apitation if they neglected the orders they had received--and then
withdrew. There was something terribly sinister in their appearance, as
they retired noiselessly but rapidly through the long, silent and
darkened corridors of the imperial harem.

It was night--and the moon shone softly and sweetly upon the mighty city
of Constantinople, tipping each of its thousand spires and pinnacles as
with a star.

Ibrahim Pasha, having disposed of the business of the day, and now with
his imagination full of the beautiful Calanthe, hastened to the
anteroom, or principal apartment of the harem.

The harem, occupying one complete wing of the vizier's palace, consisted
of three stories. On the ground floor were the apartments of the
Princess Aischa and her numerous female dependents. These opened from a
spacious marble hall; and at the folding-doors leading into them, were
stationed two black dwarfs, who were deaf and dumb. Their presence was
not in any way derogatory to the character of Aischa, but actually
denoted the superior rank of the lady who occupied those apartments in
respect to the numerous females who tenanted the rooms above. As she was
the sister of the sultan, Ibrahim dared not appear in her presence
without obtaining her previous assent through the medium of one of the
mutes, who were remarkably keen in understanding and conveying
intelligence by means of signs. A grand marble staircase led from the
hall to the two floors containing the apartments of the ladies of the
harem; and thus, though Aischa dwelt in the same wing as those females,
her own abode was as distinct from theirs as if she were the tenant of a
separate house altogether.

On the first floor there was a large and magnificently furnished room in
which the ladies of the harem were accustomed to assemble when they
chose to quit the solitude of their own chambers for the enjoyment of
each other's society. The ceiling of the anteroom; as this immense
apartment was called, was gilt entirely over; it was supported by twenty
slender columns of crystal; and the splendid chandeliers which were
suspended to it, diffused a soft and mellow light, producing the most
striking effects on that mass of gilding, those reflecting columns, and
the wainscoted walls inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and with ivory of
different colors. A Persian carpet three inches thick was spread upon
the floor. Along two opposite sides ran continuous sofas, supported by
low, white marble pil