DREAMS AND VISIONS
Mahommed sat awhile in deep abstraction, his face flushed, his hands
working nervously in their own clasp. The subject possessing him was
very pleasurable. How could it be else?
On his side the Prince waited deferentially, but very observant. He was
confident of the impression made; he even thought he could follow the
young Turk's reflections point by point; still it was wisest to let him
alone, for the cooling time of the sober second thought would come, and
then how much better if there were room for him to believe the decision
his own.
"It is very well, Prince," Mahommed said, finally, struggling to keep
down every sign of excitement. "I had accounts of you from Mirza the
Emir, and it is the truth, which neither of us will be the worse of
knowing, that I see nothing of disagreement in what he told me, and in
what you now tell me of yourself. The conceptions I formed of you are
justified: you are learned and of great experience; you are a good man
given to charity as the Prophet has ordered, and a believer in God. At
various times in the world's history, if we may trust the writers,
great men have had their greatness foretold them; now if I think myself
in the way of addition to the list of those so fortunate, it is because
I put faith in you as in a friendly Prophet."
At this the Prince threw up both hands.
"Friendly am I, my lord, more than friendly, but not a Prophet. I am
only a Messenger, an Interpreter of the Superior Powers."
Much he feared the demands upon him if he permitted the impression that
he was a Prophet to go uncontradicted; as an astrologer, he could in
need thrust the stars between him and the unreasonable. And his
judgment was quickly affirmed.
"As you will, O Prince," said Mahommed. "Messenger, interpreter,
prophet, whichever pleases you, the burden of what you bring me is
nevertheless of chiefest account. Comes a herald, we survey him, and
ask voucher for his pretensions; are we satisfied with them, why then
he gives place in our interest, and becomes secondary to the matter he
bears. Is it not so?"
"It is righteously said, my Lord."
"And when I take up this which you have brought me"--Mahommed laid a
hand upon his throat as if in aid of the effort he was making to keep
calm and talk with dignity--"I cannot deny its power; for when was
there an imaginative young man who first permitted ambition and love of
glory to build golden palaces for their abiding in his heart, with
self-control to stop his ears to promises apparently from Heaven? O
Prince, if you are indeed my friend, you will not laugh at me when you
are alone!... Moreover I would not you should believe your tidings
received carelessly or as a morsel sweet on my tongue; but as wine
warms to the blood coursing to the brain, it has started inquiries and
anxieties you alone can allay. And first, the great glory whose running
is to fill the East, like an unsetting sun, tell me of it; for, as we
all know, glory is of various kinds; there is one kind reserved for
poets, orators, and professors cunning in the arts, and another for
cheer of such as find delight in swords and bossy shields, and armor
well bedight, and in horses, and who exult in battle, and in setting
armies afield, in changing boundary lines, and in taking rest and
giving respite in the citadels of towns happily assaulted. And as of
these the regard is various, tell me the kind mine is to be."
"The stars speak not doubtfully, my Lord. When Mars rises ascendant in
either of his Houses, they that moment born are devoted to war, and,
have they their bent, they shall be soldiers; nor soldiers merely, but
as the conjunctions are good, conquerors, and fortunate, and Samael,
his angel, becomes their angel. Has my Lord ever seen his nativity?"
"Yes."
"Then he knows whereof I speak."
Mahommed nodded affirmatively, and said, "The fame is to my taste,
doubt not; but, Prince, were thy words duly weighed, then my glory is
to be surpassing. Now, I am of a line of heroes. Othman, the founder;
Orchan, father of the Janissaries; Solyman, who accepted the crescent
moon seen in a dream by the sea at Cyzicus as Allah's bidding to pass
the Hellespont to Tzympe in Europe; Amurath, conqueror of Adrianople;
Bajazet, who put an end to Christian crusading in the field of
Nicopolis--these filled the East with their separate renowns; and my
father Amurath, did he not subdue Hunyades? Yet, Prince, you tell me my
glory is to transcend theirs. Now--because I am ready to believe
you--say if it is to burst upon me suddenly or to signalize a long
career. The enjoyment of immortality won in youth must be a pleasant
thing."
