drum grew quiet, the excitement subsided,
and the soldiers were instructed to lay two swords crosswise in front
of the gate, so that the spirit might not be able to come back any
more; and with that termination of the affair every one was satisfied.

* * * * *

Opposite the gate of the fortress of Janina, at the head of the
collapsed bridge, stood a stone building, fenced about with redoubts
and palisades, which had now fallen into the hands of the Suliotes.
This building had been chosen by the two Greek kinsfolk for their
dwelling-place. They wanted to get as close to Ali as possible; they
would not suffer him to escape even in the shape of a bird or a
spirit; their large siege-guns were pointed at the walled-up gate. Let
him surrender or find his tomb in the fortress.

And lo! he _had_ found his tomb without consulting them about it. In
vain they had sharpened their weapons against him--the sword of Death
is quicker and cuts down sooner. They had not been able to reach him
on the field of battle; they had not been able to plunge their
avenging swords into his heart; they had not been able to bring his
gray head to the block; it had been reserved for him to pass quietly
away--to die in his bed, untroubled, unmolested, to die the death of
the righteous.

Kleon and Artemis were sitting sullenly in a room of the fort by the
light of a flickering candle. The girl had absently divested herself
of her cuirass and was walking up and down the room with folded arms.
There was not a single womanly trait in her face. It was as cold as
the face of a statue.

"So he is dead, then--dead!"

This phrase she repeated to herself again and again. She seemed unable
to get away from it.

"Ali has died, and not by my hand."

Kleon was strikingly like his sister; indeed, his young face scarcely
differed at all from hers, but in his eyes quite another sort of flame
sparkled. Her face, full of dark thoughts, was much more terrible;
his was free and open, and full of radiant hope.

"My triumph has lost its worth if Ali is dead," she said, with a sigh.
"The old fox has dodged my steel by taking refuge in hell. Oh, would
that I might follow him thither also, that I might tear his gray
beard, which he has bathed in my kinsman's blood!"

"Behold! here is my gray beard!" cried a voice at that instant from
the other end of the room, and the brother and sister beheld Ali
Tepelenti standing before them.

T