shoulder, while his eyes rested, full of tenderness, on her beloved +face. + +"What a majestic pair of children!" exclaimed Leonidas +Argyrocantharides, in his enthusiasm. "What a shame it is to lock them +up in this corner of the world! But what the deuce is the lad dragging +along with his left hand while he embraces his sister with his right? +What _is_ it, my pretty children? Nay, don't bring it here. What sort +of unclean animal is it?" + +The lad, with a triumphant smile, stood before the merchant while his +sister ran to her father, climbed on to his knees, and throwing her +arms shamefacedly round his neck hid her face from the stranger. + +"Do you not recognize the bear-skin?" cried the youth, in a strong, +clear voice; and as he spoke you became aware of the light black down +which shaded his upper lip and revealed the man, and with one of his +hands he raised up the beast he was dragging after him on to its hind +legs. It was a young bear, about a year and a half old, whose head was +battered and smashed in a good many places, thus showing what a severe +struggle it had cost to bring it down. + +"Where did you find that monster? Who gave it to you?" cried Leonidas, +holding his hand before him as if he believed that the hideous +monster, even when dead, could clutch hold of his thin drumsticks of +legs. + +"Where did I find it? Who gave it me?" cried the youth, proudly, and +with that he pointed to his sister, and, as if ashamed to speak of his +heroic deed himself, he said, "Tell him, Milieva!" + +The old Circassian looked attentively at the two children. Neither of +them perceived that their father was angry. + +"We were in the forest," began the girl--her voice was like a silvery +bell. "Thomar was carving a fife, and I was twining a garland for his +head, because he pipes so prettily, when all at once a little kid with +its mother came running towards us, and the little kid hid itself +close to me--it trembled so, poor little thing! but its mother only +bleated and kept running round and round, just as if it wanted to +speak. Thomar looked all about, and not far from us perceived two +young bears running off, and one of them had another little white kid +on its back, which was certainly the young one of the little she-goat +that was trying to talk to us. 'Thomar,' said I, 'if I were a boy, I +would go after that young bear and take away the poor little kid from +it.' 'And dost thou think I will not do it?' replied Thomar, and with +that he caught up his club and went after the two young bears. One of +them perceived him and quickly ran up a tree, but the other would not +give up his prey, but turned to face Thomar. Ah! you should have seen +how Thomar banged the wild beast on the head with his club till the +blood ran down its shoulders, and suddenly it let go the white kid, +which ran bleating after its mother." + +The child clapped her little hands for joy, while her father softly +stroked her long hair. + +"But now the young bear, gnashing its teeth, rushed upon Thomar and +seized the club in Thomar's hands with its teeth and claws. 'Thomar, +don't let him have it!' cried I. But, indeed, he had no fear of the +wild beast, for he drew his knife from his girdle and thrust it with +all his might into the head of the furiously charging wild beast." + +"Oho!" interrupted Thomar, "don't forget that you also rushed upon it, +and gave me time to draw out my knife by seizing the ears of the bear +in both hands and dragging it off me." + +The father looked at the two children with an ever-darkening face, but +the merchant solemnly shook his head and raised his hands aloft with +an expression of horror. "O foolish--O mad children!" cried he. + +"The bear had now had enough," continued Milieva, trying to give her +talkative little mouth an earnest expression befitting her serious +narration; "it tore itself out of our hands, and with a great roar +took refuge from us in a subterranean cave, taking along with it +Thomar's knife, buried in its head. Now this knife we had got from +Hassan Beg, so we could not afford to lose it. So what do you think +Thomar did? He dived into the narrow hole after the bear, and, seizing +it there by the throat, throttled it, and dragged it out." + +Cold drops of perspiration trickled down the foreheads of the two men. + +"Then he caught the young bear by the foot, and as it was heavy we +both dragged it along together. We had to make haste, for the old bear +had scented our trail and was after us, and pursued us as far as the +herds, where the herd-keepers shot it down, but its young one we +brought along with us." + +"O ye senseless children!" cried the merchant in his terror. "O +blockheads! Suppose the bear had clawed your faces, you would have +been disfigured forevermore. It would really serve you right if your +father gave you a good thrashing with this new whip." + +And that is what really did happen. + +In his wrath Kasi Mollah seized the freshly made, mule-driving whip, +and cannot one imagine the fury, begotten of fear, which would take +possession of a father's heart on hearing such a hair-bristling +narrative from the lips of his children? To poke their noses into a +bear's den, forsooth! The old bear would have torn the pair of them to +pieces had she been able to catch them! They had certainly well +deserved a thrashing, and a good thrashing too! Thomar would not have +wept or groaned however many stripes he might have got; he only +clinched his teeth, and, standing upright, bore with tearless eyes the +lashing of the whip on his back and shoulders without a cry, without a +sob. + +But Milieva cast herself, shrieking, on her father's breast, and the +tears began to pour abundantly from her radiantly bright eyes. She +caught hold of the Circassian's chastising right arm with both her +hands, and begged so sweetly, "Do not hurt Thomar; do not hurt him, +father! It was indeed not his fault. I assure you I set him on. I told +him to go after them. Thomar only went because I asked him." + +Kasi Mollah tried to push the child aside, whereupon she flung her +arms round Thomar's neck and protected her brother's body, exclaiming, +her face all aglow, "'Tis my fault, beat me, but don't hurt Thomar!" + +The lad would have disengaged her arms, and, clinching his teeth for +pain, said: + +"'Tis not true! Milieva did not urge me to do it. Milieva was looking +on from a distance. Milieva was not there. Don't hit Milieva." + +But the girl threw her arms so tightly round her father that he was +not able to tear himself loose. At last, in sheer desperation, he was +obliged to lift the paternal instrument of admonition against the girl +also. But now the youth snatched at the whip, and exclaimed, with +sparkling eyes: + +"Strike her not, for she has done no wrong! Beat me as much as you +like, but do not strike Milieva. If you do I will leave your house, +and you shall never see me more!" + +"What, you ragged cub, you!" cried the old Circassian, infuriated by +the opposition of his son, and forcibly tearing away the whip from his +hand, he struck the girl a violent blow across the shoulders with it. + +Milieva ceased to weep, she only pressed her lips together, as her +brother had already taught her to do, and cast down her eyes; but +Thomar perceived a tremor run through her tender, maidenly bosom at +the torture. + +The old Circassian himself felt sorry for the poor thing, though he +was too proud to show it; but it was plain he had put his wrath behind +him from the fact that he now began to wind the whip round its handle. + +Thomar bent over the girl's shoulder, and wherever he saw one of the +painful bruises which she had got on his account he kissed it softly, +and after that he kissed the girl's face, and those kisses were +parting kisses. + +He said not a word to anybody in the house, but taking up his +shepherd's staff and his rustic flute, he went forth from his father's +dwelling without once looking behind him. + +"Father," cried the girl, sobbing, "Thomar is going away forever!" + +The old Circassian made no reply. His son did not look back at him, +and he did not cast a glance after his son, and yet they were both +heart-broken on each other's account. + +"He'll soon be back," thought the father to himself. "Hunger and want +will bring him back." + +It was late evening, and still the youth had not returned. The sun had +set long ago. A violent storm with thunder and lightning arose. The +wind roared among the trees of the distant woods, and the wolves +howled in the mountains. + +"Father, let me go and bring back Thomar," pleaded the girl, gazing +sorrowfully into the dark night through the window. + +"He will come back of his own accord," replied the Circassian, and he +would not let the girl go. + +"Listen, how the rain pours, and how the wild beasts are howling! +Thomar is all alone there in the tempest, and it is so dark." + +"'Tis a good night for a son who forsakes his father," replied the +sheik. But within himself he thought, "Some neighbor is sure to take +the lad in and give him shelter." + +At midnight the tempest abated, and the moon shone forth brightly. +From the distant woods came floating back to the village the notes of +a rustic flute. Neither father nor daughter had had any sleep. + +"Listen, father!" said Milieva. "Thomar is piping in the wood; let me +go and bring him back!" + +"That is not a flute, but a nightingale," replied the stony-hearted +Circassian. "Lie down and sleep!" + +Yet he himself could not sleep. + +In the morning both the tempest and the song had ceased. The old +Circassian pretended to be asleep. Milieva softly raised her head and +looked at her father, and seeing that his eyes were closed, stealthily +put on her clothes and went out of the house on tiptoe. Her father did +not tell her not to go. He had already forgiven his son, and resolved +never to be angry with him any more. After all, it had only been an +ebullition of fatherly affection that had made him punish his son for +jeopardizing his life so blindly. + +Shortly afterwards the jingling of the asses' bells told him that the +Greek, who slept on the floor outside, was getting ready to depart. +The merchant seemed to be in great haste. He piled his boxes on the +backs of his beasts higgledy-piggledy, even overlooking a parcel or +two here and there, and all the time he kept talking to himself, +stopping short suddenly when he caught sight of the Circassian. + +"I was just going to take leave of you, Chorbadzhi. Why do you get up +so early? Go to sleep! What a nice day it is after the storm! Salám +aláküm! Peace be with you! Greet my kinsmen, your sweet children. No, +I will speak no more of your children. I will do as you desire, I +promise you, and what I have once promised-- So our business is at an +end? You are a worthy man, Kasi Mollah! . . . You are a good father--a +very good father. I only wish every man was like you. The only thing +that grieves me is that you cannot join our holy covenant. The Hellene +and the Circassian groan together beneath the yoke of a common tyrant. +And then you don't reflect who are on our side. Our northern neighbor +is always ready to liberate us. I say no more. To a wise man a hint is +a revelation. But do you not long for glory? You have no glorious +ancestors. With you there are no memories of a Marathon, a Platäa. +. . . God bless you, Kasi Mollah! Go on shooting lots of antelopes, +and I'll come back and buy the hides from you; mind you let me have +them cheap! Take this kiss for yourself, this for your son, and this +third one for your daughter. Then you won't give them to me, eh? Well, +God bless you, Kasi Mollah!" + +The sheik felt as if a great stone had rolled off his breast when at +last he saw his guest depart, though even from afar the Greek turned +back and shouted all manner of things about Leonidas and the other +heroes. But the Circassian did not listen to him. He went back into +his house again, lest he should seem to be moping for his children. + +Leonidas Argyrocantharides, on the other hand, whistling merrily, +proceeded with his asses on his way to the forest, and, when he found +himself quite alone there, began to sing in a loud voice the song of +freedom of the Hetairea, which put him into such a good humor that he +even began to flourish his weapon in the most warlike manner, though, +unfortunately, there was nobody at hand whom he could smite. + +It would be doing a great injustice to the worthy merchant, however, +to suppose that he was fatiguing his precious lungs without rhyme or +reason, for during this melodious song he kept on looking continually +about him, now to the right and now to the left. He knew what he was +about. + +Yes, he had calculated well. Any one who might happen to be hidden in +the forest was bound to hear the great blood-stirring song. He had not +advanced more than a hundred yards or so when a well-known suppliant +voice struck his ear. It came from among the thick trees. + +"Oh, please! listen, please!" + +At first he pretended not to know who it was, and, shading his eyes +with his hand, made a great pretence of looking hard. + +"Oho, my little girl! so 'tis you, eh? Little Milieva, by all that's +holy! Come nearer, child." + +The girl was not alone. She had found her brother, and was shoving and +pushing the lad on in front of her, who, sulkily and with downcast +eyes, was skulking about among the trees as if he were ashamed to +appear before the Greek, who had been a witness of his flogging. + +Milieva had insisted on his returning home and begging his father's +pardon, and the lad had consented, not for his own sake, but for his +sister's. + +"What a good job I've met you! Come here, little girl. Don't be afraid +of me. I want to whisper something in your ear that your brother must +not hear." + +And he bent down towards the girl from the back of the ass and +whispered in her ear, it is true, but quite loud enough for her +brother to hear also: + +"My dear child, don't take your brother home now, for your father is +furious with the pair of you, and is coming after you straightway. +That is why I have been singing so loudly, for I thought you had come +hither and might hear; and let me tell you that it will be just as +well for Thomar to hide himself for a time, for your father, when I +left him, had shouldered his musket, and he swore in his wrath that he +would hunt his runaway son with the dogs, and shoot him down wherever +he found him." + +"Let him shoot me down!" cried the lad, defiantly. He had heard the +whole of the whisper. + +The good-hearted merchant shook his head reprovingly. + +"Keep your temper, my son; anger is mischievous. It would be much +better if you left these parts for a little while, and Milieva can go +back in the mean time and pacify her father. I should mention, +however, that Kasi Mollah is preparing a rope in salt-water, with +which he intends to beat her." + +"What!" cried Thomar, with flashing eyes. "He would whip her again, +and with a rope?" + +He could say no more. The two children fell upon each other's necks +and wept bitterly. + +"Poor children! orphans worthy of compassion!" cried the sympathetic +Leonidas, stroking their pretty heads. "It is plain that they have no +mother. Willingly would I shed my blood for you. But it is vain to +speak to that savage madman. The last thing he said was that your +mother had been faithless to him, and that was why he was so furious +against you." + +"Then he shall never see us again," said the lad, tenderly embracing +his sister. "I will go away, and I will take you with me." + +"Where?" said his sister, trembling. + +"The world is wide," said the lad. "I have often seen from the summits +of the mountains how far it stretches away. I will go away as far as +ever I can." + +"But what provision have you got?" inquired the worthy merchant. + +At this idea the lad seemed to hesitate, and for a moment his face +flushed red; but he soon recovered his _sang-froid_. + +"You complained the other day that your ass-driver had run away, and +that you had all the trouble of looking after the beasts yourself. +Take me for your ass-driver. I will do all your work for you, and I +will ask nothing except that Milieva may come with me without doing +any hard work. I will work extra in her stead." + +The merchant was quite overcome by these words. + +"O children, what words must I hear! Thou art the pearl of youths, my +son. What a pity thou wast not born in Samos, the isle of heroes! Thou +shalt be no ass-driver of mine; no, thou shalt be my own son, and thy +sister shall be my own daughter, and ye shall both sit on my asses, +not follow after them. In the neighboring village I shall get +ass-drivers and to spare. I will share my last crumb with you, and ye +shall dwell at home within my palace as if ye were my own children." +And with that he embraced them both. + +As for the children, they were overpowered by so much unexpected +goodness, and did not hesitate to accept the offer, although Milieva +said, somewhat tremulously: + +"But you will take us back afterwards to our father, won't you?" + +"Certainly; is he not my good friend? When we get to my house I will +let him know that you are with me, and he will be very glad. But first +we will go from here to splendid cities by the sea, where edifices +three stories high float on the surface of the water. There my great +palaces are--you could put the whole of your father's house inside the +hall of any one of them--and my gardens are full of those beautiful +fruits which I have so often brought for you in my sack. Thomar shall +have a beautiful steed. You would like to ride a horse, my son, eh? +Well, don't be afraid, and it shall fly away with you like the wind. +And it shall have a mane as white as a swan's--or perhaps you'd like a +black one? I have got both, and you shall sit on which you like, with +a sword dangling at your side. And when you draw that sword? Ah, ha! +It shall be a bright Damascus blade, and you will be able to make it +span your body right round without breaking. I will bet anything that +among five hundred Turkish youths you will carry off the wreath of +pearls in the sports. How nicely that wreath of pearls will become +Milieva's head! How beautifully the folds of the silken robe +embroidered with flowers will sweep around her slim figure! And then +the palm-leaf shawl when she dances! Eh, children?" + +"When will you take us back to our father?" inquired the girl, +sorrowfully. + +"Why, at once, of course. As soon as Thomar has become a famous man; +as soon as half the world recognizes him as a valiant bey, and the +fame of him spreads to the huts of Himri likewise. Then will Thomar go +with you to your father. He will sit on a proudly prancing horse, +tossing its head impatiently beneath its gold trappings. A grand +retinue will come riding behind him--valiant heroes, all of them, with +glittering shields and lances. And after them will follow a litter on +two white asses, with curtains of cloth of gold, and in this litter +will sit a wondrously bright and beautiful maiden, and men will stand +at all the gates and cry, 'Make way for the valiant lord and the +majestic lady!' + +"But, meanwhile, old Kasi Mollah will be sitting at his door, and, +perceiving the splendid magnates, will do obeisance to them; then you +will leap from your horse, assist Milieva to descend from her litter, +and will go to meet him. He, however, will not recognize you. Milieva +will be so much rosier, and her figure so much more lovely; and as for +you, you will be wearing a beard and mustache, and without doubt you +will be scarred with wounds received upon the field of glory. So Kasi +Mollah will conduct you into his house with the utmost respect and +make you sit down; but you will have victuals and sherbet brought from +your carriages, and will constrain him to eat and drink with you. Then +you will fall a-talking, and you will ask him whether he has any +children, and thereupon the tears will start to his eyes." + +"Oh," sighed the girl, melting at the thought. + +"No, no; it would not do at all to make yourself known all at once. +The joy would be too much for him; he might even have a stroke. You, +little Milieva, would be content to sit and listen, leaving Thomar to +speak. And Thomar will say that he has heard tidings of Kasi Mollah's +lost children, gradually leading him on from hope to joy, and at last +you will throw yourselves on his neck, and say to him, 'I am thy son +Thomar! I am thy daughter Milieva!' How beautiful that will be!" + +The heads of the children were completely turned by this conversation, +and they followed the merchant joyfully all the way to the next +village. There Leonidas Argyrocantharides rested for a little while, +and made the children dismount and have some lunch in a hut. Then he +produced a gourd full of strong, sweet wine, and the children drank of +it. The wine removed whatever of sadness was still in their hearts, +and they then resumed their journey. The asses he left behind, but two +well-saddled horses were awaiting them in front of the hut. On these +the children mounted, and leaving the asses to stroll leisurely on by +one road, under the charge of the hired ass-drivers, they themselves +took another. How delighted the children were with their fine steeds! + +The sheik, meantime, was still awaiting the return of his children, +and as they did not come back by the evening he began to make +inquiries about them. Some of his neighbors, who had been in the +forest, informed him that they had seen the children with the Greek +merchant; they were riding on his asses. At this Kasi Mollah began +roaring like a wild beast. + +"He has stolen my children!" he groaned in his despair, and flew back +home for his horse and his weapons, not even waiting for his comrades +to take horse also. One by one they galloped after him, but could not +easily overtake him. + +Riding helter-skelter he soon reached the neighboring village, but +here the track of the asses led him off on a false scent, for only +when he overtook them did he realize that the merchant with his +children had gone far away in another direction. + +With the rage of despair in his heart he galloped back again. Not till +evening did he dismount from his horse; then he watered his horse in a +brook and rushed on again. Through the whole moonlit night he pursued +the Greek, and as towards dawn Argyrocantharides looked behind him he +saw a great cloud of dust on the road rapidly approaching him, and the +bright points of lances were in the midst of it. + +"Well, children," said he, "here we must all die together, for your +father is coming and will slay the three of us. But whip up your +horses." + +Then, full of terror, they bent over their horses' necks, and the +desperate race began. + +The Circassian perceived the merchant and the children, and rushed +after them with a savage howl. They had better horses, but the +Circassian's horses were more accustomed to mountainous paths and had +better riders. + +The distance between the two companies was visibly diminishing. The +merchant flogged with his whip the horses on which the children were +riding. They dared not look back. + +Their father shouted to them to turn their horses' reins. He called +Thomar by name, and bade him tear the merchant from his saddle. The +son heard his father's voice, he heard his own name mentioned; but he +fancied his father was threatening him, and clung to his horse still +more tightly. + +A steep mountain torrent ran across the road in front of them. If only +the Greek could succeed in getting across it with but two minutes to +spare, so that he might pitch the little wooden bridge over it down +into the abyss below, he would be saved, for the space between the two +steep mountain-sides was much too wide for a horse to leap, and a ford +was not to be found within an hour's ride. + +By the time they came to the bridge the pursuing Circassians were +scarcely distant more than three gunshots, and Kasi Mollah was riding +well in advance of the rest. He must needs overtake them before the +Greek could push the bridge over. + +At that instant the horse on which Milieva sat slightly stumbled, and +plunging forward on to its knees, fractured its leg. + +"Hah!" cried the sheik, with wild delight, "I have got back one of my +children, at any rate." + +But how amazed was he when he saw Milieva, instead of running to him +or even remaining in the road, cry out in terror to her brother and +raise her arms towards him, and Thomar, never expecting to save her, +bent down from his horse, and grasping his sister round the waist with +a swift hand, placed her in the saddle in front of him, casting a wild +look behind him, and then galloping on farther. + +Kasi Mollah suddenly reined in his flying horse and stopped short, +allowing them to escape. Not a step farther did he pursue them. By the +time his comrades had joined him the Greek was well on the other side +of the bridge, and they could all see Thomar helping the merchant to +cast it down. + +Two burning tear-drops stood in Kasi Mollah's eyes. They really +burned, and he felt the pain. And yet--and yet, when the two children +sat in the saddle again, Milieva extended her hands towards her father +as if in most ardent supplication. What was the meaning of it? + +The good Greek shortly afterwards arrived safely in Smyrna with the +children, and had them taught singing, riding, and how to walk about +in nice clothes, and some years after he sold them to the Seraglio of +the Grand Vizier for two thousand sequins. + +And all that he had said at random to the children during the journey, +to cheer their spirits, actually came to pass, as we shall presently +see. + +When Sultan Mahmoud lost his favorite damsel so strangely, Milieva +was brought into the Seraglio instead. The girl was then about +fourteen years old. The Circassian girls at that age are fully mature, +and the bloom of their beauty is at its prime. Milieva, from the very +first day when she entered the harem, became the Sultan's favorite +damsel. + +Thomar joined the ranks of the ichoglanler, a band of youths who are +brought up in the outer court and form the Sultan's body-guard. + +It was in this year that Mahmoud instituted the Akinji corps, +selecting its members from amongst the Janissaries, and formed them +into a small regular army. Thomar very soon won for himself the +command of a company, and continued to rise higher and higher till at +length he reached the eminence which the merchant had foretold to him; +and when the course of time brought with it the day on which he was to +see Kasi Mollah again, he had become Derbend Aga, one of the Sultan's +very highest officials, and his name was mentioned respectfully by all +true believers. And in the village of Himri his name was also +mentioned. Kasi Mollah often heard it attached to the title of "bey," +and Thomar also heard a good deal of the village of Himri and of Kasi +Mollah, for they now called his father "murshid," and the name +"murshid" is full of mournful recollections for both Moscow and +Petersburg. + +But of all these things we shall know more at another time. