ief at both places. The new commander acted on a
different plan. He knew well that not a head amongst all the Greek
rebels was half so dangerous as Ali Tepelenti's; so, leaving Salikh
Pasha to his fate, he directed all his energies against Janina.

A man indeed hath come against thee, O Ali Pasha! A man as valiant, as
crafty as thou; if thou be a fox, he is an eagle of the rocks, that
pounces down on the fox; and if thou be a tiger, he is the
boa-constrictor which infolds and crushes the tiger.

Ali urged Kleon and Artemis to hasten to his assistance. His
messengers did not return to the fortress. The Greek leaders gave no
reply to his summons. Anybody else would have found some consolatory
explanation of their remissness, but Ali divined things better. The
Greeks said amongst themselves, "Let the old monster tremble in his
ditch; let them close him in and hold him tight. He will be
constrained to make a life-and-death struggle to save his old beard.
When we have captured Arta, and when our detested ally" (for they did
detest him in spite of his being their good friend) "is at the very
last gasp, then we will go to the rescue, relieve him, and let him
live a little longer."

Tepelenti was well aware that they spoke of him in this way. He knew
well that they hated him, and would gladly leave him to perish. The
only reason the Greeks had for allying themselves with Ali was that
his fortress was filled with an enormous store of treasure, arms, and
muniments of war; his gray head was the pivot of the whole rebellion.

If the fortress were taken, they would be deprived of this strong
pivot, those treasures, that gray head!

One day the Suliotes encamped before Arta heard the terrible tidings
that Kurshid Pasha had captured Lithanizza and La Gulia, the two
outlying forts of the stronghold of Janina, and had driven Ali back
into the fortress. The tidings filled them with consternation. If
Janina were lost, the whole Greek insurrection would lose the source
of its supplies. The treasures which Ali had scattered amongst the
Greeks with a prodigal hand would at once fall into the hands of the
Sultan, and then he would be able to secure Epirus at a single blow.

A Greek army under Marco Bozzari immediately set out from Arta to
relieve Janina. Ali knew of it beforehand. Bozzari's spies had crept
through Kurshid's camp into Janina, and signified to Ali that their
leaders were on their way to "The Five Wells," and that he shoul