Halil the Pedlar: A Tale of Old Stambul
CHAPTER XII.
HUMAN HOPES.
A time will come when the star has risen so high that it can rise nohigher, and perchance learns to know that before long it must begin itsinevitable descent!...
All Halil Patrona's wildest dreams had been realised. There he stood atthe very apex of sovereignty, whence the course of empires, the destinyof worlds can be controlled. Ministers of State were pulled down orlifted up at his bidding, armies were sent against foreign powers as hedirected, princes were strengthened on their thrones because HalilPatrona wished it, and the great men of the empire lay in the dust athis feet.
For whole days at a time he sat reading the books of the Ottomanchroniclers, the famous Rashid and the wise Chelbizade, and after thathe would pore over maps and charts and draw lines of different coloursacross them in all directions, and dot them with dots which he aloneunderstood the meaning of. And those lines and dots stretched far, faraway beyond the borders of the empire, right into the midst of Podoliaand the Ukraine. He knew, and he only, what he meant by them.
The projects he was hatching required centuries for theirfulfilment--what is the life of a mere man?
In thought he endowed the rejuvenescent Ottoman Empire with the energiesof a thousand years. Once more he perceived its conquering sword winningfresh victories, and extending its dominions towards the East and theSouth, but especially towards the North. He saw the most powerful ofnations do it homage; he saw the guardian-angels of Islam close theireyes before the blinding flashes of the triumphant swords of the sons ofOsman, and hasten to record in the Book of the Future events verydifferent from those which had been written down before.
Ah, human hopes, human hopes!--the blast blows upon them and theycrumble away to nothing.
But Halil's breast beat with a still greater joy, with a still loftierhope, when turning away from the tumult of the world, he opened the doorof his private room and entered therein.
What voices are those which it does his soul good to hearken to? Whydoes he pause and stand listening before the curtain? What is helistening to?
It is the feeble cry of a child, a little baby child. A few days beforeGuel-Bejaze bore him a son, on the anniversary of the very day when hemade her his wife. This child was the purest part of Halil's joy, theloftiest star of his hopes. Whithersoever I may one day rise, he wouldreflect, this child shall rise with me. Whatever I shall not be able toachieve, he will accomplish. Those happier, more glorious times which Ishall never be able to see, he will rejoice in. Through him I shallleave behind me in Ottoman history an eternal fame--a fame like to thatof the Kueprili family, which for a whole century and a half gave heroesand saints and sages to the empire.
Guel-Bejaze wanted the child to be called Ferhad, or Sender, as so manyof the children of the poor were wont to be called; but Halil gave himthe name of Behram. "He is a man-child," said Halil, "who will one daybe called to great things."
Human calculations, human hopes, what are they? To-day the tree standsfull of blossoms, to-morrow it lies prone on the ground, cut down to thevery roots.
Who shall strive with the Almighty, and from what son of man does theLord God take counsel?
Halil stole on tip-toe to the bed of his wife who was playing with thechild; she did not perceive him till he was quite close to her. How theyrejoiced together! The baby wandered from hand to hand; how theyembraced and kissed it! Both of them seemed to live their lives overagain in the little child.
And now old Janaki also drew nigh. His face was smiling, but whenever heopened his mouth his words were sad and gloomy. All joy vanished fromhis life the moment he was made a voivode, just as if he felt that onlyDeath could relieve him of that dignity. He had a peculiar joy inperpetually prophesying evil things.
"If only you could bring the child up!" he cried; "but you will not livelong enough to do that. Men like you, Halil, never live long, and Idon't want to survive you. You will see me die, if see you can; and whenyou die, your child will be doubly an orphan."
With such words did he trouble them. They were always relieved when, atlast, he would creep into a corner and fall asleep from sheer weariness,for his anxiety made him more and more somnolent as he grew older.
