ven reserved to
itself, and twice they had returned upon their footsteps.

But soon, ashamed of their terror, they attempted another attack, and
came attired in the colour of the Prophet. This time no mysterious
stranger speared to forbid their passage and with a cry they climbed the
mountain, listening for any supernatural warning. Nothing disturbed the
silence and solitude save the bleating of flocks and the cries of birds
of prey. Arrived on the platform of Libokovo, they prepared in silence
to surprise the guards, believing the castle full of them. They
approached crawling, like hunters who stalk a deer, already they had
reached the gate of the enclosure, and prepared to burst it open, when
lo! it opened of itself, and they beheld Chainitza standing before them,
a carabine in her hand, pistols in her belt, and, for all guard, two
large dogs.

"Halt! ye daring ones," she cried; "neither my life nor my treasure will
ever be at your mercy. Let one of you move a step without my permission,
and this place and the ground beneath your feet' will engulf you. Ten
thousand pounds of powder are in these cellars. I will, however, grant
your pardon, unworthy though you are. I will even allow you to take
these sacks filled with gold; they may recompense you for the losses
which my brother's enemies have recently inflicted on you. But depart
this instant without a word, and dare not to trouble me again; I have
other means of destruction at command besides gunpowder. Life is nothing
to me, remember that; but your mountains may yet at my command become the
tomb of your wives and children. Go!"

She ceased, and her would-be murderers fled terror.

Shortly after the plague broke out in these mountains, Chainitza had
distributed infected garments among gipsies, who scattered contagion
wherever they went.

"We are indeed of the same blood!" cried Ali with pride, when he heard of
his sister's conduct; and from that hour he appeared to regain all the
fire and audacity of his youth. When, a few days later, he was informed
that Mouktar and Veli, seduced by the brilliant promises of Dacha Bey,
had surrendered Prevesa and Argyro-Castron, "It does not surprise me," he
observed coldly. "I have long known them to be unworthy of being my
sons, and henceforth my only children and heirs are those who defend my
cause." And on hearing a report that both had been beheaded by Dacha
Bey's order, he contented himself with saying, "They