"I cannot answer, my Lord"
"Cannot?"
And Mahommed's eagerness came near getting the better of his will.
"I have nothing from the stars by which to speak, and I dare not assume
to reply for myself."
Then Mahommed's eyes became severely bright, and the bones of his hands
shone white through the skin, so hard did he compress them.
"How long am I to wait before the glory you promise me ripens ready for
gathering? If it requires long campaigns, shall I summon the armies
now?"
A tone, a stress of voice in the question sent a shiver through the
Prince despite his self-command. His gaze upon Mahommed's countenance,
already settled, intensified, and almost before the last word passed he
saw the idea he was expected to satisfy, and that it was the point to
which his interrogator had been really tending from the commencement of
the interview. To gain a moment, he affected not to clearly understand;
after a repetition, he in turn asked, with a meaning look:
"Is not thy father, O Prince, now in his eighty-fifth year?"
Mahommed leaned further forward.
"And is it not eight and twenty years since he began reigning wisely
and well?"
Mahommed nodded assent.
"Suffer me to answer now. Besides his age which pleads for him, your
father has not allowed greatness and power to shade the love he gave
you heartily the hour he first took you in his arms. Nature protests
against his cutting off, and in this instance, O Prince, the voice of
Nature is the voice of Allah. So say I speaking for myself."
Mahommed's face relaxed its hardness, and he moved and breathed freely
while replying: "I do not know what the influences require of me."
"Speak you of the stars, my Lord," the other returned, "hear me, and
with distinctness. As yet they have intrusted me with the one
prediction, and that you have. In other words, they are committed to a
horoscope based upon your nativity, and from it your glory has been
rightly delivered. So much is permitted us by the astrologic law we
practise. But this now asked me, a circumstance in especial, appertains
to you as chief of forces not yet yours. Wherefore--heed well, my
Lord--I advise you to make note of the minute of the hour of the day
you gird yourself with the sword of sovereignty which, at this
speaking, is your great father's by sanction of Heaven; then will I
cast a horoscope for Mahommed the Sultan, not Mahommed, son of Amurath
merely--then, by virtue of my office of Interpreter of the Stars,
having the proper writing in my hand, I will tell you this you now
seek, together with all else pertaining to your sovereignty intrusted
me for communication. I will tell you when the glory is open to you,
and the time for setting forward to make it yours--even the dawning of
the term of preparation necessarily precedent to the movement itself.
Now am I understood? Will my Lord tell me I am understood?"
An observation here may not be amiss. The reader will of course notice
the clever obtrusion of the stars in the speech; yet its real craft was
in the reservations covered. Presuming it possible for the Prince to
have fixed a time to Mahommed's satisfaction, telling it would have
been like giving away the meat of an apple, and retaining the rind. The
wise man who sets out to make himself a need to another will carefully
husband his capital. Moreover it is of importance to keep in mind
through this period of our story that with the Prince of India
everything was subsidiary to his scheme of unity in God. To which end
it was not enough to be a need to Mahommed; he must also bring the
young potentate to wait upon him for the signal to begin the movement
against Constantinople; for such in simplicity was the design scarcely
concealed under the glozing of "the East against the West." That is to
say, until he knew Constantine's disposition with respect to the
superlative project, his policy was delay. What, in illustration, if
the Emperor proved a friend? In falconry the hawk is carried into the
field hooded, and cast off only when the game is flushed. So the Prince
of India thought as he concluded his speech, and looked at the handsome
face of the Lord Mahommed.
The latter was disappointed, and showed it. He averted his eyes, knit
his brows, and took a little time before answering; then a flash of
passion seized him.