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE AVENGER + + +And what now is old Ali Tepelenti about in his nest at Janina? Is he +content with a state of things which results in this--that he must +either perish or pass the brief remainder of his days in constant +fighting? Is he satisfied with this sea of blood over which the +tempest rages, and whose shores he cannot see? + +Not yet has he surrendered to fate. His country has declared war +against him, the Sultan has pronounced his death-sentence, his family +have abandoned and turned against him; but Ali has not suffered his +sword to be broken in twain. For eight and seventy years he has been +the scourge of his enemies, the defence of his country, the Sultan's +right hand, the patriarch of his family, and in his nine and +seventieth year the Sultan and his relations say to him, "Die! thou +hast lived long enough!" And he, by way of reply, set his country in +flames, shook the throne of the Sultan, and extirpated his own +kinsfolk. + +The Greeks, whose tyrant he once was, are now his allies. Tepelenti +provides them with arms and money, and with good and bad counsel, +whichever they want most. + +Three armies were sent out against him, and he has annihilated all +these. + +His enemy, Gaskho Bey, has lost his army in a battle against the +rebels without anything to show for it, and now only holds the +fortresses round about Janina, to wit: Arta, Prevesa, Lepanto, +Tripolizza, and La Gulia. The Hellenes are besieging every one of them +day by day. One day Ali proclaims that in Tripolizza there are five +hundred eminent Greeks whom the Turks compel to fight along with them. +At this report the besiegers attack the fortress with redoubled fury. +Now these five hundred Greeks Ali himself got together while +Tripolizza was still in his possession. When he was obliged to leave +the fortress, he cast these Greeks down into a well, placed three +loads of stones upon them, and covered the spot with grass. This he +did himself. + +Exhausted by furiously fighting against superior numbers, the Turks +surrendered in three days to Kleon, who conducted the siege, simply +stipulating that they might be allowed to go free, and this was +promised them. When, however, the fortress was surrendered to the +Greeks, their first question was, "Where are the hostages, our +brethren?" The Turks were amazed. They knew not what to reply, for +they had no hostages in their hands. + +Then a Suliote warrior discovered the pit which had been sown over +with grass, and what a sight presented itself when they broke it open! + +Thirsting for blood and vengeance, the Greeks flung themselves +forthwith on the disarmed garrison, and despatched them to the very +last man, nay, they did not leave a living woman or child remaining +in the fortress--they threw them all down headlong from the bastions. + +But Ali Pasha smiled to himself in the fortress of Janina. + +He himself had destroyed more Turks than the whole Greek host had +done. + +When Demetrius Yprilanti captured Lepanto, he allowed the garrison a +free exit from the citadel. Demetrius himself signed the terms of the +surrender. But when the Turks emerged from the fortress, Ali Pasha's +Suliotes rushed upon them and cut them all to pieces. Yprilanti, full +of indignation, threw himself in the midst of them, exhibiting the +document in which he had promised the Turks their lives. But Kleon +only laughed--he had learned that brutal, scornful laugh from Ali. + +"Don't trouble yourself about them," cried he. "We are only killing +those whose names are not written in the agreement." + +Yprilanti turned from the butchery in disgust, and immediately +embarking his army, set sail for Chios again. + +Ah, the Greeks had learned a great deal from Ali. Woe to those +Mussulmans who fall alive into their hands, or who are not so brave or +so cunning as they themselves are! The Turkish general, Omar Vrione, +along his whole line of advance, marched between rows of high gibbets +on which bleached the bones of horribly tortured Turks. Here and +there, by way of variety, nailed by the hands to upright planks, were +the bodies of dead Jews, half flayed and singed--a ghastly spectacle. + +Verily the descendants of the heroes of Marathon have diverged very +far indeed from their forefathers, and the experienced Turkish +commander knew right well that he is a bad soldier who even descends +to cutting off the head of his slain foe on the battle-field. + +At Puló, Omar Vrione encountered the army of Odysseus. Now Omar was at +one time one of the best of Ali Pasha's lieutenants. Ali promoted him +to the rank of general, and he had begun life as a shepherd-boy. Ali +had taught him how to use his weapons, and now he turned them against +his master. + +The Sultan had intrusted to him a fine army with which he had assisted +Gaskho Bey to beleaguer Ali. It consisted of eight thousand gallant +Asiatic infantry, two thousand Spahis, and eight guns. The leader of +the Spahis was Zaid, the Bey of Kastorid, Ali's favorite grandson, +whom, twenty years before, he had rocked upon his knee, and whom, +while still a child, he had carried in front of him on his saddle, and +taught him to ride. Zaid himself had asked, as a favor, that he might +lead a division of cavalry against his grandfather. He had promised +his mother to seize that sinful old head by its gray beard and bring +it home to her. + +A precious grandson, truly! + +So Omar Vrione reached Puló. Looking down from the hill-tops there, he +discerned the army of Odysseus. He saw him planting his white banners +in rows upon the heights, and without giving his forces a moment's +rest, he set his own martial chimneys a-smoking and attacked the +Greeks with all his might. + +After an hour's combat, in which they fought man to man, the Greeks +were driven from their intrenchments, and began slowly descending into +the valley. + +The Timariotes remained behind, and Zaid began to send forward his +Spahis to attack the retreating army in the rear. Odysseus slowly +retraced his steps till he came to Puló. There his war-path stopped. +His banner was no longer white, but red; it was sprinkled with the +blood of the many heroes who had died in its defence. + +Suddenly, from the heights of Pindus above them resounded the +tempestuous melody of the "Marseillaise," which the Greeks had adopted +as their war-song, and rapid as a storm-swollen mountain torrent the +Suliotes, with Kleon and Artemis in the van, hurled themselves upon +the Turks. + +Omar Vrione was caught between two fires. It was too late to turn +back, too late to reform his order of battle. His guns were useless, +his cavalry could not move forward, and his infantry columns were so +completely isolated that they could not render each other any +assistance. + +The general saw that he could not save his army, but he was at least +determined not to save himself, so he hastened to where the fight was +raging most furiously. + +A wild, merciless _męlée_ was proceeding between the inextricably +intermingled foes. Forcing his way along, Omar Vrione suddenly +encountered, in the midst of reeking powder and streaming blood, a +tall youth with a blackened face, whom he at once recognized as Kleon. +There, then, they stood, face to face. Three years before, when Ali +had sent Omar Vrione to threaten the Suliotes, Kleon fled before him, +and then he had called after the fugitive, "Stand, I would send thy +head to Ali Tepelenti!" + +And there, indeed, Omar Vrione fell, combating, and Kleon cut off his +head. + +How strange is fate! + +The fall of Omar Vrione sealed the fate of his army. The Turks fled +wherever they saw the chance, leaving all their guns, all their flags, +and all their officers in the lurch. The cavalry had no chance of +escaping. Half of it fell, the other half surrendered. + +Zaid, in the moment of extremest danger, took his silver aigrette out +of his turban and threw it away; then he changed caftans with his +servant, and mingled with the rank-and-file, so that none might +recognize him. It would have been much better for a child like him to +have remained at home than to have gone hunting that old lion, his +aged grandfather. + +The Suliotes surrounded Zaid's company. "Dismount from your horses!" +exclaimed the clear voice of Kleon. + +The Spahis, full of shame, dismounted. + +"Which is your leader, Zaid?" cried Kleon, advancing. The edge of his +sword was dripping with blood. + +"I am," said the servant who had changed clothes with Zaid, and he +approached Kleon. + +"Bow down before me, thou slave!" cried Kleon, kicking him. + +The servant bowed his head before the victor, and he never raised it +again, for Kleon chopped it off with his bloody sword, and sticking it +on the point thereof, raised it on high and cried to his bloodthirsty +comrades: "Here is their second general, Zaid, who came to subdue us! +Hallelujah!" and the victorious host repeated after him, "Hallelujah! +Hallelujah!" + +And then they stuck the heads of the two generals on the points of two +lances, and carried them through the streets of Puló in the sight of +the crowds of women and children on the housetops, bellowing, "We have +conquered! We have conquered! These are the heads of the enemy's +leaders: one of them is Omar Vrione, and the other is Zaid Bey! Kyrie +eleison?" + +And what face was ever so pale as Zaid's when he heard his name called +out and saw how they mocked and jeered at the head they took for his? + +The Suliotes returned to Janina with the captives and the emblems of +victory. Tepelenti, hearing that they had decapitated Zaid, went down +into the camp and demanded his head. + +Kleon was sitting in front of his tent _en déshabille_. He was not +disposed to part with the symbol of victory, but wanted it to dazzle +the eyes of the host for some little time longer. + +But Ali was ready at once with a good idea: "Cut off the head of +another prisoner," said he, "in its stead; none will notice the +difference." + +Kleon acted upon the advice, and immediately sent forth his +men-at-arms to take the exhibited head to Ali. But Ali shook his own +head when he saw it, and wagging his finger at Kleon, he said: "Thou +art over-young, my son, to try and impose upon Ali. Thou wouldst turn +my counsel to my own hurt, and give me the head of another instead of +Zaid's!" + +Kleon leaped to his feet. "Do you mean to say that is not Zaid's +head?" + +"Of a truth it is not. Dost thou suppose I do not know the youth--I +who used to dandle him on my knee ever since he was a child, and was +the first to place a sword in his hand?" + +"But, indeed, he himself told me," cried Kleon, pointing at the head, +"that he was Zaid, and he was wearing a general's uniform." + +"'Tis a slave," said Tepelenti, regarding the head more closely. "Dost +thou not see? His ears have been cropped, so that he may not wear +ear-rings in them, which only great lords may do." + +"Then Zaid has gone free!" + +"Zaid will be among the captives," said Tepelenti. "I would recognize +him amongst a thousand. He was my favorite grandson. His image even +now is engraved in my heart." + +Then they went down amongst the captives. Ali had scarce cast a glance +at them when he pointed with his finger. + +"There he is! Dost thou not perceive how much paler his face is than +the faces of the others?" + +Kleon wrathfully drew his sword and would have rushed upon the person +indicated, but Ali held his hand. + +"What doest thou? Wouldst thou slay my grandson before my very eyes?" + +"Thou didst ask for his head, and it shall be thine." + +"But now I ask for his life, Kleon. Zaid is my favorite grandson. I +brought him up. I loved him better than his dear mother--better than +all my children. Look now, I share with thee all the booty, and all I +ask of thee is mine own--flesh of my flesh." + +The unhappy youth, hearing these words, fell at Ali's feet and +embraced his knees, wept, covered his hands with kisses, and implored +him to release him--he would be a good and dutiful son to him ever +afterwards. + +"Thou seest, too, how much he loves me," said Ali, looking with +tearful eyes at Zaid and covering the cowering fugitive with his long +gray beard. "Well, Zaid," said he, "so thou dost now fly for refuge +beneath the shadow of that same gray beard, by grasping which thou +wert minded to take Ali's head to thy mother, eh?" + +Kleon looked at Ali Pasha with a contemptuous smile. Then Ali was +tender, Ali had a heart, Ali's heart ached at the slaying of his +kinsfolk! The Greek felt a cruel satisfaction in tormenting the pasha. + +"If thou dost not wish to see Zaid die," said he, "depart from hence. +Alive thou shalt not have him!" + +"What!" cried Ali, and, standing erect, he drew his sword. "Because my +beard is long dost thou think thou canst trample upon me? I will +defend my blood with my blood, and will perish myself rather than let +him be slain. Let us see, mad youth, wouldst thou lop off thine own +right hand?" + +Kleon was so surprised that he did not know what to do. It was in his +power to slay Ali; but then that would be a greater triumph for +Stambul than all the victories of the campaign. + +At that moment a herald arrived from Odysseus with a command for Kleon +to send all the Turkish officers captured at the battle of Puló to +Prevesa, that they might be exchanged against the youths of the +sacred army who had been captured in Moldavia. + +Kleon's pride was wounded by this direct command. He considered +himself just as good a general as Odysseus or Yprilanti, and did not +recognize orders sent from them. + +Turning from the herald to Tepelenti, he thus replied: + +"Tell Odysseus that I and my soldiers are in the habit of killing the +enemy's officers on the battle-field. Only one of them, and he in +disguise, remains. He, however, is Tepelenti's grandson, who has +recognized him and ransomed him from me for a hundred thousand +piastres, which he has engaged to pay me within an hour. Is it not so, +Tepelenti?" + +"It is so," said Ali; "within an hour the hundred thousand piastres +shall be in thy hands." + +Zaid, with a shriek of joy, kissed the hem of his grandfather's robe, +and Kleon gave his hand upon the bargain. An hour later the money +arrived in little hogsheads, and he had it weighed in the presence of +his captains. Ali, however, binding his grandson by the left arm, and +giving him his own caftan, had him conducted into the fortress of +Janina. + +Kleon looked contemptuously after him. So the old man had become +soft-hearted! How he had wept and supplicated and paid for this youth, +who was his favorite grandson! + +An hour later the roll of drums was heard on the bastions of Janina, +and when the Greeks looked in that direction they saw the stake of +execution erected there. Four black executioners were carrying Zaid, +who had his hands tied behind his back, and was wearing the self-same +caftan which Ali had given him. Ali himself, mounted on a black horse, +rode right up to the stake. At a signal from him the executioners +hoisted Zaid into the air, and a moment later Tepelenti's favorite +grandson, whom he had dandled so often on his knee, was done to death +by the most excruciating torments! + +Ali watched his death-agony with the utmost _sang-froid_, and, when +all was over, he shouted down from the bastions with a strong, firm +voice, "So perish all those of Tepelenti's kinsfolk who draw the sword +against him! For them there is no mercy!" + +Kleon felt his heart's blood grow cold. Ah! he had much, very much to +learn from the agonized cries of the dying before he could overtake +Ali, that old man who weeps, prays, and pays, in order to rescue his +favorite grandson for the sole purpose of killing him himself with +refined tortures! + +Of all Ali's large family only two sons now remained, Sulaiman and +Mukhtar. They were the first who had betrayed their father, and it was +their treachery that had wounded him most. For a whole year Ali +carried that wound about in his heart. During that time nobody was +allowed to mention the names of his sons in his presence. Everything, +absolutely everything, which reminded him of them was removed from the +fortress. If any one was weary of life, he had only to mention the +name of Mukhtar before Ali, and death was a certainty. + +Meanwhile the two apostate sons were living in great misery at +Adrianople; for the Sultan, though he paid them for their treachery, +would have nothing more to do with them. The first instalment of the +money which they were to receive as the price of their father's blood +melted away very rapidly in merry banquets, pretty female slaves, fine +steeds, and precious gems; and when it was all gone the second +instalment never made its appearance. Far different and far more +important personages had still stronger claims upon the Sultan's +purse. Tepelenti's vigorous resistance, the innumerable losses +suffered by the Sultan's armies, buried in forgetfulness the services +of the good sons whose betrayal of their father had profited the +Sultan nothing. They were already beginning to bitterly repent their +overhasty step when the rumor of Ali's victories reached them; and as +the days of necessity began to weigh heavily upon them, as money and +wine began to fail them, as they found themselves obliged to sell, one +by one, their horses, their jewels, and, at last, even their beautiful +slave-girls, it became quite plain to them that no help could be +looked for from any quarter, unless perhaps it was from wonder-working +fairies, or from the genii of the _Thousand and One Nights_. + +But let none say that, in the regions of the merry Orient, fairies and +wonders do not still make their home among men. + +Just when the beys had consumed the price of the last slave they had +to sell, such wealth poured in upon them, in heaps, in floods, as we +only hear of in old fairy tales; and fairy tales, as we all know very +well, have no truth in them at all. + + * * * * * + +One day, as Ali Pasha was walking to and fro on the bastions of +Janina, he perceived among the garden-beds in the court-yard below a +gardener engaged in planting tulips. + +Tepelenti knew all the servants in the fortress thoroughly, down to +the very lowest. He not only knew them by name, but he knew what they +had to do and how they did it. + +The name of this gardening slave was Dirham, and he was so named +because, many years before Mukhtar had purchased him when a child from +a slave-dealer for a dirham, and although his master often plagued +him, he nevertheless cared for him well, and brought him up and +provided him with all manner of good things. Thus Dirham, whenever his +master's name was mentioned, bethought him how little he was worth +when Mukhtar Bey bought him, and how many more dirhams he was worth +now, and for all this he could not thank Mukhtar enough. + +Ali Pasha for a long time watched from the bastions this man planting +his tulips. Some of them he pressed down into the ground very +carefully, strewing them with loose powdery earth, preparing a proper +place for the bulbs beforehand, and moistening them gently with watery +spray; others he plumped down into the earth anyhow, covering them up +very perfunctorily, and never looking to see whether he watered them +too much or too little. + +Ali carefully noted those bulbs which Dirham had bestowed the greatest +pains upon, and then went down and entered into conversation with him. + +"What are the names of these tulips?" + +Dirham ticked them all off: King George, Trafalgar, Admiral +Gruithuysen, Belle Alliance, etc., etc. But at the same time he +skipped over one or two here and there, and these were the very ones +which he had covered up with the greatest care. + +"Then thou dost not know the names of those others?" inquired Ali. + +"I have lost my memoranda, my lord, and I cannot remember all the +names among so many." + +"Look, now, I know the names of these flowers. This is Sulaiman, that +over there is Mukhtar Bey." + +Dirham cast himself on his face before the pasha. Ali had guessed +well. Dirham remembered the two gentlemen just as a good dog remembers +his master--they were ever in his mind. + +The wretched man fully expected that Ali would immediately tear these +bulbs out of the ground and plant his own head there in their place. + +Instead of that Ali graciously raised him from the ground and said to +him in a tender, sympathetic voice, "Fear not, Dirham! Thou hast no +need to be ashamed of such noble sentiments. Thou art thinking of my +sons. And dost thou suppose that I never think of them? I have +forbidden every one in the fortress to even mention their names; but +what does that avail me if I cannot prevent myself from thinking of +them? What avails it to never hear their names if I see their faces +constantly before me? The world says they have betrayed me; but I do +not believe, I cannot believe it. What says Dirham? Is it possible +that children can betray their own father?" + +Dirham took his courage in both hands and ventured to reply: + +"Strike off my head if you will, my lord, but this I say--they were +not traitors, but were themselves betrayed; for even if it were +possible for sons to betray their father, Tepelenti's children would +not betray Tepelenti." + +Ali Pasha gave Dirham a purse of gold for these words, commanding him, +at the same time, to appear before him in the palace that evening, and +to bring with him, carefully transplanted into pots, those tulips +which bore the names of Sulaiman and Mukhtar. + +Dirham could scarcely wait for the evening to come, and the moment he +appeared in Ali's halls he was admitted into the pasha's presence. +Then Ali bade every one withdraw from the room, that they twain might +remain together, and began to talk with him confidentially. + +"I hear that my sons are living in great poverty at Adrianople. As to +their poverty, I say nothing; but, worse still, they are living in +great humiliation also. Nobody will have anything to do with them. The +wretched Spahis, who once on a time mentioned their names with +chattering teeth, now mock at them when they meet them in the street, +and when they go on foot to the bazaar to buy their bread, the women +cry with a loud voice, 'Are these, then, the heroes at whom Stambul +used to tremble?' Verily it is shameful, and Ali Pasha blushes +thereat. I know that if once I ever place in their hands those good +swords which I bound upon their thighs they would not surrender them +so readily to the enemies of Ali Pasha. What says Dirham?" + +Dirham was only able to express his approval of Ali's words by a very +audible sigh. + +"Hearken, Dirham! I have known for a long time a secret, which I will +venture to confide to thee." + +"'Twill be as though you buried it under the earth, my master." + +"In the Gulf of Durazzo there lies at anchor an English vessel, under +the command of Captain Morrison. On that ship I have deposited five +millions of piastres in gold--not less than five millions. A large +amount, eh! At any moment I like I can blow the fortress of Janina +into the air, embark on board that ship, and sail away to England or +Spain, and there I can live in a lordly fashion without care, just as +I please. But to what purpose? My remaining days are but few. Why +should I try to save them? Here I must perish. Here, where I have +grown great, it becomes me to die, and it is not for me to retreat +before the advancing sword. This money must serve another design of +mine, which has been in my mind long since, but I seek a man capable +of executing it. + +"Thou shalt be that man. Falter not. Fate does great things with +little ones. Thou shalt go from Janina and pass through Gaskho Bey's +army. When thou dost arrive at Durazzo, show Morrison this ring. When +he sees it he will do everything thou sayest to him, for he will know +that these are my commands. Thou wilt have the anchor raised and sail +with the first favorable wind to Stambul. Sail not into the Golden +Horn, for it will be more difficult to get out of it again, but cast +thy anchor hard by Anadoli Hissar. There thou wilt land, and, taking +with thee a hundred thousand piastres, thou wilt put them in sacks of +chaff, the chaff being on the top, and lading sundry asses with the +sacks, thou wilt take them to Adrianople. There thou wilt seek out my +sons, and, humbly kissing the hem of their garments, give them to +understand that I have sent thee. Then thou wilt tell them of the +warfare waged around Janina, all that thou thyself hast seen and +heard. If from their faces thou seest that they receive thy words +coldly, and show no ardor of soul, then measure out to them the +hundred thousand piastres, and bid them buy and keep shop therewith, +start a large wholesale business if they feel any disposition that +way, and apply themselves diligently to heap up riches upon riches, as +it becomes honest men to do who have long years to live. But if thou +seest their face aflame and the heroes' love of glory sparkle in their +eyes; if they listen to thy words with parted lips and throbbing +hearts; if they press thy hand warmly and frequently clutch the hilts +of their swords; if they ask thee to tell them again and again what +thou hast told them already--then tell them that the path of glory and +Tepelenti's arms are always open before them, that those one hundred +thousand piastres are only for buying horses and weapons. I have five +times as much on board the English ship, and five hundred times as +much in the red tower of Janina. With the five millions of piastres +they must get ships, and these ships they must fully equip in secret. +And this will not be difficult, for all the Greek seamen have deserted +the Turkish fleet. These Greeks will offer their services gratis. When +the ships are ready, let them, through thee, inform thereof Bublinia, +the heroic Greek amazon, who is cruising off Crete with thirty vessels +to divert the attention of the Turkish fleet, and then row out to +Beikos. With favorable weather thou shouldst get to Durazzo in ten +days. Simultaneously, I from one quarter, Kleon from a second, and +Odysseus from a third will attack the army of Gaskho Bey, and if my +sons are victorious at sea, in the evening of the same day we shall be +able to rest in one another's arms." + +Dirham wept like a child. + +The pasha continued his directions: + +"At every step be cautious. Accomplish everything amidst the greatest +secrecy. Don't let my sons scatter their money right and left, lest +their wealth be suspected and give rise to envy and jealousy. It would +be better if they left the bulk of it on board ship, and only drew +from it whatever may be necessary for the time being. When thou dost +communicate with Bublinia, write on the parchment all sorts of +different things higgledy-piggledy. Say, for instance, that thou art +disembarking wool in Crete, and will consign it to Argyrocantharides, +who is friendly with the Sultan and all the pashas, and, at the same +time, an intermediary between us and the Greeks. But in the empty +spaces between the lines let Mukhtar write the message for Bublinia in +special characters with oil of vitriol; then, when thou dost hand over +the documents, moisten these special rows of letters with a piece of +citron. But stay, I will give thee a still better counsel. Melt some +lunar caustic in water, and write therewith thy message on the shell +of hard-boiled eggs. Then boil the eggs again; and when thou dost +break them open thou wilt find the writing visible on the white +membrane inside. Do that. Eggs are the least suspicious of cargoes." + +Dirham made a careful mental note of all that was told him, secretly +amazed that Ali Pasha should have extended his attention to the +smallest details. + +"One thing more," said Ali, and his voice trembled with emotion. "I +know right well that I am giving my sons dangerous parts to play, and +the issue thereof is uncertain. Take, therefore, this ring; the stone +set in it contains a talisman. Give it to Mukhtar. Let him wear it on +his finger, and if ever he finds himself environed by a great danger, +a very great danger--which Allah forfend!