anything but procuring various
necessaries, and he then began to inquire what caused the Seraskier to
delay his visit. The latter excused himself on the plea of illness, and
offered meanwhile to send anyone Ali might wish to see, to visit him: The
pacha immediately mentioned several of his former followers, now employed
in the Imperial army, and as no difficulty was made in allowing them to
go, he profited by the permission to interview a large number of his old
acquaintances, who united in reassuring him and in giving him great hopes
of success.

Nevertheless, time passed on, and neither the Seraskier nor the firman
appeared. Ali, at first uneasy, ended by rarely mentioning either the
one or the other, and never was deceiver more completely deceived. His
security was so great that he loudly congratulated himself on having come
to the island. He had begun to form a net of intrigue to cause himself
to be intercepted on the road when he should be sent to Constantinople,
and he did not despair of soon finding numerous partisans in the Imperial
army.

CHAPTER XI

For a whole week all seemed going well, when, on the morning of February
5th, Kursheed sent Hassan Pacha to convey his compliments to Ali, and
announce that the sultan's firman, so long desired, had at length
arrived. Their mutual wishes had been heard, but it was desirable, for
the dignity of their sovereign, that Ali, in order to show his gratitude
and submission, should order Selim to extinguish the fatal match and to
leave the cave, and that the rest of the garrison should first display
the Imperial standard and then evacuate the enclosure. Only on this
condition could Kursheed deliver into Ali's hands the sultan's decree of
clemency.

Ali was alarmed, and his eyes were at length opened. He replied
hesitatingly, that on leaving the citadel he had charged Selim to obey
only his own verbal order, that no written command, even though signed
and sealed by himself, would produce any effect, and therefore he desired
to repair himself to the castle, in order to fulfil what was required.

Thereupon a long argument ensued, in which Ali's sagacity, skill, and
artifice struggled vainly against a decided line of action. New
protestations were made to deceive him, oaths were even taken on the
Koran that no evil designs, no mental reservations, were entertained. At
length, yielding to the prayers of those who surrounded him, perhaps
concluding that all hi