When the commander-in-chief of cavalry condescended to pay a visit to a
Jew, it was a sign that events of considerable importance were hovering
in the air. The approach, therefore, of Sidi Hamet to the residence of
Bacri one night, under cover of the darkness, was regarded by the Jew
with feelings of misgiving, which caused his face to become suddenly
very grave, as he looked through the little iron-bound hole, or window,
which commanded a view of his court.
The Aga carried no light, although the laws ordained that all who moved
about after night-fall should do so; but Bacri knew him as well by his
outline and gait as if he had seen his face in the sunshine.
Descending the stair at once, the Jew opened the door and let him in.
"Thou art surprised, Bacri?" said Hamet, swaggering into the skiffa,
where Angela chanced to be at work at the time.--"Ha! thou hast a pretty
daughter," he added, with a gaze of insolent admiration.
"The girl is passing fair," replied the Jew, opening the door of his
study, and purposely avoiding the correction of the Aga's mistake.
"Please to enter here."
Hamet obeyed; remarking as he passed that the girl were worthy of being
the wife of a Dey, if she had not been a Jewess.
"Bacri," he said, sitting down, while the master of the house stood
respectfully before him, "thou knowest the object of my visit--eh?
Come, it is not the first time thou hast had to do with such as I. The
plot thickens, Bacri, and thou must play thy part, willing or not
willing. Say, how much is it to be?"
"How much do you demand?" asked the Jew.
The Aga rose and whispered in his ear.
"Impossible!" said Bacri, shaking his head decidedly.
"How, dog! impossible?" exclaimed the Turk sternly. "Dost know that I
can let the whole Turkish army loose on thee and thy false-hearted
race?"
"My race is maligned alike by Mohammedan and Christian," returned the
Jew, with dignity. "You know full well, Sidi Hamet, that the sum you
have named would ruin all the Jews in the town. If the security of my
people is not to be purchased for a smaller sum, we must perish. My
utmost efforts would not avail to raise more than the half thereof
within the specified time. You may indeed ruin us, if you will, but it
were wise to remember that if you kill the goose that lays the golden
eggs, there will be no more golden eggs to lay."
"True, O Bacri," returned Hamet, laughing; "thou art wise, and I shall
act on thy wisdom--having first, however, acted on mine own when I
demanded double the sum I expected to receive, knowing thine inveterate
tendency to drive a hard bargain! Now, good-night," he said, rising and
leaving the room.--"Ha! thy pretty daughter has fled. Well, we shall
hope to see her again. Mean while, have a care; our plot is in your
hands, but thine every movement shall be watched from this hour, and if
a note of warning escapes thee, thou art but a dead man!"
Saying this, the Aga departed, and Bacri, returning to the skiffa,
summoned Mariano, who had been engaged in another part of the house when
Hamet entered.
"Come hither, lad," said the Jew, while a careworn expression seemed to
settle on his handsome features; "I have work for you to do which
requires courage and speed. Hamet the Aga--I may say, the black-hearted
Aga--has been here on an errand which I have been looking forward to for
some months. You may be aware, perhaps, that in this barbarous city
there is no hereditary succession of Deys. Each Dey is elected by the
Turkish janissaries from among the men of their own ranks; one result of
which is that various factions are kept up in the army, and the most
vigorous man among them, the one who can command the greatest number of
admirers and followers, generally wins the unenviable but much-coveted
post. When the reigning Dey becomes unpopular, the factions begin to
ferment; and, instead of waiting for him to die, they invariably
strangle, poison, or behead him. The factions generally have some
disturbance among themselves, but in any case, the consequence of a
revolution of this kind is, that complete anarchy prevails in the city,
and, until a new Dey is elected by the janissaries, the Moors and Jews
are at the mercy of the rude soldiery. Of course, all who have enemies
among them hide themselves and their pelf, if possible, until the
anarchy ceases, which it does the moment the green standard of the
Prophet is hoisted on the terrace of the palace, announcing that a new
Dey is seated on the warm throne of his not quite cold predecessor.
"I tell you all this," continued the Jew impressively, "that ye may
understand what is about to happen and know how to act. It is a sharp
ordeal to go through, but a short one; the scene of violence lasting
usually but one day. Still, that affords ample time for irreparable
injury to be done.
"It is usual, just before a revolution, for the dominant faction to make
an arrangement with the persecuted Jews, so that, in virtue of the
payment of a large sum, their families and possessions may be spared.
Of course, we are compelled to agree to this, and even compliance does
not always secure us, because when violent men are once let loose, they
often become unmanageable for a time, even by those who command them.