"With all thy wisdom, Prince, thou knowest not how hard waiting will
be. There is nothing in Nature sweeter than glory, and on the other
hand nothing so intolerably bitter as hungering for it when it is in
open prospect. What irony in the providence which permits us to harvest
greatness in the days of our decline! I dream of it for my youth, for
then most can be made of it. There was a Greek--not of the Byzantine
breed in the imperial kennel yonder"--he emphasized the negative with a
contemptuous glance in the direction of Constantinople--"a Greek of the
old time of real heroes, he who has the first place in history as a
conqueror. Think you he was happy because he owned the world? Delight
in property merely, a horse, a palace, a ship, a kingdom, is vulgar:
any man can be owner of something; the beggar polishes his crutch for
the same reason the king gilds his throne--it belongs to him.
Possession means satiety. But achieve thou immortality in thy first
manhood, and it shall remain to thee as the ring to a bride or as his
bride to the bridegroom.--Let it be as you say. I bow to the stars.
Between me and the sovereignty my father stands, a good man to whom I
give love for love; and he shall not be disturbed by me or any of mine.
In so far I will honor your advice; and in the other matter also, there
shall be one ready to note the minute of the hour the succession falls
to me. But what if then you are absent?"
"A word from my Lord will bring me to him; and His Majesty is liable to
go after his fathers at any moment"--
"Ay, and alas!" Mahommed interposed, with unaffected sorrow, "a king
may keep his boundaries clean, and even extend them thitherward from
the centre, and be a fear unto men; yet shall death oblige him at last.
All is from God."
The Prince was courtier enough to respect the feeling evinced.
"But I interrupted you," Mahommed presently added. "I pray pardon."
"I was about to say, my Lord, if I am not with you when His Majesty,
your father, bows to the final call--for the entertainment of such was
Paradise set upon its high hill!--let a messenger seek me in
Constantinople; and it may even serve well if the Governor of this
Castle be instructed to keep his gates always open to me, and himself
obedient to my requests."
"A good suggestion! I will attend to it. But"--
Again he lapsed into abstraction, and the Prince held his peace
watchfully.
"Prince," Mahommed said at length, "it is not often I put myself at
another's bidding, for freedom to go where one pleases is not more to a
common man than is freedom to do what pleases him to a sovereign; yet
so will I with you in this matter; and as is the custom of Moslems
setting out on a voyage I say of our venture, 'In the name of God be
its courses and its moorings.' That settled, hearken further. What you
have given me is not all comprehensible. As I understand you, I am to
find the surpassing glory in a field of war. Tell me, lies the field
far or near? Where is it? And who is he I am to challenge? There will
be room and occasion for combat around me everywhere, or, if the
occasion exist not, my Spahis in a day's ride can make one. There is
nothing stranger than how small a cause suffices us to set man against
man, life or death. But--and now I come to the very difficulty--looking
here and there I cannot see a war new in any respect, either of
parties, or objects, or pretence, out of which such a prodigious fame
is to be plucked. You discern the darkness in which I am groping.
Light, O Prince--give me light!"
For an instant the mind of the Jew, sown with subtlety as a mine with
fine ore, was stirred with admiration of the quality so strikingly
manifested in this demand; but collecting himself, he said, calmly, for
the question had been foreseen:
"My Lord was pleased to say a short while ago that the Emir Mirza, on
his return from the Hajj, told him of me. Did Mirza tell also of my
forbidding him to say anything of the predictions I then intrusted him?"
"Yes," Mahommed answered, smiling, "and I have loved him for the
disobedience. He satisfied me to whom he thought his duty was first
owing."
"Well, if evil ensue from the disclosure, it may be justly charged to
my indiscretion. Let it pass--only, in reporting me, did not Mirza say,
Lord Mahommed, that the prohibition I laid upon him proceeded from a
prudent regard for your interests?"
"Yes."
"And in speaking of the change in the status of the world I then
announced, and of the refluent wave the East was to pour upon the
West"--
"And of the doom of Constantinople!" Mahommed cried, in a sudden
transport of excitement.
"Ay, and of the hero thou wert to be, my Lord! Said he nothing of the
other caution I gave him, how absolute verity could only be had by a
recast of the horoscope at the city itself? And how I was even then on
my way thither?"
