own to no
one but himself. Alongside of this was the harem, and in the neighbouring
mosque was quartered his garrison, consisting of fifty men, all ready to
bury themselves under the ruins of this fortification, the only spot
remaining to him of all Greece, which had formerly bent beneath his
authority.

After this exhibition, Ali presented one of his most devoted followers to
the envoys. Selim, who watched over the fire, was a youth in appearance
as gentle as his heart was intrepid, and his special duty was to be in
readiness to blow up the whole place at any moment. The pacha gave him
his hand to kiss, inquiring if he were ready to die, to which he only
responded by pressing his master's hand fervently to his lips. He never
took his eyes off Ali, and the lantern, near which a match was constantly
smoking, was entrusted only to him and to Ali, who took turns with him in
watching it. Ali drew a pistol from his belt, making as if to turn it
towards the powder magazine, and the envoys fell at his feet, uttering
involuntary cries of terror. He smiled at their fears, and assured them
that, being wearied of the weight of his weapons, he had only intended to
relieve himself of some of them. He then begged them to seat themselves,
and added that he should like even a more terrible funeral than that
which they had just ascribed to him. "I do not wish to drag down with
me," he exclaimed, "those who have come to visit me as friends; it is
Kursheed, whom I have long regarded as my brother, his chiefs, those who
have betrayed me, his whole army in short, whom I desire to follow me to
the tomb--a sacrifice which will be worthy of my renown, and of the
brilliant end to which I aspire."

The envoys gazed at him with stupefaction, which did not diminish when
Ali further informed them that they were not only sitting over the arch
of a casemate filled with two hundred thousand pounds of powder, but that
the whole castle, which they had so rashly occupied, was undermined.
"The rest you have seen," he said, "but of this you could not be aware.
My riches are the sole cause of the war which has been made against me,
and in one moment I can destroy them. Life is nothing to me, I might
have ended it among the Greeks, but could I, a powerless old man, resolve
to live on terms of equality among those whose absolute master I have
been? Thus, whichever way I look, my career is ended. However, I am
attached to those who still surround me