once more to appeal to the Sultan for the
release of his prisoner. But the monarch had grown moody and
thoughtful, as we have seen, when he realized that his slave loved
another; and every word she now uttered in his behalf was bitterness
to his very soul. She only found that he was the more firmly set in
his design as to retraining her in the harem, if not to take the
life of the young mountaineer.

The Sultan brooded over this state of affairs with a settled frown
upon his brow. Had it not been that Aphiz had saved his life by his
brave assistance at a critical moment, he would not have hesitated
one instant as to what he should do, for had it been otherwise he
would have ordered him to be destroyed as quickly as he would have
ordered the execution of any criminal.--But hardened and calloused as
he was by power, and self-willed as he was from never being thwarted
in his wishes, yet he found it difficult to give the order that
should sacrifice the life of one who had so gallantly saved him from
peril.

At last the monarch seemed to have resolved upon some plan, whereby
he hoped to relieve himself from the dilemma that so seriously
annoyed him. He was most expert at disguises; indeed, it was often
his custom to walk the streets of his capital incog, or to ride out
unattended, in a plain citizen's dress, as we have seen, that he
might the better observe for himself those things concerning which
he required accurate information. It was then nothing new for him to
don the dress of an officer of the household guard; and in this
costume he visited Aphiz in his cell, representing himself to be the
agent of the Sultan.

"I come as an agent of the Sultan," he said, as the turnkey
introduced him to the cell.

"The Sultan is very gracious to remember' me; what is his will?"
asked the prisoner.

"He has a proposition to offer you, to which, if you accede, you are
at once free to go from here."

"And what are these terms?" asked Aphiz, with perfect coolness.

"That you instantly leave Constantinople, never again to return to
it."

"Alone?"

"Except that he will fill a purse with gold for thee to help thee on
thy homeward way."

"I shall never leave the city alone," replied the prisoner, with
firmness.

"Is that your answer?"

"As well thus perhaps as any way. I shall never leave this city
without Komel."

"But if you remain it may cost you your life," continued the
stranger.

"I do not fear death," replied t