"Truly, O Prince. Mirza is a marvel!"
"Thanks, my Lord. The assurance prepares me to answer your last demand."
Then, lowering his voice, the Prince returned to his ordinary manner.
"The glory you are to look for will not depend upon conditions such as
parties to the war, or its immediate cause, or the place of its
wagement."
Mahommed listened with open mouth.
"My Lord knows of the dispute long in progress between the Pope of Rome
and the Patriarch of Constantinople; one claiming to be the head of the
Church of Christ, the other insisting on his equality. The dispute, my
Lord also knows, has been carried from East to West, and back and back
again, prelate replying to prelate, until the whole Church is falling
to pieces, and on every Christian tongue the 'Church East' and the
'Church West' are common as morning salutations."
Mahommed nodded.
"Now, my Lord," the Prince continued, the magnetic eyes intensely
bright, "you and I know the capital of Christianity is yonder "--he
pointed toward Constantinople--"and that conquering it is taking from
Christ and giving to Mahomet. What more of definition of thy glory wilt
thou require? Thus early I salute thee a Sword of God."
Mahommed sprang from his couch, and strode the floor, frequently
clapping his hands. Upon the passing of the ecstasy, he stopped in
front of the Prince.
"I see it now--the feat of arms impossible to my father reserved for
me."
Again he walked, clapping his hands.
"I pray your pardon," he said, when the fit was over. "In my great joy
I interrupted you."
"I regret to try my Lord's patience further," the Prince answered, with
admirable diplomacy. "It were better, however, to take another step in
the explanation now. A few months after separating from Mirza in Mecca,
I arrived in Constantinople, and every night since, the heavens being
clear, I have questioned the stars early and late. I cannot repeat to
my Lord all the inquiries I made of them, so many were they, and so
varied in form, nor the bases I laid hold of for horoscopes, each
having, as I hoped, to do with the date of the founding of the city.
What calculations I have made--tables of figures to cover the sky with
a tapestry of algebraic and geometrical symbols: The walks of astrology
are well known--I mean those legitimate--nevertheless in my great
anxiety, I have even ventured into the arcana of magic forbidden to the
Faithful. The seven good angels, and the seven bad, beginning with
Jubanladace, first of the good, a celestial messenger, helmeted,
sworded with flame, and otherwise beautiful to behold, and ending with
Barman, the lowest of the bad, the consort and ally of witches--I
besought them all for what they could tell me. Is the time of the
running of the city now, to-morrow, next week--when? Such the burden of
my inquiry. As yet, my Lord, no answer has been given. I am merely bid
keep watch on the schism of the Church. In some way the end we hope has
connection with that rancor, if, indeed, it be not the grand result.
With clear discernment of the tendencies, the Roman Pontiff is striving
to lay the quarrel; but he speaks to a rising tide. We cannot hasten
the event; neither can he delay it. Our role is patience--patience. At
last Europe will fall away, and leave the Greek to care of himself;
then, my Lord, you have but to be ready. The end is in the throes of
its beginning now."
"Still you leave me in the dark," Mahommed cried, with a frown.
"Nay, my Lord, there is a chance for us to make the stars speak."
The beguiler appeared to hesitate.
"A chance?" Mahommed asked.
"It is dependent, my Lord."
"Upon what?"
"The life of the Sultan, thy father."
"Speak not in riddles, O Prince."
"Upon his death, thou wilt enter on the sovereignty."
"Still I see not clearly."
"With the horoscope of Mahommed the Sultan in my hand, then certainly
as the stars perform their circuits, being set thereunto from the first
morning, they must respond to me; and then, find I Mars in the
Ascendant, well dignified essentially and accidentally, I can lead my
Lord out of the darkness."
"Then, Prince?"
"He may see the Christian capital at his mercy."
"But if Mars be not in the Ascendant?"
"My Lord must wait."
Mahommed sprang to his feet, gnashing his teeth.
