safe to remain. I begged her, however, that she would vouchsafe to me
a minute or two more in order that we might think of some means of
escape together: for indeed at the first moment that I had set eyes on
her, I had seen how valuable an aid she might prove to me. The danger
of our meeting was too great to venture on often, and now that we were
together it was better to take the risk of a longer stay than the
greater risk of another meeting. As for the punishment were we caught!
the thought alone was too horrible to be pursued. After several plans,
which, alas! we found to be too dangerous or altogether impossible to
effect, she spoke as follows: ‘Know, oh, my Rustem, that it is the
custom of the Dey after the evening meal to sit awhile with some of
his women, who relate stories, or discourse music, or recite poetry
while he carouses. Now I have thought of a plan to gain his seal ring
from him, which, _Inshallah_, I shall put into effect on the night
that he returns from the hunt. If I am successful, I will hang a white
handkerchief from the bush, and when you see it you will come and bring
me across the river. If, however, it is written that I shall fail, you
will never hear of me again.’ Upon this I kissed her hand, and with a
heavy heart hid again in the bush while my would-be deliverer called
her slave and departed. Then I slipped back in the way I had come, and
by the mercy of God, was perceived by nobody. On the following evening
the Dey returned from hunting, and as the shades of dusk fell and the
slaves retired to their quarters, I watched with fear and trembling for
the sign which should warn me of perils to be encountered or of the
death of Umeimeh. The sickening tortures which I should suffer were I
discovered weighed nothing in the balance with the hope of freedom that
danced before my eyes, and I even ventured to address the head Syce,
warning him that two of the swiftest horses were to be ready to execute
the commands of his lord. How slow the moments dragged along! How my
heart palpitated with fears and hopes! What could I say as to the order
for the horses if I failed to obtain the seal ring of the Dey? What
means would Umeimeh adopt to get the ring? Even if she won it, would
she escape the vigilance of the guardians of the hareem? And if she
did, might not the Dey himself discover how he had been robbed--and
then!--Oh, merciful Providence! It is easy for me to sit here in my
cabinet writing the account of that eventful night, and for thee, O
reader, to read what I have written, but neither can I indite nor thou
comprehend the torture of that time or the awful consequences that the
slightest accident might have caused. At length, and perhaps hardly to
my relief, so highly strung were my nerves, I saw the signal displayed.
I slipped into the water, and had scarcely gained the opposite bank
when I found Umeimeh awaiting me. ‘Fly,’ she cried; ‘I have the ring,
but we have but a few hours before all will be known and we pursued!’
Then I carried her across, and when we had landed I perceived that she
was in the garb of one of the Dey’s guard, and had also brought a like
dress for me. When I had put it on, we glided through the trees to
the head of the pass and, going up to the guard, showed him the ring,
enjoined silence, and asked for the horses on service of the Dey. No
one dared speak a word; the horses were brought, and silently mounting,
we dashed off downwards towards the coast.
It was early night and we met no one, for even after we had passed
in our headlong career the wilds of the mountain, the people of the
villages through which we travelled were all asleep. As dawn began to
break the need of rest and food pressed upon us; and happening to light
upon a cavern a little to one side of the road, we thought it as well
to withdraw therein. For although we had the seal ring of the Dey with
us, and were safe until our flight should be brought to his notice, yet
it was as well to leave as little trace behind us of the direction and
the manner of our flight as possible. Having tethered our horses, we
opened the saddle-bags which I had been careful to provide, and took
our breakfast; and since it was necessary to give our horses an hour or
two’s rest, I desired Umeimeh to give me the relation of her adventure
in obtaining the ring, which she did as follows.
‘You must know,’ said she, ‘that it is customary for his majesty the
Dey to take his supper in the company of his favourite wife, surrounded
by all the luxury that the circumstances of such an expedition as his
present one can afford. Last evening he summoned his favourite as
usual, one Detma, whom I had bribed to feign that she was ill, for
it was necessary to my plan that I should be called. Accordingly
I attended him in his spacious dining tent which was lit up with a
thousand lights, and in one corner was a band of women discoursing
sweet music on the Kemengeh, ’Ood, Ney, and Kanoon, while slaves handed
the dishes, and when we had eaten our fill, placed the dried fruits
before us and filled our cups. The Dey had had a successful hunt and
his heart was dilated; he drained his cup in pledging me, and then
said: “Oh, Umeimeh, call forth the most skilled among my slaves that
she may divert us with her lute.” Upon this I ordered them to call
Helwa, a beautiful girl, who brought with her in a silken bag her lute,
all inlaid with ivory and ebony and sandalwood, and, after an obeisance
to the Dey, she seated herself and said: “Oh, my lord, what will it
please you that I sing? Something of the chase, or of war, or of love?”
