Books: A Modern Telemachus
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Charlotte M. Yonge >> A Modern Telemachus
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'No flame, sir. She is a mere child, little older than her brother.
But she must not remain among these lawless savages.'
'No! But we don't throw the helve after the hatchet, my lad! All you
can do is to take this epistle to the French Consul, who might find it
hard to understand without your explanations. At any rate, my orders
are to bring you safe on board again.'
Arthur had no choice but to submit, and Captain Beresford, who had a
wife and children at home, was greatly touched by the sight of the
childish writing of the poor little motherless girl; above all when
Arthur explained that the high-sounding title of Abbe de St. Eudoce
only meant one who was more likely to be a charge than a help to her.
France was for the nonce allied with England, and the dread of passing
to Sweden through British seas had apparently been quite futile, since,
if Captain Beresford recollected the Irish blood of the Count, it was
only as an additional cause for taking interest in him. Towards the
Moorish pirates the interest of the two nations united them. It was
intolerable to think of the condition of the captives; and the captain,
anxious to lose no time, rejoiced that his orders were such as to
justify him in sailing at once for Algiers to take effectual measures
with the consul before letting the family know the situation of the
poor Demoiselle de Bourke.
CHAPTER XI--THE PIRATE CITY
'With dazed vision unawares
From the long alley's latticed shade
Emerged, I came upon the great
Pavilion of the Caliphat.
Right to the carven cedarn doors,
Flung inward over spangled floors,
Broad-based flights of marble stairs
Ran up with golden balustrade,
After the fashion of the time,
And humour of the golden prime
Of good Haroun Alraschid.'
TENNYSON.
Civilised and innocuous existence has no doubt been a blessing to
Algiers as well as to the entire Mediterranean, but it has not improved
the picturesqueness of its aspect any more than the wild and splendid
'tiger, tiger burning bright,' would be more ornamental with his claws
pared, the fiery gleam of his yellow eyes quenched, and his spirit
tamed, so as to render him only an exaggerated domestic cat. The
steamer, whether of peace or war, is a melancholy substitute for the
splendid though sinister galley, with her ranks of oars and towers of
canvas, or for the dainty lateen-sailed vessels, skimming the waters
like flying fish, and the Frank garb ill replaces the graceful Arab
dress. The Paris-like block of houses ill replaces the graceful
Moorish architecture, undisturbed when the Calypso sailed into the
harbour, and the amphitheatre-like city rose before her, in successive
terraces of dazzling white, interspersed with palms and other trees
here and there, with mosques and minarets rising above them, and with a
crown of strong fortifications. The harbour itself was protected by a
strongly-fortified mole, and some parley passed with the governor of
the strong and grim-looking castle adjacent--a huge round tower erected
by the Spaniards, and showing three ranks of brazen teeth in the shape
of guns.
Finally, the Algerines having been recently brought to their bearings,
as Captain Beresford said, entrance was permitted, and the Calypso
enjoyed the shelter of the mole; while he, in full-dress uniform, took
boat and went ashore, and with him the two escaped prisoners. Fareek
remained on board till the English Consul could be consulted on his
fate.
England and France were on curious terms with Algiers. The French had
bombarded the city in 1686, and had obtained a treaty by which a consul
constantly resided in the city, and the persons and property of French
subjects were secured from piracy, or if captured were always released.
The English had made use of the possession of Gibraltar and Minorca to
enforce a like treaty. There was a little colony of European
merchants--English, French, and Dutch--in the lower town, near the
harbour, above which the Arab town rose, as it still rises, in a steep
stair. Ships of all these nations traded at the port, and quite
recently the English Consul, Thomas Thompson by name, had vindicated
the honour of his flag by citing before the Dey a man who had insulted
him on the narrow causeway of the mole. The Moor was sentenced to
receive 2200 strokes of bastinado on the feet, 1000 the first day, 1200
on the second, and he died in consequence, so that Englishmen safely
walked the narrow streets. The Dey who had inflicted this punishment
was, however, lately dead. Mehemed had been elected and installed by
the chief Janissaries, and it remained to be proved whether he would
show himself equally anxious to be on good terms with the Christian
Powers.