--then let him open the stone +of the ring and read the talisman engraved therein. But this he is +only to do if a great danger be at hand, when he trembles for his +life, when the lowest slave would not change heads with him; for when +once it has been read the talisman loses all its virtue. And now +depart, and bethink thee of all I have told thee." + +Dirham kissed the hem of the pasha's garment and promised that he +would carefully perform everything. Ali accompanied him down into the +garden. On their way back to the place they had to cross the spot +where Zaid was buried. As the hollow earth resounded beneath Ali's +feet, he stopped for a moment and murmured to himself, "H'm! thou +shalt not be the only one!" + + * * * * * + +Two weeks later Dirham met the sons of Ali in Adrianople. Morrison's +ship had taken him on the way thither, and during the voyage Dirham +had countless opportunities of convincing himself that the money +deposited by Ali was safely guarded in the hold of the vessel. There +he said everything which Ali had confided to him, and as it seemed to +the poor servant, through the medium of his tearful eyes, as if the +beys grew enthusiastic at the tidings of the war which their aged +father was waging, he told them, in this persuasion, that Ali had sent +them five million piastres, that they might buy ships and collect arms +and unite their forces to his. + +The beys rejoiced greatly at the tidings of the five millions, and +embraced Dirham, who did his best to attribute all the merit of the +deed to Tepelenti for sending the money so magnanimously. + +"The old man might have sent us still more," said Sulaiman. "What does +he want with it in Janina? Sooner or later it will become the prey of +his enemies." + +"Pardon me, my lord!" objected Dirham. "It will become nobody's prey +if only you unite with him." + +"Ugh!" said Sulaiman; and at that moment the two brothers caught each +other's eye, and it was as though the same thought suddenly occurred +to them both. + +When Dirham delivered the ring to Mukhtar, the latter asked, +suspiciously: + +"Is there any poison in this ring?" + +"What are you thinking of, my lord? I wore it on my finger the whole +way hither. There is a talisman in it." + +At this both the brothers burst out laughing. They had often ridiculed +Ali for his absurd superstition. Nevertheless, Mukhtar kept the ring, +for there was a splendid emerald in it. + +But the secret of the eggs completely won the favor of the brothers. +That was really a capital idea of Ali's. In this way the pashas could +send secret messages even in their harems. Who would ever suspect an +egg? They would put it to the proof at once. They would send a +declaration of love to the odalisks of the Seraskier, written in an +egg. + +Dirham shook his head and spoke seriously, and entreated the beys to +first of all enter into a league with Bublinia, the amazon of Chios, +who was even bold enough on occasions to make a dash at the +Dardanelles; for if they did not hasten, the money that had been sent +to them would be of no use. It would be dangerous, he urged, to show +the people of Adrianople that they had received money. The English +captain, moreover, was not disposed to render any other service than +that of keeping safe custody of the money confided to him; but if any +harm happened to them because of it, he would neither defend them nor +even convey them out of Turkish waters. + +These wise remonstrances made some impression upon the beys. Just as +if their thoughts were pursuing the same course, they both hastened to +beg Dirham to let them have at once the eggs, the lunar caustic, +writing materials, and all other indispensable things. Moreover, they +forgot to give him money for these purchases, so the poor fellow had +to buy them out of his own purse. + +Dirham's foot was scarcely out of the house when the two brothers +looked at each other and smiled. + +"I have a good idea," began Sulaiman. + +"And I also," said the other. + +"I don't mean to return to Ali." + +"Nor I. I bear in mind what happened to Zaid." + +"I propose we buy a ship, on which we may hide our money." + +"And we'll man her with a Greek crew." + +"Then we will send Dirham with the messages written in the eggs to +Bublinia, and we'll write great things therein. We'll tell her that we +stand ready here with our fleets, and if she will attack the Kapudan +Pasha in front we will attack him in the rear. The woman is mad. She +will come forth from the Archipelago and fall upon the Turkish fleet. +Then the Kapudan Pasha will assemble his forces against her, and she +will engage all his attention till we have nicely set sail, nor will +we stop till we reach Cadiz." + +"Admirable! for that is the land of good wine and fair women." + +"And then Ali Pasha may wait for us till the angel Izrafil blows his +trumpet on the last day!" + +"And Bublinia as well--not forgetting the Sultan! Let them worry each +other." + +"Mashallah! Life is sweet!" + +And so it chanced that the sons of Ali, like the princes in a fairy +tale, suddenly and marvellously came into the possession of great +riches, and were wise enough to profit by these riches in the merriest +manner in the world. The money was given to them for blood and +weapons. They were going to lavish it on love and wine. And is not +life lovelier so? + +When Dirham came back they immediately boiled the eggs hard, and wrote +upon them every sort of magnificent message that occurred to their +minds. They promised to hasten to the assistance of the Greeks, both +by land and by sea; to cut their way through the fleets with their +fire-ships and blow the Turkish flag-ship into the air; to incite the +Janissaries to rise against the Sultan and the Greeks to rise against +the Janissaries; in all of which there was not a single word of truth. +Only worthy Dirham believed these things, and trembled in body and +soul at the bare thought of the sublime deeds that his masters had +determined to perform. + +He himself hired a barge, loaded it with wool, and, hiding the eggs +full of secrets in a basket, set out for the Archipelago. + +The good youths meanwhile laughed to their hearts' content. They +laughed at worthy Dirham; they laughed at the worthy Bublinia, and at +the wise Kapudan Pasha; they laughed at this amusing piece of good +fortune which brought them riches in heaps. But at nobody did they +laugh so much as at old Tepelenti, who was believing all along that +his sons were collecting war-ships for him. + +But did he really believe it? + +On the same day that Dirham quitted Adrianople, a fakir of the +Nimetullahita Order penetrated into the Seraglio and demanded an +audience of the Sultan. It was the self-same old soothsayer who had +exhibited his enchantments to Ali. + +On being admitted to the presence of Mahmoud, he stood audaciously +upright before him, bending his head no lower than it was already +crooked by the weight of years. + +"Allah hath sent me to thee," said the dervish, in a deep, hollow +voice, which had lost all its sonorousness. "A great danger is +approaching thee. The storm hanging over thy head is at this moment +compressed within the skin of an egg, and thou couldst crush it in the +palm of thy hand; but if thou dost suffer it to come forth from the +egg, thy whole realm will not be sufficient to contain it. This, +therefore, is the word of Allah unto thee: This day and this night, +and to-morrow and to-morrow night, stop every vessel which sails up +the narrow waters of the Golden Horn and search them, and whenever thy +guards come upon an egg, let them seize it and bring it to thee; for +amongst them are diverse cockatrice eggs which, if once they be +hatched, will swallow up both thee and thy realm." + +Having said these words, the dervish turned him about, and without so +much as saluting the Padishah, without even taking off his slippers +before him, he withdrew, not even asking for a reward. + +The Sultan was profoundly impressed by this audacity. He immediately +sent orders to the wardens of the two watch-towers at the entrance of +the Golden Horn to board and search thoroughly every vessel that +passed between them, seize every egg they found on board and bring +them to him, at the same time detaining all the crews of such vessels. + +Fate so willed it that Dirham's was the first vessel that fell into +the hands of the searchers. + +When the unfortunate servant perceived that the guards seized the +eggs, he leaped into the sea, and although he was a good swimmer, he +allowed himself to be suffocated in the water lest he should be +compelled to betray his masters. + +The eggs they carried to the Sultan, and when he had opened them and +had read the writing written on their inner skins, he was horrified. +Treachery and rebellion! The conspiracy was spreading from one end of +the empire to the other. The complicated intrigue, one of whose +threads was in Janina and the other in the islands of the Archipelago, +had its third in the very capital. This called for terrible reprisals. + +The beys were seized the same night in the midst of their joys, and +dragged from the paradise of their hopes to be thrown into a dungeon. + +Who could have betrayed the secret of the eggs? they asked themselves. +Why, who else but Tepelenti? + +Fools! to fancy that they could make a fool of Tepelenti! + +Sulaiman fainted when they informed him that the secret of the eggs +was discovered. Mukhtar felt that the moment had come of which Ali had +said that the lowest slave would not then exchange heads with his two +sons, and in that hour of peril he bethought him of the talismanic +ring which had been sent to him. Hastily he removed the emerald, +believing that at least a quickly operative poison was contained +therein, by which he might be saved from a shameful death. There was, +however, no poison inside the ring, but these words were engraved +thereon, "Ye have fallen into the hands of Ali!" + +Mukhtar dropped the ring; he was annihilated. + +The hand of Ali, that implacable hand which reached from one end of +the world to the other, which clutched at him even out of the tomb--he +now felt all its weight upon his head. + +Die he must, and his brother also. + +The Reis-Effendi examined them, and both of them doggedly denied all +knowledge of what was written on the eggs. But there was one thing +they could not deny--the five million piastres on the English ship; +this was the most damaging piece of evidence against them, and proved +to be their ruin. + +The Sultan demanded from Morrison the money of the beys, and Morrison +himself appeared before the Reis-Effendi to defend his consignment, +which he maintained he was only bound to deliver to its lawful owner. + +The Reis-Effendi replied that in the Ottoman Empire there was only one +lawful owner of every sort of property, and that was the Sultan. The +property of every deceased person fell to the Grand Signior, and +nobody could make a will without his permission. + +Morrison objected, very pertinently, that as the beys were not +deceased the Sultan could scarcely be looked upon as their heir. + +Instead of making any answer, the Reis-Effendi sent out his officers +with a little piece of parchment which he had previously subscribed, +and a few moments later the severed heads of the beys stood in front +of Morrison on a silver trencher. + +"If their not being dead was the sole impediment," remarked the +Minister of Foreign Affairs, "you perceive that it has now been +removed." + +Morrison thereupon handed over all the gold and silver in his +possession as rapidly as possible, and quitted Constantinople that +very hour; he had no great love of a place where every word cost the +life of a man. + +But the heads of the beys were stuck on the gates of the Seraglio for +three days and three nights in the sight of all the people, and +mounted heralds proclaimed, at intervals of an hour, "Behold the heads +of the sons of the rebellious Ali Tepelenti, who would have devastated +Stambul!" + +And the people loaded the heads with curses each time the proclamation +was made. + + * * * * * + +A few days later the news reached Janina that Sulaiman Bey and Mukhtar +Bey had been beheaded at Stambul. + +Ali Pasha thrice bowed his face to the ground and gave thanks to Allah +for His mercies. And he caused to be proclaimed on the ramparts, +amidst a flourish of trumpets, that his sons, the treacherous beys, +had been decapitated at Stambul. Such is the reward of traitors! + +After that, for three days and three nights--just as long a time as +the heads of the beys had been exposed on the gates of the Seraglio--a +banquet, with music and dancing, was given in the fortress of Janina, +and every morning a hundred and one volleys were fired from the +bastions--the usual ceremony after great triumphs. + +And when in the evening Ali took a promenade in his garden, and walked +up and down among his flowers, he would now and then trample the earth +beneath his feet. It was the grave of Zaid that he was trampling upon. +There stood an old dahlia, the sole survivor of its extirpated family, +and, levelling it to the ground with his foot, he trod it into the +grave, murmuring to himself, "No longer art thou alone--no longer +alone!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE FLOWERS OF THE GARDEN OF BEGTASH + + +At the end of the fifteenth century, when the Turkish crescent had won +an abiding-place among the constellations of Europe, there dwelt in +the Turkish dominions a worthy dervish, Haji Begtash by name. + +As the overflowing armies of the newly founded empire submerged the +surrounding Christian kingdoms, Haji Begtash went everywhere with the +conquering hosts, but in the intervals of peace he begged his way +about the empire, and scraped together a little money from the Turkish +grandees or from the extravagant, booty-laden Turkish soldiers. + +Now wherefore did this worthy dervish make it a point to collect so +much money and wear himself out by travelling from the Adriatic to the +Euxine, when he might have sat all day long at the gate of the Kaaba, +as they call the stone on the tomb of the Prophet, and recited from +his long bead-string the nine properties of Allah (no very exhausting +labor, by-the-way), and received therefor, from the pilgrims to the +shrine, meat, drink, and abundance of alms? + +Well, Haji Begtash had taken up a great work. When he accompanied the +Turkish armies, and they, on entering a Christian village, began to +cut down the inhabitants and tie the captives together with ropes, +the dervish would force his way through the bloodthirsty soldiery, and +if he beheld any wild Bashkir or Kurdish desperado about to dash out +the brains of a forsaken, weeping orphan child against a wall, he +would lay his hand upon them, take away the child, cover it with his +mantle, caress it, and take it away with him. And thus he would keep +on doing till he had with him a whole group of children, all of whom +were concealed beneath the folds of his ample cloak, where nobody +could hurt them; nay, frequently he would carry babies in +swaddling-clothes in his bosom, till people began to wonder what on +earth he meant to do with them. + +Subsequently he announced that any captive who brought him his +children should receive a silver denarius per head for each one of +them. This was not much, it is true; but then there was little demand +for children. In the slave-market only the adult human animal had its +price-current. And so it came about that innumerable children were +brought to the worthy dervish. + +He took them away with him to a mosque at Adrianople. Folks laughed at +him, and asked him mockingly if he was going to plant a garden with +them. + +Haji Begtash accepted the jest in real earnest, and called his +children the flowers of Begtash's garden; and this name they preserved +in the coming centuries. + +These saplings (amongst them were some of the loveliest little +creatures of six and seven years of age) were brought up by the +indefatigable Haji year after year. He instructed them in the Kuran; +he told them everything concerning the innumerable and ineffable joys +which the Prophet promises to those who fall in the defence of the +true Faith; and at the same time accustomed them to endure all the +hardships and privations of this earthly life. + +Most of these children had never known father or mother, and those who +had quickly forgot all about them as they grew up. No love of home or +kindred bound them to this world, and therefore they were all the more +attached to one another. Their comrades were the only beings they +learned to love, and every one of them treated old Begtash as a +father. His words were sacred to them. + +Their days were passed in hard work, in perpetual martial exercises, +fighting, and swimming. A youth of twelve among them was capable of +coping with full-grown men elsewhere, and each one of them at maturity +was a veritable Samson. + +In those days the Ottoman armies suffered many defeats from the +Christian arms. Their strength lay for the most part in their cavalry, +but their innumerable infantry was a mere mob, two of their +foot-soldiers not being equal to one of the well-disciplined European +men-at-arms who advanced irresistibly against them in huge compact +masses; and they were of no use at all in sieges, except to fill up +the ditches and trenches with their dead bodies, and thus make a road +for the more valiant warriors that came after them. + +And now, as if by magic, a little band of infantry suddenly appeared +on the theatre of the war. These new soldiers were dressed quite +differently from the others. On their heads they wore a high hat +bulging outward in front, with a black, floating cock's plume on the +top of it; their dolmans were of embroidered blue cloth; their hose +only reached down to their knees, below that the whole leg was bare; +their only weapon was a short, broad, roundish sword, in marked +contrast to the other Turkish soldiers, who loaded themselves with as +many weapons as if they were going to fight with ten hands. + +None recognized the youths--and youths they all were. They did not +mingle with the other squadrons, nor place themselves under any +captain, nor did they ask for pay from any one. + +But in the very first engagement they showed what they were made of. A +fortress had to be besieged which was defended in front by a broad +stream of water. The strange youths clinched their broad swords +between their teeth, swam across the water, scaled the bastions amidst +fire and flames, and planted the first horse-tail crescent on the +tower. + +These were the flowers of Begtash's garden. + +The first battle established the fame of the youthful band that had +been brought up by the old dervish, and by the time the second +campaign began, Haji Begtash was already the chief of innumerable +monasteries whose inmates were called the Brethren of the Order of +Begtash. Consisting, as they did, of captive Christian children, and +standing under the immediate command of the Sultan, they composed a +new army of infantry, the fame of whose valor filled the whole world. + +These were the "jeni-cheri" (new soldiers), which name was +subsequently altered into Janichary or Janissary. But for long ages to +come, if any Janissary warrior had a mind to speak haughtily, he would +call himself "a flower from Begtash's garden." + +Many a glorious name bloomed in this garden in the course of the ages. +The power of the Sultan rested on their shoulders, and if they shook +the Sultan from off their shoulders, down he had to go. + +If they were powerful servants, they were also powerful tyrants. Their +valor often reaped a harvest of victories, but their obstinacy again +and again imperilled their triumphs. With the increase of their power +their self-assurance increased likewise. It was not so much the +Sultans and Viziers who commanded them as they who commanded the +Sultans and Viziers. And if the rebellious Janissaries hoisted on the +Atmeidan a kettle, the signal of revolt, it was always with fear and +trembling that the Seraglio asked them what were their demands; and +the whole Divan breathed more freely when the answer came that it was +gold they wanted, and not blood--the blood of their officers. And +when, after the great Feast of Bairam, there was the usual +distribution of pilaf, and the dangerous kettles were filled full with +this savory mess of rice and sheep's flesh, the Sultan, all trembling, +would anxiously watch to see how the majestic Janissaries partook of +their pottage. If they devoured it voraciously, that was a sign of +their satisfaction; but if they only touched it in a finiking sort of +way, then the Sultan would fly into the Seraglio, and lock himself up +among the damsels of the harem, for it was now certain that their +lordships the Janissaries were displeased, and it was well if their +displeasure only expressed itself by reducing a whole quarter or so of +the city to ashes. + +Two Sultans had tried to break in two this dangerous double-edged +weapon, which inflicted as many wounds in the heart of the realm as +ever it dealt outside; but the Janissaries' magic influence was so +interwoven with, so ingrafted in, the mind of the nation that public +feeling was on their side, and both rulers perished in the bold +attempt. They dragged Sultan Osman forth from the Seraglio, and set +him on the back of an ass with his face to its tail, carried him in +derision from one end of the town to the other, and then flung him +into the fatal Seven Towers, where the Turkish rulers and their +relatives are wont to be buried alive and die forgotten. Mahmoud II.'s +father, Selim, on the other hand, expired beneath the sword-thrusts of +the rebels, and those swords were still sharp and those hands were +still strong when the son of the man whom they had slain sat on the +throne, and under no other Sultan did the throne tremble so much as +under him. + +In these days the mighty corps of the Janissaries lived only to commit +crimes or gigantic mistakes; its ancient glory was not renewed. During +the last century their arms had constantly been shattered whenever +they came into collision with the progressive military science of +Europe. In the course of the ages the flowers in Begtash's garden had +sadly faded. The flowery petals of their glory had fallen from them, +and only the thorns remained; and even these were no longer the thorns +of the brave thick-set hedge which defends the borders of the garden +against would-be invaders, but the stings of the nettle which hurts +the hand of the gardener as he hoes. + +Neither life nor property was any longer safe from them. The Sultan +himself, when he sat upon the throne, was in the most dangerous place +of all, and the Viziers--the chief officials of the realm--trembled +every day for their lives. The turbulence of the Janissaries was a +perpetually recurring disease running through all the arteries of the +realm, and covering the once mighty empire with poisonous ulcers. + +These seditious outbreaks occurred even during the deliberations of +the Divan, and fear on such occasions was a more urgent counsellor +than conviction to the palace magnates who sat in the cupolaed +chamber. + +The threats of the Janissaries had compelled Mahmoud to take up arms +against Ali Pasha; and now, when Ali had kindled the flames of war all +over the empire, and the Sultan bade the Janissaries hasten against +the enemy and subdue him, they replied that they would not fight +unless the Sultan led them in person. + +Instead of that, they waged war within the very walls of Stambul, for +whenever the news of a defeat reached the capital, the Janissaries +would fall upon the defenceless Greeks and massacre them by thousands. + +From distant Asia, from the most savage parts of the empire, Begtash's +priests appeared and proclaimed in the mosques death and destruction +on the heads of all the Greeks. It was they who, with torches in their +hands, headed the rush of the fanatical Janissaries against Buyukdere, +Pera, and Galata, the quarters of the city where the Greeks resided, +and every day they thundered with their bludgeons at the gates of the +Seraglio, demanding ever more and more sentences of death against the +Greek captives who were shut up in the Seven Towers. The Sultan's +officials, trembling with fear, wrote out the sentences demanded of +them, and the victims fell in hundreds; and when the Russian +ambassador, Stroganov, protested against this butchery, the +Janissaries attacked his palace and riddled all the doors and windows +with bullets, which was the subsequent pretext for the long war which +shook the empire to its base, though the Janissaries never lived to +feel it. + +Mahmoud watched from the summit of the imperial palace the devastation +of Stambul and the devastation of his empire, and he saw no help +anywhere. He saw nothing but the melancholy examples of his ancestors +and the disappearance of his dominions; and as he stroked the head of +his first-born, Abdul Mejid, a child of nine, he thought to himself, +"This lad will not sit on the throne, he will not be a ruler as his +forefathers were; he will not dictate laws to half the world like the +other descendants of Omar; but he will be a fugitive on the face of +the earth, the slave of strange people, as was the fugitive Dzhem, +whom they cast forth ages ago." + +How miserable was the life of the Sultan! What avails it though an +earthly paradise be open to him if life itself be closed against him? +What avails it to be a god if he cannot be a man? The Sultan never +knows what it is to have relatives. Very early, while they are still +children, the latest born are shut up in the Seven Towers. The +first-born son can never meet them, unless it be on the steps of the +throne, when the rebellious Janissaries drag one of them from his +dungeon to raise him to the throne, and lock up the first-born in his +stead. The Sultan cannot be said to possess a wife; all that he has +are favorite concubines, in hundreds, in thousands, as many as he +chooses to have, and there is no difference between them except +differences of feminine loveliness and the blind chance which blesses +some of them with children. And he makes no more account of one than +he does of another. Not one of them feels it her duty to love her +husband; it is enough if she be the slave of his desires. If the +Padishah be troubled or sorrowful, there is none about him to whom he +can open his heart. He may go from one end of the harem to the other, +like one who wanders through a conservatory whose flowers are all so +beautiful, so radiantly smiling; but in vain will he tell them of his +grief and trouble, for they do not understand him, they do not trouble +their heads about his thoughts; and if, perchance, he tells them that +from all four corners of the world mighty foes are marching against +Stambul, here and there, perchance, he may hear a sigh of longing from +some captive maiden, who cannot conceal her secret joy at the thought +of the happy hour when the hand of deliverance will thunder at the +harem door and break its bolts and give freedom, beautiful sunbright +freedom, to the captives. + +It is slavish obsequiousness and nothing else which bends its knee +before the Padishah; it is fear, not love, which obeys him. And to +whom shall he turn when his heart is held fast in the iron grip of +that numbing sensation which makes the mightiest feel they are but +men--fear? + +Mahmoud's sole joy was his nine-year-old son. The child was brought +up by his grandmother, the Sultana Valideh, herself scarce forty years +of age. This dowager Sultana had civilized, European tastes. She had +been educated in France; the young prince was passionately attached to +her and she inspired him with all those desires and noble instincts +under whose influence, thirty years later, new life was to be poured +into the decrepit Turkish Empire. + +The Sultana Valideh wished to so educate her grandson that one day he +might occupy a worthy position among the other rulers of Europe. She +sowed betimes in his heart the seeds of high principles and +enlightened tastes, and the Sultan would frequently listen to the wise +sentences of his little lad, and, while rocking him on his knee, with +a smile upon his face, his heart would beat in an agony of fear, "What +if anybody got word of this?" + +For the old Turkish party lay in wait for every word that fell from +the Sultan's mouth, and the pointing of the little finger of one of +Begtash's fakirs was more to be feared than the armed hand of the most +valiant of the Greek heroes. If any one of the Ulemas should chance to +discover that the young heir to the throne listened to any other +bookish lore than what was contained within the covers of the Kuran, +which comprised within itself (so they taught) all the wisdom of the +world, they were capable of hounding on the Janissaries against the +Seraglio, and slaying both sovereign and child. + +The recollection of Achmed Sidi was still fresh in the memory of men. +Sidi had been one of the Chief Ulemas, and the Imam of the Mosque of +Sophia; and when, a few years ago, the warriors and the diplomatists +of the Tsaritsa Catherine had won victory after victory over the +Ottomans, not only on every battle-field, but also in every political +arena, the unfortunate imam advised the Divan that, in view of the +indisputable superiority of the Christians, it was necessary to teach +the Turkish diplomatists the Bible, the inference being that just as +the Moslem sages derived all their military science and all their +administrative wisdom from the Kuran, so also the Christians must +needs learn all these things from their Bible, thereby tacitly +acknowledging the capacity of the Christians for appropriating all +knowledge. But the well-meaning Ulema paid dearly for this good +counsel. They banished him to the Isle of Chios, and there, for a very +trivial offence, he was first degraded from his office (for it is not +lawful to kill a Ulema with weapons), and then handed over to the +pasha of the place, who pounded him to death in a stone mortar--a +deterrent example for future reformers. Let them beware, therefore, of +moving a single stone in the ancient fabric of the Ottoman +constitution! + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SHIPWRECK OF LEONIDAS + + +Now, one fine day, when the worthy Leonidas Argyrocantharides set out +from Smyrna on one of his prettiest ships, a vexatious little accident +befell him by the way. The ship, which had taken in a cargo of tanned +hides at Stambul, was overtaken, _en route_, by a tempest which drove +her upon the coast of Seleucia. There, in the darkness of the night, +she was thrown upon a sand-bank, from which she was unable to +extricate herself till morning; and it was only when the land became +visible in the early light of dawn that the merchant began to realize +the awkward position into which his ship had got, despite Saint +Procopius and Saint Demetrius, who were very beautifully painted on +both sides of her prow. The vessel had heeled over on one side, and +that side of her which lay above the waves was threatened every moment +with destruction by the onset of the foaming surf which broke from +time to time over the deck, making a pretty havoc of the masts and +spars. The joints of