"_To the brittish Cownsul algeers_.
"7 _teenth Jully_, 18--
"Sur i'm an irishman an a sailer an recked on the cost of boogia wid
six of me messmaits hoo are wel an arty tho too was drowndid on landin
an wan wos spiflikated be the moors which are born divls an no
mistaik. I rite to say that weer starvin but the Kaid as they cals
the guvner Here says heel take a ransum for us of 150 spanish dolars
the Kaid has past his word in yoor name to the moors for that sum or
theyd hav spiflikate us too. I hope yer onor has as much to spair in
yer pokit, an will luke alive wid it, for if yoo don't its all up wid
me mesmaits inkloodin yoor onors obedent humbil servint to comand ted
flagan."
"Well, I hope, with poor Flaggan," said Mrs Langley laughingly, "that
you _have_ as much to spare in your `pokit,' for if not, it is plain
that the poor fellows will be led into captivity."
"I would readily advance a larger sum for so good an end," replied the
consul, folding the letter. "I shall at once ride into town to make
arrangements, and as it is so late, will pass the night in our town
house. I shall send our new attendant, Sidi Hassan, on this mission,
and leave you for the night under the guardianship of Rais Ali."
The consul left immediately, and next morning Sidi Hassan set out for
Bugia with the necessary ransom.
In regard to this we need say nothing more than that he accomplished his
purpose, paid the ransom, and received the seven British seamen,
accompanied by whom he commenced the return journey, he and his men
riding, and driving the sailors on foot before them as though they had
been criminals. On the way, however, they were attacked, not far from
Algiers, by a body of predatory Arabs from the Jurjura mountains.
These bold villains, at the very first onset, killed more than half of
the Turkish escort, and put the rest to flight. Six of the sailors they
captured and carried off, but Ted Flaggan, who was an exceedingly active
as well as powerful man, proved himself more than a match for them all.
During the melee he managed to throw himself in the way of one of the
best-mounted among the Arabs, who instantly charged him, but Ted sprang
aside and let him pass, ducking low to avoid a cut from his curved
sword.
Before he could turn, the Irishman ran close to his side, seized him by
the burnous, at the same time grasping his bridle, and pulled him out of
the saddle with such sudden violence that he fell headlong to the
ground, where he lay quite stunned by the fall. Flaggan instantly
sprang into the saddle, as if he had been an accomplished cavalier,
though in reality he knew no more about horses than an Esquimaux.
However, a man who was accustomed to hold on to a top-sail-yard in a
gale was not to be easily shaken off by an Arab charger. He clung to
the high saddle-bow with one hand, and with the other grasped his
clasp-knife, which he opened with his teeth. Therewith he probed the
flanks of his fiery steed to such an extent that he not only distanced
all his Arab pursuers, but overtook and passed his own escort one by
one, until he reached Sidi Hassan himself. He then attempted to pull
up, but the clasp-knife had fired the charger's blood in an unusual
degree. With a wicked snort and fling that lifted Flaggan high out of
the saddle, it rushed madly on, left the pirate captain far behind, and
at length dashed through the Bab-Azoun gate of Algiers, despite the
frantic efforts of the guard to check or turn it. Right onward it sped
through the street Bab-Azoun, scattering Turks, Moors, Jews, negroes,
and all the rest of them like chaff; passed the Dey's palace, straight
along the street Bab el-Oued; out at the water-gate, with similar
contempt of the guards; down into the hollow caused by the brook beyond;
up the slope on the other side, half-way towards the summit, on the
opposite side of Frais Vallon, and was not finally pulled up until it
had almost run down the British consul, who chanced to be riding
leisurely homeward at the time.
"You seem to have had a pretty sharp run, my man," said the consul,
laughing, as the Irishman thankfully jumped off, and grasped the bridle
of the now thoroughly winded horse.
"Faix an' I have, yer honour; an' if I haven't run down an' kilt half
the population o' that town, wotever's its name, no thanks to this
self-opiniated beast," replied Flaggan, giving the bridle a savage pull.
"You're an Irishman, I perceive," said the consul, smiling.
"Well, now, yer right, sur; though how ye came to persaive is more nor I
can understand."
"Where have you come from? and how in such a plight?" demanded the
consul in some surprise, observing that a troop of janissaries came
galloping up the winding road, near the top of which they stood.
"Sorrow wan o' me knows where we touched at last," replied the seaman in
some perplexity; "the names goes out o' me head like wather out of a
sieve. All I'm rightly sure of is that I set sail four days ago from a
port they calls Boogee, or so'thin' like it, in company with a man
called Seedy Hassan; an' sure he'd ha bin seedy enough be now if his
horse hadn't bin a good 'un, for we wos attacked, and half his party
killed and took, forby my six messmates; but--"
"Your name is Ted Flaggan?" inquired the consul hastily.
"It is," said the seaman, in great surprise; "sure yer honour must be--"
The sentence was cut short by the arrival of the janissaries, who pulled
up with looks of considerable astonishment on finding the mad fugitive
engaged in quiet conversation with the British consul.
"Gentlemen," said Colonel Langley, with much urbanity of tone and
manner, "I suppose you wish to make a prisoner of this man?"
The soldiers admitted that such was their desire and intention.
"Then you will oblige me," continued the Colonel, "by allowing me to be
his jailer in the meantime. He is a British subject, of whom I can give
a good account at the fitting time and place. Sidi Hassan, under whose
charge he has been by my orders, will doubtless soon arrive in town, and
further enlighten you on this subject."
Without waiting for a reply the Colonel bowed, and wheeling his horse
round rode quietly away, followed by the Irishman, who regarded his new
jailer with a very puzzled look, while a touch of humour further tended
to wrinkle his remarkably expressive countenance.