The Pirate City: An Algerine Tale

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

  SHOWS HOW THE PIRATES WERE WONT TO TREAT MEN OF NOTE.

  When his hunger was appeased, Francisco Rimini turned to Ted Flaggan andasked him, through Lucien, to go over again in detail the course ofaction which Bacri advised him and his sons to adopt in order to effecttheir escape out of the country. "For," said he with emphasis, "I'mneither a lion nor a rabbit, and cannot therefore make up my mind tospend the rest of my days in a hole."

  We will spare the reader Mister Flaggan's repetition of the detailsreferred to, merely remarking that they embraced careful directions asto when and where a boat would be found on the coast ready to carry themout to sea, and that they contained many earnest cautions to be wary, asnothing short of death by slow torture would be their fate ifrecaptured--this being their second attempt at escape.

  Meanwhile circumstances were transpiring which gave a new turn to thestate of affairs in the pirate city.

  We have elsewhere remarked on the amazing fact that the great powers ofEurope and America tolerated the system of barefaced piracy which wascarried on by the Algerines against all nations that did not pay them"black-mail," but it must not be supposed that this disgracefulsubmission was the result of fear or of indifference. The truth is,that the great powers were so busily engaged in throttling each otherthat they had no time to give proper attention to the Algerine waspsthat stung them, and the wasps themselves were so besottedly ignorant ofEuropean affairs and of their own relative insignificance, so puffed upindeed by their supposed greatness--a delusion which was shamefullyfostered by the action towards them of the great powers themselves--thatthey wilfully proceeded to extremities which a very little knowledge ofother nations would have convinced them was the certain way to bringabout their own ruin. The immense sums raised year after year byvarious European nations, and given to the pirates for the redemption ofthousands of Christian slaves, proved that they were not indifferent tothe scourge of the Mediterranean. (See Note 1.)

  But in the midst of this disgraceful forbearance of the nations, therewas an occasional growl from one and another, and a fierce side-glanceat the wasps, which might have let them see that their nest was indanger.

  For instance, in 1804 Admiral Nelson menaced the town with a largefleet, and not long afterwards the Americans absolutely declined to paytheir "black-mail," and sent a squadron to procure, or, if need were, tocompel a favourable treaty of peace with the Algerines. Other cloudsarose here and there and overhung the doomed city, but the infatuatedpirates remained blind as bats and insolent as monkeys.

  Thus matters stood when the Dey Omar ascended the throne, and for sometime afterwards.

  One morning the English consul was summoned to attend the divan of theDey, in connexion with a vessel which had lately been brought in as aprize by one of the Algerine corsairs.

  The consul had previously presented himself at Court--as did all theother consuls--to pay his respects to the new Dey, and on a subsequentoccasion had made an effort to press a point which had always been amatter of deep interest with him, namely, the bringing about of peacebetween the Algerines and the Portuguese. There were many Portugueseslaves in the town and neighbourhood at the time, and several officersof that country dwelt there, exempt from the duty of labouring likebeasts of burden at the works on the walls and about the harbour, solelyin virtue of annual tribute being paid by their friends. The formerDey, Achmet, had declined to oblige his friend Colonel Langley by makingpeace with Portugal, on the ground that he could not forego theadvantages resulting from a state of warfare. The new Dey, Omar, wasstill less capable of being influenced by considerations of humanity.

  "What would you have?" he said, when Colonel Langley spoke to him on thesubject; "my people are brigands, and I am their chief! If I make peacewith Portugal, it will be absolutely necessary that I should declare warwith America, merely to keep my people employed!"

  This was at all events candid, and the consul felt that it would be vainto press the matter he had so much at heart as long as Omar occupied thethrone.

  On his way down to the Marina, where the divan referred to was to beheld, he met Blindi Bobi looking rather disconsolate. Having an hour ormore to spare, he resolved to have a chat with him.

  "Well, Bobby, my boy," said the consul kindly, for the eccentricinterpreter was a favourite, "you seem sad. Nothing wrong, I hope?"

  "Not wi' me, nohow," responded Bobi, shaking his head. "Nuffin neverwrong wi' me. Always too well. Health to the mast-head--more nor Iknows wat to do wid. Wishes I could die, I do--sometimes."

