CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
A STRANGE VISIT, A STRANGE COMMISSION, AND A STRANGE DISPLAY OF TEMPER.
After Ben-Ahmed had departed on his mission to the Dey of Algiers,George Foster and Peter the Great re-entered the house, and in theseclusion of the bower continued to discuss the hopes, fears, andpossibilities connected with the situation.
"Dat was a clebber dodge ob yours, Geo'ge," remarked the negro, "an' I'sgot good hope dat somet'ing will come ob it, for massa's pretty sure tosucceed w'en he take a t'ing in hand."
"I'm glad you think so, Peter. And, to say truth, I am myself verysanguine."
"But dere's one t'ing dat 'plexes me bery much. What is we to do aboutpoo' Hester's fadder w'en he's pardoned? De Dey can spare his life, buthe won't set him free--an' if he don't set him free de slabe-drivers 'llbe sure to kill 'im out ob spite."
The middy was silent, for he could not see his way out of thisdifficulty.
"Perhaps," he said, "Ben-Ahmed may have thought of that, and willprovide against it, for of course he knows all the outs and ins ofMoorish life, and he is a thoughtful man."
"Das true, Geo'ge. He _am_ a t'oughtful man. Anyhow, we kin do not'ingmore, 'cept wait an' see. But I's much more 'plexed about Hester, foreben if de sailor am a good an' true man, as you say, he can't keep heror his-self alibe on not'ing in de mountains, no more'n he could swimwid her on his back across de Mederainyon!"
Again the middy was silent for a time. He could by no means see his wayout of this greater difficulty, and his heart almost failed him as hethought of the poor girl wandering in the wilderness without food orshelter.
"P'r'aps," suggested Peter, "she may manage to git into de town an' passfor a nigger as she's dood before, an' make tracks for her old place widMissis Lilly--or wid Dinah."
"No doubt she may," cried Foster, grasping at the hope as a drowning mangrasps at a plank. "Nothing more likely. Wouldn't it be a good planfor you to go into town at once and make inquiry?"
"Dessay it would," returned the negro. "Das just what I'll do, an' ifshe's not dere, Dinah may gib my int'lec' a jog. She's a wonderfulwoman, Dinah, for workin' up de human mind w'en it's like goin' tosleep. Poo' Samson hab diskivered dat many times. I'll go at once."
"Do, Peter, my fine fellow, and you'll lay me for ever under the deepestob--"
He was interrupted by a slave who at the moment approached the bower andsaid that a man wanted to see Peter the Great.
"To see Ben-Ahmed, you mean," said Peter.
"No--to see yourself," returned the slave.
"Sen' 'im here," said the negro, with a magnificent wave of the hand.
In a few minutes the slave returned accompanied by a negro, who limpedso badly that he was obliged to use a stick, and whose head was bandagedup with a blue cloth. Arrived at the bower, he stood before Peter theGreat and groaned.
"You may go," said Peter to the slave, who lingered as if anxious tohear the news of the visitor. When he was out of hearing, Peter turnedto the lame man, looked him sharply in the face, and said--
"You's bery black in de face, my frind, but you's much blacker in deh'art. What business hab you to come here widout washin' your whiteface clean?"
"Well, you're a pretty smart chap for a nigger. An' I dare say you'llunderstand that I'd have had some difficulty in fetchin' this here portat all if I'd washed my face," answered the lame man, in excellentnautical English.
While he spoke, Foster ran towards him, laid a hand on his shoulder, andlooked earnestly into his face.
"You are the British sailor," he said, "who rescued Hes--Miss Sommersfrom the janissaries?"
"That's me to a tee," replied the sailor, with a broad grin.
"Is Miss Sommers safe?" asked the middy anxiously.
"Ay! safe as any woman can be in this world. Leastwise, she's in a cavewi' three o' the toughest sea-dogs as any man could wish to see--one o'them bein' a Maltese an' the other two bein' true-blue John Bulls aswell as Jack Tars. But Miss Sommers gave me orders to say my say toPeter the Great, so if this nigger is him, I'll be obleeged if he'llhave a little private conversation wi' me."
"Did Miss Sommers say that I was not to hear the message?" asked themiddy, in some surprise.