Thereupon the Dey laughed, and replied: “Oh, sweet one of many songs,
sing me something of love, for women delight not in the chase or in
war.” Then, after a prelude, she sang as follows:
Come, come away!
My love, see how the moon on high
Doth light our path; fly with me, fly!
To where my tents and people lie;
Sweet love, away!
Nay, nay, oh, stay!
Alas! I dare not go, I fear
To leave my home: oh, stay, love, here!
Bid me not leave all I hold dear!
Must we needs go?
Yea, even so.
Oh, let not fear true love dissever!
Thou lovest, we are one for ever.
Then trust me, love, come with me, never
Again to part.
Be still, my heart!
My heart doth hold me on the rack,
It bids me go, yet holds me back,
To follow thee, and stay, alack!
Which shall I do?
To love be true!
Love asketh not where it shall go,
It hath no thought for fabled woe;
There is but one thing love doth know:
How to be true!
‘The Dey was delighted with the song, and ordered the girl’s mouth to be
filled with sweetmeats. Then other slaves sang some more songs until he
was satisfied, and after the servants had brought more wine, he bade
everyone retire. For a while he sat drinking and conversing with me, so
that the wine dilated his bosom, and taking up a cup, he put it to his
lips and then gave it to me, and I drank it. Then I filled another cup
and putting into it a lozenge of bhang, enough if an elephant were to
take it to make it drop down senseless, I put the cup to my lips, and
pledging him, said: “Oh, my lord, drink this, and gladden the heart of
thy slave.” Whereupon he took it from me and drank, and scarcely had
the wine reached his stomach when he fell back senseless and without
motion. Then I placed him upon his bed and drew the ring from his
finger, and, donning the dress of his guard, I lifted up a corner of
the tent and passed out, scarcely believing in my escape, and, by the
mercy of Allah, I met no one that knew my face. The rest you know: I
displayed my signal, and you saw it and conveyed me across the stream.’
We now thought it better to press on, as our horses were rested, and
in these parts there were no villages or inhabitants to see us go by.
Leaving the beaten track, we journeyed on until we again neared a
village, which we dared not pass in the daylight for fear lest those
who were doubtlessly already in pursuit of us might chance to come
that way and gain tidings of the direction in which we had gone. We
therefore turned aside into a wood that lay not far off, and, tethering
our horses, slept for a while. When it was become dusk, we rode forward
to the port of Cherchel which was not far off, and, turning neither
to the right nor the left, we went straight to one of the Dey’s
vessels that lay in the harbour there ready for sailing. I called the
captain aside, saying that I had somewhat of moment to communicate
to him, and, going down into the cabin together, when we were alone,
I showed him the Dey’s seal ring, and informed him that I was on a
particular mission, and that he was to set sail at once. The captain
was greatly surprised, and, after a moment’s thought, he whispered to
me, asking me if I had any news of the two runaway slaves? Concealing
my perturbation, I put my finger on my lips and bade him loose sail
at once. In a few minutes all was hurry on board, the sailors running
to and fro, and within a short time we were drawing fast through the
water. I felt tolerably safe, for it was plain that he did not suspect
us, and that, though our escape was known, yet the Dey had thought
fit to conceal the loss of his seal ring, which otherwise might have
been a great danger to me. But still it was better to learn all that
the captain knew, and therefore when we were well clear from the land
I again called him down into his cabin and made a show of taking him
into my confidence, saying that I was commissioned by the Dey to pursue
the fugitives of whose departure for France I had had knowledge, and
asking him how far the news was known? For that I feared that they
might have heard and so have been put upon their guard. ‘I only know,’
he replied, ‘that a few hours ago a courier arrived here who informed
the Governor of the escape of a Christian slave together with a woman
from the royal seraglio. It was thought that they could not get far
and would soon be starved out from their hiding place.’ I nodded once
or twice at these words, and then shaking my head said: ‘Yea, but they
are away already. This accursed Christian had planned his escape well;
they are now in an open boat making their way to Italy. But I and my
young brother know them well, and, _Inshallah_, we shall overtake
them before they are able to reach land.’ The wind held good, and we
sailed fast in the direction that I had ordered the captain to take,
that is to say, towards the town of Massiglia belonging to the kingdom
of France, nor did this excite his fears although it was further than
they usually ventured, for it was in that direction, as I informed him,
that the fugitives intended to go. Nevertheless I was in doubt as to
the wisdom of what I had ordered, for if we sailed near into the port
that I had named, and did not find the fugitives, which, indeed, was
not to be expected, seeing that we ourselves were they, I could hardly
prevent the captain from turning back to Cherchel. While debating this
point in my mind, I nevertheless felt confident of success, for we were
not suspected, and even if the sex of Umeimeh were discovered, I could
explain that she was my wife whom I did not wish to appear to carry
with me, for I had so thoroughly imbued him with the idea that the
fugitives were in an open boat that I felt he could never suspect us to
be the runaway slaves of whom he had been informed.