But again the door opened, and there entered the Kadun-Kiet-Khuda, theguardian of the ladies of the Seraglio, accompanied by two slave-girlscarrying a splendid porcelain pitcher, which they deposited at the sickwoman's bed with this humble salutation:
"The Sultana Valide greets thee and sends thee this sherbet!" TheSultana Valide, or Dowager, used only to send special messages to theSultan's favourite wives when they lay in child-bed; this, therefore,was a great distinction for the wife of Halil Patrona--or a greathumiliation for the Sultana.
And a great humiliation it certainly was for the latter.
It was by the command of Sultan Mahmud that the Sultana had sent thesherbet.
"You see," said Halil, "the great ones of the earth kiss the dust offyour feet. There are slaves besides those in the bazaars, and the firstbecome the last. Rejoice in the present, my princess, and catch Fortuneon the wing."
"Fortune, Halil," said his wife with a mournful smile, "is like the eelsof the Bosphorus, it slips from your grasp just as you fancy you hold itfast."
And Halil believed that he held it fast in his grasp.
The highest officers of state were his friends and colleagues, theSultan himself was under obligations to him, for indeed Halil hadfetched him from the dungeon of the Seven Towers to place him on thethrone.
And at that very moment they were digging the snare for him into whichhe was to fall.
The Sultan who could not endure the thought that he was under a debt ofgratitude to a poor oppressed pedlar, the Sultana who could neverforget the humiliation she had suffered because of Guel-Bejaze, theKizlar-Aga who feared the influence of Halil, the Grand Vizier who hadbeen compelled to eat humble pie--all of them had long been waiting foran occasion to ruin him.
* * * * *
One day the Sultan distributed thirty wagon-loads of money among theforty thousand Janissaries and the sixteen thousand Topadshis in thecapital because they had proposed to be reconciled with the Seraglio andreassemble beneath the banner of the Prophet. The insurgent mob,moreover, promised to disperse under two conditions: a complete amnestyfor past offences, and permission to retain two of their banners thatthey might be able to assemble together again in case anything wasundertaken against them. Their requests were all granted. Halil Patrona,too, was honoured by being made one of the privy councillors of theDivan.
Seven-and-twenty of the popular leaders were invited at the same time toappear in the Divan and assist in its deliberations. Halil Patrona wasthe life and soul of the lot.
He inspired them with magnanimous, enlightened resolutions, and when inhis enthusiastic way he addressed them, the worthy cobblers andfishermen felt themselves turned into heroes, and it seemed as if _they_were the leaders of the nation, while the pashas and grandees sittingbeside them were mere fishermen and cobblers.
Everyone of his old friends and his new colleagues looked up to andadmired him.
Only one person could not reconcile himself with the thought that heowed his power to a pedlar who had risen from the dust--and this man wasKaplan Giraj, the Khan of the Crimea.
He was to be Halil's betrayer.
He informed the Grand Vizier of the projects of Halil, who wished topersuade the Sultan to declare war against Russia, because Russia wasactively assisting Persia. Moldavia and the Crimea were the startingpoints of the armies that were to clip the wings of the menacingnorthern foe, and thereby nullify the terrible prophecies of the "TakimiVekai."
Kaplan Giraj informed Kabakulak of these designs, and they agreed that aman with such temerarious projects in his head ought not to live anylonger--he was much too dangerous.
They resolved that he should be killed during the deliberations at thehouse of the Grand Vizier. For this purpose they chose from among themost
daring of the Janissaries those officers who had a grudge againstHalil for enforcing discipline against them, and were also jealous ofwhat they called his usurpation of authority. These men they took withthem to the council as members of the Divan.
It was arranged thus. When Halil had brought forward and defended hismotion for a war against Russia, then Kaplan Giraj would argue againstthe project, whereupon Halil was sure to lose his temper. The Khanthereupon was to rush upon him with a drawn sword, and this was to bethe signal for the Janissary officers to rise in a body and massacre allHalil's followers.
So it was a well-prepared trap into which Halil and his associates wereto fall, and they had not the slightest suspicion of the danger that washanging over their heads.