"My Lord," said the Prince, calmly, "a man's destiny is never
unalterable; it is like a pitcher filled with wine which he is carrying
to his lips--it may be broken on the way, and its contents spilled.
Such has often happened through impatience and pride. What is waiting
but the wise man's hour of preparation?"
The quiet manner helped the sound philosophy. Mahommed took seat,
remarking, "You remind me, Prince, of the saying of the Koran,
'Whatsoever good betideth thee, O man, it is from God, and whatsoever
evil betideth, from thyself is it.' I am satisfied. Only"--
The Prince summoned all his faculties again.
"Only I see two periods of waiting before me; one from this until I
take up the sovereignty; the other thence till thou bringest me the
mandate of the stars. I fear not the second period, for, as thou
sayest, I can then lose myself in making ready; but the first, the
meantime--ah, Prince, speak of it. Tell me how I can find surcease of
the chafing of my spirit."
The comprehension of the wily Hebrew did not fail him. His heart beat
violently. He was master! Once more he was in position to change the
world. A word though not more than "now," and he could marshal the
East, which he so loved, against the West, which he so hated. If
Constantinople failed him, Christianity must yield its seat to Islam.
He saw it all flash-like; yet at no time in the interview did his face
betoken such placidity of feeling. The _meantime_ was his, not
Mahommed's--his to lengthen or shorten--his for preparation. He could
afford to be placid.
"There is much for my Lord to do," he said.
"When, O Prince--now?"
"It is for him to think and act as if Constantinople were his capital
temporarily in possession of another."
The words caught attention, and it is hard saying what Mahommed's
countenance betokened. The reader must think of him as of a listener
just awakened to a new idea of infinite personal concern.
"It is for him now to learn the city within and without," the Jew
proceeded; "its streets and edifices; its halls and walls; its strong
and weak places; its inhabitants, commerce, foreign relations; the
character of its ruler, his resources and policies; its daily events;
its cliques and clubs, and religious factions; especially is it for him
to foment the differences Latin and Greek."
It is questionable if any of the things imparted had been so effective
upon Mahommed as this one. Not only did his last doubt of the man
talking disappear; it excited a boundless admiration for him, and the
freshest novitiate in human nature knows how almost impossible it is to
refuse trust when once we have been brought to admire. "Oh!" Mahommed
cried. "A pastime, a pastime, if I could be there!"
"Nay, my Lord," said the insidious counsellor, with a smile, "how do
kings manage to be everywhere at the same time?"
"They have their Ambassadors. But I am not a king."
"Not yet a king"--the speaker laid stress upon the
adverb--"nevertheless public representation is one thing; secret agency
another."
Mahommed's voice sank almost to a whisper.
"Wilt thou accept this agency?"
"It is for me to observe the heavens at night, while calculations will
take my days. I trust my Lord in his wisdom will excuse me."
"Where is one for the service? Name him, Prince--one as good."
"There is one better. Bethink you, my Lord, the business is of a long
time; it may run through years."
Mahommed's brow knit darkly at the reminder.
"And he who undertakes it should enter Constantinople and live there
above suspicion. He must be crafty, intelligent, courtly in manner,
accomplished in arms, of high rank, and with means to carry his state
bravely, for not only ought he to be conspicuous in the Hippodrome; he
should be welcome in the palace. Along with other facilities, he must
be provided to buy service in the Emperor's bedroom and council
chamber--nay, at his elbow. It is of prime importance that he possesses
my Lord's confidence unalterably. Am I understood?"
"The man, Prince, the man!"
"My Lord has already named him."
"I?"
"Only to-night my Lord spoke of him as a marvel."
"Mirza!" exclaimed Mahommed, clapping his hands.
"Mirza," the Prince returned, and proceeded without pause: "Despatch
him to Italy; then let him appear in Constantinople, embarked from a
galley, habited like a Roman, and with a suitable Italian title. He
speaks Italian already, is fixed in his religion, and in knightly
honor. Not all the gifts at the despot's disposal, nor the
blandishments of society can shake his allegiance--he worships my Lord."
