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With a few hasty words he explained to the tschorbadji the events which had taken place; only when he spoke of the young girl did his voice falter, but he made slight mention of her, and passed on to narrate the conclusion of his bold adventure. "So you have really made prisoners of four of the first men of Praousta and brought them here!" said the tschorbadji, completely taken by surprise.
I registered an oath in the presence of the men of Praousta, and told them: If you do not on the morrow comply with what I have commanded, in the name of the tschorbadji, I shall behead the prisoners that Allah has delivered into my hands!" "O my father!" cried Masa, loudly, in tones of anguish. "I cannot do otherwise," said Mohammed, heaving a deep sigh.
"Remember, you are the Lord of my life, the light of my eyes! Remember that I have no one but you in all the world, and that your Masa is as solitary as in a wilderness when you are not beside her. Remember that, O my father!" "Enough!" interrupted Mohammed, in a harsh voice. "Enough words. You there, you men of Praousta, will you pay the tax, the double tax, as the tschorbadji has ordered?"
He started to walk rapidly toward the spot on the rock, where he had so often sought solitude and consolation. Suddenly he felt a hand laid on his shoulder, he turned and saw the old Sheik of Praousta, the successor of Masa's father, who gave him a kindly greeting. Mohammed always found pleasure with the old man of whom the people said that he had the gift of prophecy, and could read the future.
You see they must bow down in the dust, after all; and, unless you pay the tax demanded by the tschorbadji, they shall die." "Listen, ye men of Praousta, listen!" cried a loud voice from one of the windows of the palace. There stood Cousrouf Pacha, beckoning to the fishermen with his uplifted hand. "Come into the palace; I wish to speak with you. Make free the passage, ye soldiers!
"Mohammed Ali, the friend of my son, Osman, has pledged himself to bring the rebels to reason; I have given him my body-guard of eight men, and he has gone down to Praousta." "Gone to this seditious village, where more than fifty strong men are in revolt!" exclaimed Cousrouf. "Truly such daring reflects honor upon the young lad."
She will know how to console herself; and as for me, I will forget her, I will never give her another thought." He said this defiantly to himself, and looked again at the men of Praousta, who were still standing irresolute and murmuring near the mosque, not daring to approach the three armed men.
The door of their prison closed behind them; Mohammed took the key and concealed it about his person. "Now," said he, "pray and meditate upon your crimes and their punishment. I will myself make known to the men of Praousta that they may find you here, and all who wish can come to see you. It rests with you to tell the people that they must submit to the law, or else bring your heads to the block.
These collectors were always an abomination to the people of Praousta; they greeted them constantly with murmuring when they came to collect the taxes, and often, before now, the appeasing, tranquillizing words of the sheik had alone secured the payment of the sums demanded. Today, however, their long-restrained indignation had broken forth.
He was yet very young when he lost his father, Ibrahim Agha, and soon after this misfortune, his uncle and sole remaining relative, Tussun-Agha, was beheaded by order of the Porte. Left an orphan, Mehemet Ali was adopted by the Tchorbadji of Praousta, an old friend of his father, who brought him up with his own son.
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