opes to rings in the walls--all save one,
called the "Spaniard," who was exhibited as the roarer of the tribe, and
had to be stirred up to partial madness occasionally to show his powers
of lung; he was therefore prudently kept in a wooden cage.

Entering the skiffa, the Dey took his seat on a throne, and ordered the
wrestlers to begin.

In the centre of the court was a pile of sawdust, surmounted by a flag.
At a given signal two naked and well-oiled Moors of magnificent
proportions rushed into the court and scattered the sawdust on the
floor, after which they seized each other round their waists, and began
an exciting struggle, which ended after a few minutes in one--of them
being thrown. Another champion then came forward, and the scene was
repeated several times, until one came off the conqueror, and obtained
from the Dey a purse of gold as his reward. The unsuccessful athletes
were consoled by having a handful of silver thrown into the arena to be
scrambled for. It seemed as if more enjoyment was got by the spectators
from the scramble than from the previous combats. After this a quantity
of food was thrown to the athletes, for which another scramble ensued.

In the midst of this scene an officer of the palace was observed to
whisper in the ear of the Dey, who rose immediately and left the skiffa,
bringing the amusements to an abrupt close.

Thus was sounded the first clap of the thunder storm which was about to
descend on the city.

The effect of it was great, and, to some of the actors in our tale, most
important.

All the executions of slaves which had been ordered to take place were
countermanded, except in the cases of one or two who had rendered
themselves particularly obnoxious, and a few others who were unfit for
labour. This was done because Omar determined to put forth all his
available power to render the fortifications of the place as strong as
possible. All the slaves were therefore set to work on them, but those
who had been under sentence of death were kept from too great a rebound
of spirits at the reprieve, by being told that the moment the work was
finished their respective punishments should be inflicted. Our poor
friend Mariano was thus assailed by the horrible thought, while working
at the blocks of concrete, which he mixed from morning till night, that
in one such block he should ere long find a living tomb.

We need scarcely add that the thought drove him to desperation; but,
po