* * * * *
The Grand Vizier sat in the centre of the councillors, beside him on hisright hand sat Kaplan Giraj, while the place of honour on his left wasreserved for Halil Patrona. All around sat the Spahi and Janissaryofficers with their swords in their hands.
The plot was well contrived, the whole affair was bound to be over in afew minutes.
The popular deputies arrived; there were seven-and-twenty of them, notincluding Halil Patrona. The Janissary officers were sixty in number.
Kabakulak beckoned to Halil to sit on his left hand, the others were soarranged that each one of them sat between a couple of Janissaryofficers. As soon as Kaplan Giraj gave the signal by drawing his swordagainst Halil, the Janissaries were to fall upon their victims and cutthem down.
"My dear son," said the Grand Vizier to Halil, when they had all takentheir places, "behold, at thy desire, we have summoned the council andthe chief officers of the Army; tell them, I pray thee, wherefore thouhast called them together!"
Halil thereupon arose, and turning towards the assembly thus addressedit:
"Mussulmans! faithful followers of the Prophet! If any one of you wereto hear that his house was on fire, would he need lengthy explanationsbefore hastening away to extinguish it? If ye were to hear that robbershad broken into your houses and were plundering your goods--if ye wereto hear that ruffians were throttling your little children or your agedparents, or threatening the lives of your wives with drawn swords, wouldyou wait for further confirmation or persuasion before doing anything,or would you not rather rush away of your own accord to slay theserobbers and murderers? And lo! what is more than our houses, more thanour property, more than our children, our parents, or our wives--ourFatherland, our faith is threatened with destruction by our enemy. Andthis enemy has all the will but not yet the power to accomplish what hethreatens; and his design is never abandoned, but is handed down fromfather to son, for never will he make peace, he will ever slay anddestroy till he himself is destroyed and slain--this enemy is theMuscovite. Our fathers heard very little of that name, our sons willhear more, and our grandsons will weep exceedingly because of it. Ourreligion bids us to be resigned to the decrees of fate, but only cowardswill be content to sit with their hands in their laps because thepredestined fate of the Ottoman Empire is written in Heaven. If theprophecy says that a time must come when the Ottoman Empire must fall topieces because of the cowardice of the Ottoman nation, does it notdepend upon us and our children whether the prophecy be accomplished, orwhether its fulfilment be far removed from us? Of a truth thesignification of that prophecy is this: We shall perish if we arecowards; let us _not_ be cowards then, and never shall we perish. And ifthe foe whose sword shall one day deal the nations of Muhammad the mostterrible wounds, and whose giant footsteps shall leave on Turkish soilthe bloodiest and most shameful imprints--if I say this foe be alreadypointed out to us, why should we not anticipate him, why should we waittill he has grown big enough to swallow us up when we are now strongenough to destroy him? The opportunity is favourable. The Cossacksdemand help from us against the Muscovite dominion. If we give them thishelp they will be our allies, if we withhold it they will become ouradversaries. The Tartars, the Circassians, and Moldavians are thebulwarks of our Empire, let us join to them the Cossacks also, and notwait until they all become the bulwarks of our northern foe instead, andhe will lead them all against us. When he built the fortress of Azov heshowed us plainly what he meant by it. Let us also now show that weunderstood his intentions and raze that fortress to the ground."
With these words Halil resumed his place.
As pre-arranged Kaplan Giraj now stood up in his turn.