Arthur's heart had learnt to beat at sight of the British ensign with
emotions very unlike those with which he had seen it wave at
Sheriffmuir; but it looked strange above the low walls of a Moorish
house, plain outside, but with a richly cusped and painted horse-shoe
arch at the entrance to a lovely cloistered court, with a sparkling
fountain surrounded by orange trees with fruit of all shades from green
to gold. Servants in white garments and scarlet fezzes, black, brown,
or white (by courtesy), seemed to swarm in all directions; and one of
them called a youth in European garb, but equally dark-faced with the
rest, and not too good an English scholar. However, he conducted them
through a still more beautiful court, lined with brilliant mosaics in
the spandrels of the exquisite arches supported on slender shining
marble columns.
Mr. Thompson's English coat and hearty English face looked incongruous,
as at sight of the blue and white uniform he came forward with all the
hospitable courtesy due to a post-captain. There was shaking of hands,
and doffing of cocked hats, and calling for wine, and pipes, and
coffee, in the Alhambra-like hall, where a table covered with papers
tied with red tape, in front of a homely leathern chair, looked more
homelike than suitable. Other chairs there were for Frank guests, who
preferred them to the divan and piles of cushions on which the Moors
transacted business.
'What can I do for you, sir?' he asked of the captain, 'or for this
little master,' he added, looking at Ulysse, who was standing by
Arthur. 'He is serving the King early.'
'I don't belong to your King George,' broke out the young gentleman.
'He is an usurpateur. I have only this uniform on till I can get my
proper clothes. I am the son of the Comte de Bourke, Ambassador to
Spain and Sweden. I serve no one but King Louis!'
'That is plain to be seen!' said Mr. Thompson. 'The Gallic cock crows
early. But is he indeed the son of Count Bourke, about whom the French
Consul has been in such trouble?'
'Even so, sir,' replied the captain. 'I am come to ask you to present
him, with this gentleman, Mr. Hope, to your French colleague. Mr.
Hope, to whom the child's life and liberty are alike owing, has
information to give which may lead to the rescue of the boy's sister
and uncle with their servants.'
Mr. Thompson had heard of a Moorish galley coming in with an account of
having lost a Genoese prize, with ladies on board, in the late storm.
He was sure that the tidings Mr. Hope brought would be most welcome,
but he knew that the French Consul was gone up with a distinguished
visitor, M. Dessault, for an audience of the Dey; and, in the meantime,
his guests must dine with him. And Arthur narrated his adventures.
The Consul shook his head when he heard of Djigheli Bay.
'Those fellows, the Cabeleyzes, hate the French, and make little enough
of the Dey, though they do send home Moors who fall into their hands.
Did you see a ruined fort on a promontory? That was the Bastion de
France. The old King Louis put it up and garrisoned it, but these
rogues contrived a surprise, and made four hundred prisoners, and ever
since they have been neither to have nor to hold. Well for you, young
gentleman, that you did not fall into their hands, but those of the
country Moors--very decent folk--descended, they say, from the Spanish
Moors. A renegade got you off, did he? Yes, they will sometimes do
that, though at an awful risk. If they are caught, they are hung up
alive on hooks to the walls. You had an escape, I can tell you, and so
had he, poor fellow, of being taken alive.'
'He knew the risk!' said Arthur, in a low voice; 'but my mother had
once been good to him, and he dared everything for me.'
The Consul readily estimated Arthur's legacy as amounting to little
less than 200 pounds, and was also ready to give him bills of exchange
for it. The next question was as to Fareek. To return him to his own
country was impossible; and though the Consul offered to buy him of
Arthur, not only did the young Scot revolt at the idea of making
traffic of the faithful fellow, but Mr. Thompson owned that there might
be some risk in Algiers of his being recognised as a runaway; and
though this was very slight, it was better not to give any cause of
offence. Captain Beresford thought the poor man might be disposed of
at Port Mahon, and Arthur kept to himself that Tam's bequest was sacred
to him. His next wish was for clothes to which he might have a better
right than to the uniform of the senior midshipman of H.M.S. Calypso--a
garb in which he did not like to appear before the French Consul. Mr.