  "I grieve to hear that," said the consul earnestly, for he saw that theman was in no jesting humour. "Let me know what distresses you."

  "Sidi Cadua," said Bobi.

  "What! the father of poor Ashweesha, widow of my late friend AchmetDey?" said the consul.

  "Yis. Hush! Omar Dey--de divl," growled Bobi in a low tones, "gits theberry stones to listen an' reports wat peepil say."

  "Never fear," returned the consul, smiling, "they dare not report what_I_ say. Come, tell me about it."

  "Oh! it shockable," said Bobi. "Come an' see." So saying, the poor manhurried off in the direction of a low-lying part of the town, closelyfollowed by the consul. Here, seated on a plain mat in an empty cellar,which was destitute of furniture and almost of light, they found thefather of the late Sultana. His gentle, kindly spirit seemed, like hisfrail old body, to be bowed to the very dust.

  "My dear friend," exclaimed the consul, almost overwhelmed with grief atthe sight, "has the villain robbed you of all your wealth?"

  "He has," replied the old man, taking the consul's proffered hand andpressing it warmly; "but he has done worse than that--"

  "What! has he dared to--"

  Sidi Cadua interrupted and answered the question by quietly removing thelower part of his robe, and exposing his feet, which were dreadfullyswollen and scarred with the bastinado.

  "Even that is not the worst of it," said the old man, re-covering hismutilated feet; "my daughter, my sweet, tender Ashweesha, has beencruelly bastinadoed for--"

  He broke down here, and, covering his face with his withered hands,groaned aloud.

  For a few moments Colonel Langley could not speak.

  "But why," he said at length, "why such cruelty?"

  Recovering himself, Sidi Cadua slowly related the circumstances. Anenemy, he said, had accused him to the Dey Omar of having hidden away alarge amount of treasure, and he had been put to the torture in order toforce him to disclose the truth; but the truth was that he had neverconcealed treasure, and had no confession to make. Believing that hissilence was the result of sheer obstinacy, and that the truth mightperhaps be extorted from his daughter, the cruel monster had the gentleAshweesha dragged from her apartments and subjected to the bastinado.

  "Dreadful!" exclaimed the consul. "Where is she now?"

  Sidi Cadua silently pointed to a ragged old burnous in a dark corner ofthe little cellar, under which a human form lay crouched up andmotionless.

  "Not dead?" asked the consul anxiously.

  "No, not dead," replied the old man, with an upward glance of gratitude.

  "Sidi Cadua," exclaimed the consul, rising hastily, "excuse my leavingyou now. I have to attend the divan. You shall hear from me soon.You--you,"--looking round--"have no other house than this--no food?"

  "Nothing!" said the old man in a low voice, as his white head sank onhis bosom.

  "Listen, my man," said the consul earnestly, as he hastened down to theMarina.

  "Yis, Signor," answered Bobi.

  "Can you find time to go out to my house just now?"

  "Yis, Signor."

  "Then, go--go as fast as legs or horse can carry you. See my wife; tellher what we have seen; let her send Rais Ali into town with otherservants--separately, not to attract attention--with baskets--fullbaskets, you understand?"

  "Yis, Signor, full to bustin'," answered Bobi, with glittering eyes.

  "Full as the
y can hold of all that is needful--she will understandthat.--There, be off--lose no time," said the consul, thrusting aquantity of silver into the man's hand.

  "Kurnul Langley," said Bobi, with enthusiasm glowing in his solitaryeye, as he turned to go; "you--by the beard of the Prophet!--you're theace of trumps!"

  With this strong, if not elegant expression of his sentiments, thesympathetic Bobi hurried away, and Colonel Langley entered the divan,where were assembled the Dey and the chief officers of state.

  The discussion on that occasion was conducted warmly, for the piratesbelieved that they had made a good and legitimate prize in the shape ofa Greek vessel, which was owned by a Mr and Mrs de Lisle, who, withtheir little son, were also captured.

  Colonel Langley claimed these as British subjects, and the vessel asBritish property.