"She made no mention o' _you_, or anybody else at all, as I knows on,"returned the sailor firmly, "an' as my orders was to Peter the Great,an' as this seems to be him, from Sally's description--a monstrous big,fine-lookin' nigger, with a lively face--I'll say my say to him _alone_,with your leave."
"You may say it where you is, for dis yar gen'lem'n is a frind ob mine,an' a hofficer in the Bri'sh navy, an' a most 'tickler friend of HesterSommers, so we all frinds togidder."
"You'll excuse me, sir," said the seaman, touching his forelock, "butyou don't look much like a' officer in your present costoom. Well,then, here's wot I've got to say--"
"Don't waste your time, Brown, in spinning the yarn of your rescue ofthe girl," said Foster, interrupting; "we've heard all about it alreadyfrom Sally, and can never sufficiently express our thanks to you foryour brave conduct. Tell us, now, what happened after you disappearedfrom Sally's view."
The sailor thereupon told them all about his subsequent proceedings--howhe had persuaded Hester to accompany him through the woods and by around about route to a part of the coast where he expected ere long tofind friends to rescue him. From some reason or other best known tohimself, he was very secretive in regard to the way in which thesefriends had managed to communicate with him.
"You see I'm not free to speak out all I knows," he said. "But surelyit's enough to say that my friends have not failed me; that I found themwaitin' there with a small boat, so light that they had dragged it upan' concealed it among the rocks, an' that I'd have bin on my way to oldEngland at this good hour if it hadn't bin for poor Miss Sommers, whomwe couldn't think of desartin'."
"Then she refused to go with you?" said Foster.
"Refused! I should think she did! Nothing, she said, would indooce herto leave Algiers while her father was in it. One o' my mates was forforcing her into the boat, an' carryin' her off, willin' or not willin',but I stood out agin' him, as I'd done enough o' that to the poor thingalready. Then she axed me to come along here an' ax Peter the Great ifhe knowed anything about her father. `But I don't know Peter theGreat,' says I, `nor where he lives.' `Go to Sally,' says she, `an'you'll get all the information you need.' `But I'll never get thelength o' Sally without being nabbed,' says I. `Oh!' says she, `no fearo' that. Just you let me make a nigger of you. I always keep the stuffabout me in my pocket, for I so often cry it off that I need to renew itfrequently.' An' with that she out with a parcel o' black stuff andmade me into a nigger before you could say Jack Robinson. Fort'nately,I've got a pretty fat lump of a nose of my own, an' my lips are prettythick by natur', so that with a little what you may call hard poutin'when I had to pass guards, janissaries, an' such like, I managed to getto where Missis Lilly an' Sally lived, an' they sent me on here. An'now the question is, what's to be done, for it's quite clear that mymates an' me can't remain for ever hidin' among the rocks. We must beoff; an' I want to know, are we to take this poor gal with us, or are weto leave her behind, an', if so, what are her friends a-goin' to do forher?"
"There's no fear of your friends going off without you, I suppose?"
"Well, as they risked their precious lives to rescue me, it ain'tlikely," returned the seaman.
"Would it not be well to keep Brown here till Ben-Ahmed returns?" askedFoster, turning to Peter the Great.
The negro knitted his brows and looked vacantly up through the leafyroof of the bower, as if in profound meditation. Some of the brighterstars were beginning to twinkle in the darkening sky by that time, andone of them seemed to wink at him encouragingly, for he suddenly turnedto the middy with all the energy of his nature, exclaiming, "I's gotit!" and brought his great palm down on his greater thigh with aresounding slap.
"If it's in your breeches pocket you must have squashed it
, then!" saidBrown--referring to the slap. "Anyhow, if you've got it, hold on to itan' let's hear what it is."
"No--not now. All in good time. Patience, my frind, is a virtoo wufcultivation--"
"You needn't go for to tell _that_ to a Bagnio slave like me, MisterPeter. Your greatness might have made you aware o' that," returned thesailor quietly.
An eye-shutting grin was Peter's reply to this, and further converse wasstopped by the sound of clattering hoofs.