Thompson consulted his Greek clerk, and a chest belonging to a captured
merchantman, which had been claimed as British property, but had not
found an owner, was opened, and proved to contain a wardrobe sufficient
to equip Arthur like other gentlemen of the day, in a dark crimson
coat, with a little gold lace about it, and the rest of the dress
white, a wide beaver hat, looped up with a rosette, and everything,
indeed, except shoes, and he was obliged to retain those of the senior
midshipman. With his dark hair tied back, and a suspicion of powder,
he found himself more like the youth whom Lady Nithsdale had introduced
in Madame de Varennes' salon than he had felt for the last month; and,
moreover, his shyness and awkwardness had in great measure disappeared
during his vicissitudes, and he had made many steps towards manhood.
Ulysse had in the meantime been consigned to a kind, motherly, portly
Mrs. Thompson, who, accustomed as she was to hearing of strange
adventures, was aghast at what the child had undergone, and was
enchanted with the little French gentleman who spoke English so well,
and to whom his Grand Seigneur airs returned by instinct in contact
with a European lady; but his eye instantly sought Arthur, nor would he
be content without a seat next to his protector at the dinner, early as
were all dinners then, and a compound of Eastern and Western dishes,
the latter very welcome to the travellers, and affording the Consul's
wife themes of discourse on her difficulties in compounding them.
Pipes, siesta, and coffee followed, Mr. Thompson assuring them that his
French colleague would not be ready to receive them till after the like
repose had been undergone, and that he had already sent a billet to
announce their coming.
The French Consulate was not distant. The fleur-de-lis waved over a
house similar to Mr. Thompson's, but they were admitted with greater
ceremony, when Mr. Thompson at length conducted them. Servants and
slaves, brown and black, clad in white with blue sashes, and white
officials in blue liveries, were drawn up in the first court in two
lines to receive them; and the Chevalier, taking it all to himself,
paraded in front with the utmost grandeur, until, at the next archway,
two gentlemen, resplendent in gold lace, came forward with low bows.
At sight of the little fellow there were cries of joy. M. Dessault
spread out his arms, clasped the child to his breast, and shed tears
over him, so that the less emotional Englishmen thought at first that
they must be kinsmen. However, Arthur came in for a like embrace as
the boy's preserver; and if Captain Beresford had not stepped back and
looked uncomprehending and rigid he might have come in for the same.
Seated in the verandah, Arthur told his tale and presented the letter,
over which there were more tears, as, indeed, well there might be over
the condition of the little girl and her simple mode of describing it.
It was nearly a month since the corsair had arrived, and the story of
the Genoese tartane being captured and lost with French ladies on board
had leaked out. The French Consul had himself seen and interrogated
the Dutch renegade captain, had become convinced of the identity of the
unfortunate passengers, and had given up all hopes of them, so that he
greeted the boy as one risen from the dead.
To know that the boy's sister and uncle were still in the hands of the
Cabeleyzes was almost worse news than the death of his mother, for this
wild Arab tribe had a terrible reputation even among the Moors and
Turks.
The only thing that could be devised after consultation between the two
consuls, the French envoy, and the English captain, was that an
audience should be demanded of the Dey, and Estelle's letter presented
the next morning. Meanwhile Arthur and Ulysse were to remain as guests
at the English Consulate. The French one would have made them welcome,
but there was no lady in his house; and Mrs. Thompson had given Arthur
a hint that his little charge would be the better for womanly care.
There was further consultation whether young Hope, as a runaway slave--
who had, however, carried off a relapsed renegade with him--would be
safe on shore beyond the precincts of the Consulate; but as no one had
any claim on him, and it might be desirable to have his evidence at
hand, it was thought safe that he should remain, and Captain Beresford
promised to come ashore in the morning to join the petitioners to the
Dey.