  In this case the pirates had taken a precaution which, they had hoped,would save them all trouble. On boarding the vessel they had demandedall Mr de Lisle's papers and passports, which, when delivered up, weretorn into atoms and thrown into the sea. Thus they sought to destroyall evidence of the nature of the prize.

  Mr de Lisle was a native of Guernsey, and therefore an English subject.Early in life he had entered a commercial house in Holland, and beennaturalised there. Afterwards he was sent to a branch of the same housein Naples, which at that time was occupied by the French. Amassingconsiderable property, he resolved to return to his native land, andhired a Greek vessel, as being a neutral one, to convey him. On hisway, he fell into the hands of the Algerines.

  At the divan the British consul claimed that Mr de Lisle and his familyand property should be delivered up to him.

  The Turks, with whom Colonel Langley was out of favour now that hisfriend Achmet was dead, were furious. How could he be an Englishman,they said, when it was well-known that the French would not havepermitted one of their chief enemies to remain at Naples?

  "And besides," added Omar, with a touch of sarcasm, "where are hispapers to prove that what he says is true?"

  The consul had made his demand with unusual firmness and dignity, forthe memory of poor Sidi Cadua was strong upon him, but this latterremark somewhat perplexed him. Fortunately, at the moment, de Lislehimself, who was present, started up and said in English, across thedivan--

  "If I am permitted to go on board my vessel, I can still bringsatisfactory evidence of my nationality."

  The Turks were extremely unwilling to concede this, but when the consulturned and said to the Dey, "I trust your highness will not refuse soreasonable a request," he was permitted to go. In a short time hereturned with the certificate of his marriage, which proved that he hadbeen married in Guernsey, and was a British subject, to theinexpressible rage of the divan, who were compelled, however, to givein.

  "Nevertheless, Monsieur le Console," said the Dey sternly, "if it shallbe proved, even twenty years hence, that you were wrong in this matter,you shall have to answer for it."

  From that time the British consul and the Dey became open enemies, whichwas a matter of gratulation to the consuls of some of the other powers,who had been rather jealous of Colonel Langley's influence with the lateDey, Achmet.

  Not long afterwards they would have been glad if his influence couldhave been restored; for Omar, being soured by what had occurred at thedivan, as well as by many other things that crossed his imperious will,commenced to act in such an outrageous manner that the various consulsfelt not only their independence but their lives in jeopardy.

  Sending for the Danish consul one morning, Omar told that unfortunateman that his government had already been warned more than once to paythe tribute which was past due, and that he was going to stand theirneglect no longer. He therefore ordered him to be put in chains, andsent forthwith to work in the stone-quarries.

  The order was at once obeyed. A chaouse, at a signal from the Dey,seized the Danish consul by the waist-band, thrust him out of thepalace, and along the streets to the Bagnio, there loaded him withchains, and led him forth to work with the slaves!

  The consternation of the other consuls was of course extreme. Theinstant Colonel Langley heard of it, he ordered his horse and gallopedinto town, accompanied by Rais Ali and Ted Flaggan, the latter havingconstituted himself a sort of extra aide-de-camp or special attendant ofthe consul, in order to gratify the more easily an insatiable thirst forknowledge as to all that took place around him.

  They went direct to the residence of the Danish consul, where they foundhis poor wife and children in the deepest grief and alarm at what hadoccurred, for it had been reported to them that Omar had said he wouldorder the wife and children of the Danish consul to be put up for salein the public slave-market if the tribute due by Denmark were not paidwithout further delay.

  "Trust me, madam," said the Colonel with indignation, "we shall notsuffer this barbarian to carry out his threats, and we will, moreover,see instant justice done to your husband."

  Hastily writing several notes requesting a meeting with his brotherconsuls in the residence of the Dane, he despatched them by his twosatellites, and very speedily the whole were assembled.