the ship's timbers began to be loosened, creaking +and shivering at each fresh shock of the waves. And if the fate of the +ship on the sand-bank was sad enough, still sadder would it have been +if she had broken loose therefrom; for right in front of her lay the +rocks of the Seleucian coast, whose steep crags were lashed so +furiously by the raging sea that the crashing waves leaped fully a +hundred fathoms up their sides. A nice place this would have been for +any ship to play pitch-and-toss in! + +The worthy merchant sorely lamented his fate, sorely lamented, also, +his fine ship, which was painted in elaborate patterns with all the +colors of the rainbow. He lamented his many beautiful goat-skins, not +a single bundle of which he would allow to be cast into the sea for +the purpose of lightening the ship; rather let them all go to the +bottom together! He mourned over himself, too, condemned at the +beginning of the best years of his life to be suffocated in the sea; +but what he lamented far more than ship, goat-skins, or even life +itself, were the two Circassian children, the precious, beautiful boy +and girl, Thomar and Milieva, who were worth, at the current market +prices of the day, ten thousand ducats apiece; Leonidas would have +given his own skin for them any day! + +Full of great hopes, he had embarked the two children at Stambul (the +tanned hides were only a secondary consideration); and lo! now, just +when he was reaching his goal, the curse of Kasi Mollah overtook him. + +Two long-boats fully manned had made an attempt to reach the shore, in +order that they might from thence haul the ship off the sand-bank, and +both boats had been seized before his very eyes by the breakers, and +dashed to pieces against the steep rocks; so there was nothing for it +but to remain behind and perish on the sand-bank. + +One wave after another drove the hulk deeper and deeper down; those +who still remained aboard wrung their hands and prayed or cursed, +according as temperament or habit urged them. + +As for Leonidas, he did both--he prayed and cursed at the same time; +for it seemed quite clear to him that praying or cursing separately +was of not the slightest use. The two children, meanwhile, holding +each other tightly embraced, sat beside the broken stump of the mast +and seemed to mock at the terrible tempest. + +Not a sign of fear was visible on their faces. This roaring wind, +these foam-churning waves, seemed to afford them a pleasant pastime. +The black-and-white storm-birds sitting on the towering billows were +swimming there all round the doomed ship, merrily flapping the water +with their wings. Oh, those sea-swallows were having a fine time of +it! + +The two children had agreed between themselves, some time before, that +if the ship went down, they would fling themselves into the water and +swim ashore. That would be a mere trifle to them, of course. + +Full of despair, the merchant rushed towards them, and embracing them +with both his arms, he exclaimed, looking bitterly at the sky, +"Merciful Heaven! ten thousand ducats!" + +The children fancied that terror had made the merchant mad, and they +tried to comfort him with kind words: + +"Don't distress yourself, dear foster-father; we will not perish here, +and we will not leave you to perish either. As soon as the ship goes +down, we'll swim for the shore. We both of us know very well how to +cleave the waves with our strong arms, and we will fasten you to our +girdles and save you along with ourselves." + +The merchant kissed the two dear children, and embraced them tenderly. +An hour later the last planks of the fine ship broke away from each +other, and the shipwrecked crew clung desperately to the floating +spars that the waves tossed hither and thither. The greater part of +the ship's company was ingulfed forthwith by the waves or dashed to +pieces against the hard rocks; only three persons were saved--the +merchant and the two children. + +Leonidas, fast tied to their girdles, allowed himself to be cast among +the waters. The first who rose on the crest of the foaming waves was +Thomar. He perceived the rock on which a huge mountain of surf, +rushing after him, threatened to dash him to pieces, and, watching his +opportunity, grasped the long dangling roots of a tree which grew out +of a cleft of the rocks and, with a tremendous effort, dragged all +three of them up to it. The wave rolled right over them, burying them +for an instant in deep water; but the next moment the surge rolled +back again, and they were on the rocky coast. + +The merchant was more dead than alive, so the children had to drag him +with them for a long way inland, lest the returning surge should carry +them back to sea again. They only ventured to rest when they had +reached a rocky cavity where they could feel sure that they were safe. +Even here the water, which shot up as high as a tower against the +opposing rock, covered them every moment; but they did not feel its +weight. + +There they had to remain, crouching closely together, till the +evening. Neither in front nor behind was there any place of refuge, +and it was with a feeling of envy that they looked down upon the +stormy petrels which towards evening began to sit down in long rows on +the edge of the rocks, whither it was impossible for them to follow. + +Gradually, however, the storm died away, the sea subsided and grew +smooth, and the place where the shipwrecked group had taken refuge +rose three ells above the surface of the water. Then they could +venture to look around them. The whole shore was strewn with pieces of +timber and mangled corpses. Wreckage and dead bodies were all that the +sea had vomited forth of the rich cargo of the fine ship. + +But the merchant did not despair. Making the two children kneel down +beside him, he knelt down in their midst, and made them pray a prayer +of gratitude to Heaven for their marvellous deliverance; and then, +pressing them to his bosom, he sobbed, with the tears in his eyes, +"What do I care, though my ship is lost and all my wares are +submerged, so long as ye remain to me, my precious offspring? That is +quite consolation enough for me." + +And the worthy merchant told the truth, for as soon as ever he could +reach Stambul he was sure of getting for these two children enough to +enable him to buy two ships and twice as many wares as he had lost at +the bottom of the sea. + +But now the most difficult question arose--How were they to get away +from that spot to any place inhabited by man? All ships gave this +dangerous coast a wide berth; there was nothing to tempt them to the +spot. Even fishermen did not venture as far in their barks, so that +the unfortunate refugees who had escaped the waters saw starvation +approaching them. + +But suddenly, while they were meditating over the misery of their +position, they fancied they heard human voices a little distance +off--deep, manly voices, apparently engaged in a lively dispute. + +The two children rejoiced, thinking that good men were hard by; but +the merchant trembled, for, thought he, "What if they be robbers?" + +Thomar now bade his sister remain with Leonidas while he went in the +direction of the voices to discover who the speakers might be. The +brave boy clambered from one cliff to another, made the circuit of the +rock-chamber behind which they were sitting, and when he came to the +opposite side of it a spacious empty cavern yawned blackly in front of +him, half covered by whortleberry bushes. Probably the conversation +came from thence, but neither near nor far was a human creature to be +seen, nor were there any footprints of men on the ground; the front of +the cavern was covered with thick green moss, on which footprints left +no trace. Thomar shouted into the cave, and as not a word came back, +he boldly entered, and slowly advanced forward. He went on and on as +far as the light of the outside world extended, and then, as no one +replied to his loud challenges, turned back again by the way he had +come, and, making the circuit of the rock again, told the merchant +that he had not come upon any human beings, but had only found a +cavern which, at any rate, would make them good night quarters. + +The conversation they thought they had heard must have been a +delusion. Then they helped one another along the rocks and arrived at +the mouth of the cavern. + +Milieva had scarcely cast a glance into it when she exclaimed, full of +joy: "Look, Thomar, here are two chests among the bushes!" And, +indeed, there were two boxes made of boards, and Thomar wondered that +he had not noticed them before. No doubt the sea had cast them up +thither out of some ship that had been wrecked there before. + +One of the boxes resembled those chests in which sailors keep their +biscuits, but the shape of the other suggested that it was one of +those hermetically sealed vessels used for holding good wines. Why +should they not turn them to some account? + +They were not long in forcing them open, and what was their +astonishment when they perceived that the biscuits in the first box +were not even mouldy, but quite dry and sound, as if they had only +been brought thither quite recently; while in the second box not one +of the scores of flasks there displayed was broken or cracked, but lay +neatly stored away in layers of straw? + +The refugees did not greatly concern themselves with the question, Who +put these boxes here? and why? Nobody who, after being tossed about on +the sea for three days with nothing to eat or drink all the time, and +is then unexpectedly confronted with rich stores of bread and +wine--nobody, I am sure, under such circumstances would think of +consulting the Kuran as to whether a conscientious Mussulman should +eat and drink such things, but would fall to at once, and thank Allah +for the chance. + +The children forgot, in the twinkling of an eye, the dangers to which +they had been exposed, and, after the first glass or two of wine, +overcome by fatigue, lay down on the soft bed which Nature had made +ready for them with her most fragrant moss. Leonidas, however, +remained sitting where he was, considering it his bounden duty to +taste all the wines which were here offered to him gratis, one after +the other; in consequence whereof, when he _did_ lie down at last, he +chose a position in which his head was very low down while his feet +were high in the air, and so they all three slumbered peacefully +together. + +Then the voices of men were heard once more far off in the cavern, and +not long afterwards there emerged from its black mouth six +gray-haired, pale-faced human beings. He who came first was the +eldest. His white beard reached to his girdle, his mouth was hidden by +his mustache, and his eyes were covered by his white eyebrows. + +These men were fakirs of the Omarite Order, whose rule obliges them to +endure the most terrible of all renunciations--abstention from all +enjoyment of the light of day. Plunging themselves into eternal +darkness for the glory of Allah, they make of life a long midnight, +and the sun never beholds them on the face of the earth. + +The night was well advanced when the six Omarites came forth to the +sleepers, and while five of the fakirs stood round them in silence, +the sixth--the one with the long flowing beard--bent over the +children and examined their features attentively in the darkness of +the night, which was only mitigated by the light of a few faint stars +half hidden among errant clouds. At last he whispered to his comrades, +"It is they." Then, turning the tips of his thumbs downwards, he laid +them softly on Thomar's head. All five fakirs listened with rapt +attention. The bosom of the sleeping lad began to heave tumultuously; +he clinched his fists; his face grew hot; his lips swelled. The old +man then seemed to breathe upon his forehead, as if he would whisper +something, whereupon the sleeping lad exclaimed, in a strong, audible +voice, "With swords, with guns, with arms!" + +The old men shook their heads, showing thereby that they approved of +his words. + +Then the eldest old man bent over the other child and made passes over +her face with his five fingers. The maiden's bosom expanded visibly, +and when the old man stooped over and breathed upon her she cried out +in an energetic, dictatorial manner, "Down on your knees before me!" + +At this the Omarites all whispered together, and two of them lifting +the lad, two the girl, and two the merchant, they carried them on +their shoulders into the depths of the cavern. + +The mouth of this cavern was the already mentioned tunnel whose +farthest exit debouched upon the valley of Seleucia, half a league +from the sea--that waste, barren, and savage valley. + +The Omarites moved to and fro in the black cave without a torch, like +the blind, who do not go astray in the turnings and windings of the +streets, although they see them not. The sleepers had drunk a magic +potion, which did not permit them to awake for some time, and the men +carried them on their shoulders to the opposite entrance of the cavern +and there laid them down on the moss, in a place where the sunlight +was wont to penetrate. + +It was already late in the day when the two children awoke. As soon as +they had opened their eyes, their first care was to kiss and embrace +each other. Then they aroused the merchant also and, rubbing sleep out +of their eyes, began to tell him, in childish fashion, what they had +been dreaming about. + +"Ah! what a lovely dream I had!" cried Thomar, and even now his eyes +sparkled. "I was standing beside the Sultan, who was leaning on my +shoulder. Before me and around me howled a rebellious multitude, and +the Sultan was pale and sad. Turning towards me he sighed, 'Wherewith +shall I appease this raging sea?' For a long time I could find no +answer. It was as if something were weighing me down, something as +heavy as a mountain, when suddenly the words escaped from my lips, +'With swords, with guns, with weapons!' And then the Padishah girded +his own sword upon me, and I rushed among the howling mob, and I cut +and hacked away at them till they were all consumed, and at last a +field that had been reaped lay before me, and it was covered with +nothing but corpses." + +"That is a foolish dream," said Leonidas. "Why did you eat so much +last night?" + +And now Milieva told her dream. + +"I also must have been confused by the wine. Before me also a +rebellious multitude appeared, and it then seemed to me as if I was +not a girl but a boy. Furiously they rushed upon me from every side, +but I feared them not, and when they were quite near to me I cried out +to them, 'Down on your knees before me! I am the Sultan's daughter!' +And everything was instantly quiet." + +The merchant laughed till he choked at this dream. Who but children +could dream such rubbish? + +"But at home they used to say," observed Thomar, with a grave face, +"that whatever any one dreams in a strange place where he has never +slept before, he will see that dream accomplished." + +"Well, I am much obliged to you," said the merchant, "for in my dream +I was hanging up in Salonika by my feet, with my head downwards." + +Then the merchant made the children leave the cavern. + +"Come, my children," said he, "let us see if the sea has calmed down, +and whether a ship is approaching from anywhere." + +Thomar obeyed, quitted the cavern, and exclaimed, in astonishment: + +"Look, my dear foster-father! How could a ship come here when the very +sea has vanished, and only the bottom of it remains." + +And indeed the district stretching out before them was quite bare and +barren enough to be taken for the bottom of the sea. + +Leonidas took the lad's words for a joke, and it was a joke he did not +relish. + +"Keep your witticisms for another time, my son," said he, "and rub +your eyes that they may see the better." + +But Milieva leaped after Thomar, and when she had got up to him she +clapped her hands together, and exclaimed, with naďve amazement: + +"Why, the sea has run away from us!" + +And now the merchant himself arose from his place, went out of the +cavern, and could scarce believe his eyes when he saw before him the +savage, rocky region, where not a drop of moisture could be seen, to +say nothing of the sea! + +"God has worked wonders for us," sighed the merchant. "It is plain +that we are in quite a different place from that wherein we went to +sleep." + +"No doubt the peris of the mountains of Kâf have conveyed us hither," +said Milieva. + +"Peris, no doubt," observed Leonidas, absently, groping for his long +reticule, and feeling whether his diamonds were still there. If it +were not peris, they would certainly have searched him for his +diamonds. + +And now they had to find out where they were, and what was the best +way to get out of the wilderness. The greatest anxiety had +disappeared; they had no longer anything to fear from the sea. On dry +land it would be much easier to find a place of refuge. + +After a little searching they came upon footprints in the sand, and +these footprints led them to the mouth of the valley. Whole forests of +the large cochineal cactus grew among the rocks, and here and there +they saw a light-footed kid grazing on the dry sward. Not very long +afterwards they fell in with the goatherd. Leonidas was rather alarmed +than delighted at the sight of the grim muscular figure, who, on +perceiving them, came straight towards them, and addressed them in a +gruff voice. + +"Are ye those shipwrecked fugitives who slept at night in the Cavern +of the _dzhin_?" + +"_Dzhin!_" said Leonidas to himself. "Methinks it must have been a +spirit of evil, then." + +The children answered the goatherd boldly, and begged him to direct +them to some inhabited region. + +"Go straight along this gorge," said he; "you cannot mistake the path. +On your right hand you will find a hut where dwells a fakir of the +Erdbuhar Order, who will direct you farther. Salám alek!" And with +that the goatherd quitted them, to the great amazement of Leonidas, +who had expected nothing less of him than highway robbery. + +Towards evening they had arrived at the hut of the Erdbuhar hermit. + +"I have been expecting you," said the dervish, when they came up to +him. "Have you not suffered shipwreck and slept all night with the +_dzhin_?" + +Evidently one marvel after another was in store for them. + +The dervish gave them meat and drink, and washed their feet, and after +they had enjoyed his hospitality he offered to conduct them all the +way to the gates of Seleucia. The merchant would very much have liked +to know something of his wondrous deliverers, but as the dervish +answered all his questions with quotations from the Kuran, he learned +very little that was definite from that holy man. + +When Seleucia came in sight, the merchant began thanking the dervish +for his good offices. "Do not weary thyself any further, worthy +Mussulman," cried he; "I know not how to reward thy labors, but Allah +will requite thee. I am a beggar. Thou dost see that I am as bare as +one of my fingers. The ocean hath swallowed up my all." + +And all the while his reticule was full of precious stones; but he +would have considered it a very great act of folly not to have made +capital out of his wretchedness, and paid the dervish with fine words. + +But the dervish would not even accept his thanks. "It is but my duty," +said he, "and I did it not for thy sake, but for the sake of others." +And with that he quitted them, after giving a string of praying-beads +to each of the children. + +The children went on in front till they reached the gate of the city, +talking in a low voice together; but when they found themselves in the +populous streets they took Leonidas by the hand, and Thomar said, "All +that was thine has been lost in the sea, and who will help us in the +great strange city, where nobody knows us? Let us therefore sing in +the market-place and before the houses of the great men, and they will +give us money, and so we shall be able to go on farther." + +The merchant was greatly affected by this naďve offer, and allowed the +children to sing in the market-place and in the porch of the pasha's +house, and in this way they gained enough money to enable them to go +on to the next city. + +Thus, at last, they got back to Smyrna. If they had been his own +children Argyrocantharides could not have looked for greater and +heartier affection from them. They fasted that he might feast, they +shivered that he might be warmly clad, they denied themselves sleep +that he might slumber all the more tranquilly, and lowered themselves +to singing in the market-place that he might not be compelled to beg +at the corners of the streets. + +Good children! sweet children! + +As soon as the merchant could get a new ship he took them with him to +Stambul, and this time no misfortune happened to them by the way. + +At Stambul he exhibited them to the Kizlar-Agasi, who, after examining +their limbs and satisfying himself as to their capabilities, bought +the pair of them from the merchant at his own price--the youth for the +Sultan's corps of pages, the girl for the harem. + +To the honor of the worthy merchant, however, it must be said that +when he did hand the children over he sobbed bitterly. Good, worthy +man! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A BALL IN THE SERAGLIO + + +It was the birthday of the Sultana Valideh. The Sultana, Mahmoud's +mother, was, we may remember, a Frenchwoman, whose parents, natives of +the Isle of Martinique, had sent her to Paris while still very young, +and placed her, till she was sixteen, in a convent to be educated. +Then the family sent word that she was to return to the beautiful +island on the farther side of Africa; but during the voyage a tempest +destroyed the ship, and the crew had to take to the boats. One of +these boats, in which was the pretty French girl, was captured by +Barbary corsairs, who sold her to the Sultan. The rest we know, of +course-- + + "Elle eut beau dire: Je me meurs! + De nonne elle devient Sultane!" + +Those poor flowers that are brought together from all the corners of +the earth to stock the Grand Signior's harem, and who know nothing +except how to love, paled before the radiant loveliness and the +sparkling wit of this damsel, who had been brought up in the midst of +European culture. She became the favorite wife of Selim, she bore him +Mahmoud, and her son loved his mother much better than all his damsels +put together. + +A great surprise had been prepared for the Sultana Valideh. The Sultan +had arranged the whole thing himself in secret. He was going to give a +dance, after the European fashion, in the Seraglio. + +Tailors were brought from Vienna who set to work upon dresses in the +latest fashion for the odalisks; the eunuchs were taught the latest +waltz music, a minuet, and two French square dances; and the girls +were all taught how to dance these dances. The men who had admittance +into the harem, the Kizlar-Agasi, the Anaktar Bey, the heir to the +throne (Abdul Mejid), and the Sultan himself, wore brown European +dress-suits, so that when the Sultana stepped into the magnificently +illuminated porcelain chamber she stood rooted to the floor with +astonishment. She imagined herself to be at a court ball at Paris, +just as she had seen it at the Louvre when a child. A surging mob of +hundreds and hundreds of young odalisks was proudly strutting to and +fro in stylish dresses of the latest fashion, in long gloves and silk +stockings. Instead of turbans, plumed hats and bouquets adorned the +magnificent masses of their curled and frizzled locks. They moved +about with bare shoulders and bosoms, in soft wavy dresses, with fans +painted over with butterflies, freely laughing and jesting in this, to +them, newest of worlds, and the only thing that differentiated this +ball from our dancing entertainments was the absence of the darker +portion of the show--the masculine element. + +There were only four representatives of this _sombre nuance_--to wit, +the Sultan, the heir to the throne, the Kizlar-Agasi, and the Anaktar +Bey. Of these four, two were no longer and two were not yet men. All +four were dressed in stiff Hungarian dolmans, long black pantaloons, +and red fezes. The Sultan, with his thick-set figure, would have +passed very well for a substantial Hungarian deputy-lord-lieutenant, +with his tight-fitting, bulging dolman buttoned right up to his chin. +The young prince's elegant figure, on the other hand, was brought into +strong relief by his well-made suit; his hair was nicely curled on +both sides, and his genteel white shirt was visible beneath his open +dolman. The Kizlar-Agasi, on the contrary, cut a very amusing figure +in his unwonted garb. He was constantly endeavoring to thrust his hand +into his girdle, and only thus perceived that he had none, and he kept +on holding down the tails of his coat, as if he felt ashamed that they +might not reach low enough to cover him decently. + +The Sultana Valideh was favorably surprised. The spectacle brought +back to her her childish years, and she gratefully pressed her son to +her bosom for this delicate attention, while he respectfully kissed +his mother's hands. The Sultan scattered his love among a great many +women, but his mother alone could boast of possessing his respect. + +The odalisks surrounded the good Sultan, rejoicing and caressing him. +He was never severe to any of them--nay, rather, he was the champion, +the defender of them all, and those whom he loved might be quite sure +that his affection would be constant. + +Every one tried to please the Sultana Valideh by showing her their new +garments, but none of them found such favor in her eyes as the new +flower, which had only recently been introduced into the Seraglio, +and was now the foremost of them all, the beautiful Circassian damsel. +Her light step, the dove-like droop of her neck, the charm of her +full, round shoulders, and her lovely young bosom, were such that one +was almost tempted to believe that she had been carried off bodily +from some Parisian salon, where they know so well how to take the +utmost advantage of all the resources of fashion. Her locks were +dressed up _ŕ la Valličre_, with negligently falling curls which gave +a slightly masculine expression to her face--an additional charm in +the eyes of a connoisseur. Yes, the Greek merchant was right; there +was no spot on the earth worth anything except the place where Milieva +lived and moved. + +The Valideh kissed the odalisk on the forehead, and led her by the +hand to the Sultan, who would not permit her to kiss his hand (who +ever heard of a lady kissing the hand of a gentleman in evening +dress?), but permitted the young heir to the throne to take Milieva on +his arm and conduct her through the room. What a pretty pair of +children they made! Abdul Mejid at this time was scarce twelve years +of age, the girl perhaps was fourteen; but for the difference of their +clothes, nobody could have said which was the boy and which the girl. + +And now the tones of the hidden orchestra began to be heard, and a +fresh surprise awaited the Sultana. She heard once more the pianoforte +melodies which she had known long ago, and the height of her amazement +was reached when the Sultan invited her to dance--a minuet. + +What an absurd idea! The Sultana dowager to dance a minuet with her +son, the Sultan, before all those laughing odalisks, who had never +beheld such a thing before? Where was the second couple? Why here--the +prince and Milieva, of course. They take their places opposite the +imperial couple, and to slow, dreamy music, with great dignity they +dance together the courteous and melancholy dance, bowing and +courtesying to each other with as much majesty and _aplomb_ as was +ever displayed by the powdered cavaliers and beauty-plastered +goddesses of the age of the _OEil de Boeuf_. + +Never had such a spectacle been seen in the Seraglio. + +The Sultana herself was amazed at the triumphant dexterity which +Milieva displayed in the dance; she was a consummate maid of honor, +with that princely smile for which Gabrielle D'Estrées was once so +famous. The good Mahmoud so lost himself in the contemplation of the +eyes of Milieva, his _vis-ŕ-vis_, that towards the end of the dance he +quite forgot his own part in it, folding Milieva to his breast in +defiance of all rule and ceremony, and even kissing her face twice or +thrice, although he ought not to have gone beyond kissing her +hand--nay, he ought not to have kissed her hand at all, but the hand +of his partner, the Sultana Valideh. + +When the minuet was over the eunuch musicians played a waltz in which +all the odalisks took part, clinging to one another in couples, and +thus they danced the pretty _trois pas_ dance, for the _deux pas_ +revolution was the invention of a later and more progressive age. +Louder than the music was the joyous uproar of the dancers themselves. +Here and there some of them tumbled on the slippery floor to which +they were not accustomed, and the nymphs coming after them fell +around them in heaps. Some disliked the dance or were weary, but their +firier and more robust partners dragged them along, willy-nilly. The +old Kizlar-Agasi and the bey stood in the midst of them to take care +that no scandal took place. Suddenly the madcap odalisk army +surrounded them, clung on to them in twos and threes, dragged them +into the mad waltz, and twisted them round and round at a galloping +pace, till the two good old gentlemen had no more breath left in them. + +The Sultan and the Valideh, with the prince and Milieva, were sitting +on a raised daďs, laughing and looking on at the merry spectacle. The +pipers piped more briskly, the drummers drummed more furiously, the +cymbals clashed more loudly than ever, while the odalisks dragged +their prey about uproariously. + +Ah! Listen! What didst thou hear, good Sultan? What noise is that +outside which mingles with the hubbub within? Outside there also is to +be heard the roll of drums, the flourish of trumpets, and the shouts +of men. + +Nonsense! 