We had been sailing about twelve hours when the captain began to get
anxious about the appearance of the weather and ordered all possible
sail to be taken in. The clouds grew lead-coloured to windward, the
breeze dropped to nothing, there was a deathly brooding silence, and
the air seemed heavy and sultry. Even the gulls and other sea-birds
that had been following us seemed now unable to support the weight of
their bodies in the drowsy air and rested floating on the waves. Then
came a gentle sigh, which presently grew into a hiss, the idle canvas
that still remained spread began to flap, and in an instant after,
with a shriek and a yell as of thousands of infuriated demons, the
blast was upon us. Nothing could withstand it. In a moment our vessel
heeled over and lay on its beam ends unable to right itself for the
pressure of the wind, the waves freshened and grew from molehills into
mountains, then sinking into abysses they threatened every moment to
engulf us in their cavernous depths. The whole crew were struck with
a panic, as well they might be, for even I gave myself up for lost:
some wept, some beat their breasts, others shouted, urging that this
or that should be done, while others again stood as though they were
turned into stone. As the vessel slowly righted again after the first
pressure of the rushing hurricane had passed over, her bare masts, from
which all vestige of sail had been torn, kept her scudding before the
breeze, now riding high on a mountain of water, and the next minute
sinking deep before the advancing waves that seemed to chase us with
fiendish joy in order that they might curl over and engulf us in their
horrid depths; the wind all the while hurtling, skirling, whistling,
and shrieking over us, so that no order of the captain could have been
heard even if it could have been obeyed. No man durst leave hold of the
grip he had of any saving object lest he should instantly have been
swept overboard, as indeed many of the weaker were. Thus we raced on,
expecting destruction every instant, ignorant where we were, whither we
were going, or what might be our fate. It was not night, though it was
as dark as night, yet without the heavenly lanterns with which Nature
is wont to comfort the lonely hours of the mariner. Only frightful
flashes of lightning now and again illumined the seething masses of
water around us and enabled us to see more clearly the danger in which
we stood, followed by rolls of thunder that made even the most fearless
among us fearful, even myself. On a sudden the heavens seemed to open
above us, a ball of fire descended upon our devoted vessel, and in a
moment she was demolished and I found myself floating in the waves. I
struck out with desperation, for I was a good swimmer, but I well knew
that I had but a few minutes to live--buffeted as I was by the waves
and choked by the blinding spindrift, no man be he ever so strong could
hold out, when luckily I came upon a coffer floating by me upon which I
got astride and bound myself to it by my waistband. Soon after a sailor
who had by some means kept himself afloat seized hold of it, but I knew
that it could not support us both, and with my remaining strength I
threw him off and saw him sink with a sob beneath the boiling waters.
By this time the chief force of the hurricane seemed to have spent
itself, and though the water was still rough, it grew comparatively
quiet. The dawn came, and then the sun rose. I looked around as best I
could, but I saw nought but the wild waste of waters. Then I was lifted
up on the crest of a wave, when to my delight I perceived not far off
a rocky coast. I paddled with legs and arms in that direction as fast
as my enfeebled strength would allow me, but I seemed to get no nearer
and at last my remaining strength gave out. I could do no more but lay
prone upon my coffer until at length my senses failed me and I grew
unconscious.