Halil fully expected that the Tartar Khan, who was to have played suchan important part in his project, inasmuch as his dominions weredirectly in the way of an invading enemy, and therefore most nearlythreatened, would warmly support his proposition. All the greater thenwas his amazement when Kaplan Giraj turned towards him with acontemptuous smile and replied in these words:
"It is a great calamity for an Empire when its leading counsellors areignorant. I will not question your good intentions, Halil, but itstrikes me as very comical that you should wish us, on the strength ofthe prophecy of a Turkish recluse, to declare war against one of ourneighbours who is actually living at peace with us, is doing us no harm,and harbours no mischievous designs against us. You speak as if Europewas absolutely uninhabited by any but ourselves, as if there was no suchthing as powerful nations on every side of us, jealous neighbours all ofthem who would incontinently fall upon us with their banded might incase of a war unjustly begun by us. All this comes from the simple factthat you do not understand the world, Halil. How could you, a mere pettyhuckster, be expected to do so? So pray leave in peace Imperial affairs,and whenever you think fit to occupy your time in reading poems andfairy-tales, don't fancy they are actual facts."
The representatives of the people regarded the Khan with amazement.Halil, with a bitter look, measured him from head to foot. He knew nowthat he had been betrayed. And he had been betrayed by the very man towhom he had assigned a hero's part!
With a smiling face he turned towards him. He had no thought now that hehad fallen into a trap. He addressed the Khan as if they were both inthe room together alone.
"Truly you spoke the truth, Kaplan Giraj, when you reproached me withthe shame of ignorance. I never learnt anything but the Koran, I havenever had the opportunity of reading those books which mock at thethings which are written in the Koran; I only know that when the Prophetproclaimed war against the idolators he never inquired of theneighbouring nations, Shall I do this, or shall I not do it? and so healways triumphed. I know this, too, that since the Divan has taken todebating and negociating with its enemies, the Ottoman armies have beendriven across the three rivers--the Danube, the Dnieper, and thePruth--and melt away and perish in every direction. I am a rough andignorant man I know, therefore do not be amazed at me if I would defendthe faith of Mohammed with the sword when, perhaps, there may be othermeans of doing so with which I am unacquainted. I, on the other hand,will not be astonished that you, a scion of the princely Crimean family,should be afraid of war. You were born a ruler and know therefore thatyour life is precious. You embellish the deeds of your enemy that youmay not be obliged to fight against him. You say 'tis a good neighbour,a peaceful neighbour, he does no harm, although you very well know thatit was the Muscovite guns which drove our Timariots out of Kermanshan,and that the Persians were allowed to march through Russian territory inorder to fall upon our general Abdullah Pasha from behind. But there isnothing hostile about all this in your eyes, you are perfectly contentedwith your fate. War might deprive you of your Khannish dignity, while inpeaceful times you can peaceably retain it. It matters not to you whoseservant you may be so long as you hold sway in your own domain, and youcall him a blockhead who does not look after himself first of all. Yes,Kaplan Giraj, I am a blockhead no doubt, for I am not afraid to risklosing this wretched life, awaiting my reward in another world. I wasnot born in silks and purples but in the love of my country and the fearof God, while you are wise enough to be satisfied with the joys of thislife. But, by way of reward for betraying your good friend, may Allahcause you, one day, to
become the slave of your enemies, so that he whowas wont to be called Kaplan[17] may henceforth be named Sichian."[18]
Even had nothing been preconcerted, Kaplan Giraj's sword must needs haveleaped from its sheath at these mortally insulting words. Furiously heleaped from his seat with his flashing sword in his hand.
Ah! but now it was the turn of the Grand Vizier and all the otherconspirators to be amazed.
The Janissaries who had been placed by the side of the popular leadersnever budged from their seats, and not one of them drew his weapon atthe given signal.
Such inertia was so inexplicable to the initiated that Kaplan Girajremained standing in front of Halil paralyzed with astonishment. As forHalil he simply crossed his arms over his breast and gazed upon himcontemptuously. The Janissary officers had disregarded the signal.
"I am well aware," said Halil to the Khan with cold sobriety--"I am wellaware what sort of respect is due to this place, and therefore I do notdraw my sword against yours even in self-defence. For though I am not sowell versed in European customs as you are, and know not whether it isusual in the council-chambers of foreign nations to settle matters withthe sword, or whether it is the rule in the French or the Englishcabinet that he who cuts down his opponent in mid-council is in theright and his opinion must needs prevail--but of so much I am certain,that it is not the habit to settle matters with naked weapons in theOttoman Divan. Now that the council is over, however, perhaps you wouldlike to descend with me into the gardens where we may settle thebusiness out of hand, and free one another from the thought that deathis terrible."
