his woman, the only being that he loved, and sent her to him to
soothe away the rage of his soul and soften his heart with her
caresses. Oh, how well they understood his heart!

"Kurshid Pasha swore to me that he would obtain the Sultan's favor for
thee," said Eminah, in a tone of conviction. "He wrote a letter under
his seal that thou shouldst never die beneath the hands of the
executioner; that thy death should not be a violent one, unless it
were in an honorable duel or on the field of battle. Behold, here is
the letter!"

If at that moment Ali had listened to his heart, he must have extended
the hand of submission without any letter of amnesty, but, like an
escutcheon above a crown, pride was perched higher than his heart and
spurned the offer.

"Allah may humble Ali, but Ali will never humble himself."

"Then thou wilt not live with me?" asked Eminah, fixing her piteously
entreating eyes upon her husband.

Ali shook his head in silence.

"Then I will die with thee!" cried the damsel, with a determined
voice.

The pasha regarded her in amazement.

"I swear," cried Eminah, "that I will either go back with thee or die
with thee here! Dost thou hear that noise? They are slamming to the
iron gates from the outside. At this moment every exit is closed, so
that even if I wished to escape from hence I could not. These doors
can only open at a word from Ali, and they will only open once more.
Either thou wilt go with me from hence or I will remain here with
thee."

Ali pressed the damsel to his bosom. She lay clinging there like a
tender blossom. He pressed his lips to that pale brow, and covering
her gently and gradually with his silken caftan, he whispered in a
scarcely audible voice:

"Be it so! be it so! Here we will die together!"

Early next morning a flourish of trumpets awoke the Lord of Janina,
the Lord of the last tower of Janina. The herald of Kurshid Pasha was
standing beneath the round windows, and delivered in a loud voice the
general's message to Ali Pasha, whereby he summoned Tepelenti to
surrender voluntarily on the strength of the solemn assurance
confirmed by oath to his wife.

Tepelenti appeared at the window with Eminah reclining on his bosom.

"Go back to your master," he cried to the messenger, "and tell him
that Ali and his wife have resolved to die here together. The moment
an armed host enters the court-yard of this fortress I will
immediately blow up the tower."

In half an hou