When I came to myself again, I found that I lay stretched on the sand
in a little cove between the rocks, the hot sun was baking down upon
me, and an old woman was by my side chafing my hands. As soon as I
opened my eyes she thanked God in a sort of Italian tongue, and helping
me to rise, assisted me into her cottage which was situated close by.
For some days I remained so weak that I scarce was able to move, but
the old woman attended to all my wants, and I, being strong by nature,
soon recovered. When she perceived that I was out of danger of death
she clapped her hands and laughed and showed every sign of joy, which
somewhat disgusted me, for why should she show so much joy for the
recovery of one whom she had never seen before, and who was neither
her son nor any relation, as little to her as she was to me? Then she
knelt down before an image of the Virgin which hung on the wall, and
before which burned a small oil lamp, and in her idolatrous way gave
thanks for my recovery. I felt moved to break the image and to cast it
down, but abstained because I thought that it behoved me to show my
magnanimity before the poor ignorant creature who knew no better. After
another day, when I could get about, she asked me whether I had not
better put on other garments, seeing that mine were Turkish, and that
were I seen in them I might be brought to the galleys. I told her that
I had no others, but she said that my chest had been brought on shore
with me, and, belike, I had other garments therein.
I had forgotten the chest, and tried to open it, but finding that it
was locked, I told her that I had lost the key, and taking a large
stone, I broke it open. At the top were a few rags of clothing, but
lifting these up I was astonished to find that it was full of bags of
gold pieces and jewels, a very fortune that no doubt had belonged to
the captain of the wrecked vessel. I hastily closed the trunk again,
and said that I grieved to find that all my Christian garments had
been stolen; whereupon she gave me a new suit, which, she told me,
had belonged to a son of hers who was lost at sea, whether drowned or
captured by pirates she had never heard: nor did she ask me any more
questions, since she knew not that I had been a slave, but believed the
story I had told her of my having come from Malta. I say, she gave the
suit of clothes, which became me very well, and told me that there was
a ship now in the harbour ready for sailing to Massiglia. I thanked
her, and bade her get me a passage, which she did, coming back with
two seamen to carry my chest. She did not expect any recompense for
her care of me, but I would not part without bestowing upon her my old
clothes together with those which I found in the chest, which, indeed,
were no use to me, and then, bidding her farewell, I accompanied the
two men to their vessel.
The finding of so much of value in the chest was some recompense to me
for the loss of my merchandise by the pirates of Algiers. Indeed, one
bag of jewels alone would have more than made up for that. This proves
how the heavens protect those who trust in the true faith, and though
they may be cast down and grievously tried for a time, yet, if they
withstand temptation as I have done, and prove steadfast, their losses
shall be returned to them tenfold. The vessel I now embarked in I found
to be the Tonnerre, whose master was named Jean le Houx, a worthy man,
who asked no questions and received me readily enough. In a few hours
he had loosed sail, and we were gliding under a fair breeze for our
port.
As I lay in my cabin, I could not forbear to think of all that I had
gone through and of my lucky escape, for which I had to thank my
boldness and readiness of resource. I thought of my former attempt and
of the fate of Reyya, and how this my last and successful attempt had
also proved fatal to Umeimeh. I had not a doubt that she had perished
in the wreck, though I had not seen her body among those that had
been washed ashore; but this mattered little, since being an infidel,
Christian burial would have availed her nothing. Though I pitied her
sudden fate, for being a man of feeling I cannot resist such tender
recollections, yet it was, perhaps, better for her as it was, for what
could have become of her? Dismissing these thoughts from my mind, I
went on deck and saw that we were at that moment entering the port of
Massiglia. At length I was safe, I had entered a Christian country.
Though it was but French, at least there was no longer any danger of
slavery, and I observed with joy the port filled with galleys in every
one of which was a crowd of slaves, the greater number of which were
the false followers of Mahomet, mixed with a few of the sweepings of
the jails of Europe.
Taking leave of the captain, whom I thanked for his courtesy in giving
me a passage, I went on shore, and then bethought me what I should do.
To acknowledge myself destitute was to court imprisonment, for the
French will not suffer vagrants, as we do, or sturdy beggars to stroll
about the country. To be sure I could have taken service with Monsieur
le Houx, but I had had enough of the risks of a seafaring life, and I
could not bear the thought, after all my sufferings with the Moors,
that I might run the chance of being captured again. M. le Houx, who
asked me what I meant to do, on being informed that I intended to
make my way to England across France, gave me a letter to one Jacques
Vaillant who had married his sister, together with a few pieces of
money that I would not refuse lest I should thereby betray my riches.