Perhaps he was not sorry, any more than was Arthur, for the opportunity
of beholding the wonderful city and palace, which were like a dream of
beauty. He came ashore early, with two or three officers, all in full
uniform; and the audience having been granted, the whole party--
consuls, M. Dessault, and their attendants--mounted the steep, narrow
stone steps leading up the hill between the walls of houses with
fantastically carved doorways or lattices; while bare-legged Arabs
niched themselves into every coigne of vantage with baskets of fruit or
eggs, or else embroidering pillows and slippers with exquisite taste.
The beauty of the buildings was unspeakable, and they projected enough
to make a cool shade--only a narrow fragment of deep blue sky being
visible above them. The party did not, however, ascend the whole 497
steps, as the abode of the Dey was then not the citadel, but the palace
of Djenina in the heart of the city. Turning aside, they made their
way thither over terraces partly in the rock, partly on the roofs of
houses.
Fierce-looking Janissaries, splendidly equipped, guarded the entrance,
with an air so proud and consequential as to remind Arthur of poor
Yusuf's assurances of the magnificence that might await little Ulysse
as an Aga of that corps. Even as they admitted the infidels they
looked defiance at them from under the manifold snowy folds of their
mighty turbans.
If the beauty of the consuls' houses had struck and startled Arthur,
far more did the region into which he was now admitted seem like a
dream of fairyland as he passed through ranks of orange trees round
sparkling fountains--worthy of Versailles itself--courts surrounded
with cloisters, sparkling with priceless mosaics, in those brilliant
colours which Eastern taste alone can combine so as to avoid gaudiness,
arches and columns of ineffable grace and richness, halls with domes
emulating the sky, or else ceiled with white marble lacework, whose
tracery seemed delicate and varied as the richest Venice point! But
the wonderful beauty seemed to him to have in it something terrible and
weird, like that fairyland of his native country, whose glory and charm
is overshadowed by the knowledge of the teinds to be paid to hell. It
was an unnatural, incomprehensible world; and from longing to admire
and examine, he only wished to be out of it, felt it a relief to fix
his eyes upon the uniforms of the captain and the consuls, and did not
wonder that Ulysse, instead of proudly heading the procession, shrank
up to him and clasped his hand as his protector.
The human figures were as strange as the architecture; the glittering
of Janissaries in the outer court, which seemed a sort of guardroom,
the lines of those on duty in the next, and in the third court the
black slaves in white garments, enhancing the blackness of their limbs,
each with a formidable curved scimitar. At the golden cusped archway
beyond, all had to remove their shoes as though entering a mosque. The
Consuls bade the new-comers submit to this, adding that it was only
since the recent victory that it had not been needful to lay aside the
sword on entering the Dey's august presence. The chamber seemed to the
eyes of the strangers one web of magic splendour--gold-crusted lacework
above, arches on one side open to a beauteous garden, and opposite
semicircles of richly-robed Janissary officers, all culminating in a
dazzling throne, where sat a white-turbaned figure, before whom the
visitors all had to bow lower than European independence could well
brook.
The Dey's features were not very distinctly seen at the distance where
etiquette required them to stand; but Arthur thought him hardly worthy
to be master of such fine-looking beings as Abou Ben Zegri and many
others of the Moors, being in fact a little sturdy Turk, with Tartar
features, not nearly so graceful as the Moors and Arabs, nor so
handsome and imposing as the Janissaries of Circassian blood. Turkish
was the court language; and even if he understood any other, an
interpreter was a necessary part of the etiquette. M. Dessault
instructed the interpreter, who understood with a readiness which
betrayed that he was one of the many renegades in the Algerine service.
The Dey was too dignified to betray much emotion; but he spoke a few
words, and these were understood to profess his willingness to assist
in the matter. A richly-clad official, who was, Mr. Thompson
whispered, a Secretary of State, came to attend the party in a smaller
but equally beautiful room, where pipes and coffee were served, and a
consultation took place with the two Consuls, which was, of course,
incomprehensible to the anxious listeners. M. Dessault's interest was
deeply concerned in the matter, since he was a connection of the
Varennes family, to which poor Madame de Bourke belonged.