Halil's cold collected bearing silenced, disarmed his enemies. The eyesof the Grand Vizier and the Khan surveyed the ranks of the Janissaryofficers, while Halil's faithful adherents began to assemble round theirleader.
"Then there is no answer to the words of Halil Patrona?" inquiredKabakulak at last tentatively.
They were all silent.
"Have you no answer at all then?"
At this all the Janissaries arose, and one of them stepping forwardsaid:
"Halil is right. We agree with all that he has said."
The Grand Vizier did not know whether he was standing on his head or hisheels. Kaplan Giraj wrathfully thrust his sword back again into itsscabbard. All the Janissary officers evidently were on Halil Patrona'sside.
It was impossible not to observe the confusion in the faces of the chiefplotters; the well-laid plot could not be carried out.
After a long interval Kabakulak was the first to recover himself, andtried to put a new face on matters till a better opportunity shouldarise.
"Such important resolutions," said he, "cannot be carried into effectwithout the knowledge of the Sultan. To-morrow, therefore, let us allassemble in the Seraglio to lay our desires before the Padishah. Youalso will be there, Halil, and you also, Kaplan Giraj."
"Which of us twain will be there Allah only knows," said Halil.
"There, my son, you spake not well; nay, very ill hast thou spoken. Itis a horrible thing when two Mussulmans revile one another. Bereconciled rather, and extend to each other the hand of fellowship! Iwill not allow you to fight. Both of you spoke with good intentions, andhe is a criminal who will not forget personal insults when it is aquestion of the commonweal. Forgive one another and shake hands, I say."
And he seized the reluctant hands of both men and absolutely forced themto shake hands with each other. But he could not prevent their eyes frommeeting, and though swords were denied them their glances of mutualhatred were enough to wound to the death.
After the council broke up, Halil's enemies remained behind with theGrand Vizier. Kaplan Giraj gnashed his teeth with rage.
"Didn't I tell you not to let him speak!" he exclaimed, "for when oncehe opens his mouth he turns every drawn sword against us, and driveswrath from the breasts of men with the glamour of his tongue."
So they had three days wherein to hatch a fresh plot.
* * * * *
The session of the Divan was fixed for three days later. Halil Patronaemployed the interval like a man who feels that his last hour is athand. He would have been very short-sighted not to have perceived thatjudgment had already been pronounced against him, although his enemieswere still doubtful how to carry it into execution.
He resigned himself to his fate as it became a pious Mussulman to do. Hehad only one anxiety which he would gladly have been rid of--what was tobecome of his wife and child.
On the evening of the last day he led Guel-Bejaze down to the shore ofthe Bosphorus as if he would take a walk with her. The woman carried herchild in her arms.
Since the woman had had a child she had acquired a much braver aspect.The gentlest animal will be audacious when it has young ones, even thedove becomes savage when it is hatching its fledgelings.
Halil put his wife into a covered boat, which was soon flying alongunder the impulse of his muscular arms. The child rejoiced aloud at therocking of the boat, he fancied it was the motion of his cradle. Theeyes of the woman were fixed now upon the sky and now upon the unruffledsurface of the watery mirror. A star smiled down upon her wheresoevershe gazed. The evening was very still.
"Knowest thou whither I am taking thee, Guel-Bejaze?" asked her husband.
"If thou wert to ask me whither thou oughtest to send me, I would saytake me to some remote and peaceful valley enclosed all around by loftymountains. Build me there a little hut by the side of a bubbling spring,and let there be a little garden in front of the little hut. Let mestroll beneath the leaves of the cedar-trees, where I may hear no othersound but the cooing of the wood-pigeon; let me pluck flowers on thebanks of the purling brook, and spy upon the wild deer; let me livethere and die there--live in thine arms and die in the flowering fieldby the side of the purling brook. If thou wert to ask me, whither shallI take thee, so would I answer."