Still, the payment of this unjust tax is our only safeguard. This
evening, Sidi Hamet, the commander-in-chief of cavalry, has been here to
make the arrangement with me. I have long known of his designs; indeed,
we Jews know nearly all the secret plots that go on around us; for gold
is potent, and we have those who are willing to give us information both
in the palace and in the casba. I likewise know that Sidi Omar, whom
you may have seen, also aims at the throne; but he has no chance against
his rival Hamet, who is a more powerful man in mind and body, besides
being younger. Your old enemy Sidi Hassan has agreed to assist Hamet,
who has promised to reward him with the office next in dignity to his
own. I have more than once warned Achmet of what is plotting, for he
has been kinder to my people than most of the Deys who preceded him, but
he is strangely slow in guarding himself. He is a bold, fearless man,
and perchance trusts too much to a popularity which for some time has
been on the wane--chiefly, I believe, because he is not a sufficiently
unprincipled villain to please the taste of the lawless crew over whom
he reigns."
"This is a dreadful state of things!" said Mariano, who had listened to
the narration in silent amazement.
"It is indeed dreadful," returned Bacri, "and yet, although the European
powers must be thoroughly aware of it, through their consuls, this is
the state of things that they not only tolerate, but absolutely sanction
by the presence of their representatives and the payment of tribute."
"Tribute!" exclaimed Mariano, in a tone of indignation, "is it possible
that tribute is paid by the great powers to these miserable pirates?"
"Even so, young man," answered Bacri, with a smile, "just as we Jews pay
them tribute to avoid being pillaged--only, without having our excuse.
We are compelled to do it; but no one can suppose for a moment that a
small power like Algiers can _compel_ nearly all the maritime nations to
bow before it. Nevertheless, the nations _do_ submit, some of them to
very humiliating terms. You saw the Swedish frigate conveying two
store-ships that entered the port yesterday?"
"Yes."
"Well, these vessels contained the annual tribute due by Sweden, and
that country is also bound by treaty to furnish the Dey with a person
capable of directing his gunpowder factory! Denmark not only pays
tribute, but is bound to pay it in naval stores, and her consul here is
at present in disgrace because his country has failed to pay its tribute
at the specified time. There is an American ship just now detained in
port because the nation to which it belongs is also dilatory in paying
up what is due by treaty, therefore the American consul is also in the
Dey's black books; and I may add in regard to him that, at the time of
his appointment to his office, he gave the Dey a consular present of
sixteen thousand Spanish dollars. Even that notorious warrior Napoleon,
who is at present turning Europe upside down, thought it worth his while
lately to send to the Dey a present of telescopes and other things to
the amount of four thousand pounds; and England, that great nation which
styles herself mistress of the seas, cannot enter the Mediterranean with
her merchant ships until she has paid toll to this exacting city."
"Now," continued Bacri, stopping abruptly in his account of these
matters, "I must not waste more time on a subject which is
incomprehensible. Indeed, I would not have said so much were it not
that the hour is yet too early for the undertaking which I have in view
for you.
"Achmet, then, must be at once put on his guard; but to do so is no easy
matter, for his enemies surround him. It would be impossible for me, or
any one sent by me, to gain admittance to him. I am already under
surveillance, and should forfeit my life were I to attempt it. The only
method I can think of is to send to the British consul, and let him know
what is pending. He is the only consul here to whom the Dey will grant
an immediate unquestioning audience. You are active and strong,
Mariano, and are, I believe, willing to aid me."
"Indeed I am," replied the youth fervently.
"I need scarcely tell you," said Bacri sadly, "that you and your friends
are intimately concerned in the safety of the present Dey, for if he
falls it will go ill with all connected with him, especially with the
Scrivano-Grande, your brother Lucien, and your father."
"I guessed as much," said Mariano, with an anxious look; "but, tell me,
is there likely to be much danger to this house and its inmates?"
"I think not, I hope not, Mariano, but there is no place of absolute
safety for me or mine in the city. I might indeed take refuge in the
British consulate, but I prefer to remain where I am, and put my trust
in God."
"Then you and yours," returned the youth, with hesitation, "may want the
aid of a stout and willing arm. Is it well that I should leave you at
this crisis?"
"Fear not; I think there will be ample time for you to go and return, if
you make haste," said the Jew.
"Then let me go at once," urged the other.
"Not so," answered Bacri; "we must proceed wisely as well as with
caution.--Go, Angela," he said to the maiden, who entered the room at
that moment, "open the closet at the head of the terrace stair; you will
find a thin knotted rope hanging there,--fetch it hither."