"Massa!" exclaimed the negro, listening. "Das good. No time lost.Come wid me, you sham nigger, an' I's gib you somet'ing to tickle youstummik. You go an' look arter de hoss, Geo'ge."
While the middy ran to the gate to receive his master, Peter the Greatled the sham nigger to the culinary regions, where, in a sequesteredcorner, he supplied him with a bowl containing a savoury compound ofchicken and rice.
"I hope that all has gone well?" Foster ventured to ask as the Moordismounted.
"All well. Send Peter to me immediately," he replied, and, withoutanother word, hurried into the house.
Calling another slave and handing over the smoking horse to him, Fosterran to the kitchen.
"Peter, you're--"
"Wanted 'meeditly--yes, yes--I knows dat. What a t'ing it is to bein'spensible to anybody! I don't know how he'll eber git along widoutme."
Saying which he hurried away, leaving the middy to do the honours of thehouse to the sailor.
"I s'pose, sir, you haven't a notion what sort o' plans that nigger hasgot in his head?" asked the latter.
"Not the least idea. All I know is that he is a very clever fellow andnever seems very confident about anything without good reason."
"Well, whatever he's a-goin' to do, I hope he'll look sharp about it,for poor Miss Sommers's fate and the lives o' my mates, to say nothin'of my own, is hangin' at this moment on a hair--so to speak," returnedthe sailor, as he carefully scraped up and consumed the very last grainof the savoury mess, murmuring, as he did so, that it was out o' sightthe wery best blow-out he'd had since he enjoyed his last Christmasdinner in old England.
"Will you have some more?" asked the sympathetic middy.
"No more, sir, thankee. I'm loaded fairly down to the water-line.Another grain would bust up the hatches; but if I might ventur' to puttforth a wish now, a glass o'--no? well, no matter, a drop o' water'lldo. I'm well used to it now, havin' drunk enough to float aseventy-four since I come to this city o' pirates."
"You will find coffee much more agreeable as well as better for you. Ihave learned that from experience," said the middy, pouring out a tinycupful from an earthen coffee-pot that always stood simmering beside thecharcoal fire.
"Another of that same, sir, if you please," said the seaman, tossing offthe cupful, which, indeed, scarcely sufficed to fill his capaciousmouth. "Why they should take their liquor in these parts out o' thingsthat ain't much bigger than my old mother's thimble, passes mycomprehension. You wouldn't mind another?--thankee."
"As many as you please, Brown," said the middy, laughing, as he pouredout cupful after cupful; "there's no fear of your getting half-seas-overon that tipple!"
"I only wish I _was_ half-seas-over, or even a quarter that length.Your health, sir!" returned Brown, with a sigh, as he drained the lastcup.
Just then Peter the Great burst into the kitchen in a very elatedcondition.
"Geo'ge," he cried, "you be off. Massa wants you--'meeditly. But fust,let me ax--you understan' de place among de rocks whar Brown's mates andde boat am hidden?"
"Yes, I know the place well."
"You knows how to get to it?"
"Of course I do."
"Das all right; now come along--come along, you sham nigger, wid me.Has you got enuff?"
"Bustin'--all but."
"Das good now; you follow me; do what you's tol'; hol' you tongue, an'look sharp, if you don' want your head cut off."
"Heave ahead, cap'n; I'm your man."
The two left the house together and took the road that led to the hillcountry in rear of the dwelling.
Meanwhile George Foster went to the chamber of the Moor. He found hismaster seated, as was his wont, with the hookah before him, but with themouthpiece lying idly on his knee, and his forehead resting on one hand.So deeply was he absorbed in communing with his own thoughts, that hedid not observe the entrance of his slave until he had been twiceaddressed. Then, looking up as if he had been slightly startled, hebade him sit down.
"George Foster," he began impressively, at the same time applying alight to his hookah and puffing sedately, "you will be glad to hear thatI have been successful with my suit to the Dey. God has favoured me;but a great deal yet remains to be done, and that must be done by_you_--else--"
He stopped here, looked pointedly at the middy, and delivered theremainder of his meaning in pufflets of smoke.
"I suppose you would say, sir, that unless it is done by me it won't bedone at all?"
To this the Moor nodded twice emphatically, and blew a thin cloudtowards the ceiling.