"My servant has found much favor with you, O Prince?"
Accepting the remark as a question, the other answered:
"Did I not spend the night with him at El Zaribah? Was I not witness of
his trial of faith at the Holy Kaaba? Have I not heard from my Lord
himself how, when put to choice, he ignored my prohibition respecting
the stars?"
Mahommed arose, and again walked to and fro.
"There is a trouble in this proposal, Prince," he said, halting
abruptly. "So has Mirza become a part of me, I am scarcely myself
without him."
Another turn across the floor, and he seemed to become reconciled. "Let
us have done for to-night," he next said. "The game is imperative, but
it will not be harmed by a full discussion. Stay with me to-morrow,
Prince."
The Prince remembered the Emperor. Not unlikely a message from that
high personage was at his house, received in course of the day.
"True, very true, and the invitation is a great honor to me," he
replied, bowing; "but I am reminded that the gossips in Byzantium will
feast each other when to-morrow it passes from court to bazaar how the
Princess Irene and the Prince of India were driven by the storm to
accept hospitality in the White Castle. And if it get abroad, that
Mahommed, son of the great Amurath, came also to the Castle, who may
foretell the suspicions to hatch in the city? No, my Lord, I submit it
is better for me to depart with the Princess at the subsidence of the
waters."
"Be it so," Mahommed returned, cordially. "We understand each other. I
am to wait and you to communicate with me; and now, morning comes
apace, good night."
He held his hand to the Jew; whereat the latter knelt and kissed the
hand, but retained it to say:
"My Lord, if I know him rightly, will not sleep to-night; thought is an
enemy to sleep; and besides the inspiration there is in the destiny
promised, its achievement lies all before him. Yet I wish to leave
behind me one further topic, promising it is as much greater than any
other as the Heavens are higher than the earth."
"Rise, Prince," said Mahommed, helping him to his feet. "Such
ceremonious salutation whether in reception or at departure may be
dispensed with hereafter; thou art not a stranger, but more than a
guest. I count thee my friend whom everything shall wait upon--even
myself. Speak now of what thou callest the greater scheme. I am most
curious."
There was a silence while one might count ten slowly. The Jew in that
space concentrated the mysterious force of which he was master in great
store, so it shone in his eyes, gave tone to his voice, and was an
outgoing of WILL in overwhelming current. "Lord Mahommed," he said, "I
know you are a believer in God."
The young Turk was conscious of a strange thrill passing through him
from brain to body.
"In nature and every quality the God of the Jew, the Christian, and the
Moslem is the same. Take we their own sayings. Christ and Mahomet were
witnesses sent to testify of Him first, highest and alone--Him the
universal Father. Yet behold the perversity of man. God has been
deposed, and for ages believers in Him have been divided amongst
themselves; wherefore hate, jealousies, wars, battle and the smoke of
slaughter perpetually. But now is He at last minded to be restored.
Hear, Lord Mahommed, hear with soul and mortal ear!"
The words and manner caught and exalted Mahommed's spirit. As Michael,
with a sweep of his wings, is supposed to pass the nether depths, an
impulsion bore the son of Amurath up to a higher and clearer plane. He
could not but hear.
"Be it true now that God permits His presence to be known in human
affairs only when He has a purpose to justify His interposition; then,
as we dare not presume the capital of Christendom goes to its fall
without His permission, why your designation for the mighty work? That
you may be personally glorified, my Lord? Look higher. See yourself His
chosen instrument--and this the deed! From the seat of the Caesars, its
conquest an argument, He means you to bring men together in His name.
Titles may remain--Jew, Moslem, Christian, Buddhist--but there shall be
an end of wars for religion--all mankind are to be brethren in Him.
This the deed, my Lord--Unity in God, and from it, a miracle of the
ages slow to come but certain, the evolution of peace and goodwill
amongst men. I leave the idea with you. Good night!"
Mahommed remained so impressed and confounded that the seer was
permitted to walk out as from an empty room. Mirza received him outside
the door.