to remain until they
die under the lash, or until some Venetian or Genoese bullet finds its
way into their wretched carcasses. I alone came off with my freedom.'

'And pray, how did you make your escape?' I asked.

'By the use of the wit wherewith Providence hath endowed me,' he
answered complacently; 'for, seeing that their accursed religion is the
blind side of these infidels, I did set myself to work upon it. To this
end I observed the fashion in which our guard performed their morning
and evening exercises, and having transformed my doublet into a praying
cloth, I did imitate them, save only that I prayed at greater length and
with more fervour.'

'What!' I cried in horror. 'You did pretend to be a Mussulman?'

'Nay, there was no pretence. I became a Mussulman. That, however,
betwixt ourselves, as it might not stand me in very good stead with some
Reverend Aminadab Fount-of-Grace in the rebel camp, who is no admirer of
Mahmoud.'

I was so astounded at the impudence of this confession, coming from the
mouth of one who had been leading the exercises of a pious Christian
family, that I was fairly bereft of speech. Decimus Saxon whistled a few
bars of a sprightly tune, and then continued--

'My perseverance in these exercises soon led to my being singled out
from among the other prisoners, until I so prevailed upon my gaolers
that the doors were opened for me, and I was allowed out on condition
of presenting myself at the prison gates once a day. What use, think ye,
did I make of my freedom?'

'Nay, you are capable of anything,' said I.

'I set off forthwith to their chief mosque--that of St. Sophia. When the
doors opened and the muezzin called, I was ever the first to hurry into
devotions and the last to leave them. Did I see a Mussulman strike his
head upon the pavement, I would strike mine twice. Did I see him bend
and bow, I was ready to prostrate myself. In this way ere long the piety
of the converted Giaour became the talk of the city, and I was provided
with a hut in which to make my sacred meditations. Here I might have
done well, and indeed I had well-nigh made up my mind to set up as
a prophet and write an extra chapter to the Koran, when some foolish
trifle made the faithful suspicious of my honesty. It was but some
nonsense of a wench being found in my hut by some who came to consult
me upon a point of faith, but it was enough to set their heathen tongues
wagging; so I thought it wisest to give the