'Tis but imagination. Bring hither the glasses--not those +tiny cups of sherbet, for this is the birthday of the Valideh. We will +be Europeans to-night. Bring hither wine and glasses for a toast! + +The Sultan had a particular fondness for Tokay and champagne, and the +ambassadors of both these great Powers had the greatest influence with +him. + +The odalisks also had to be made to taste these wines; and after that +the dance proceeded more merrily, and the boisterous music and +singing grew madder and madder. + +What was that? + +The Sultan grew attentive. What uproar is that outside the Seraglio? +What light is that which shines at the top of the round windows? + +That uproar is no beating of drums; those shouts are not the shouts of +revellers; that din is not the beating of cymbals; no, 'tis the +clashing of swords, the thundering of cannons, the tumult of a siege, +and that light is not the light of bonfires but of blazing rafters! + +Up, up, Mahmoud, from thy sofa! Away with thy glass and out with thy +sword! This is no night for revelry; death is abroad; insurrection is +at thy very gate! They are besieging the Seraglio! + +Twelve thousand Janissaries, joined with the rabble of Stambul, are +attacking the gates at the very time when the orchestra is playing its +liveliest airs in the illuminated hall. + +"Do ye hear that?" exclaimed Kara Makan, the most famous orator of the +Janissaries, who with his own hand had hung up the Metropolitan of +Constantinople on the very threshold of the palace. "Do ye hear that +music? Here they are rejoicing when the whole empire around them is in +mourning. Do ye know what are the latest tidings this night? The +Suliotes have captured Gaskho Bey, and annihilated our army before +Janina. A woman has blown up the ship of the Kapudan Pasha, and the +Shah has fallen upon Kermandzhan with an army! Destruction is drawing +near to us, and treachery dwells in the Seraglio. Hearken! They dance, +they sing, they bathe their lips in wine, and their blasphemies bring +upon us the scourge of Allah! We shed our tears and our blood, and +they make merry and mock at us! Shall not they also weep? Shall not +their blood also be shed? So fare it with them as it has fared with +our brethren whom they sent to the shambles!" + +The furious mob answered these seditious words with an indescribable +bellowing. + +"If we traversed the whole empire we should not find a worse spot than +this place." + +"Set fire to the Seraglio!" cried one voice suddenly, and the others +took up the cry. + +"And if you escape from all other enemies, would you fall into the +claws of the worst enemies of all?" + +"Death to the Viziers! Death to the lords of the palace!" thundered +the people; and one voice close to Kara Makan, rising above the +others, exclaimed, "Death to the Sultan!" + +Kara Makan turned in that direction and defended his master. "Hurt not +the Sultan! The life of the Sultan is sacred. He and his children are +the last survivors of the blood of Omar; and although he be not worthy +to sit on the throne which the heroic Muhammad erected for his +descendants, yet he is the last of his race, and, therefore, the head +of the Sultan is sacred. But death upon the head of the Reis-Effendi, +death to the Kizlar-Agasi and the Kapudan Pasha! They are the cause of +our desolation. The chiefs of the Giaours pay them to destroy their +country. Tear all these up by the roots, and if there be any children +of their family, destroy them also, even to the very babes and +sucklings, that the memory of them may perish utterly!" + +The mob thundered angrily at the gates of the Seraglio, which were +shut and fastened with chains. The Janissaries blew the horns of +revolt, the drums rolled, and within there the Sultan was reposing his +head on the bosom of a beautiful girl. Suddenly a loud report shook +the whole Seraglio. An audacious ichoglan had fired his gun upon the +mob as it rushed to attack the water-gate. + +The Sultan, in dismay, quitted the harem, and hastened to the middle +gate in order to address the mob. On his way through the corridor, his +servants and his ministers threw themselves at his feet and implored +him not to show himself to the people. Mahmoud did not listen to them. +In the confusion of the moment, moreover, it never occurred to him +that he was wearing a Frankish costume, which the people hated and +execrated. + +When he appeared on the balcony the light of the torches fell full +upon him, and the Janissaries recognized him. Every one at once +pointed their fingers at him, and immediately an angry and scornful +howl arose. + +"Look! that is the Sultan! Behold the Caliph--the Caliph, the Padishah +of the Moslems--in the garb of the Giaours! That is Mahmoud, the ally +of our enemies!" + +The Sultan shrank before this furious uproar of the mob, and, +involuntarily falling back, stammered, pale as death: + +"With what shall we allay this tempest?" + +His servants, with quivering lips, stood around him. At that moment +they neither feared nor respected their master. + +Suddenly a bold young ichoglan rushed towards the Sultan, and +answered his question in a courageous and confident voice: + +"With swords, with guns, with weapons!" + +It was Thomar. + +The Sultan scrutinized the youth from head to foot, amazed at his +audacity; then hastening back to his dressing-chamber, exchanged his +ball dress for his royal robes, and, coming back from the inner +apartments, descended into the court-yard. + +The guns were already pointed at the gates, the topijis stood beside +them, match in hand, impatiently awaiting the order to fire. + +When the Sultan appeared in the court-yard he was at once surrounded +by some hundreds of the ichoglanler, determined to defend him to the +last drop of their blood. Mahmoud again recognized Thomar among them; +he appeared to be the leading spirit of the band. + +The Sultan beckoned to them to put back their swords in their sheaths. +He commanded the topijis to extinguish their matches. Next he ordered +that the gate of the Seraglio should be thrown open to the people. +Then, having bidden every one to stand aside, he went alone towards +the gate in his imperial robes, with a majestic bearing. + +No sooner was the gate thrown open than the mob streamed into the +court-yard with torches and flashing weapons in their hands, standing +for a moment dumb with astonishment at the appearance of the Sultan. +He was no longer ridiculous, as he had been in that foreign garb. The +majestic bearing of the prince stilled the tumult for an instant, but +for an instant only. The following moment a hand was extended from +among the mob of rebels which tore the Sultan's caftan from his +shoulder. + +Mahmoud grew pale at this audacity, and this pallor was a fresh +occasion of danger to him, for now he was suddenly seized from all +sides. The Sultan turned, therefore, and perceiving Thomar, called to +him, "Defend my harem!" and, at the same time freeing his sword-arm, +he drew his sword, waved it above his hand, and, while his foes were +waiting to see on whom the blow would fall, he threw the sword to +Thomar, exclaiming, "Defend my son!" + +The young ichoglan grasped Mahmoud's sword, and, while the captured +Sultan disappeared in the mazes of the mob, he and his comrades +returned to the inner court-yard, and, barricading the door, fiercely +defended the position against the insurgents. He had now to show +himself worthy of that sword, the sword of the Sultan. + +Gradually two thousand ichoglanler and three thousand bostanjis +gathered round the young hero. The Janissaries already lay in heaps +before the door, which they riddled with bullets till it looked like a +corn-sifter. But the youths of the Seraglio repelled every onset. + +And why did not the Sultan remain with them? They would have defended +him against all the world: Who knew now what had become of him? +Perhaps they had killed him outright. + +The Janissaries speedily perceived that they could not have done +anything worse for themselves than to have brought torches with them, +for thereby they were distinctly visible to the defenders of the +Seraglio, and every shot that came from thence told. + +"Put out the torches!" shouted Kara Makan, who was holding a huge +concave buckler in front of him, and felt a third bullet pierce +through the twofold layers of buffalo-hide and graze his body. + +The torches went out one after another, whereupon the spacious +court-yard was darkened; only the flash of firearms cast an occasional +gleam of light upon the struggling mass. + +It might have been two hours after midnight when suddenly there was a +cessation of hostilities. Both sides were weary, and ceased firing; +the Janissaries whispered amongst themselves, and at last in the midst +of a deep silence, Kara Makan's thunderous voice made itself heard: + +"Listen, all of ye who are inside the Seraglio. Ye are good warriors, +and we are good warriors also, and it is folly for the Faithful to +destroy one another. We did not take up arms to slay you and plunder +the Seraglio, neither do we wish to kill the Padishah nor the heir to +the throne; but we would rescue them from the hands of the traitors +who surround them, and we would also deliver the realm from faithless +Viziers and counsellors. Give us, therefore, the prince, the Sultan's +son. Of a truth no harm shall befall him, and we will thereupon quit +the court-yard of the Seraglio and trouble nobody within these doors. +If, however, you will not grant our request, then Allah be merciful to +all who are within these beleaguered walls." + +The Kizlar-Agasi conveyed this message into the Seraglio, and +besiegers and besieged awaited with rapt attention the reply of the +Valideh; for the decision lay with her--she was superior in rank to +all four of the Asseki sultanas. + +After the lapse of a quarter of an hour the Kizlar-Agasi returned, and +signified to the besiegers that the prince would be handed over to +them. + +The Janissaries received this message with a howl of triumph, while +the ichoglanler shrugged their shoulders. + +"They are not all women in there for nothing," said Thomar, savagely, +to the Kizlar-Agasi, and he remained standing in the gate, that he +might, at any rate, kiss the young prince's hand and whisper to him +not to go. + +The Janissaries relit their torches and crowded towards the gate. +Inside reigned a pitch-black darkness. + +Not long afterwards footsteps were audible in the dark corridor, and, +escorted by two torch-bearers, the prince descended the steps. He had +on the same garment which he wore when he went on horseback to the +Mosque of Sophia during the Feast of Bairam. How the people had then +huzzahed before him! He wore pantaloons of rose-colored silk, yellow +buskins with slender heels, a green caftan embroidered with gold +flowers, and a handsome yellow silk vest buttoned up to his chin. His +ribbons and buttons were made so as to represent brilliant fluttering +butterflies incrusted with precious stones. + +On reaching the gate he beckoned to the torch-bearers to stand still, +sent back the Kizlar-Agasi, and, proceeding all alone to the gate, +commanded that it should be flung open. + +While this was being done Thomar pressed close up to him, and seizing +the prince's hand, kissed it, at the same time whispering in his ear, +"Go not; we will defend you if you remain here." + +The prince pressed Thomar's hand and whispered back, "I must go; you +keep on defending the Seraglio!" And with that he embraced the youth +and kissed him twice with great fervor. + +Thomar was somewhat startled by this burning, affectionate kiss, and +wondered what it meant. The darkness did not allow him to distinguish +the prince's features; and when he tried to detain him once more the +prince hastily disengaged himself and stepped forth from under the +dark vault among the Janissaries. + +Thomar covered his eyes with his hands; he did not want to see the +fate of the prince at that moment. It was quite possible that the +blood-thirsty might cut him down on the spot in a sudden access of +fury. + +The prince stepped forth among the rebels. + +At that moment a cry of unbridled joy, triumph, and blood-thirstiness +burst from the Janissaries. It needed but one of them to raise his +hand, and the next would speedily have completed the bloodiest deed of +all. + +But the prince stood before them haughtily and valiantly, and, with +amazing audacity, cried to them, "Down on your knees before me, ye +rebels!" + +At these words Thomar, with a start of terror, looked at the prince. +The full light of the torches fell upon his charming face. It was not +Abdul Mejid, but--Milieva! They had dressed her inside the harem in +garments suitable to the Feast of Bairam, and she had come out instead +of the prince, courageously, as if she had been born to it. Who was +likely to notice the change? The heart of this odalisk loved to play a +manly part, and it was not merely the masculine garb she wore which +transformed her, but the masculine soul within her. + +The Janissaries, moreover, were dumfounded by this bold attitude. This +graceful, noble figure stood face to face with them and domineered the +mob with a commanding look, proudly, majestically, as became a born +ruler. And yet death hovered over the head of him who dared to say, "I +am the prince!" + +Thomar, forgetting himself, seized his sword, and would have rushed to +the defence of his sister but his comrades held him back. "What would +you do, unhappy wretch? Trust to Fate!" + +Kara Makan, in savage defiance, approached the false prince with a +drawn sword in his hand. + +"On your knees before me!" cried the odalisk, and indicating where he +should kneel with an imperious gesture, she looked steadily into the +eyes of the savage warrior. + +The ferocious figure stood hesitatingly before her. The magic of her +look held the wild beast in him spellbound for an instant. His +bloodshot eyes slowly drooped, his hand, with its flashing sword, sank +down by his side, his knees gave way beneath him, and, falling down at +the feet of the young child, he submissively murmured a salaam, +kissing her hand and laying his bloody sword at her feet. + +Milieva pressed her right hand on the head of the subdued rebel, +looked proudly and fearlessly upon the dumb-stricken rebels, and then, +raising the sword and giving it back to Kara Makan, she cried, "Go +before and open a way for me!" + +As if in obedience to a magic word, the crowd parted on both sides +before her, and Kara Makan, with his sword over his shoulder, led the +way along. The crowd, with an involuntary homage, made way for her +everywhere from the Seraglio to the Seven Towers, and two +torch-bearers walked by her side, between whom she marched as proudly +as if she were making her triumphal progress. Nobody perceived the +deception. The resemblance of the young face to that of the prince, +the well-known festal raiment of the Feast of Bairam, her manly +bearing, all combined to keep up the delusion, and amongst this +_canaille_ which held her in its power there was not a single +dignitary who knew the prince intimately and might have detected the +fraud. + +The Sultan had just been thrust into the dungeon of the Seven Towers, +that place of dismal memories for the Sultans and their families in +general. In that octagonal chamber, whose round windows overlooked the +sea, more than one mortal sigh had escaped from the lips of the +descendants of Omar, whom a powerful faction or a triumphant rival +had, sooner or later, condemned to death. + +It was now morning, the uproar of the rebellion had died away outside, +the Seraglio was no longer besieged. It was now that Kara Makan +appeared before the Sultan. + +The Padishah was sitting on the ground--on the bare ground. His royal +robes were still upon him, a diamond aigrette sparkled in the turban +of the Caliph, and there he sat upon the ground, and never took his +eyes off it. + +"Your majesty!" cried Kara Makan, addressing him. + +The Padishah, as if he had not heard, looked apathetically in front of +him, and not a muscle of his face changed. + +"Sire, I stand before thee to speak to thee in the name of the Moslem +people." + +He might just as well have been speaking to a marble statue. + +"Every storm proceeds from Allah, sire, and nothing which Allah does +is done without cause. When the lightnings are scattered abroad from +the hands of the angel Adramelech, is not the air beneath them heavy +with curses? and when the living earth quakes beneath the towns that +are upon it, shall not innocently spilled blood shake it still more? +So also the Moslem people rising in rebellion is the instrument of +Allah, and Allah knoweth the causes thereof. I will guard my tongue +against telling these causes to thee; thou knowest them right well +already, nor is it for me to reprove the anointed successor of the +Prophet. But I beg thee, sire, to promise me and the people, in the +name of Allah, that thou wilt do what it beseemeth the ruler of the +Ottoman nation to do--promise to remedy our wrongs, and we will set +thee again upon thy throne." + +At these words Mahmoud fixed his eyes upon the speaker, and gazed long +upon those dark features, as sinister as an eclipse of the sun. Then +he arose, turned away, and replied in a low voice, hissing with +contempt: + +"The Sultan owes no reply to his servants." + +Kara Makan's face was convulsed at these words. Scarce was he able to +stifle his wrath, and he replied, in broken sentences: + +"Sire, the lion is the king of the desert--but if he is in a cage--he +listens to the voice of his keeper--thou knowest this hand, which hath +fought for thee in many engagements--and thou knowest that whatever +this hand seizeth it seizeth with a grasp of iron." + +The Sultan pondered long. Then all at once he seemed to bethink him of +something, for his face seemed to lose its severity, and he turned +towards the Janissary leader with a mild, indulgent look. + +"What, then, dost thou require?" This softened look concealed the +genesis of the thought--the Janissaries must be wiped off the face of +the earth. "What dost thou require?" said the Padishah, softly. + +Kara Makan put on an important look, as of one who knows that the fate +of empires is in his hands. + +"Hearken to our desires. We are honest Mussulmans. We do not ask +impossibilities. If thou canst convince us that our demands are +unlawful, we renounce them; if thou canst not convince us, accomplish +them." + +Mahmoud's lips wore a bitter smile at this wise speech. + +"I do not strive with you," he replied. "Ye command me. The Caliph of +caliphs listens to his servants. Bring hither parchment and an +ink-horn, and dictate to my pen what ye demand. The Sultan will be +your scribe, great rebel!" + +Kara Makan was not bright enough to penetrate the irony of these +words; nay, rather, he felt himself flattered by the humility of the +Sultan's speech. With haughty self-assurance he bared his bosom and +drew forth a large roll of manuscript. + +"I will save your majesty the trouble," said he to Mahmoud, smoothing +out the document before him. "Behold, it is all ready. Thou hast only +to write thy name beneath it." + +"Will ye allow me to read it?" inquired the Sultan, with the same +bitter smile; "or is it the wish of the people that I should sign it +unread?" + +"As your majesty pleases." + +Mahmoud took up the documents one after another, and piled them up +beside him as he read them. + +"Ah! the appointment of a new seraskier! I will read no further. I +agree, but I would know his name. Is he whom you desire fit for the +post?" + +"We want Kurshid," explained Kara Makan, perceiving that the Sultan +had not read the document. + +"And the Janissaries demand other rewards for themselves. 'Tis only +natural: I grant them. They cannot be expected to storm the Seraglio +for nothing. The chief treasurer will pay you whatever you require. +This third article, too, I see, demands the capture of Janina. Be it +so. I grant it. Most probably the whole Janissary host will want to go +against Ali Pasha." + +"So long as thou art at their head," said Kara Makan, somewhat +disturbed. "The Janissaries are only bound to fight under the direct +command of the Sultan." + +"And all these other demands are equally reasonable, eh?" said the +Sultan, just glancing at one or two of them. + +He took up the last one, but when he had unfolded it his face +darkened, and he suddenly leaped to his feet, his good-natured apathy +changed into wrath and fierceness, and, striking the open document +with his fist, he exclaimed, with an access of emotion: + +"What's this? Are ye so bold as to expect me to sign this paper?" + +Kara Makan was so well prepared for this outburst of anger on the +Sultan's part that he was not in the least taken aback. With rustic +stolidity he replied: + +"We wish it, and we demand it." + +"Do you know what is written in this document?" + +"Yes; that thou must free the realm from foreigners; that thou must +put the Russian ambassador Stroganov on board ship and send him home; +refuse to admit French and English ships into the Bejkoz; send the +Sultana Valideh far away to Damascus; and slay the Grand Vizier, the +Kizlar-Aga, the Berber Pasha, and the Kapudan Pasha, and give their +bodies to the people." + +The Grand Signior contemptuously threw the document to the floor and +trampled it beneath his feet. + +"Shameless filibusterers," he cried; "not blood but money is what you +want. Ye want permission not to deliver the realm, but to plunder it. +And you expect the Padishah to sanction it! Did not you yourselves +raise the Viziers to power? Were not you the cause of their not being +able to make any use of that power? Whenever the arms of the Giaours +were triumphant, were you not always the first to fly from the field +of battle? And when the realm was sinking, were you not always the +last to hasten to its assistance? You are no descendants, but the mere +shadows of those glorious Janissaries whose names are written with +letters of blood in the annals of foreign nations; but ye make but a +poor and wretched figure therein. Kill me, then! I shall not be the +first Sultan whom the Janissaries have murdered, but, in Allah's name +I say it, I shall be the last. After me, either nobody will sit on the +throne of Omar, or, if any one sits there, he will be your ruin." + +The opposition of his august captive only restored the Janissary +leader to his proper element. He felt much more at home with those +wrathful eyes than with the previous contemptuous nonchalance. He +could now give back like for like. + +He picked up the crumpled document, in which were written the +death-sentences of the Viziers, and, brushing off the dust, again +presented it to the Sultan. + +"Either sign this document or descend from the throne of the family of +Omar, and we will seek us out from among the descendants of the +Prophet another who shall reign in thy stead." + +"Most abject of slaves! In thy pride thou knowest not what thou +sayest! Death comes from Allah and none can avoid it; but who amongst +the descendants of Omar would be powerful enough to seize the royal +sceptre, and who would be senseless enough to desire it?" + +"Look at me." + +"I am looking. The sun does not soil itself by shining upon a swamp, +and therefore I may look even at thee; but I see nothing in thee that +would justify the adorning of thy head with a diadem so long as one +of the descendants of Sulaiman the Magnificent is alive." + +"Another word and thou shalt cease to live!" cried the desperado, +haughtily throwing back his head before the Sultan. "Art thou aware +that thy son Abdul Mejid is in our hands?" + +The Sultan shuddered. His consternation at these words was written in +every feature. + +"My son, Abdul Mejid? Impossible!" + +"So it is. The Sultana Valideh gave him up at our request." + +"Oh, madness!" exclaimed the Sultan; and he began pacing to and fro. + +Abdul Mejid was still a mere child. The shock of such a rebellion +might easily make an epileptic of him. To deliver him into the hands +of these rebels was as good as to sign his death-warrant. Even if they +did not kill him outright, his nerves might suffer from their +violence, and he might perish, as the two and twenty other children of +Sultan Mahmoud had perished, every one of whom had died of epilepsy. +Their delicate nervous constitutions had been shattered in their youth +under the influence of that perpetual terror to which the children of +the Caliph of caliphs had been exposed from time immemorial. What, +then, might not happen to Abdul Mejid if he fell into the hands of +this savage mob? + +"Oh, ye are hell's own children! Ye are worse than the Giaours, worse +than the Greeks, worse than the Muscovites! Ye do place your feet on +the heads of your rulers!" + +The despair of the Sultan emboldened the Janissary still further. + +"Sign this document, or thy son shall die in our hands!" + +"Miserable cowards!" moaned the Sultan. "And cowards they also who +should have defended him! Did not even his mother defend him? Was it +necessary to give him up?" + +"He is in no danger," said Kara Makan; "nay, he is in a safe place. It +rests with thee to receive him back into thy arms;" and he shoved +towards him again the soiled and crumpled manuscript. + +The Padishah, overcome by the shock of his own feelings, humiliated by +the sense of his own soft-heartedness, tottered to the wall, and when +his groping hands came in contact with the cold marble he collapsed +altogether, and leaning against it, he pressed his burning temples to +the cold stone. The Janissary might now say whatever he would, the +Sultan neither listened to nor answered him. + +At last the rough warrior, who had jumped so suddenly into power, +shouted angrily to his comrades, who were cooling their heels outside, +"Bring hither the prince!" + +The Sultan heard the pattering of many footsteps in the corridor +outside, and the clashing of swords mingled with the murmuring of +voices, but he did not look in that direction. + +"Behold!" cried Kara Makan, advancing towards him, "here is thy son! A +drawn sword hovers above his head! Choose either to see thine own name +at the foot of that paper or his head at thy feet!" + +Mahmoud trembled, but he answered nothing, nor did he turn his head. + +"Write, or thy son dies!" cried a number of the Janissaries, suddenly. + +Then a musical, familiar voice responded amidst the wild uproar: + +"My father! hearken not unto them! Let them slay me if they be valiant +enough, but chaffer not with thy slaves!" + +Mahmoud looked up in astonishment at this well-known voice, and saw +before him a handsome figure in the prince's garments and with a proud +and majestic countenance; but that face, though familiar to him and +very dear, was not his son's face. Ah, it was Milieva! + +The odalisk perceived that Mahmoud's features softened, that he looked +tenderly upon her; and as if she feared that the Sultan might yield +out of compassion towards her, she hastily turned her flaming face to +the Janissaries and exclaimed: + +"Ye blood-thirsty dogs of Samound! who bay down the sun from the +heavens, accomplish your bloody work! Forward, ye valiant heroes, with +whose backs alone the enemy is familiar, fall upon me in twos and +threes, if any one of you has not the courage to plunge his steel +single-handed into the heart of the last scion of Omar's stock! My +death will not constrain the Sultan to bargain with you. Kill me while +you have power over me, for if ever I have power over you I will not +weep before you, as ye have seen Mahmoud and Selim weep; but I will so +utterly destroy you that even he who wears a garment like unto yours, +even he who shall mention your name, shall pronounce his own doom." + +The infuriated rebels raised their flashing swords above the head of +the presumptuous child at these menacing words; another moment and she +would have lain in the dust. But Mahmoud arose, spurned them aside +from the prince, as they supposed him to be, and taking from the hands +of Kara Makan the document and writing materials, signed his name +beneath it. Milieva seized the Sultan's hand to prevent him from +writing, but he tenderly kissed her on the forehead and gently +whispered, "Rather would I lose the whole world than thee," and with +that he placed in the hands of the Janissaries the subscribed +death-warrants. + +After obtaining these concessions, the rebels grew calmer, the Sultan +proclaimed amnesty for all offenders, appointed the chief brawlers to +high offices, and distributed money amongst them from the treasury. + +Peace was thus restored. The Sultan and the sham prince returned to +the Seraglio, accompanied all the way by a vast throng, and the whole +square by the fountains of Ibrahim was filled by the well-known +turbans of the Janissaries, who, in the joy of their insulting +triumph, shouted long life to the humiliated Padishah. + +Mahmoud surveyed the huzzaing throng, where, man to man, they stood so +tightly squeezed together that nothing could be distinguished but a +sea of heads. And the Sultan thought to himself, "What a fine thing it +would be to sweep all those heads away at one stroke!