  "Gentlemen," said Colonel Langley, after some conversation, "it isimperative that we should act at once, unitedly and with decision.Anything like vacillation at such a crisis will encourage thesebarbarians to proceed to extremities which may end in our ruin. Need Icall to your remembrance the recent case of the unhappy Dutch consul,who had dwelt twenty-three years in this city, and who, although an oldand infirm man, was loaded with irons of sixty pounds' weight, andmarched out to labour with the other slaves, from which treatment hesoon after died--all, forsooth, because his government had delayed tosend the accustomed annual `present' to the Dey at the appointed time?It concerns us all, gentlemen, that we should act promptly. We mustproceed in a body at once--within this hour--to the palace, and demandthat our brother consul shall instantly be set at liberty. For thispurpose, if you agree with me, we must elect one of our number to bespokesman."

  At this point the other consuls interrupted the Colonel, by begging himto accept the office, and to lead them out at once.

  "I accept it with pleasure," said the Colonel, turning to Rais Ali, whostood at his elbow.--"Rais, you will accompany me to interpret--"

  "Oh, Monsieur!" exclaimed Rais, who had not many minutes before beenboasting to his friend Flaggan that he was a brave English tar as goodas himself, but who now turned very pale; "oh no, no! Please, Monsieur,demand me not to go dis time for interprit. For certain the Dey himskill me--hims kill all of us."

  "Well then, Rais," replied the Colonel, somewhat amused at the man'sundisguised terror, "we shall all die together, and you will at leasthave the comfort of falling in goodly company."

  "But, master," supplicated Rais, "I's not a Turk; me dare not defy theDey to hims visage. I's only a craulie!"

  By which the unhappy man meant to explain that he was only the son of aTurk by an Algerine mother, and that as such he could expect no mercy ifhe aided in bearding the Dey in his den; but the Colonel was inexorable,and poor Rais Ali was obliged to submit.

  At this time, the English and French being at war, there existed asomewhat natural feeling of estrangement between the representatives ofthe two nations at Algiers. Colonel Langley thought the present a goodopportunity to effect a better understanding between them. He thereforeoffered his arm to the French consul, who accepted it politely, thoughwith feelings of surprise. Thus they walked out two and two into thestreet, and marched down the principal thoroughfare, across the greatsquare, and straight into the palace.

  The amazement of the Algerines at this sight was great, for they werewell aware of the bad feeling which had for many years existed betweenthe leading couple in this little procession, or rather between theirpredecessors, some of whom had taken undignified, not to saydisgraceful, methods of displaying their jealousy.

  "Allah!" exclaimed the Algerines, turning up their eyes, "the Englishand French consuls walking together! Surely the old pro
phecy is aboutto come true, `When Christians are at peace among themselves thedownfall of Algiers is decreed!'"

  It is said that there really does exist a very old prophecy to thiseffect among the Mussulmans of Algeria, and certain it is that theprophecy was ultimately fulfilled, but at the time of which we write itwas only anticipated.

  Demanding an immediate audience, the party were admitted into thepresence-chamber, where they created feelings of great surprise in thebreasts of the pirate-king and his piratical courtiers.

  When Rais Ali had tremblingly translated the demand which had been madewith stern dignity by his master, the Dey flew into a towering rage, andactually foamed at the mouth, as he replied--

  "Why art thou not glad that I thus punish your old enemy? Was notEngland lately at war with Denmark?"

  "I am not glad," answered the British consul, "because it is against thespirit of Christianity to cultivate feelings of revenge, and the factthat we were not long since at war with Denmark is no doubt the veryreason why the Danes have found it difficult to pay, at the exact time,the debt which they will unquestionably discharge before long; but ifyour highness continues to act thus to their representative, in despiteof his inviolable character, and in defiance of treaties wherein it isspecified that the persons and families of consuls are to be heldsacred, you may rest assured that no civilised nation will continue totreat with you."

  "What care the Deys of Algiers for the persons of consuls, which youdeem so sacred?" said Omar savagely. "Hast thou not heard that in timepast we have blown the consuls of refractory nations from the months ofour cannon?"

  "I have," replied the Colonel calmly, "and I have also heard thatAlgiers has been several times bombarded, and nearly reduced to ashes.I do not presume to use threats to your highness," added the consulfirmly, though respectfully, "but I am here as spokesman of theserepresentatives of various powers, to assure you that if you do notrelease the consul of Denmark immediately, we will all write to ourrespective governments to send vessels of war to remove us from a courtwhere the law of nations is not respected."

