I go to Stamboul, you go to
Cousrouf Pacha to serve him--to serve him as your heart prompts, you
say?"
"Yes, excellency, as my heart prompts, in humility and devotion."
"Now you may go; I will furnish you with a written testimonial, and
warmly recommend you to the viceroy, as I have promised."
He dismissed the young bim bashi with a gracious inclination of the
head, and the latter returned to his ship to see that the prisoners
were conveyed to the shore. He walked beside Osman Bey Bardissi as
he was being carried down on a stretcher to a boat, by four
soldiers, speaking kind, consoling words to the wounded man, and
expressing the hope that Allah, in his mercy, would soon restore him
to health, as his injuries were light.
Bardissi gazed at him fixedly with his dark, glittering eyes. "And
is it then really true, Mohammed Ali--are we to be conveyed to the
shore, and set at liberty? Are we not to die?"
"It is true. Lord Hutchinson demands that you be set at liberty. The
capitan has consented, and you are now to be conveyed to the shore."
"Is it not a new trap set for us? Will the bottom of our boats not
open, and let us sink down into the sea?"
"You are to be delivered up to the Englishman," replied Mohammed
Ali, quietly.
"I do not trust the word of the capitan pacha," said Bardissi,
shaking his head. "Give me your word, Mohammed Ali, that we shall be
safely conveyed to the shore--I will believe you.
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