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +KURSHID PASHA + + +Gaskho Bey, the incapable giant, was captured by the Suliotes in a +night attack, his army was scattered beneath the walls of Janina, and +Ali Pasha became once more the absolute master of Epirus. + +Then, like lightning fallen from heaven, unexpectedly, unforeseen, a +man came from Thessalonica whose name was shortly to ring through half +the world. The name of this man was Kurshid Pasha. + +He was a man of a puny, meagre frame, his features were widely +divergent from the characteristic Ottoman type, for he had a delicate +profile, a bright blond beard and mustache, and blue eyes with +flexible eyebrows, all of which gave a peculiar character to his face, +which showed unmistakable traces of a penetrating mind and cool +courage. + +Ten thousand warriors accompanied the new commander to Janina, which +grew into thirty thousand at the very first battle. Kleon's and +Ypsilanti's armies were routed, and Gaskho Bey's scattered squadrons +rallied around the banners of the victor. + +While Ali Pasha was defending Janina, the leaders of the Greek +insurgents besieged the fortress of Arta, which Salikh Bey defended +with a small garrison. + +Kurshid's predecessor, Gaskho Bey, had committed the error of +besieging Janina and endeavoring to relieve Arta at the same time, and +thus he came to grief at both places. The new commander acted on a +different plan. He knew well that not a head amongst all the Greek +rebels was half so dangerous as Ali Tepelenti's; so, leaving Salikh +Pasha to his fate, he directed all his energies against Janina. + +A man indeed hath come against thee, O Ali Pasha! A man as valiant, as +crafty as thou; if thou be a fox, he is an eagle of the rocks, that +pounces down on the fox; and if thou be a tiger, he is the +boa-constrictor which infolds and crushes the tiger. + +Ali urged Kleon and Artemis to hasten to his assistance. His +messengers did not return to the fortress. The Greek leaders gave no +reply to his summons. Anybody else would have found some consolatory +explanation of their remissness, but Ali divined things better. The +Greeks said amongst themselves, "Let the old monster tremble in his +ditch; let them close him in and hold him tight. He will be +constrained to make a life-and-death struggle to save his old beard. +When we have captured Arta, and when our detested ally" (for they did +detest him in spite of his being their good friend) "is at the very +last gasp, then we will go to the rescue, relieve him, and let him +live a little longer." + +Tepelenti was well aware that they spoke of him in this way. He knew +well that they hated him, and would gladly leave him to perish. The +only reason the Greeks had for allying themselves with Ali was that +his fortress was filled with an enormous store of treasure, arms, and +muniments of war; his gray head was the pivot of the whole rebellion. + +If the fortress were taken, they would be deprived of this strong +pivot, those treasures, that gray head! + +One day the Suliotes encamped before Arta heard the terrible tidings +that Kurshid Pasha had captured Lithanizza and La Gulia, the two +outlying forts of the stronghold of Janina, and had driven Ali back +into the fortress. The tidings filled them with consternation. If +Janina were lost, the whole Greek insurrection would lose the source +of its supplies. The treasures which Ali had scattered amongst the +Greeks with a prodigal hand would at once fall into the hands of the +Sultan, and then he would be able to secure Epirus at a single blow. + +A Greek army under Marco Bozzari immediately set out from Arta to +relieve Janina. Ali knew of it beforehand. Bozzari's spies had crept +through Kurshid's camp into Janina, and signified to Ali that their +leaders were on their way to "The Five Wells," and that he should send +forth an army to meet them. + +"There is no necessity for it," replied Ali, with a cold smile. "I am +quite capable of defending myself in Janina for three months against +any force that may be brought against me. It is much more necessary to +capture Arta. Go back, therefore, and say to Marco Bozzari, 'Come not +to Janina, but go against Salikh Pasha. Tepelenti is sufficient for +himself in Janina.'" + +Bozzari understood the old lion's hint. He did not wish the Greek +forces to get into Janina, he preferred to defend himself to the very +last bastion. All the forces he had consisted of four hundred and +thirty Albanians, but this number was quite sufficient to serve the +guns. Even if but a tenth of this force remained to him, that would be +amply sufficient to defend the red tower, and if the worst came to the +worst, Ali alone would be sufficient to blow the place into the air. + +Here Ali had accumulated all his treasures, all his arms, his +garments, his correspondence with the princes of half the universe, +his young damsels. In the cellar below the tower were piled up a +thousand barrels of gunpowder, a long match reached from one of these +barrels to Ali's chamber, and there a couple of torches were always +burning by his side. + +Whoever wanted Ali's head had better come for it! + +So Bozzari returned to Arta, and not very long afterward the Greek +army took the place by storm. In the whole fortress they did not find +powder enough to fill a hole in the barrel; the Turkish army had, in +fact, fired away its very last cartridge. + +Ali had once more the satisfaction of seeing one of his enemies, +Salikh Pasha, prostrate. Hitherto all who had fought against him had +been his furious haters, personal enemies, enviers of his fortune; +and, bitter hater as he was, it was with a strong feeling of +satisfaction that Tepelenti saw them all bite the dust; but this +Kurshid was quite indifferent to him, and knew nothing either of his +fury or his intrigues. He had never been Ali's enemy, and had no +reason for hating him. This thought made Ali uneasy. + +It had often been Ali's experience that when any one who greatly hated +him came during a siege or a battle within shooting distance of him, +and he then pointed a gun at him, the ball so fired seemed to fly on +the wings of his own savage fury, and would hit its man even at a +thousand paces; but Kurshid often took a walk near the trenches, and +though they fired at him one gun after another, not a bullet went near +him. + +"Let him alone," said Ali; "we shall never be able to kill this man." +And his old energy left him as if he had suddenly become crippled. + +He invited Kurshid Pasha to intercede for him with the Sultan, that he +might be restored to favor, offering in such case to place his +treasures at the disposal of the Grand Signior, and turn his arms +against the Greeks. Kurshid demanded an assurance to this effect in +writing, and when Ali complied, Kurshid sent the document, not to the +Sultan at Stambul but to the Suliotes at Arta, that they might see how +ready Ali was to betray them. The Greeks, in disgust, abandoned Ali. +This last treachery dismayed them at the very zenith of their triumph; +they perceived that a mighty antagonist had risen against them in +Kurshid Pasha, who was magnanimous enough not to make use of traitors, +but spurn them with contempt. This intellectual superiority guaranteed +the success of Kurshid's arms. The Turkish commander had been acute +enough to extend the hand of reconciliation, not to Ali, but to the +Suliotes. + +Tepelenti waited in vain in the tower of Janina for the arrival of the +army of deliverance. The Suliotes returned to their villages, and +Artemis reflected with secret joy that in the very red tower in which +Ali had decapitated her plighted lover, he himself now sat in his +despair, environed by foes, waiting with the foolish hope that the +embittered Suliotes would hasten to deliver him. + +The Epirote rebellion was already subdued by Kurshid Pasha, and only +one point in the whole empire now glowed with a dangerous fire--the +haughty Janina. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +CARETTO + + +Ali had now only about room enough to cover his head. His enemies had +twenty times as much, and they besieged him night and day. The +fortress on the hill of Lithanizza and the Isle of La Gulia were in +Kurshid's power already. + +Still the old warrior did not surrender. The bombs thrown into the +fortress levelled his palaces with the ground. His marble halls were +reduced to rubbish heaps, his kiosks were smoking ruins, and his +splendid gardens lay buried, obliterated. Yet, for all that, Ali Pasha +vomited back his wrath upon the besiegers out of eighty guns, and it +happened more than once that hidden mines exploded beneath the more +forward advanced of the enemy's batteries, blowing guns and gunners +into the air. + +The defence was conducted by an Italian engineer whom Ali had enticed +into his service in his luckier days with the promise of enormous +treasures and detained ever since. This Italian's name was Caretto. It +was his science that had made Janina so strong. The clumsy valor of +the Turkish gunners fell to dust before the strategy of the Italian +engineer. Of late Caretto was much exercised by the thought that he +might be discharged without a farthing, but discharge was now out of +the question. If Caretto were outside the gates of Janina, then the +fate of Janina would be in his hands, for every bastion, every +subterranean mine, every corner of the fortress was known to him. + +Now at home in Palermo was Caretto's betrothed, who, as the daughter +of a wealthy family, could only be his if he also had the command of +riches; and that was the chief reason why the youth had accepted the +offer of the tyrant of Epirus. And now tidings reached him from Sicily +that the parents of his bride were dead, and that she was awaiting him +with open arms; let him only come to her, poor fellow, even if he +brought nothing with him but the beggar's staff. And go he could not, +for Ali Pasha held him fast. He had to point the guns, and send forth +hissing bullets amongst the besiegers, and defend the fortress to the +last, while his beloved bride awaited him at home. + +One day, as Caretto was directing the guns, a grenade fired from the +heights of Lithanizza burst over his head and struck out his left eye. +Caretto asked himself bitterly whether his bride would be able to love +him with a face so disfigured. Henceforth he went about constantly +with a black bandage about his wounded face, and the besiegers called +him "the one-eyed Giaour." + +One fine morning in February Kurshid Pasha again directed a fierce +fire against the fortress. The siege guns had now arrived which the +army had used against Cassandra, and after a three hours' cannonade, +the destructive effect of the new battery was patent, for the tower of +the northern bastion lay in ruins. Ali Pasha galloped furiously up and +down the bastions, stimulating and threatening the gunners with a +drawn sword in his hand. Whoever quitted his place instantly fell a +victim beneath Ali's own hand. Caretto was standing nonchalantly +beside a gabion, whence he directed the fire of the most powerful of +all the batteries, each gun of which was a thirty-six pounder. The +guns of this battery discharged thirty balls each every hour. + +All at once the battery stopped firing. + +Transported with rage, Ali Pasha at once came galloping up to Caretto. + +"Why don't you go on firing?" he cried. + +"Because it is impossible," replied the engineer, coolly folding his +arms. + +"Why is it impossible," thundered the pasha, his whole body convulsed +with rage, which the coolness of the Italian raised to fever heat. + +"Because the guns are red-hot from incessant firing." + +"Then throw water upon them!" cried Ali, and with that he dismounted +from his horse. + +Caretto, for the life of him, could not help laughing at this +senseless command. Whereupon Tepelenti suddenly leaped upon him and +struck him in the face, so that his cap flew far away, right off the +bastion. He had struck Caretto on the very spot where Kurshid Pasha's +grenade had lacerated his face a few weeks before. + +The Italian readjusted over his eye the bandage, which had been +knocked all awry by the blow, and observed, with a cold affectation of +mirth: + +"You did well, sir, to strike my face on the spot where one eye had +been knocked out already, for if you had struck me on the other side +you might have knocked out the other eye also, and then how could I +have pointed your guns?" + +Ali, however, pretended to take no notice, but directed that the guns +should be douched with cold water and then reloaded; he himself fired +the first. The cannon the same instant burst in two and smashed the +leg of a cannonier standing close to it. + +"It does not matter," cried Ali; "load the others, too." + +When the second cannon also burst he dashed the match to the ground, +threw himself on his horse, and galloped off, quivering in every nerve +as if shaken by an ague. + +The Italian, however, with the utmost _sang-froid_, ordered that the +exploded cannons should be removed and fresh ones fetched from the +arsenal and put in their places, and set them in position amidst a +shower of bullets from the besiegers. When the battery was ready the +enemy withdrew their siege guns, and till the next day not another +shot was fired against Janina. + +Tepelenti was well aware that he had mortally offended Caretto, and he +had learned to know men (especially Italians) only too well to imagine +for an instant that Caretto, for all his jocoseness on the occasion, +would ever forget that cowardly and ungrateful blow. For, indeed, it +was an act of the vilest ingratitude. What! to strike the wound which +the man had received on his account! To strike a European officer in +the face! Ali was well aware that such a thing could never be +pardoned. + +The same night he sent for two gunners and ordered them not to lose +sight of Caretto for an instant, and if he attempted to escape to +shoot him down there and then. + +Next day Caretto was unusually good-humored. Early in the morning he +went out upon the ramparts, which were then covered with freshly +fallen snow. The winter seemed to be pouring forth its last venom, and +the large flakes fell so thickly that one could not see twenty paces +in advance. + +"This is just the weather for an assault," said Caretto in a loud +voice to the Turks standing around him; "in such wild weather one +cannot see the enemy till he stands beneath the very ramparts. I will +be so bold as to maintain that Kurshid's bands are likely to steal +upon us under cover of this thick snow-storm. I should like to fire a +random shot from the ramparts to let them know we are awake." + +Many thought his anxiety just. Ali Pasha was also there, and he said +nothing either for or against the proposal. + +Caretto hoisted a cannon to the level of the ramparts of Lithanizza +and fastened a long chain to the gun whereby his group of Albanians +could raise and lower it. + +"Leave the chain upon it," said Caretto, "for we may have to turn it +in another direction." + +Nevertheless it was in a good position already. Caretto calculated his +distances with his astrolabe, then pointed the gun and ordered it to +be loaded. + +The two gunners whom Ali had set to watch him never took their eyes +off the Italian; both of them had loaded pistols in their hands. +Caretto did not seem to observe that they were watching him; he might +have thought that they were there to help him. + +The gun had to be turned now to the right and now to the left. +Caretto himself took aim, but the clumsy Albanians kept on pushing the +heavy laffette either a little too much on this side or a little too +much on that, till at last he cried to the two watchers behind him: + +"Just lend a hand and help these blockheads!" They stooped +mechanically to raise the laffette. "Enough!" cried the Italian, and +with that he put his hand on the touch-hole. "Now fire!" he cried to +the artilleryman, at the same time removing his hand. + +The match descended, there was a thunderous report, and the same +instant Caretto seized the chain wound round the wheel of the cannon, +and, lowering himself from the ramparts, glided down the chain. + +The watchers, with the double velocity of rage and fear, rushed to the +breastwork of the ramparts. Caretto had got to the end of the chain +and was grasping it with both hands; below him yawned a depth of +thirty feet. The chain was not long enough, and there he was suspended +between two deaths. + +"Come back," cried the watchers, aiming their pistols at his head, "or +we will shoot you through and through!" + +Caretto cast a wild glance upward, the bandage fell from his bloody +eye, and he looked at them with the dying fury of a desperately +wounded wild beast. Then suddenly he kicked himself clear of the wall +by a sharp movement of his foot, and describing the arc of a circle, +he plunged into the depth beneath him like a rebounding bullet. The +Albanians fired after him, but neither of them hit him. Below, at the +foot of the bastion, the daring Italian lay motionless for a moment, +but then he quickly rose to his feet and began to clamber up the other +side of the ditch. He could only make use of one arm, for the other +had been dislocated in his fall. Straining all his might, he struggled +up; a whole shower of bullets pursued him and whistled about his head, +but not one of them hit him, for the heavy snowfall made it difficult +to take aim. At last he reached the top of the opposite side of the +trench, and then he turned round and shook his fist at the devastating +fortress, and disappeared in a heavy snow-drift. The gunners kept on +firing after him at random for some time. + +Ali Pasha turned pale and almost fell from his horse when the tidings +reached him that Caretto had escaped. + +"It is all over now!" cried he in despair, broke his sword in two, and +shut himself up in the red tower. In the outer court-yard they saw him +no more. + +Ali knew for certain that with the departure of Caretto the last +remains of his power had vanished; his stronghold and its resources +were hopelessly ruined if any one revealed their secrets to his +enemies outside. Caretto knew everything, and "the one-eyed Giaour" +was received with great triumph in the camp of Kurshid Pasha. The next +day Ali Pasha had bitter experience of the fact that the hand which +had hitherto defended him was now turned against him. Within nine +hours a battery, constructed by Caretto, had made a breach thirty +fathoms wide in the outworks of Janina; the other cannons of the +besiegers were set up in places whither Ali's mines did not extend, +and when he made new ones they were immediately rendered inoperative +by countermining, and at last Caretto discovered the net-work of +hidden tunnels at the head of the bridge, although they had been +carefully buried, and after a savage struggle forced his way through +them into the fortress. The Albanians fought desperately, but Ali's +enemies, who could afford to shed their blood freely, forced their way +through and planted their scaling-ladders against the side of the +fortress opposite the island, and where the _débris_ of the +battered-down wall filled up the ditch they crossed over and occupied +the breach. In the evening, after a fierce combat in the court-yard, +Tepelenti's forces were cut to pieces one by one, and he himself, with +seventy survivors, took refuge in the red tower. + +So only the red tower now remained to him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +EMINAH + + +The vanquished lion was shut up within a space six yards square; a +narrow tower into all four windows of which his enemies were peeping +was now his sole possession! There he sits in that octagonal chamber, +in which he had passed so many memorable moments. Perhaps now, as he +leaned his heavy head upon his hand, the remembrance of those moments +passed before his mind's eye like a procession of melancholy shadows. +Around him lay his treasures in shining piles; heaps of gold and +silver, massive gold plate, the spoils of sanctuaries, sparkling gems, +lay scattered about the floor higgledy-piggledy, like so much sand or +gravel. + +Of all his kinsfolk, of all his warriors, not one was present with +him; all had fallen on the battle-field, fighting either with him or +against him. Of the seventy warriors who had taken refuge with him in +the tower, sixty-four had deserted him. Kurshid had promised a pardon +to the renegades, and only six remained with Ali. Why did these six +remain? Ali had not told them not to leave him. + +These faithful ones were keeping guard in his antechamber, and for +some little time they had been whispering together. + +At last they went in to Ali. + +Tepelenti looked them every one through and through. He could read +what they wanted in their confused looks and their unsteady eyes. He +did not wait for them to speak, but said, with a wave of his hand: + +"Go! leave me; you are the last. Go where the others have gone; save +yourselves. Life is sweet; live long and happily. I will remain here. +Tepelenti can die alone." + +Sighing deeply, the soldiers turned away. They durst not raise their +eyes to the face of the gray-haired veteran. Noiselessly, without a +word, on the tips of their toes, five of them withdrew. But the sixth +remained there still, and, after casting about for a word for some +time, said, at last, to Ali: + +"Oh, sir, cast the fulness of pride from thy heart, suffer not thy +name to perish! The Sultan is merciful; bow thy head before him and he +will still be gracious to thee!" + +The soldier had scarce uttered the last word of this recommendation +when Ali softly drew a pistol from his girdle and shot him through the +head, so that he spun round and fell backward across the threshold. +This was all the reward he got for advising Ali to ask for mercy. + +And now Ali is alone. His doors, his gates stand wide open; anybody +who so pleases can go in and out. Why, then, does nobody come to seize +the solitary veteran? why do they fear to cross the threshold of the +vanquished foe? + +But hearken! fresh footsteps are resounding on the staircase, and +through the open door, guarded by the corpse of the last soldier whom +Ali slew, a strange man entered, dressed in an unusual, new-fangled +uniform; he was Kurshid Pasha's silihdar. + +Tepelenti allowed him to approach within five paces of where he sat, +and then beckoned him to stop. + +"Speak; what dost thou want?" + +"Ali Tepelenti," said the silihdar, "surrender. Thou hast nothing left +in the world and nobody to aid thee. My master, the seraskier, Kurshid +Pasha, hath sent me to thee that I might receive thy sword and escort +thee to his camp." + +Tepelenti, with the utmost _sang-froid_, drew forth from the folds of +his caftan a magnificent gold watch in an enamelled case set with +diamonds. + +"Hearken!" said he, in a low, soft voice. "It is now twenty minutes +past ten; take this watch and keep it as a souvenir of me. Greet +Kurshid Pasha from me, and point out to him that it was twenty minutes +past ten when you spoke with me, and let him take notice that if after +twenty minutes past eleven I can see from the windows of this tower a +single hostile soldier in the court-yard of the fortress, then--I +swear it by the mercies of Allah!