  Omar attempted to bluster a little more, but had sense enough toperceive that he had already gone too far, and at length consented togrant the consuls' demands. The condemned consul was immediately set atliberty, and his brethren returned to his residence in the same manneras they had left it, with this difference, that the French and Englishconsuls walked in front, with the representative of Denmark betweenthem.

  This incident, as may be imagined, did not improve Omar's temper.Immediately after it, he issued some stringent decrees in reference tothe slaves, and ordered the execution of six chief men of the State,whose presence in the city had been a source of danger to theconsolidation of his power. Among other things, he made some stern lawsin reference to runaway slaves; and, having his attention drawn to thefact that the scrivano-grande of the late Achmet, and his assistantsecretary, had not yet been discovered, he not only ordered the searchfor them to be continued with increased diligence, but took the unusualmethod of offering a reward to any one who should find or bring news ofthem.

  This caused the matter to be widely talked about, and among others whoheard of the proclamation was a little Moorish girl named Ziffa.

  Now this Ziffa was the only daughter of Hadji Baba, the Courtstory-teller, who, like the Vicar of Bray, managed to remain in office,no matter who should come into or go out of power.

  We are sorry to have to record the fact that Ziffa was a bad child--aparticularly naughty little girl. She told lies, and was a littlethief, besides being fond of that despicable habit styled eavesdropping.She listened behind doors and curtains and at key-holes without feelinga particle of shame! It is probable that the child's attention wouldnot have been arrested by the proclamation of the Dey, if it had notchanced that, during a visit which she was asked to pay to the garden ofthe British consul for the purpose of playing with Agnes Langley, sheoverheard Rais Ali and Ted Flaggan mention the name of Lucien Rimini.The seaman had found it necessary to take Rais into his confidence, andlittle Ziffa, in the exercise of her disgraceful vocation ofeavesdropper, had overheard a little of their conversation about theRiminis. She did not, however, hear much, and, having no interest inthe Riminis, forgot all about it.

  On hearing the proclamation, however, she bethought her that somethingmight be made out of the matter, if she could only manage to get herlittle friend Agnes to play the part of spy, and find out about thingsfor her. Opportunity was not long wanting. She had an engagement thatvery day to go out to the consul's garden to spend the day with Agnes,and a faithful old negro servant of her father was to conduct herthither.

  Ziffa was extremely fond of finery. Just as she was about to set out,her eye fell on a splendid diamond ring which lay on her father'sdressing-table. Hadji Baba was very fond of this ring, as it had been agift to him from Achmet, his former master, and he never went abroadwithout it, but a hasty summons to the palace had, on this occasion,caused him to forget it. As it was made for the little finger of HadjiBaba, which was remarkably thin, it exactly fitted the middle finger ofZiffa which was uncommonly fat. Seizing the ring, she thrust it intoher bosom, resolving to astonish her friend Agnes. Then, runningdown-stairs to the old servant, she was soon on her way to the consul'sgarden.

  "Agnes," she said, on finding herself alone with her friend, "I want youto do something for--"

  "Oh what a lovely ring!" exclaimed Agnes, as Ziffa drew it out of herbreast and put it on.

  "Yes, isn't it pretty? But I must not let my old servant see it, lesthe should tell my father, who'd be very angry if he knew I had takenit."

  Agnes was taken by surprise, and remained silent. She had been socarefully trained to tell her father and mother everything, and to trustthem, that it was a new and disagreeable idea to her the thought ofdoing anything secretly.

  "Well, this is what I want," continued Ziffa; "I want you to listen tothe talk of Rais Ali and the sailor who lives with you, when they don'tknow you are near, and tell me all that they say about a family namedRimini--will you?"

  "Oh, I can't do that," said Agnes decidedly; "it would be wrong."

  "What would be wrong?" asked Mrs Langley, coming out from a side-walkin the garden at that moment to fetch the children in to lunch.

  Agnes blushed, looked down, and said nothing. Her mother at oncedropped the subject, and led them into the house, where she learned fromAgnes the nature of her little friend's proposal.

  "Take no further notice of it, dear," said her mother, who guessed thereason of the child's curiosity.