"Thou hast said it," replied Halil, shipping the oars, for the risingevening breeze had stiffened out the sail and the little boat was flyingalong of its own accord; then he sat him down beside his wife andcontinued, "I am indeed sending thee to a remote and hidden valley,where a little hut stands on the banks of a purling stream. I haveprepared it for thee, and there shalt thou dwell with thy child."
"And thou thyself?"
"I will guide thee to the opposite shore, there an old family servant ofthy father's awaits thee with saddled mules. He loves thee dearly, andwill bring thee into that quiet valley and he must never leave thee."
"And thou?"
"This little coffer thou wilt take with thee; it contains money which Igot from thy father; no curse, no blood is upon it, it shall be thineand thy children's."
"And thou?" inquired Guel-Bejaze for the third time, and she was verynear to bursting into tears.
"I shall have to return to Stambul. But I will come after thee. Perhapsto-morrow, perhaps the day after to-morrow, perhaps later still. It maybe very much sooner, it may be much later. But thou wait for me. Everyevening spread the table for me, for thou knowest not when I mayarrive."
The tears of Guel-Bejaze began to fall upon the child she held to herbreast.
"Why weepest thou?" asked Halil. "'Tis foolish of thee. Leave-taking isshort, suspense only is long. It will be better with thee than with me,for thou wilt have the child while I shall have nothing left, yet I donot weep because we shall so soon meet again."
Meanwhile they had reached the shore, the old servant was awaiting themwith the two mules. Halil helped his wife to descend from the boat.
Guel-Bejaze buried her head in her husband's bosom and tenderly embracedhim.
"Go not back, leave me not alone," said she; "do not leave us, come withus. What dost thou seek in that big desolate city when we are no longerthere? Come with us, let us all go together, vanish with us. Let themsearch for thee, and may their search be as vain as the search for astar fallen from Heaven; it is not good for thee to be in high places."
Halil made no reply. His wife spoke the truth,
but pride prevented himfrom escaping like a coward when he knew that his enemies wereconspiring against him. Presently he said to Guel-Bejaze with areassuring voice:
"Do not be anxious on my account, I have a talisman with me. Why dostthou smile? Thou a Christian woman dost not believe in talismans? Mytalisman is my heart, surely thou believest in it now? It has alwayshelped me hitherto."
And with that Halil kissed his wife and his child and returned to theboat. He seized the oars in his powerful hands and was soon somedistance from the shore. And as he rowed further and further away intothe gloom of evening he saw his abandoned wife still standing on theshore with her child clasped to her breast, and the further he recededthe keener grew his anguish of heart because he durst not turn back tothem and kiss and embrace them once more.
* * * * *
Early in the morning the gigantic Halil Pelivan, accompanied by twelvebostanjis, appeared among the Janissaries with three asses laden withfive little panniers, containing five thousand ducats which he emptiedupon the ground and distributed among the brave fellows.
"The Grand Vizier sends you this, my worthy comrades," cried he.
This was the only way of talking sense to the Janissaries.
"And now I have to ask something of you."
"Say on!"
"Is there among you any fellow who loves nobody, who would be capable ofslaying his own dear father if he were commanded so to do and well paidfor it, who is afraid of nothing, has no bowels of compassion, andcannot be made to falter by the words of the wise?"
In response to this challenge, hundreds and hundreds of the Janissariesstepped out of their ranks, declaring that they were just the boys tosatisfy Pelivan's demands.
Pelivan selected from amongst them two-and-thirty of the most muscularand truculent, and commanded them to follow him into the Seraglio.