Riches did I say? I dared not be rich, for were I to endeavour to sell
any of the jewels that I possessed I feared that it might be thought
that I had come by them in no honest way, and any excuse would be taken
to deprive me of all that I had. Therefore, carefully disposing as much
as I was able about my body, and the rest in a pack upon my back, I
departed on foot for Avignon. Beneath the ancient walls of that town I
arrived in due course without adventure of any moment, save such as was
occasioned by my anxiety for the safety of the treasure that I carried
with me, an anxiety that made me to see in every wayfarer a possible
thief, and to pass every wood and rocky place in fear. Once arrived
at Avignon, I betook myself to a hostelry hard by the palace of the
Bishops of Rome, where I gave out that I was well to do and that my
baggage would shortly follow after me. Then I inquired for a goldsmith
of credit with whom I changed some of my gold, and so, furnishing
myself with a good equipage and new clothes, I cut a very different
figure than I had hitherto done. Henceforward I travelled in safety
with other merchants of repute through Valence to Lyons, and so onward
to Macon and Dijon, where I did not deliver the captain’s letter, lest
questions inconvenient to answer might be asked.
I will not here set down what else befell me in the remainder of my
journey through Chatillon to Troyes and Paris, whence I descended the
river Seine to Havre, though much passed that might be entertaining to
relate and pleasant to hear. Suffice to say that I hurried on, eager
for but two things, the one to keep my riches safe, and the other to
see my beloved country once more. At Havre I found a paquet boat in
which I embarked, to arrive safely after all these years of misery and
exile in Portsmouth.
Ah! how can I describe to those who have never felt what it is to be
divorced from their country and held for long years in bondage and
tribulation, what joy I felt in once more landing a free man in my
native land! Like the Conqueror, I longed to fall down and embrace the
very soil, but it had rained recently and the soil was deep in mire.
Or how can I describe to you the longing that seized me once again to
embrace my wife and child. How vividly returned to me the old scene of
our last parting: my wife’s tears and the carelessness of my boy, who
now must have grown, if he was still living, to be a sturdy knave!
If he still lived? What if my wife and all that I loved were dead? Or
if, with the inconstancy of women, she were married again? I was in
a fever of excitement, and, mounting my horse, I departed for London
as quick as might be, though I took good care, for the sake of the
valuables that I had about me, to travel always in good company, which
did not always travel as fast as the heat of my passion would have had
them. I thus arrived in London safely, without having encountered any
footpads, and put up at a hostelry from which I could make my inquiries
while I myself still remained unknown. It was a Saturday night when I
arrived, and the following morning I waited outside the church that we
had been wont to attend; for I had heard that Mistress Dudgeon still
lived in the house in which I had left her, being now a reputed widow,
although she was said still to cling to the belief that I lived. She
was much persecuted by would-be suitors and blamed by all the gossips
of the neighbourhood for wasting her youth in widowhood. I say, I
watched at the church door, and saw many that I had known in former
years pass by. There was Master Carroll, as pompous as ever, with his
small meek wife; and Master Raynbowe, followed by a troop of children.
Then came Master Bedingfield, with Mistress Bedingfield bearing the
prayer-book, and grown monstrous stout and fearsome. Presently I saw
my wife, leading her boy by the hand. How young she still looked, and
how the men hung about her; but even I, jealous as I was, had no fault
to find with the way in which she treated them. She did not even smile
a greeting to her numerous admirers, but quietly took her accustomed
place in church, and I slunk in after her. I observed her closely when
the prayers of the congregation were asked for those who were in peril
at sea or in slavery in Barbary, and could see how the tears ran down
her cheeks and her whole frame was convulsed with sobs, how her arm
stole round our boy, and she drew him closer towards her. At this sight
I could scarce restrain my own tears, so tender is my nature, and had
much ado to refrain from crying out then and there that I had come back
to my own mouse. But I did refrain, and I let her get back to her own
lodgings before I made myself known to her. What a scene there was!
How she clung to me and sobbed upon my breast, and then thrusting me
back the better to view me, nevertheless failed to see me for the tears
that blinded her eyes. How she held up our boy before me, who seemed
frighted, and whom I could have found it in me to whip for a fool. But,
thank God, after a time she recovered her senses, though she could not
yet part from my hand which she continued to hold within her own.