  Leaving the friends at lunch in charge of Paulina Ruffini, she hastenedto find Ted Flaggan, whom she warned to be more careful how he conversedwith his friend Rais.

  "What puzzles me, ma'am," said Ted, "is, how did the small critterunderstand me, seein' that she's a Moor?"

  "That is easily explained: we have been teaching her English for sometime, I regret to say, for the purpose of making her more of a companionto my daughter, who is fond of her sprightly ways. I knew that she wasnot quite so good a girl as I could have wished, but had no idea she wasso deceitful. Go, find Rais Ali at once, and put him on his guard,"said Mrs Langley, as she left the seaman and returned to the house.

  Now, if there ever was a man who could not understand either how todeceive, or to guard against deception, or to do otherwise than take astraight course, that man was Ted Flaggan, and yet Ted thought himselfto be an uncommonly sharp deceiver when occasion required.

  Having received the caution above referred to, he thrust his hands intohis coat-pockets, and with a frowning countenance went off in search ofRais Ali. Mariner-like, he descried him afar on the horizon of vision,as it were, bearing down under full sail along a narrow path between twohedges of aloes and cactus, which led to the house.

  By a strange coincidence, Agnes and her friend came bounding out intothe shrubbery at that moment, having finished their brief luncheon, andZiffa chanced to catch sight of the stout mariner as he has
tened to meethis friend.

  With the intuitive sharpness of an Eastern mind she observed the fact,and with the native acuteness of a scheming little vixen, she guessedthat something _might_ turn up. Acting on the thought, she shouted--

  "Wait a little, Agnes; I will hide: you shall find me."

  Innocent Agnes obediently waited, while Ziffa ran down the wrong side ofthe cactus hedge, and kept up with the seaman--a little in rear of him.

  "Ho! Ally Babby," shouted Ted Flaggan, when he was within hail--itmight be a hundred yards or so--of his friend, "what d'ee think? thatlittle brown-faced chip of Hadji Baba has been up here eavesdropping,and has got to windward of us a'most. Leastwise she knows enough o' theRiminis to want to know more--the dirty little spalpeen."

  "Thank you," thought Ziffa, as she listened.

  When Flaggan had varied his remarks once or twice, by way of translatingthem, Rais Ali shook his head.

  "That bad," said he, "ver' bad. We mus' be tremendous cautious.Ziffa's a little brute."

  "Ha!" thought Ziffa.

  "You don't say so?" observed Flaggan. "Well, now, I'd scarce havethought we had reason to be so fearful of a small thing, with a stupidbrown face like that."

  "Brute!" muttered Ziffa inaudibly.

  "Oh! she werry sharp chile," returned Rais, "werry sharp--got ears andeyes from the sole of hers head to de top of hers feets."

  Ziffa said nothing, either mentally or otherwise, but looked ratherpleased.

  "Well," continued Rais, "we won't mention the name of Rimini againnowhars--only w'en we can't help it, like."

  "Not a whisper," said Flaggan; "but, be the way, it'll be as well,before comin' to that state of prudent silence, that you tell me if thenoo hole they've gone to is near the owld wan. You see it's my turn togo up wi' provisions to-morrow night, and I hain't had it rightlyexplained, d'ye see?"

  Here Rais Ali described, with much elaboration, the exact position ofthe new hole to which the Rimini family had removed, at the head ofFrais Vallon, and Mademoiselle Ziffa drank it all in with the mostexuberant satisfaction.

  Shortly afterwards Agnes Langley found her friend hiding close to thespot in the garden where she had last seen her.

  That night Hadji Baba made an outrageous disturbance in his household asto the lost diamond ring, and finally fixed, with the sagacity of anunusually sharp man, on his old negro as being the culprit.

  Next morning he resolved to have the old man before the cadi, afterforenoon attendance at the palace. While there, he casually mentionedto Omar the circumstance of the theft of his ring, and asked leave toabsent himself in the afternoon to have the case tried.

  "Go," said Omar gravely, "but see that thou forget not to temper justicewith mercy.--By the way, tell me, friend Hadji, before thou goest, whatwas the meaning of that strange request of thine the other day, and onwhich thou hast acted so much of late?"