In a few minutes Angela returned with the rope.
"Sit thee down, pretty one," said Bacri kindly, "while I give this youth
some directions. I will explain to you afterwards the cause of his
being sent away.--This line, Mariano, is all you need. It is long
enough to reach from the city walls to the ground. You will go towards
the tower to the west of Bab-Azoun gate. There is an iron spike on the
wall there, on which is fixed the head of your poor friend Castello.
Fasten the rope to the spike and lower yourself. The ground reached,
leave the rope hanging, it will serve for your ascent on returning; then
speed round the back of the town, and over the hills by Frais Vallon to
the house of the British consul, tell him of the urgent need there is
for his seeing the Dey and letting him know the danger which hovers over
his head, and then return as fast as possible. This rope you will find
suitable to its objects. An active young fellow like you can have no
difficulty in re-mounting the walls with the aid of these knots, and you
need not fear interruption if you exercise ordinary caution, for Turkish
soldiers, like the warriors of all nations, become arrant cowards when
supernatural fears assail them. Poor Castello's head will keep the
nearest sentinel as far off as is consistent with his duty. No doubt
they are well used to trunkless heads in this city, but there is a vast
difference between the sight of such in the glare of day, when
surrounded by comrades, and amid the excitement of war or an execution,
and a similar head in the stillness of a calm night during the solemn
hours of a long and solitary watch."
"But why not allow me to start off at once?" asked Mariano, with some
impatience at the Jew's prolixity.
"Because the sentinels will not be relieved for an hour yet, and it is
well to make such an enterprise as near to the relief as possible--
wearied men at the end of a long watch being less on the alert than at
the beginning of it. Besides, the moon will be lower in half an hour,
and that will favour your enterprise."
Being constrained to wait, Mariano busied himself in making the useful
preparations. He wound the rope tightly round his waist, and covered it
with a thin scarf such as was commonly worn by the Moors. He also
trimmed and prepared a small lantern.
"Now," said Bacri, looking at his watch, "you may go. But, stay--not in
the direction of our usual passage. You could not move ten yards from
my door to-night without being intercepted. Follow me; I have long been
prepared for emergencies such as this."
"Good-night, Angela," said Mariano, extending his hand, as he prepared
to follow the Jew.
"Oh, be careful," said Angela earnestly. "From the little I have heard
it seems that there is much danger impending."
"What I can do to avert it shall be done," replied the youth, kissing
his hand to the girl as he passed through the doorway and followed his
master to the terrace-roof of the house.
We have said that Algerine roofs are flat, but they are by no means
regular. There are often various elevations on the same roof, and
various forms, as if the architect had terminated the summits of the
several walls and partitions at the dictates of a wayward fancy rather
than a settled plan. In some cases a step--in others a flight of
steps--formed the communication between one part of a roof and another,
while division-walls varying from a foot to two yards in height, cut it
up into irregular squares and triangles. Such roofs are eminently
fitted for the game of "hide and go seek," to which, doubtless, they
have been applied more or less since the days of Abraham.
Issuing on the terrace of his house, then, Bacri pointed out to Mariano,
by the light of the moon, which was slowly descending to its bed in the
Sahel hills, that the roof of his neighbour's house could be easily
reached by a single step.
"You will cross over this roof," he said, taking a ring from his finger
and placing it on that of his slave, "and be sure that you tread with
care until you come to the other edge of it, where you will be able to
place yourself in the shadow of a chimney until a cloud covers the moon.
My neighbour is not a friend, therefore tread like a cat. Attend well
to my directions now, and obey them implicitly. You require no arms.
Whatever happens to you, offer no resistance, as that will only ensure
death. When the moon is clouded leap to the next roof, which you may
see now in line with yonder minaret. There is about six feet between
the two--which is nothing to a youth like you; only be careful, for
failure will plunge you into the street, sixty feet below. That terrace
gained, you are on friendly ground. Go, knock gently at the door
leading to the house below, and show the owner my ring, asking him at
the same time to guide you to the street, after which you know how to
act; and may the God of Abraham direct you. Stay! If the owner of the
house, who is a Jew, should use you roughly, heed it not. Whatever you
do, be passive. Your own life, and it may be the lives of others,
depends on this."
The first part of the Jew's caution would have availed little, for when
Mariano was roused he recked little of his own life; but the reference
to others reminded him of Angela and his father, so that he made up his
mind to be a very model of forbearance whatever should happen.