--I will blow the fortress into the +air, with every living soul within it. Inform Kurshid Pasha of this +when you give him my salutation." + +The silihdar hastened off, and at a quarter to eleven not a soul was +to be seen in the court-yard of the fortress of Janina. Alive in his +citadel sits Ali Tepelenti, the tyrant of Epirus, mighty even in his +fall, who has nothing and nobody left, save only his indomitable +heart. + +Night descended upon the fortress of Janina, but sleep did not descend +upon the eyes of Ali. + +He sat in that red tower where he had perpetrated his crimes, in that +chamber where his victims had breathed forth the last sighs of their +tortured lives, and all round about glittering treasures looked upon +Ali as if with eyes of fire--all of it the price of robbery, fraud, +treason. What if these things could speak? + +Everything was silent, night lay black before the eyes of men, only +Ali saw shadows moving about therein, phantoms with pale, phantoms +with bloody faces, who rose from the tomb to visit their persecutor +and announce to him the hour of his death. + +Ali trembled not before them; he had seen them at other times also. He +had slept face to face with the severed head that spoke to him, he had +listened to the enigmatical words of the _dzhin_ of Seleucia, and he +called them to mind again now. Calmly he looked back upon the current +of his past life, from which so many horrible shapes arose and glared +at him with cold, stony eyes. He recked them not, Allah had so ordered +it. The hare nibbles the root, the vulture devours the hare, the +hunter shoots the vulture, the lion fells the hunter, and the worm +eats the lion. What, after all, is Ali? Naught but a greater worm than +the rest. He has devoured much, and now a stronger than he devours +him, and a still greater worm will devour this stronger one also. + +Everything was fulfilled which had been prophesied concerning him. His +own sons, his own wife, his own arms had fought against him. If only +his wife had not done this he could have borne the rest. + +"One, two," the decapitated head had said, and the last moments of +the two years were just passing away. "The hand which wipes out the +deeds of the mighty shall at last blot out thy deeds also, and thou +shalt be not a hero whom the world admires, but a slave whom it +curses. Those whom thou didst love will bless the hour of thy death, +and thy enemies will weep, and God will order it so to avert the ruin +of thy nation." + +So it is, so it has chanced; the hazard of the die has gone against +him, and he has nothing left. + +If only his wife had not betrayed him! + +At other times also Ali had seen these phantoms of the night arise. He +had seen them rise from the tomb pale and bloody; but in his heart +there had always been a sweet refuge, the charming young damsel whose +childlike face and angelic eyes had robbed the evil sorcery of all its +power. When Tepelenti covered his gray head with her long, thick, +flowing locks, he reposed behind them as in the shade of Paradise, +whither those heart-tormenting memories could not pursue him. Why +should he have lost her? She was the first of all, and the dearest; +but Fate at the last would not even leave him her. + +Even now his thoughts went back to her. The pale light of that face, +that memory, lightened his solitary, darkened soul, which was as +desolate as the night outside. + +But lo! it is as if the night grew brighter; a sort of errant light +glides along the walls and a gleam of sunshine breaks unexpectedly +through the open door of the room. + +The pasha looked in that direction with amazement. Who could his +visitor be at that hour? Who is coming to drive the phantoms of +darkness from his room and from his heart? + +A pale female form, with a smile upon her face and tears in her eyes, +appears before him. She comes right up to the spot where Tepelenti is +sitting on the ground. She places her torch in an iron sconce in the +wall and stands there before the pasha. + +Ali looked at her sadly. He fancied that this also was only a dream +shape, only one of those apparitions created by a fevered mind, like +those which walked beside him headless and bloody. It was Eminah, at +whose word the devastating tempest had been unchained against the +mightiest of despots. + +Tepelenti believed neither his eyes nor his heart when he saw her thus +before him. The damsel took the old man by the hand and called him by +his name, and even now the pasha believed that the warmth of that hand +and the sweetness of that voice were only part of a dream. + +"Wherefore hast thou come?" he inquired in a whisper, or perchance he +did not ask but only dreamed that he asked. + +Yet the gracious, childlike damsel was sitting there at his feet as at +other times, and she had pillowed his gray head upon her breast and +covered his face with the tent of her long tresses, as she had done +long, long ago in the happy times that were gone. + +Oh, how sweet it would be to still live! + +"Oh, Ali Tepelenti, let go the hand of Death from thy hand and grasp +my hand instead! See how warm it is! Oh, Ali Tepelenti, rise up from +among these barrels of gunpowder, and rather lay thy head upon my +breast; hearken how it beats! Oh, Ali Tepelenti, ask mercy from the +Sultan! See, now how lovely life is!" + +Only at these words did Ali recover himself. His enemies had sought +out this woman, the only being that he loved, and sent her to him to +soothe away the rage of his soul and soften his heart with her +caresses. Oh, how well they understood his heart! + +"Kurshid Pasha swore to me that he would obtain the Sultan's favor for +thee," said Eminah, in a tone of conviction. "He wrote a letter under +his seal that thou shouldst never die beneath the hands of the +executioner; that thy death should not be a violent one, unless it +were in an honorable duel or on the field of battle. Behold, here is +the letter!" + +If at that moment Ali had listened to his heart, he must have extended +the hand of submission without any letter of amnesty, but, like an +escutcheon above a crown, pride was perched higher than his heart and +spurned the offer. + +"Allah may humble Ali, but Ali will never humble himself." + +"Then thou wilt not live with me?" asked Eminah, fixing her piteously +entreating eyes upon her husband. + +Ali shook his head in silence. + +"Then I will die with thee!" cried the damsel, with a determined +voice. + +The pasha regarded her in amazement. + +"I swear," cried Eminah, "that I will either go back with thee or die +with thee here! Dost thou hear that noise? They are slamming to the +iron gates from the outside. At this moment every exit is closed, so +that even if I wished to escape from hence I could not. These doors +can only open at a word from Ali, and they will only open once more. +Either thou wilt go with me from hence or I will remain here with +thee." + +Ali pressed the damsel to his bosom. She lay clinging there like a +tender blossom. He pressed his lips to that pale brow, and covering +her gently and gradually with his silken caftan, he whispered in a +scarcely audible voice: + +"Be it so! be it so! Here we will die together!" + +Early next morning a flourish of trumpets awoke the Lord of Janina, +the Lord of the last tower of Janina. The herald of Kurshid Pasha was +standing beneath the round windows, and delivered in a loud voice the +general's message to Ali Pasha, whereby he summoned Tepelenti to +surrender voluntarily on the strength of the solemn assurance +confirmed by oath to his wife. + +Tepelenti appeared at the window with Eminah reclining on his bosom. + +"Go back to your master," he cried to the messenger, "and tell him +that Ali and his wife have resolved to die here together. The moment +an armed host enters the court-yard of this fortress I will +immediately blow up the tower." + +In half an hour the messenger returned and again summoned Ali to the +window. + +"Kurshid Pasha sends thee this message," cried he. "If thou dost +surrender, it is well, and if thou dost not surrender, it is well +also. Thou hast still half an hour wherein thou mayest choose betwixt +life and death. After that thou mayest, if thou wilt, throw thy torch +into thy powder barrels and blow the fortress into the air. As to +thyself, Kurshid Pasha troubles himself but little. As to thy +treasures they will not remain in the air, and when they come to the +ground it will be easy to pick them up. If, however, thou dost delay +thy resolution beyond the half-hour, then Kurshid Pasha himself will +help thee in the matter, and will blow up thy tower for thee, to save +thee the trouble of blowing it up thyself. Do as thou wilt, then, and +hoist either the white or the red flag as seemeth best to thee, for in +half an hour the fortress of Janina shall see thee no more." + +Ali listened solemnly to this ultimatum, and let the messenger depart +without an answer. + +Eminah lay down on a sofa in a corner, all trembling. Ali paced the +vast chamber to and fro with long strides; but his strides became more +and more uncertain. If only this woman were not here! If only he might +be spared seeing her before him; might be spared half an hour's +deliberation as to what he was to do! Nevertheless minute after minute +sped away, and still Tepelenti could not make up his mind. Twice his +hand seized the burning torch; he had but to bend over the nearest +barrel of powder and all would be over; but on each occasion his eye +fell upon the trembling woman who lay there looking at him without a +word, and the death-bearing match fell from his hand. No, no; he was +incapable of doing the terrible deed. And now the hour struck; the +time had passed. Ali felt a pressure about his heart. Would Kurshid +accomplish his dreadful threat? + +At that instant a report sounded outside the fortress, and half a +moment later a red-hot steel bullet burst through the metal roof and +the massive vault of the tower with a violent crash. Falling heavily +on the marble floor, it rebounded thence, and, passing between the +powder-barrels, describing a wide semicircle as it went, ricocheted +once more and struck the wall opposite, in which it bored a deep hole, +whence it flashed and gleamed with a strong red glare, forcing blue +sparks from the nitrous humidity of the walls. + +Ali was now convinced that the enemy was quite capable of keeping his +promise. + +The scared woman, mad with terror, flung herself at his feet, and +snatching the white veil from her head, forced it into the pasha's +hand. + +Tepelenti hastily seized the veil, and, hanging it on the point of a +lance, hoisted it out of the round window. + +Outside the besiegers set up a shout of triumph. Eminah, kissing Ali's +hands, sank down at his feet. Tepelenti had given her more than +manhood can bear to give: for her sake he had humbled his pride to the +dust. If only he could have died as he had lived! + +"Go, now," he said to the woman, with a sigh; "go and tell my enemies +that they may come for me. I am theirs!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE SILVER PEDESTAL IN FRONT OF THE SERAGLIO + + +The emissaries of Kurshid Pasha received the veteran warrior with +great respect in the gates of the fortress, whither he went to meet +them; they showed him all the honor due to his rank; they allowed him +to retain his sword and all his other weapons. At the same time they +confirmed by word of mouth the promise which Kurshid Pasha had given +to Eminah in writing--that the executioner should never lay his hand +on Ali's head, and that he should not die a violent death, except it +were in an honorable duel or on the battle-field, which is a delight +to a true Mussulman. + +A former pleasure-house, a kiosk on the island of La Gulia, was +assigned to him as a residence for the future. There they conveyed his +favorite horses, his favorite slaves and birds, and took abundant care +of his personal comfort. + +Ali allowed them to do with him as they would. Neither threatening nor +pleasant faces made any impression upon him; he merely looked from +time to time at his wife, who had seized his hand, and never left him +for an instant. At such times softer, gentler feelings were legible in +his face; but at other times he would gaze steadily before him into +the distance, into infinity. Perhaps he was now thinking within +himself, "When shall I stand in front of the Seraglio on a silver +pedestal?" + +The _dzhin_ of Seleucia had prophesied this termination to his career. +All the other prophecies had been strictly fulfilled; this only +remained to be accomplished. + +A Mussulman's promise is stronger than his oath. Who does not remember +the story of the Moorish chieftain in whose house a Christian soldier +had taken refuge, and who begged for his protection? The Moor promised +the man his protection. Subsequently the pursuers informed the Moor +that this Christian soldier had killed his son, and still the father +would not give up the fugitive, but assisted him to escape, because of +his promise. + +"A great lord is the sea," says the Kuran; "a great lord is the storm +and the pestilence; but a greater lord still is a man's given word, +from which there is no escape." + +The Mussulman keeps his word, but beware of a play upon words, for +therein lies death. If he has sworn by the sun, avoid the moon, and if +he has promised to love thee as a brother, discover first whether he +hath not slain his brother. + +When Sulaiman adopted Ibrahim as a son, he swore that so long as he +lived no harm should befall Ibrahim. Later on, when Ibrahim fell into +disgrace, the wise Ulemas discovered a text in the Kuran according to +which he who sleeps is not alive, and they slew Ibrahim while Sulaiman +slept. + +Kurshid had given his word and a written assurance that Ali should not +die at the hand of the executioner; the document he had given to +Ali's wife, his word he had given in the presence of his whole army; +and he had escorted Ali Pasha with all due honor to the island kiosk, +permitting him to retain his weapons and the jewelled sword with which +he had won so many victories, with which he had so many times turned +the tide of the battle; nay, more, they had selected fifty of Ali's +own warriors, the bravest and the most faithful, to serve him as a +guard of honor. + +Nevertheless, a courier despatched in hot haste to Stambul announced +there, from Kurshid Pasha, that the treasures of Ali Tepelenti of +Janina were in his hands, and that a Tartar horseman would follow in +three days with the head of the old pasha. And yet at this very moment +Tepelenti's head stood firmly on his shoulders, and who would dare to +say that that head was promised away while his good sword was by his +side, and good comrades in arms were around him, and the sworn +assurance of the seraskier rested upon him? + +Eminah never quitted him for a moment. She was always with him. She +sat beside him, with her head on his breast, or at his feet, and in +her hand she carried the amnesty of the seraskier, so that if any one +should approach Ali with dangerous designs she might hold it before +his eyes like a magic buckler, and ward off the axe of the executioner +from his head. + +But there was nothing to guard against; the executioner did not +approach Ali. He received, indeed, a great many visitors, but these +were all worthy, honorable men, musirs, effendis, officers of the +army, who treated him with all respect, and sipped their sherbet-cups +most politely, and smoked their fragrant chibooks, exchanging a word +or two now and then, perhaps, and on taking their leave saluted him in +a manner befitting grave Mussulmans. + +He was allowed free access to every part of the island, and never +encountered anybody there but his own warriors. + +At such times great ideas would occur to him. Perchance with these +fifty men he might win back everything once more? And then he would +hug himself with the thought of the silver pedestal in front of the +Seraglio, where he was one day to stand, amidst the joyful plaudits of +the people; and then the night before him was not altogether dark, for +here and there he saw a gleam of hope. + +It was only Eminah who trembled. God has created woman for this very +purpose; she has the faculty of fearing instead of man, and can +foresee the danger that threatens him. + +Whence will this danger come, and in what shape? Perchance in the +dagger of the assassin? The woman's bosom stood between it and the +heart of Ali; the assassin will not be able to pierce it. In a +poisoned cup, perhaps? Eminah herself tastes of every dish, of every +glass, before they reach the hands of Ali; the power of the poison +would reach her first. + +And yet danger is near. + +One day they told Ali that an illustrious visitor was coming to see +him; Mehemet Pasha, the sub-seraskier and governor of the Morea, +wished to pay his respects to him. + +This was a great honor for the fallen general. Ali began to be +sensible that even his enemies respected him. Who knows? he might find +good friends amongst his very enemies, who would not think him too +old for use and employment even in his last remaining years. + +On the day of the visit, the kiosk was swept and garnished. Tepelenti +put on his most costly caftan, his warriors were marshalled in front +of his dwelling, and he himself went out on horseback to meet the +seraskier when he arrived, with an escort of one hundred mounted +spahis. + +Mehemet Pasha was a tall, powerful man, the hero of many a fight and +many a duel. He had often given proof of his dexterity, when the +hostile armies stood face to face, by galloping betwixt them and +challenging the bravest warriors on the other side to single combat, +and the fact that he was alive at the present moment was the best +possible proof that he had been always victorious. + +The two heroes exchanged greetings when they met, and returned +together to the pleasure-house. Ali conducted the sub-seraskier into +the inner apartments; the attendants remained outside. + +A richly spread table awaited them, and they were waited upon by a +group of young odalisks, the hand-maidens of Eminah, who sat at Ali's +feet on the left-hand side, and, as usual, tasted of every dish and +cup before she gave it to Ali. + +Pleasant conversation filled the intervals of the repast, and at the +end of it a mess of preserved pistachios was brought in and presented +to Mehemet Pasha. + +"I thank thee," said he, "and, indeed, I am very fond of them, but +piquant, hot-spiced meats always awaken within me sinful desires and a +longing for wine which is forbidden by the Prophet, and, as a good +Mussulman, I would rather avoid the occasion of sinning than suffer +the affliction of a late repentance." + +Ali laughed aloud. + +"Eat and be of good cheer, valiant seraskier," said he, "and set thy +mind at rest. What I give thee shall be wine and yet not wine--the +juice of the grape, yet still unfermented; 'tis an invention of the +Franks. This the Prophet does not forbid.[12] I have still got a case +of bottles thereof, which Bunaberdi[13] formerly sent me, and we will +now break it open in thy honor. Truly fizz is not wine, but only the +juice of the grape which they bottle before it becomes wine. It is as +harmless as milk." + +[Footnote 12: The Moslems do not include French "fizz" amongst the +canonically forbidden drinks.] + +[Footnote 13: Bonaparte.] + +Mehemet shook his head and laughed, from which one could see that the +proposition was not displeasing to him, whereupon Ali beckoned to the +odalisks to fetch the bottles from the cellar. + +Eminah, all trembling, bent over him and whispered, imploringly, "Oh, +put not wine on thy table; it will be dangerous to thee!" + +Ali smiled, and stroked his wife's head. He thought that only +religious scruples made her dissuade him from drinking the wine, so he +drew her upon his bosom and began to reassure her. + +"Say now, my one and only flower, is not Moses a prophet, like unto +Muhammad?" + +"Of a truth he is. His tent stands beside the tent of Muhammad in the +Paradise of the true Believers." + +"And yet Moses said: Give wine to them that be sorrowful! Leave the +matter then to the two prophets up above there; surely, what passes +thorough our lips does not make us sin?" + +But that was not the reason why Eminah feared the wine. + +They brought the bottles, and the liberated corks popped merrily. At +first Mehemet Pasha hesitated, but they filled his glass with fizz +and, to prevent the sparkling foam from running over, he sipped a +little of it, and quickly drained the glass, maintaining afterwards, +with a smile, that it was a similar drink to wine, but much more +pleasant. + +Ali filled once more the glass of the seraskier, while Eminah +tremulously watched his features, which gradually grew darker as he +drank. Drink has this effect on some men. + +Suddenly the sub-seraskier dashed his glass upon the table and +exclaimed, with a furious expression of countenance: + +"I'll drink no more! I'll drink no more! Thou art a villain, Ali! Thou +hast made me drink wine and hast lied to me, saying it was not wine; +but it is wine, a frightful, burning drink, which has made my head +whirl." + +"Come, come, Mehemet," said Ali, in the coaxing tone one uses to +drunken men, "be not so wrathful." + +"Speak not to me, thou dog!" thundered the other, striking the table +with his fist. "I might have known when I dismounted at thy door with +whom I had to do, thou sly, treacherous fox, thou godless renegade!" + +Ali leaped from his seat with flashing eyes, and clapped his hand on +the hilt of his sword at these words; but Eminah seized his hand, and +said to him, in a terrified whisper: + +"Draw not thy sword, Ali; show no weapons here! Dost thou not perceive +that he only came hither to fasten a quarrel upon thee?" + +Ali instantly recovered himself at these words. He saw now the snare +that had been laid for him, and calmly sat down in his place again, +crossing his legs beneath him, and, quietly taking up his chibook, +began to smoke with an air of unconcern. + +Meanwhile, Mehemet played his drunken _rôle_ still further. + +"I might have known beforehand, when I sat down at table with thee, +that I was sitting down with an accursed wretch, thou blood-thirsty +dog, who hath lapped up the blood of thy kinsfolk; but I never +ventured to imagine that thou wouldst be audacious enough to make me +drink that abominable liquid--may its sinfulness fall back again on +thine accursed head!" + +With these words Mehemet caught up the half full glass and pitched all +the wine that was in it straight between Ali's eyes, so that it +trickled down the full length of his long white beard. + +Ali, with the utmost _sang-froid_, beckoned to the attendant odalisks +to place before him a bowl of fresh water, in which he washed his face +and beard. He did not answer the sub-seraskier a single word. + +Mehemet planted himself in front of him with a contemptuous +expression. + +"Wretched worm! that can wipe away such an insult so tamely! Thou wert +never valiant, thy heroic deeds were so many murders. Those whom thou +didst slay, thou didst butcher as doth a headsman. Thou couldst +surprise like a thief, but to fight like a man was never thy way, and +the blood that stains thee is the blood of fettered slaves. Thou +abominable thing! The very victory is abominable which we have gained +over such a writhing worm as thou art. I should pity my sword if it +ever came into contact with thine. Let others say if they will that +they have conquered Ali, I will only say that I have struck Ali +Tepelenti in the face." + +"By Allah, the one true God, that thou shall never say!" thundered +Ali, leaping from his seat; and quickly drawing his sword, he whirled +it like a glittering circle through the air. + +Mehemet retreated a step backward, and drew his Damascus blade with a +satisfied air. + +"Fight not, Ali; go inside!" exclaimed Eminah, violently seizing Ali +by the sword-arm. + +Tepelenti shook her off and, with his sword flashing above his head, +fell upon the sub-seraskier. Mehemet parried the stroke with his +sword, and the next instant a huge jet of blood leaped into the air +from Ali's shoulder. + +Eminah, full of despair, flung herself between the combatants. She saw +that Ali was bleeding profusely, and throwing one arm around his knee, +with the other hand she held up before the seraskier the amnesty of +Kurshid Pasha. + +"Look at that! The general swore that Tepelenti should not be slain." + +"Not by the executioner," replied Mehemet; "but he did not guarantee +him against the sword of a warrior. Come, thou coward! or wilt thou +hide behind the petticoat of thy wife?" + +Eminah stretched out her arms towards Ali, but the old man thrust her +aside and rushed upon Mehemet Pasha once more; but before he could +reach him another thrust pierced him through the heart. Without a sob +he collapsed at the feet of his foe. + +The terrified odalisks rushed shrieking into the camp, whilst outside +a bloody combat began between the warriors of Mehemet and the warriors +of Ali. The former were numerous, so it was not long before +Tepelenti's guards were cut down, and Mehemet, with a contented +countenance, returned to camp. A silken-net bag was hanging to his +saddle-bow, and in it was the head of Ali. + +Kurshid Pasha washed his hand when the head was placed before him. + +"I was not the cause of thy death!" he cried. "I guaranteed thee +against the headsman, but not against the sword of warriors. Why didst +thou provoke the lion?" + +On the day fixed, beforehand, the Tartar horseman arrived in Stambul +with the head of Ali. The hours of his life had been calculated +exactly. An astronomer who determines the distances between +constellation and constellation is not more accurate in his +calculations than was Kurshid in determining the date of his enemy's +death. + +On that day the Sultan held high festival. + +The Tsirogan palace, the Seraglio, all the fountains were illuminated, +and Ali's head was carried through the principal streets of the town +in triumphal procession, and finally exhibited on a silver salver in +front of the middle gate of the Seraglio in the sight of all the +people. + +So there he stood at last, on a silver pedestal in front of the +Seraglio. And the prophecy was fulfilled which had said, "A time will +come when thou shalt be in two places at once, in Stambul and in +Janina!" So it was. + +Ali's dead body was buried at Janina, and his head, at the same time, +was standing in front of the Seraglio. At Janina, a single mourning +woman was weeping over the headless corpse; at Stambul a hundred +thousand inquisitive idlers were shouting around the bodyless head. + +At that gate where the head of Ali was exhibited the throng was so +great that many people were crushed to death by the gaping +sight-seers, who had all come hither to stare at the gray-bearded +face, before whose wrathful look a whole realm had trembled. + +At last, on the evening of the third day, when the well-feasted mob +had stared their fill and begun to disperse, there drew nigh to the +gate of the Seraglio an old yellow-faced fakir who, from the +appearance of his eyes, was evidently blind. His clothing consisted of +a simple sackcloth mantle, girded lightly round the waist by a cotton +girdle, from which hung a long roll of manuscript; on his head he wore +a high mortar-shaped hat, the distinguishing mark of the Omarites. + +All the people standing about respectfully made way for him as, with +downcast eyes and hands stretched forth, he groped his way along, and, +without any one guiding him, made his way straight up to Tepelenti's +head. + +There he stood and laid his right hand on the severed head, none +preventing him. + +And lo! it seemed to those who stood round as if the severed head +slowly opened its eyes and looked upon the new-comer with cold, stony, +stiff, dim eyeballs. This only lasted for a moment, and then the +Omarite took his hand off the head and the eyes closed again. Perhaps +it was but an illusion, after all! + +Then the dervish spoke. His deep, grave voice sank into the hearts of +all who heard him: "Go to Mahmoud, and tell him that I have bought +from him the head of Ali Pasha and the heads of his three sons, +Sulaiman, Vely, and Mukhtar, and a whole empire is the price I pay him +therefor." + +"What empire art thou able to give?" inquired the captain of the +ciauses who were guarding the head. + +"That which is the fairest of all, that which is nearest to his heart, +that which he had the least hope of--his own empire." + +These bold words were reported to the Sultan, and the Grand Signior +summoned the Omarite dervish to the palace, and shut himself up alone +with him till late at night. When the muezzin intoned the fifth +namazat, towards midnight, Mahmoud dismissed the dervish. What they +said to each other remained a secret known only to themselves. The +fakir, on emerging from the Sultan's dressing-room, plucked a piece of +coal from a censer, and wrote on the white alabaster wall this +sentence, "Rather be a head without a hand than a hand without a +head," and nobody but the Sultan understood that saying. + +Mahmoud commanded that nine purses of gold should be given to the +dervish; he gave him also the heads of Ali and of Ali's three sons. + +The dervish left the Seraglio with the four heads and the nine +purses. With the nine purses he bought an empty field in front of the +Selembrian gate and planted it with cypress-trees, and at the foot of +every cypress he set up a white turbaned tombstone--there were +hundreds and hundreds side-by-side without inscriptions. He said, too, +that it would not be long before the owners of these tombs arrived. In +the middle of this cemetery, moreover, he dug a wide grave, and in it +he buried the heads of Ali's three sons, with their father's head in +the middle. He erected four turbaned tombstones over them, two at the +head and two at the foot of the grave, and on the largest of these +tombstones was written: "Here lies the valiant Ali Tepelenti, Pasha of +Janina, leaving behind him many other warriors who deserve death just +as much as he." + +The people murmured because of what was written on the tomb, but who +durst obliterate what is inscribed on the dwellings of the dead? + +There the mysterious inscription remained on the tomb for four years, +and in the fourth year its meaning was revealed. + +Now this dervish was the _dzhin_ of Seleucia. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE BROKEN SWORDS + + + "Allah Kerim! + Allah akbar! + Great is God and mighty!" + +What avails prayer if there be no longer any to hearken? What avails +the bright sword if there be none to wield it? What avails the open +book if there be none to understand what is written therein? + +Ye nations of the half-moon! now is the time when the song of the +dervishes, and the scimitar, and the dirk, and the Kuran, can help no +more! From the west and from the north strange people are coming, +armed warriors in serried ranks, like a wall of steel, who are set in +motion, brought to a stand-still, expanded into an endless line, +contracted into a solid mass by a single brief word of command. Before +the charge of their bayonets the ranks of the Janissaries scatter and +disperse like chaff before the wind, and before their fire-vomiting +brazen tubes the flowers of Begtash's garden fall like grass before +the mower. Wise men are with them, who go about in simple black coats, +who know much that ye do not know; each one of whom is capable of +directing a state, and who are equally triumphant on the battle-field +and in the council-chamber. + +In vain ye call upon the name of the Prophet, in vain do ye knock at +the gate of Paradise. It is closed. Muhammad slumbers, and the other +prophets no longer trouble themselves about earthly affairs. Paradise +is full already. There they look askance now at new-comers, who reach +the shadow of the tuba-tree without the rumor of victory. The +eternally young houris, from beyond the Bridge of Alsiroth, no longer +smile upon those who fall in battle, for battle has now lost its +glory. Ye must be born again, or die forever. + +Look now! the more far-seeing ones among you know what to do. They +send their children far, far away, to the dominions of the Giaours, +there to learn worldly wisdom, and prepare to make great changes in +the empire. + +The old dervishes, the friends of the Turks, are excluded from the +Seraglio; they do but creep stealthily up and peep through the guarded +gates, and compare notes with one another, "Behold! within there, they +are doing the work of the stranger, they are teaching the +true-believing warriors to leap to and fro at a word of command, and +twirl their weapons. They have abandoned the jiridé, that +ever-victorious weapon, and have stuck darts at the ends of their +muskets, as do the unbelievers, who dare not come within +sword-distance of the enemy. It is all over, all over with the faith +of Osman." + +Most jealous of all these innovations were the priests of Begtash. One +could every moment see them in their ragged, dirty mantles, lounging +about in front of the gates of the Seraglio, impudently looking in +the faces of all who go in and out; and if an imam passed them, or one +of those wise men who favored the innovations, they would spit after +him, and exclaim in a loud voice, "Death to every one who proclaims +the forbidden word!" + +Now this forbidden word was the name "Neshandchi." The mob of Stambul +had murdered Mahmoud's father because of this name, which designated a +new order of soldiers, and his successor had been compelled to order +that whoever pronounced this name should be put to death. + +The mob would often follow the Grand Vizier all the way to the palace, +reviling him all the way, and shouting up at the windows, "Remember +the end of Bajraktar!" + +Bajraktar had been the Sultan's Grand Vizier fourteen years before, +who had wished to reform the Turkish army, on which account a riot +broke out at Stambul, which lasted till the partisans of Bajraktar +were removed from office. As for Bajraktar himself, he was burned to +death in one of his palaces, together with his wife and children. +Every one who took part in these mysterious and accursed deliberations +in the Seraglio, from the lowliest soldier to the sacred and sublime +Sultan himself, carried his life in his hands. + +It had long been rumored that some great movement was on foot, and the +priests of Begtash went from town to town through all the Turkish +domains fanning the fanaticism of their beloved children, the +Janissaries, and gradually collecting them in Stambul. In those days +there were more than twenty thousand Janissaries within the walls of +the capital, not including the corporation of water-carriers who +generally made common cause with them in times of uproar. When their +lordships, the Janissaries, set the place on fire, it was the duty of +the water-carriers to put out the flames, whereupon they plundered +comfortably together; hence the ancient understanding between them. + +With the exception of the Ulemas, only the blind fakirs of the Omarite +order were admitted into the council of the Divan, and their chief, +Behram, often took counsel with the Sultan for hours together when he +was alone. + +On the 23d May, 1826, at the invitation of the chief mufti, all the +Ulemas assembled in the Seraglio and decided unanimously that, in +accordance with the words of the Kuran, it was lawful to fight the +enemy with his own weapons. + +Six days later they reassembled, and then the Sheik-ul-Islam laid +before them a fetva, by which it was proclaimed that a standing army +was to be raised for the defence of the realm. In order, however, that +nobody might pronounce the accursed name of Neshandchi, three names +were given to the corps of the army to be raised. The first was +akinji, or "rushers," these were the young conscripts; the second was +taalimlüaske, "practised men," these were selected from the soldiers +of the Seraglio; the third name was khankiar begerdi, and designated +the corps to be chosen from amongst the Janissaries. This name meant +"the will of the emperor," yet the word "khankiar" means, in Turkish, +by itself, "effusion of blood." + +When the fetva came to be signed, very few of the leaders of the +Janissaries were present, but amongst those who were was the Janissary +Aga, or colonel, and his name stood there alongside the name of the +Sheik-ul-Islam, the Grand Vizier, and Najib Effendi. + +Early next morning the people of Stambul read the fetva, which was +posted up at every corner. The decisive word had been spoken which was +to evoke the bloody spectre to whom so many crowned heads had been +sacrificed. + +The first day a fearful expectation prevailed. Every one awaited the +tempest, and prepared for it. The Sultan was passing the time at his +summer palace, Bekshishtash, so, at least, it was said. An anxious, +tormenting, and bloody pastime it proved to be. + +In one wing of his palace were the damsels of the harem, in the others +the chief Ulemas and councillors. Mahmoud paced from one room to +another, and found peace nowhere. + +Hundreds of times he sat in a row with his wise men, and caused the +annals of the Ottoman Empire by his favorite historian, Ezaad Effendi, +to be read aloud to him, and yet it was a terror to him to listen. The +whole history from beginning to end was written in blood! The same +principles always produced the same fruits! How many Grand Viziers, +how many Padishahs, had not fallen? Their blood had flowed in streams +from the throne, which had never tottered as it now tottered beneath +him. And when he returned to the harem, and the charming odalisks +appeared before him with their music and dances, and Milieva amongst +them, the loveliest of them all, to whom in an hour of rapture he had +given the rose-garden of his realm, Damascus, he bethought him that +perchance to-morrow, or even that very night, those sweetly smiling +heads might all be cut off, seized by their flowing locks and cast in +heaps, while their dear and tender bodies might be sent swimming in +the cold waves of the Bosphorus, to serve as food for the monsters of +the deep. Who knows how many hours, who knows how many moments, they +have still to live? + +Every hour, every moment, the tidings arrive from Stambul that the +Janissaries are assembling in menacing crowds, and now the +conflagrations begin; every day fires break out in three or four parts +of the town, but the heavy rains prevented any great damage from being +done. This was always the way in which the riots began in Stambul. + +The priests of Begtash stirred up the fanaticism of the masses in +front of the mosques and in the public squares, incited the mob which +had joined the ranks of the Janissaries to acts of outrage against the +Sultan's officials and those of the Ulemas, softas, and Omarite fakirs +who were in favor of the reforms. + +On July 14th a rumor spread that a company of Janissaries, actuated by +strong suspicion, had surrounded the cemetery which had been laid out +and enclosed by the Omarite fakir, and cut down all the dervishes they +found there, and amongst them their chief, Behram. They found upon him +a bundle of papers which plainly revealed that a secret understanding +existed between him and the great men of the Seraglio. They also found +in his girdle a metal plate, on which was the following inscription: + +"I am Behram, the son of Halil Patrona, the strong man, and of +Gül-Bejáze,[14] the prophetess. My father in his lifetime began a +great work, which after his death I continued. This work will only be +accomplished and confirmed when I am dead and there is no further need +of me. Blessed be he who knoweth the hours of his life and of his +death." + +[Footnote 14: The heroine of Jókai's _White Rose_.] + +Those who were acquainted with the life and the end of Halil Patrona +knew right well what this great work was thus mentioned by Behram, who +had lived one hundred and eight years after his father's death, and +had striven all that time to develop and mature the ideas which the +former had vainly attempted to carry out at the point of the sword. + +The mob tore the dervish to pieces and distributed his bleeding limbs +as trophies, and then, like wild beasts who have scented blood, they +attacked the castles of the great men. Whom should they fall upon +first? That was the only question. + +Suddenly one of the priests of Begtash tore down from the corner of +the street a copy of the fetva which proclaimed the reform and showed +it to the mob. "Behold!" cried he, "here, foremost amongst the names +of the destroyers of the Faith stands the name of the Janissary Aga! +The leader of the Janissaries has himself betrayed his own children. +Death to him!" + +"Death to him!" howled the mob, and, seizing their torches, they +rushed towards the palace of the Janissary Aga. + +The Janissary Aga heard the tumult, and, quickly dressing a slave in +his robes, mingled with the crowd, and, without being noticed, reached +the palace of the Grand Vizier in safety. + +The Grand Vizier was sitting down to supper when the Janissary Aga +rushed in and informed him of his danger. He lost no time in +barricading the gates, and, slipping through his garden with his +servants and his family, escaped across the Bosphorus to the Jali +Kiosk, on the other side of the water. The besieging mob, therefore, +only found empty walls upon which to wreak their fury, and these they +levelled with the ground. + +But the Janissary Aga had left his wives and children in his palace, +and these the rioters seized and murdered with the most excruciating +tortures. In the evening twilight the Aga, from his place of safety on +the other side of the water, could see the flames of his palace +shooting up towards the sky, and heard perchance the agonized +death-cries of those he loved best. + +A few moments later they were joined by Nedjib Effendi, the +representative of the Viceroy of Egypt, who also took refuge with them +and brought the tidings that the insurgents were in possession of the +whole of Stambul, and had wreaked their savage fury on the families of +the refugee magnates. + +The Sultan was standing on the roof of his palace, whence he could +view far away the spreading scarlet glow of the conflagration which +lit up the night with a terrifying glare, whose fiery columns were +reflected in the black Bosphorus. + +Panic-stricken fugitives spread the report that the Seraglio itself +was in flames, and indeed it looked in the distance as if the fiery +waves had reached its cupolaed towers. + +Mahmoud spent the whole night in prayer. Two hours after midnight a +horseman arrived who had forced his way through Stambul, his good +steed collapsing as it reached the cypress grove of Bekshishtash. The +horseman himself demanded an audience of the Sultan, and was instantly +admitted. + +A bright momentary ray of hope was visible on the face of Mahmoud as +he recognized the horseman. It was Thomar, now the Akinji Feriki, the +bravest warrior in the three continents of the Ottoman Empire. + +When Mahmoud had quitted the Seraglio he had picked out sixteen young +horsemen from amongst his retinue, and left them behind in the palace, +with the injunction that if a rebellion should break out in Stambul, +which was pretty certainly to be anticipated, they were to cut their +way through the enemy and bring him word thereof. Thomar alone had +arrived--the other fifteen had been killed by the rebels; he had cut +out a road for himself and contrived to reach Bekshishtash. + +"The dragon has raised all his twelve heads, my master," said he to +the Sultan; "now is the time to cut them all off, or it will devour +thy empire." + +The Sultan, who greatly loved the youth, wiped the sweat from his face +with his own handkerchief, and bade him await him below in the +banqueting-chamber. + +And with that he resumed his devotions. + +Towards five o'clock, when the sun rose from behind the blue hills of +Asia in all its glory, the Sultan descended from the roof of his +palace and commanded his servants and men-at-arms to form in rank in +front of the palace. All the fighting-men he had with him were a +thousand akinjis and about as many horsemen, silihdars, and bostanjis. +He himself first went to take leave of his womenkind. + +Those who had seen his face but an hour ago were amazed at the change +that had come over it. Its generally mild and peaceful expression had +given place to a proud resentment and a death-defying audacity. He +embraced his wife and the Sultana Asseki, and finally his son, the +heir to the throne. Not a tear was visible on his face as he embraced +his beloved ones. They all noticed a new vigor flashing from his eyes; +he looked as if he were inspired. He had no need now for any to +encourage him. + +As he held one arm round his wife and the other round his child, he +said to them, "And now I go. My path leads me into Stambul; whether it +will lead me back again I know not. But I swear that if I do return it +will be as the veritable ruler of my realm. What will ye do if I +perish?" + +The face of Milieva glowed at this question. She led Mahmoud aside +into the back part of the room. There the Sultan perceived a large +heap of pillows and cushions. + +"If Mahmoud perishes," said the Circassian girl, enthusiastically, +"those who loved him will discover a way of following him; yea, thine +enemies, when they look for us, will only find our ashes here." + +Mahmoud kissed the girl on the forehead; she was indeed worthy to sit +at the foot of the throne. + +With that he descended into the court-yard, and they led his good +steed in front of the arched door. The Sultan beckoned to Thomar to +hold the reins while he mounted, then he detached an agate from the +heron plume that waved above his turban, and fastened it on the fez of +the youth as he knelt before him. + +"I name thee leader of the akinjis; and now whoever has a sword, let +him show that he is worthy of our ancestors!" + +With these words the Padishah drew his scimitar, and, galloping to the +front of his horsemen, took the place of command. A moment later the +little host was already on its way to Stambul. In front marched the +akinjis with glittering bayonets; in the centre was the Sultan with +his suite; the rear was brought up by the horsemen and the gardeners. +Every one of them was resolved to die honorably and gloriously. + +On reaching the city the bold band met at first with but little +opposition, for they came unawares. The rebels were weary from the +exertions of the previous night. After putting out the conflagration +the mob had set to work plundering, and towards morning the greater +part of it had dispersed amongst the coffee-houses and other places of +amusement. + +Mahmoud and his aggressive band met with no opposition right up to the +Seraglio. The streets indeed were thronged by a noisy mob, but it made +way at once before the serried ranks of the akinjis. None insulted the +Sultan by so much as an offensive word; on the contrary, cries of +admiration were audible here and there. Men were astounded when they +beheld the Padishah appear with a handful of armed men amidst the +raging tempest, and permitted him to enter the gates of the Seraglio +in peace. + +The shout bursting through all the doors, which resounded for some +minutes from the inside of the place, announced to those outside what +courage the appearance of the Sultan had instilled into the hearts of +those of his warriors who were shut up in the Seraglio. + +Kara Makan, full of amazement, withdrew the bulk of the rebels from +the Grand Signior's palace and massed the Janissaries near the +Etmeidan, where banners were hoisted side by side with the subverted +kettles. At the corners of the streets the wild priests of Begtash +continued to incite the agitated mob with hoarse cries, and from the +summits of the minarets the horns of the rebels sounded continuously, +only ceasing at such times as the imams summoned the people of Osman +to glorify Allah, about the fifth hour of the day. At the sound of the +namazat even the furious popular tempest abated, only beginning again +when the last notes of the call to prayer ceased to resound. + +Stambul was literally turned upsidedown, and the dregs were swimming +on the surface. The confraternity of porters, the water-carriers, the +boatmen, all stood by the Janissaries and swelled enormously the bulk +of the rebels. Every mosque, every barrack, was in their power; even +the towers of the Dardanelles had opened their gates to the Jamaki, +who were in alliance with the Janissaries. The Sultan was shut up in +his own palace. + +The Janissaries intended to carry the edifice of the Sublime Porte by +assault, and had, therefore, sent forth criers to the jebejis, or +camp-blacksmiths, who were encamped with the heavy cannons on the +grounds of the Mosque of Sophia, to invite them to begin the siege. + +The emissaries of the Janissaries, in brief, savage harangues, called +upon the jebejis to put their hands to the bloody work. The latter +listened to them, but for a long time hesitated. Suddenly a shot fired +from amongst the crowd struck one of the speakers, who fell down dead, +whereupon the other jebejis rushed upon the envoys of the Janissaries, +cut them down, and, flinging their severed heads into a heap, shouted, +"Long live the Sultan!" and with that they proceeded in force to the +Seraglio, took up their positions in front of it, and turned their +guns against the rebels. + +Towards mid-day, amidst strains of martial music, the Kapudan Pasha +Ibrahim, whose nickname was "The Infernal," arrived with four thousand +marines and fourteen guns. A quarter of an hour later were to be seen +in the proximity of the Jali Kiosk the overwhelming forces of the +Grand Vizier Muhammad, who, under the protection of the night, had got +together the hosts of Asia, which had always been opposed to the +Janissaries. The Janissary Aga was there, too, with the Komparajis +from Tophana. The concentrating masses welcomed one another with +blood-thirsty greeting. It was evident, from the faces of their +leaders, that they were determined not to retreat a step on the path +they had taken. The last hour of the Janissaries, or of the Ottoman +Empire, had struck. + +And now the gates of the Seraglio were thrown open, and, escorted by +the high officers of state and the Ulemas, the Sultan came forth. + +The Ulemas, the imams, and the officers of the army stood in a +semicircle round the gate. The Sultan remained standing on the highest +step. There he stood in the full regalia of the padishahs, holding in +one hand the banner of the Prophet and in the other a drawn sword. + +"What do the rebels desire," exclaimed, with a loud, penetrating +voice, the Sheik-ul-Islam, "who rise up against Allah and against the +Head of the Faith, the Padishah?" + +The chief mufti replied with unction: "It is written in the Kuran, 'If +the infidels rise against their brethren, let them die the death!'" + +"Then swear by the banner of the Prophet that ye will root out them +who have risen up against me!" + +The viziers kissed the holy flag and took the oath to defend it to the +last drop of their blood. + +"And now close the gates!" commanded the Sultan; and immediately he +sent orders to the warders of all the gates of Stambul to let nobody +either out or in. One of the opposing hosts was never to leave the +city alive. + +"Long life to the Sultan! Death to the Janissaries!" resounded from +fifteen thousand lips in front of the Seraglio. + +The Sultan would have led his army in person against the rebels, but +his generals fell down on their knees and implored him in the name of +the Prophet not to expose his life to danger. Let him at least give +his sword to the Grand Vizier, that he might not soil it in the blood +of rebels. + +So the gates were shut. This circumstance filled the hearts of the +rebels with terror. They foresaw that this day would not be followed +by another; the hand of indulgence, of reconciliation, now grasped the +weapons of war, of massacre. + +They all assembled round the Etmeidan, pulled down the buildings in +the street, and made barricades of them. 'Tis a bad sign for a +rebellion when it has to look to its defence. + +The forces of the Grand Vizier slowly approached amidst the roll of +kettle-drums; the Derben Aga appeared in front of the barricades of +the Janissaries, with the sanjak-i-sherif in his hand, and summoned +the rebels to disperse and return to the allegiance of the sacred +banner. The rebels drowned his speech in curses, and above the curses +rose the thundering voice of Kara Makan hounding on the fanatical mob +against the destroyers of the faith of Osman. + +"Wipe out these new ordinances, give up the heads of the godless ones +who signed their names below the khat-i-sherif--to wit the Janissary +Aga, the Grand Vizier, the chief mufti, and Nedjib Effendi! This is +what the ortas of the Janissaries demand and their honest +confederates, the Jamaki, the Kayikjis, and the Hamaloks, who remain +faithful to the God of the Moslemin." + +Thrice did the Derben Aga summon the rebels to surrender, and thrice +did he receive the same answer. They demanded the heads of the +viziers. + +Mahmoud's predecessor had, on a similar request, surrendered the heads +of the viziers. Mahmoud broke his sword in two above their heads, and +throwing the broken pieces in the dust, exclaimed: + +"Just as I now break in two this sword and nobody shall weld it +together again, so also shall ye be overthrown and none shall raise +you up again." + +The next moment the cannons of Ibraham the Infernal thundered forth +their volleys from the Etmeidan. The bombs tore through the rickety +wooden barriers, and through the breach thus made rushed Hussein Pasha +at the head of the akinjis with Thomar Bey by his side. + +The appearance of the detested new soldiers was greeted by the +Janissaries with a furious howl, but the very first moment convinced +them that the bayonet was a very much more powerful weapon than the +dirk. Thomar Bey headed the charge in person, making a way for himself +with his bayonet and clearing the ranks of the insurgents like a sharp +wedge. + +On this side there was no deliverance, so now, with the fury of +despair, the insurgents flung themselves on the guns of Ibraham Pasha, +three times charging his death-vomiting batteries, and, thrice +recoiling, leaving the ground covered with their corpses, the terrible +grape-shot mowing them down in heaps. + +It was all, all over. The flowers of Begtash's garden, vanquished, +humbled by the new soldiers, fled for refuge to the huge quadrangular +barracks which occupied the ground at the rear of the Etmeidan. + +Kara Makan did not live to experience that hour of humiliation; a +cannon-ball took off his head so cleanly that his body could only be +identified by his girdle. + +Within the walls of the barracks the Janissaries made ready for their +last desperate combat. It was now late. Ibrahim the Infernal began to +bombard the barracks with red-hot bullets, and within an hour's time +the whole of the enormous building was in flames. Those who were +inside the gates remained there, for there they were doomed to perish +together. Amidst the roaring of the flames their death-cries were +audible, but the flames grew stronger every moment and the cry of +their mortal anguish waxed fainter. The generals stood around the +building, and tears glittered in more eyes than one; after all, it had +been a valiant host! + +Had been! Those words explain their doom. + +On that day twenty thousand Janissaries fell by the command of the +Padishah. Those whom the bullet and the sword did not reach perished +by the axe and the bowstring. Their bodies were given to the +Bosphorus, and for a long time afterwards the billows of distant seas +cast their headless trunks on the shores of countries far away. These +were the flowers of Begtash. + +And so the name of the Janissaries was blotted out of the annals of +Ottoman history. + +The wearing of their uniforms and their insignia was forbidden under +sentence of death. Their barracks were levelled with the ground, their +banners were torn to bits, their kettles were smashed to pieces, their +memory was made accursed. + +The order of the Priests of Begtash was abolished forever, their +religious homes were destroyed, their possessions confiscated. + +Thus came to an end a soldiery which had existed for centuries, which +the wise Chendereli founded, and which had won so many glorious +triumphs for the Ottoman arms. It was now unlawful to mention its very +name. + +But when the bloody work was done, the Ottoman nation arose again full +of fresh vigor, and it owed a new life, full of glorious days, to the +hand which delivered the empire from its two greatest +enemies--Tepelenti and the Janissaries. + + + + +GLOSSARY OF THE TURKISH WORDS USED IN THIS STORY + + +AGA--a military and aulic title. + +AKINJI--a sort of irregular cavalry. + +ANADOLI HISSAR--eastern castle. + +AZAB--irregular infantry. + +BAIRAM--the great Muhammadan ecclesiastical feast. + +BAYADERE--a dancing-girl. + +BEY--a dignitary next below a pasha. + +BOSTANJI--originally the gardeners of the Seraglio, subsequently +attendants, body-guards. + +CHORBAJI--a Janissary officer. + +CIAUS--palace officials employed as attendants, messengers, envoys. + +DERBEND AGA--the chief of the street watchmen. + +DIRHAM--a coin worth about 2-˝_d._ + +DIVAN--council of state. + +DZHIN--a huge supernatural being. + +EFFENDI--a title of honor. + +ETMEIDAN--the headquarters of the Janissaries. + +FETVA--the opinion or judgment of a mufti. + +FIRAK--bodies of troops. + +FIRMAN--a decree issued by the Sultan. + +GIAOUR--an infidel. + +ICHOGLANLER--pages of non-Muhammadan parentage brought up at the +Sultan's palace. + +IMAM--a priest who recites the canonical prayers. + +JAMAK--the servant of a Janissary. + +JANISSARIES--literally, "new soldiers" (jeni-cheri), originally +captive children brought up to be soldiers. This corps was for +centuries the flower of the Ottoman army. + +JANISSARY AGA--the chief of the Janissaries. + +JERID--a stick used as a dart in military exercises. + +KADI--a judge. + +KADUN-KEIT-KHUDA--guardian of the harem. + +KAPU-AGASI--Lord Chamberlain. + +KAPUDAN PASHA--Lord High Admiral. + +KAPUJI--gate-keeper of the Seraglio. + +KAPUJI PASHA--the introducer of the ambassadors. + +KAPU-KIAJA--chief magistrate. + +KHAT-I-SHERIF--a command either signed by the Sultan or issued +directly through him. + +KHUMBARAJI--a bombardier. + +KIZLAR-AGASI--chief inspector of the harem. + +MOLLAH--the title of the highest grade of Ulemas. + +MUEZZIN--the caller to prayer. + +MUFTIS--those of the Ulemas who publish or seal the fetvas or other +public documents. + +MURSHID--a spiritual guide. + +NAMAZAT--the canonical prayer. + +ODALISK--a concubine; literally, chambermaid. + +ORTA--a company of Janissaries. + +PALIKÁR--"strong youth," a name given to themselves by the Klephts, +freebooters of Thessaly. + +PARA--a farthing. + +REIS-EFFENDI--Minister of Foreign Affairs. + +SANDJAK-I-SHERIF--the sacred banner of the Prophet. + +SERAGLIO } +SERAI } The Sultan's court. + +SERAI-AGASI--chief inspector of the Seraglio. + +SERASKIER--a commander-in-chief. + +SHEIK-UL-ISLAM--the chief of all the muftis and Ulemas. + +SILIHDARS--one of the six divisions of the mercenary cavalry, also +the Sultan's armor-bearers. + +SIPAHIS } +SPAHIS } One of six divisions of the mercenary cavalry. + +SULIOTES--a warlike Hellenized race of Albanian origin in the Pachalik +of Janina. + +SULTANA-ASSEKI--The Sultan's consort. + +SULTANA-VALIDEH--the Sultan's mother. + +TIMARIOTES--Turkish feudal militia. + +TOPORABAJI--gunners. + +TOPIJIS--gunners. + +ULEMAS--the learned men, including the muftis, the mollahs, the +kadis--in short, all the legal and ecclesiastical functionaries. + + + + +THE END + + + + +Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original text have been corrected for this electronic edition. + +In Chapter I, "superflous cracks and crevices" was changed to +"superfluous cracks and crevices". + +In Chapter II, "siezed him" was changed to "seized him". + +In Chapter III, "ninrethullita" was changed to "nimetullahita", and +"It must not he supposed" was changed to "It must not be supposed". + +In Chapter IV, "the besieging Pehlivan" was changed to "the besieging +Pehliván". + +In Chapter VIII, "Meccao and Medina" was changed to "Mecca and +Medina", and "Procelain Chamber" was changed to "Porcelain Chamber". + +In Chapter IX, "hill, morever" was changed to "hill, moreover", "wont +you" was changed to "won't you", and a question mark was changed to an +exclamation point after "thy daughter Milieva". + +In Chapter X, "La Gullia" was changed to "La Gulia", "to horribly +tortured Turks" was changed to "of horribly tortured Turks", and "rank +or general" was changed to "rank of general". + +In Chapter XVIII, "silchidars" was changed to "silihdars". + +In the Glossary, "Silchidars" was changed to "Silihdars". + +Several names and words were spelled inconsistently in the original +text. Except as noted above, these variant spellings have been +left as they originally appeared. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lion of Janina, by Mór Jókai + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LION OF JANINA *** + +***** This file should be named 32234-8.txt or 32234-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/2/3/32234/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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