  The story-teller turned somewhat pale, and looked anxious.

  The strange request referred to was to the effect that the Dey shouldgive him no more gifts or wages, (in regard to both of which he was notliberal), but that instead thereof he, Hadji Baba, should be allowed towhisper confidentially in the Dey's ear on all public occasions withoutumbrage being taken, and that the Dey should give him a nod and smile inreply. Omar, who was a penurious man, had willingly agreed to thisproposal, and, as he now remarked, Baba had made frequent use of thelicense.

  "Pardon me, your highness," said Baba; "may I speak the truth withoutfear of consequences?"

  "Truly thou mayest," replied the Dey; "and it will be well that thouspeakest nothing _but_ the truth, else thou shalt have good reason toremember the consequences."

  "Well, then, your highness," returned Baba boldly, "feeling that myincome was not quite so good as my position at Court required, anddesiring earnestly to increase it without further taxing the resourcesof your highness's treasury, I ventured to make the request which I did,and the result has been--has been--most satisfactory."

  "Blockhead!" exclaimed the irritable Dey, "that does not explain thenature of the satisfaction."

  "Your slave was going to add," said Hadji Baba hastily, "that myfrequent whispering in your ear, and your highness's gracious nods andsmiles in reply, have resulted in my being considered one of the mostinfluential favourites in the palace, so that my good word is esteemedof the utmost value, and paid for accordingly."

  Omar laughed heartily at this, and Hadji Baba, much relieved, retired tohave his case tried before the cadi, taking his daughter with him, forshe had assured him that she had seen the old servant take it.

  The old servant pleaded not guilty with earnest solemnity.

  "Are you quite sure you saw him take the ring?" demanded the cadi ofZiffa.

  "Quite sure," replied the girl.

  "And you are sure you did _not_ take it?" he asked of the negro.

  "Absolutely certain," answered the old man.

  "And you are convinced that you once had the ring, and now have it not?"he said, turning to Hadji Baba.

  "Quite."

  "The case is very perplexing," said the cadi, turning to theadministrators of the law who stood at his elbow; "give the master andthe servant each one hundred strokes of the bastinado, twenty at a time,beginning with the servant."

  The officers at once seized on the old negro, threw him down and gavehim twenty blows. They then advanced to Hadji Baba, and were about toseize him, when he cried out--

  "Beware what thou doest! I am an officer of the Dey's palace and maynot be treated thus with impunity."

  The cadi, who either did not, or pretended not, to believe thestatement, replied sententiously--

  "Justice takes no note of persons.--Proceed."

  The officers threw Baba on his face, and were about to proceed, whenZiffa in alarm advanced with the ring and confessed her guilt.

  Upon this the cadi was still further perplexed, for he could not nowundo the injustice of the blows given to the negro. After a fewminutes' severe thought he awarded the diamond ring to the old servant,and the two hundred blows to the master as being a false accuser.

  The award having been given, the case was dismissed, and Hadji Baba wenthome with smarting soles, resolved to punish Ziffa severely.

  "Spare me!" said Ziffa, whimpering, when her father, seizing a rod, wasabout to begin.

  "Nay, thou deservest it," cried Baba, grasping her arm.

  "Spare me!" repeated Ziffa, "and I will tell you a great secret, whichwill bring you money and credit."

  The curiosity of the story-teller was awakened.

  "What is it thou hast to tell?"

  "Promise me, father, that you won't punish me if I tell you the secret."

  "I promise," said Baba, "but see that it is really something worthknowing, else will I give thee a severer flogging."

  Hereupon the false Ziffa related all she knew about the hiding-place ofthe Rimini family. Her father immediately went to the palace, relatedit to the Dey, and claimed and received the reward.

  That night a party of soldiers were sent off to search the head of FraisVallon, and before morning they returned to town with Francisco and histwo sons, whom they threw into their old prison the Bagnio, and loadedthem heavily with chains.

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  Note 1. It is said that the treasure in Algiers about the end of thatcentury amounted to 4,000,000 pounds, most of which was paid by othergovernments to purchase peace with the Algerines.