"Mohammed Ali is shrewd
and fertile in resources. We must apply to him. He will help us out
of our difficulty. He is thoughtful, cool, and resolute. True, he
assumed a hostile attitude toward me a few days ago, but he must be
reconciled.
He must be prevented from uniting with Taher. The two united would
be a fearful combination against me."
He instructs the defterdar to go in person to Mohammed Ali to
request him to come to the viceroy. "We cannot pay the troops, but
we can find enough to pay the general's salary."
Cousrouf Pacha takes from his own private funds ten purses of gold-
pieces. He carries them himself to the apartment in which be intends
to receive the sarechsme.
In the mean while the minister of finance had, in accordance with
the viceroy's instructions, repaired with great haste to the palace
in which the sarechsme resided. A body of Albanian soldiers were
encamped about the palace. They called themselves the body-guard of
the sarechsme. The heart of the finance minister throbbed with
dismay when he beheld their daring, resolute faces.
"If this is the sarechsme's body-guard, then woe to the viceroy!"
said he to himself, as he ascended the stairway that led to the
general's apartment. With a trembling voice and humble demeanor, he
delivered the viceroy's message to the general.
"He begs you to come to him. He wishes to be reconciled to you; he
will himself hand you the arrearages of pay.
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