"Remember, sir, that you gave me absolute authority to act as I
thought best. I gave you my word of honor to bring back these rebels
to reason and obedience. In return, you promised that I alone should
decide the matter. It must therefore be so. I have sworn to the men
of Praousta that, unless they submit, the heads of the sheik and the
three ulemas shall fall; and I repeat, so must it be, even if they
fall by my hand, if to-morrow, at the hour of prayer, the gold is
not produced."
"Then may Allah mercifully bring the rebels to repentance!" sighed
the tschorbadji. "May they submit to your decision, and bring the
gold at the appointed time. Until then we must put the prisoners in
some place of safety. Give orders, Mohammed, that they be taken to
the prison, and carefully guarded."
"And why to the prison, sir?" asked Mohammed, quietly. "Here in the
middle of the court-yard is a space encircled with an iron railing."
"So there is," replied the tschorbadji, "it was prepared as a cage
for my beautiful lion, and he had lived within that railing for four
years, when some miserable wretch, who knew I loved the noble
animal, poisoned it."
"Well, I think the cage your lion occupied is large enough to afford
lodging for one night to the sheik and the ulemas."
"What! confine them here in the open air?"
"Yes, sir, that is what I suggest. "Cannot the iron door be locked?"
"Yes, it can be locked; the key is in the palace.
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