might be seen natives of almost every country--men and women and
children of all ages and complexions, civilised and uncivilised, gentle
and simple--exposed for sale; while turbaned Turks, Moors in broad-cloth
burnouses and gay vestments, Jews in dark costume, Arabs from the
desert, and men of nondescript garments and character, moved about,
criticising, examining, buying, and selling.

Just as Sidi Hassan reached the market, a gang of Christian slaves were
halted near the door of the mosque. It was evening. They had been
toiling all day at the stone-quarries in the mountains, and were now on
their way, weary, ragged, and foot-sore, to the Bagnio, or prison, in
which were housed the public slaves--those not sold to private
individuals, but retained by government and set to labour on the public
works.

A few of these slaves wore ponderous chains as a punishment for having
been unruly--the others were unshackled. Among them stood our
unfortunate friends Francisco Rimini and his sons Lucien and Mariano--
but ah! how changed! Only two days had elapsed since their arrival, yet
their nearest friends might have failed to recognise them, so
dishevelled were they, and their faces so covered with dust and
perspiration. For their own garments had been substituted ragged shirts
and loose Turkish drawers reaching to below the knee. Old straw hats
covered their heads, but their lower limbs and feet were naked; where
not stained by blood and dust, the fairness of their skins showed how
little they had been used to such exposure. Lucien's countenance wore
an expression of hopeless despair; that of his father, which was wont to
look so bluff and hearty, now betrayed feelings of the tenderest pity,
as if he had forgotten his own sufferings in those of his children.
Mariano, on the contrary, looked so stubborn and wicked that no one
could have believed it possible he had ever been a gay, kindly,
light-hearted youth! Poor fellow! his high spirit had been severely
tried that day, but evidently not tamed, though the blood on the back of
his shirt showed that his drivers had made vigorous attempts to subdue
him. During the heat of the day Lucien had grown faint from toil and
hunger, and had received a cruel lash from one of their guardians. This
had roused Mariano. He had sprung to avenge the blow, had been seized
by three powerful men, lashed until he became insensible, and, on
recovering, had been forced to continue his toil of