"Then you may count upon my doing my utmost, if that which I am to do isin the interest of Hester Sommers or her father, as no doubt it is."
"Yes, it is in their interest," rejoined Ben-Ahmed. "I have done mypart, but dare not go further; for much though I love little Hester--whohas been to me as a sweet daughter--I must not risk my neck for herunnecessarily. But, if I mistake not, you are not unwilling to riskthat?"
"Ay, fifty necks would I risk for her sake if I had them," returned ourmiddy with enthusiasm, for he was in that stage of love which glories inthe acknowledgment of thraldom.
Ben-Ahmed looked at him with interest, sighed, and sought solace in thepipe.
After a few meditative puffs, he continued--
"After all, you run little risk, as you shall see. When I asked theDey, with whom I am familiar, for the pardon of the slave Sommers, hedid not seem pleased, and objected that there had been too many revoltsof late; that this man's case was a bad one, and that it was necessaryto make an example or two.
"`Very true, your highness,' I replied, `but may I beg you to make anexample of some other slaves, and forgive Sommers?'
"`Why do you take so much interest in this man?' demanded the Dey, whoseemed to me rather short in his temper at the time.
"`Because he is the father of one of my female slaves, your highness,' Ireplied; `and it is the fear that they will be separated for ever thatmakes the man desperate and the girl miserable. If you will permit me,I should like to reunite them. Your highness has often expressed a wishto do me some kindness for the privilege I once had of saving yourhighness's life. Will you now refuse me this man's life?' `Nay, I willnot refuse you, Ben-Ahmed. But I do not see that my granting yourrequest will reunite the father and child, unless, indeed, you areprepared to purchase the man.'
"`I am prepared to do so, your highness,' I said.
"`In that case you are at liberty to go to the Bagnio and take him out.Here is my ring.'
"Now, Foster," continued the Moor, drawing the ring in question from hisvest-pocket, "take this. Show it to the captain of the guard at theBagnio, who will admit you. Tell him that I sent you for one of theslaves. After that your own intelligence must guide you. Go, and Godgo with you."
"I will do as you command, Ben-Ahmed," said Foster; "but I must tell youfrankly that I will not--"
"Silence!" thundered the Moor, with a look of ferocity which the amazedmidshipman could not account for. "Have you not understood me?"
"Yes, sir, perfectly, but--"
"When a slave receives a command," cried Ben-Ahmed in rising wrath, "itis his duty to obey in silence. Again I say--go!"
The middy bowed with feelings of indignation, but on reaching the doorpaused, and again essayed to speak.
"I give you fair warning, Ben-Ahmed, that I will _not_--"
"Silence!" again roared the Moor, seizing an ornamental box and hurlingit violently at his slave, who, dipping his head, allowed it to
gocrashing against the wall, while he went out and shut the door.
"Well, old boy, I'm absolved from any allegiance to _you_," he muttered,as he walked smartly down the garden walk towards the gate; "so if I doa good deal more than your bidding you mustn't be surprised. But yoursudden burst of anger is incomprehensible. However, that's not mybusiness now."
Had any one been there to observe the Moor after the middy had taken hisdeparture, he would have seen that the passion he had displayedevaporated as rapidly as it had arisen, and that he resumed the ambermouthpiece of his hookah with a peculiar smile and an air of calmcontentment. Thereafter he ordered out his horse, mounted it in hisusual dignified manner, and quietly rode away into the darkness of thenight.
It may be observed here our middy had improved greatly in the matter ofcostume since his appointment to the rank of limner to Ben-Ahmed. Theold canvas jacket, straw hat, etcetera, had given place to a picturesqueMoorish costume which, with the middy's fine figure and natural bearing,led people to suppose him a man of some note, so that his appearance wasnot unsuited to the mission he had in hand.
We need scarcely say that his spirit was greatly agitated, as he walkedtowards the town, by uncertainty as to how he ought to act in thepresent emergency, and his mind was much confused by the varied, and, tosome extent, inexplicable incidents of the evening. His thoughtscrystallised, however, as he went along, and he had finally made up hismind what to do by the time he passed the portals Bab-Azoun and enteredthe streets of Algiers.