Once there he conducted them into the Porcelain Chamber, made them squatdown on the precious carpets, put before them quantities of the mostsavoury food, which they washed down with the rich wine of Cypress andthe heating Muskoveto, a mysterious beverage generally reserved for theSultan's use, which is supposed to confer courage and virility. Whenthey had well eaten and drunken moreover, Pelivan supplied them with asmuch opium as they wanted.
Shortly afterwards there came out to them the Grand Vizier, the lamePasha, Topal Ozman, Patsmajezade, the chief Justiciary of Rumelia, thecobbler's son, and the Tartar Khan, who patted their shoulders, tastedof their food, drank out of their goblets, and after telling them whatfine brave fellows they were, discreetly withdrew.
The Divan meanwhile had assembled in the Hall of Lions.
There were gathered together the Ulemas, the Viziers, and therepresentatives of the people. Halil Patrona was there also; andpresently Kabakulak, Topal Ozman, Patsmajezade, and Kaplan Girajarrived likewise and took their places.
The Grand Vizier turned first of all to Halil, whom he addressed withbenign condescension.
"The Padishah assures thee through me of his grace and favour, and ofhis own good pleasure appoints thee Beglerbeg of Rumelia."
And with that a couple of duelbendars advanced with the costly kaftan ofinvestiture.
Halil Patrona reflected for an instant.
The Sultan indeed had always been gracious towards him. He evidentlywanted to favour him with an honourable way of retreat. He was offeringhim a high dignity whereby he might be able to withdraw from thecapital, and yet at the same time gratify his ambition. The Sultanreally had a kindly heart then. He rewards the man whom his ministerswould punish as a malefactor.
But his hesitation only lasted for a moment. Then he recovered himselfand resolutely answered:
"I will not accept that kaftan. For myself I ask nothing. I did not comehere to receive high office, I came to hear war proclaimed."
The Grand Vizier bowed down before him.
"Thy word is decisive. The Padishah has decided that what thou and thycomrades demand shall be accomplished. The Grand Seignior himselfawaits thee in the Porcelain Chamber. There war shall be proclaimed,and the kaftans of remembrance distributed to thee and thy fellows."
And with that the Ulemas and Halil's comrades were led away to the kioskof Erivan.
"And ye who are the finest fellows of us all," said Kabakulak, turningto Halil and Musli--"ye, Halil and Musli, come first of all to kiss theSultan's hand."
Halil with a cold smile pressed Musli's hand. Even now poor Musli had noidea what was about to befall them. Only when at "the gate of the coldspring" the Spahis on guard divested them of their weapons, for none mayapproach the Sultan with a sword by him--only, then, I say, did he havea dim sensation that all was not well.
In the Sofa Chamber, where the Divan is erected, is a niche separatedfrom the rest of the chamber by a high golden trellis-work screen,behind whose curtains it is the traditional custom of the Sultan tolisten privately to the deliberations of his counsellors. From behindthese curtains a woman's face was now peeping. It was Adsalis, thefavourite Sultana, and behind her stood Elhaj Beshir, the Kizlar-Aga.Both of them knew there would be a peculiar spectacle, something wellworth seeing in that chamber to-day.
The curtains covering the doors of the Porcelain Chamber bulged out,and immediately afterwards two men entered. They advanced to the stepsof the Sultan's throne, knelt down there, and kissed the hem of theSultan's garment.
Mahmud was sitting on his throne, the same instant Kabakulak clapped hishands and cried:
"Bring in their kaftans!"
At these words out of the adjoining apartment rushed Pelivan and thethirty-two Janissaries with drawn swords.
Mahmud hid his face so as not to see what was about to happen.
"Halil! we are betrayed!" exclaimed Musli, and placing himself in frontof his comrade he received on his own body the first blow which Pelivanhad aimed at Halil.
"In vain hast thou written thy name above mine, Patrona," roared thegiant, waving his huge broadsword above his head.
At these words Halil drew forth from his girdle a dagger which he hadsecreted there, and hurled it with such force at Pelivan that the sharppoint pierced his left shoulder.