Stepping easily from the house of the Jew to the terrace of his
neighbour, he proceeded with extreme caution to the chimney pointed out
to him, and took his stand under its shadow.
It was a time and situation which induced many burning thoughts and sad
reflections to chase each other through the youth's brain, as he awaited
impatiently the clouding of the moon. From the elevated point on which
he stood nearly the whole city lay spread out at his feet, its white
terraces, domes, and minarets shining like silver in the pale light, and
contrasting vividly with the dark blue bay lying between it and the
distant range of the Jurjura mountains. Everything was profoundly calm,
quiet, and peaceful, so that he found it difficult to believe in the
fierce passions, black villainy, horrible cruelty, and intolerable
suffering which seethed below. For some time his eyes rested on the
palace of the Dey, and he thought of his father and Lucien with deep
anxiety.
Then they wandered to the hated Bagnio, and he thought with pity of the
miserable victims confined there, and of the hundreds of other Christian
men and women who toiled in hopeless slavery in and around the pirate
city. Passing onward, his eyes rested on the light-house and
fortifications of the port, and he wondered whether any of the powerful
nations of the earth would ever have the common-sense to send a fleet to
blow such a wasps' nest into unimaginable atoms!
At this point his thoughts were interrupted by the darkening of the moon
by a thick cloud, and the sudden descent of deep shadow on the town--as
if all hope in such a blessed consummation were forbidden.
Turning at once to the parapet of the terrace, he mounted, but paused a
moment, as he endeavoured to gauge the distance of the opposite wall,
and gazed into the black gulf below. Bacri had told him that the space
was six feet. In the darkness that now prevailed it appeared twenty.
He would have ventured it in the circumstances had it been sixty!
Collecting all his energies and courage, he made a bound forward that
might have roused the envy of an acrobat, and cleared not only the space
between but the parapet beyond, coming down with an awful crash into the
midst of a certain box-garden, which was the special pride of the owner
of the mansion.
Poor Mariano leaped up in horror, and listened with dread, but suddenly
remembering that he now stood on what Bacri had termed friendly ground,
he recovered self-possession and sought for the door on the roof.
Finding it after some trouble, he knocked gently.
It was opened much sooner and more violently than he had anticipated,
and a tall man springing out seized him by the throat in a grasp like a
vice, and held a gleaming dagger to his breast.
In other circumstances Mariano would certainly have engaged in a
struggle for the dagger, but remembering Angela and the Jew's warning,
he gave back, and said in French, as well as the vice-like grip would
allow--
"A friend."
"Truly," replied the man gruffly, in Lingua Franca, "thy knock might
imply friendship, but thine appearance here at such an hour requires
more explanation than a mere assurance."
"Remove your hand and you shall have it," replied the youth, somewhat
angrily. "Dost suppose that if I had been other than a friend I would
not have ere now flung thee headlong from thine own terrace?"
"Speak quickly, then," returned the man, relaxing his hold a little.
"This ring," said the youth.
"Ha! Enough, a sure token," interrupted the Jew, in a low friendly
tone, on seeing the ring, at the same time leading Mariano within the
doorway. "What wouldst thou?"
"Nothing more than to be shown the nearest way to the street."
"That is soon done--follow me."
In a few minutes Mariano found himself in a narrow street, down which,
after lighting his lantern and thanking the Jew, he proceeded at a rapid
pace.
In the intricacies of that curious old town the youth would certainly
have lost himself, but for the fact that it was built, as we have said,
on the slope of a hill, so that all he had to do was to keep descending,
in order to secure his final exit into the principal thoroughfare--
Bab-Azoun.
Few persons met him at that hour, and these appeared desirous of
avoiding observation. After passing the Bagnio with a shudder, he
extinguished the lantern. And now the real danger of his enterprise had
begun, because he was acting illegally in traversing the streets after
dark without a light, and liable to be taken up and punished by any of
the guards who should find him. He proceeded therefore with great
caution; keeping close to the walls in the darkest places, and gliding
into doorways to hide when any one approached. Thus he succeeded
escaping observation, and had almost reached the city wall, not far from
the spot where it was garnished by poor Castello's head, when he heard
the tramp of soldiers. They were about to turn a corner which would in
another second have brought him full into view. To retreat was
impossible, and no friendly doorway stood open to receive him. In this
extremity he pressed himself into a niche formed by a pillar and an
angle of the house beside him. It could not have concealed him in
ordinary circumstances, but aided by darkness there was some possibility
of escaping notice. Crushing himself against the wall with all his
might, and wishing with all his heart that he had been a smaller man, he
breathlessly awaited the passing of the soldiers.