But the next moment he was felled to the ground by a mortal blow.
While still on his knees he raised his eyes to Heaven and said:
"It is the will of Allah."
At another blow he collapsed, and falling prone breathed forth his lastsigh:
"I die, but my son is still alive."
And he died.
Then all his associates were brought into the Sofa Chamber one by onefrom the Erivan kiosk where they had been robed in splendid kaftans, andas they entered the room were decapitated one after the other. They hadnot even time to shut their eyes before the fatal stroke descended.
Six-and-twenty of them perished there and then.
Only three survived the day, Sulali, Mohammed the dervish, and AlirAalem, the custodian of the sacred banner and justiciary of Stambul. Allthree were Ulemas, and therefore not even the Sultan was free to slaythem.
Accordingly the Grand Vizier appointed them all Sandjak-Begs, orgovernors of provinces.
As they knew nothing of the death of their comrades they accepted thedignities conferred upon them, renouncing at the same time as usualtheir office of Ulemas.
The following day they were all put to death.
On the third day after that the people of the city in their walks abroadsaw eight-and-thirty severed heads stuck on the ends of spears over thecentral gate of the Seraglio. All these heads, with their starting eyesand widely parted lips, seemed to be speaking to the amazed multitudes;only Halil Patrona's eyes were closed and his lips sealed.
Suddenly a great cry of woe arose from one end of the city to the other,the people seized their arms and rushed off to the Etmeidan under threebanners.
They had no other leader now but Janaki, all the rest had escaped orwere dead. So now they brought _him_ forward. The tidings of Halil'sdeath wrought no change in him, h
e had foreseen it long before, and waswell aware that Guel-Bejaze had departed from the capital. He had himselfprepared for her the little dwelling in the valley lost among theravines of Mount Taurus, which was scarce known to any save to him andthe few dwellers there, and he had brought back with him from thence apair of carrier-pigeons, so that in case of necessity he might be ableto send messages to his daughter without having to depend on humanagency.
When the clamorous mob invited him to the Etmeidan he wrote to hisdaughter on a tiny shred of vellum, and tied the letter beneath the wingof the pigeon.
And this is what he wrote:
"God's grace be with thee! Wait not for Halil, he is dead. TheJanissaries have killed him. And I shall not be long after him, take myword for it. But live thou and watch over thy child.--JANAKI."
With that he opened the window and let the dove go, and she, risingswiftly into the air, remained poised on high for a time with flutteringpinions, and then, with the swiftness and directness of a well-aimeddart, she flew straight towards the mountains.
"Poor Irene!" sighed Janaki, buckling on his sword with which hecertainly was not very likely to kill anybody--and he accompanied theinsurgents to the Etmeidan.
In Stambul things were all topsy-turvy once more. The seventh Janissaryregiment, when the two-and-thirty Janissaries returned to them withbloody swords boasting of their deed, rushed upon them and cut them topieces. The new Janissary Aga was shot dead within his own gates.Kabakulak retired within a mosque. Halil Pelivan, who had been appointedKulkiaja, hid himself in a drain pipe for three whole days, and neveremerged therefrom so long as the uproar lasted.
Three days later all was quiet again.
A new name came to the front which quelled the risen tempest--the lastscion of the famous Kueprili family, every member of which was a hero.
Achmed Kueprilizade collected together the ten thousand shebejis,bostanjis, and baltajis who dwelt round the Seraglio, and when everyonewas in despair attacked the rebels in the open streets, routed them inthe piazzas, and in three days seven thousand of the people fell beneathhis blows--and so the realm had peace once more.
Janaki also fell. They chopped off his head and he offered not theslightest resistance.
As for Pelivan and Kabakulak they were banished for their cowardice.
So Achmed Kueprilizade became Grand Vizier.
As for Achmed III. he lived nine years longer in the Seven Towers, andtradition says he died by poison.
FOOTNOTES:
[17] Tiger.
[18] Mouse.