Commands from the Dey, it was presently explained, would be utterly
disregarded by these wild mountaineers--nay, would probably lead to the
murder of the captives in defiance. But it was known that if these
wild beings paid deference to any one, it was to the Grand Marabout at
Bugia; and the Secretary promised to send a letter in the Dey's name,
which, with a considerable present, might induce him to undertake the
negotiation. Therewith the audience terminated, after M. Dessault had
laid a splendid diamond snuff-box at the feet of the Secretary.
The Consuls were somewhat disgusted at the notion of having recourse to
the Marabouts, whom the French Consul called vilains charlatan, and the
English one filthy scoundrels and impostors. Like the Indian Fakirs,
opined Captain Beresford; like the begging friars, said M. Dessault,
and to this the Consuls assented. Just, however, as the Dominicans,
besides the low class of barefooted friars, had a learned and
cultivated set of brethren in high repute at the Universities, and a
general at Rome, so it appeared that the Marabouts, besides their wild
crew of masterful beggars, living at free quarters, partly through
pretended sanctity, partly through the awe inspired by cabalistic arts,
had a higher class who dwelt in cities, and were highly esteemed, for
the sake of either ten years' abstinence from food or the attainment of
fifty sciences, by one or other of which means an angelic nature was
held to be attained.
Fifty sciences! This greatly astonished the strangers, but they were
told by the residents that all the knowledge of the highly cultivated
Arabs of Bagdad and the Moors of Spain had been handed on to the select
few of their African descendants, and that really beautiful poetry was
still produced by the Marabouts. Certainly no one present could doubt
of the architectural skill and taste of the Algerines, and Mr. Thompson
declared that not a tithe of the wonders of their mechanical art had
been seen, describing the wonderful silver tree of Tlemcen, covered
with birds, who, by the action of wind, were made to produce the songs
of each different species which they represented, till a falcon on the
topmost branch uttered a harsh cry, and all became silent. General
education had, however, fallen to a low ebb among the population, and
the wisdom of the ancients was chiefly concentrated among the higher
class of Marabouts, whose headquarters were at Bugia, and their present
chief, Hadji Eseb Ben Hassan, had the reputation of a saint, which the
Consuls believed to be well founded.
The Cabeleyzes, though most irregular Moslems, were extremely
superstitious as regarded the supernatural arts supposed to be
possessed by the Marabouts, and if these could be induced to take up
the cause of the prisoners, there would be at least some chance of
their success.
And not long after the party had arrived at the French Consulate, where
they were to dine, a messenger arrived with a parcel rolled up in silk,
embroidered with gold, and containing a strip of paper beautifully
emblazoned, and in Turkish characters. The Consul read it, and found
it to be a really strong recommendation to the Marabout to do his
utmost for the servants of the Dey's brother, the King of France, now
in the hands of the children of Shaitan.
'Well purchased,' said M. Dessault; 'though that snuff-box came from
the hands of the Elector of Bavaria!'
As soon as the meal was over, the French Consul, instead of taking his
siesta as usual, began to take measures for chartering a French tartane
to go to Bugia immediately. He found there was great interest excited,
not only among the Christian merchants, but among Turks, Moors, and
Jews, so horrible was the idea of captivity among the Cabeleyzes. The
Dey set the example of sending down five purses of sequins towards the
young lady's ransom, and many more contributions came in unasked. It
was true that the bearers expected no small consideration in return,
but this was willingly given, and the feeling manifested was a perfect
astonishment to all the friends at the Consulate.
The French national interpreter, Ibrahim Aga, was charged with the
negotiations with the Marabout. Arthur entreated to go with him, and
with some hesitation this was agreed to, since the sight of an old
friend might be needed to reassure any survivors of the poor captives--
for it was hardly thought possible that all could still survive the
hardships of the mountains in the depth of winter, even if they were
spared by the ferocity of their captors.
Ulysse, the little son and heir, was not to be exposed to the perils of
the seas till his sister's fate was decided, and accordingly he was to
remain under the care of Mrs. Thompson; while Captain Beresford meant
to cruise about in the neighbourhood, having a great desire to know the
result of the enterprise, and hoping also that if Mademoiselle de
Bourke still lived he might be permitted to restore her to her
relations. Letters, clothes, and comforts were provided, and placed
under the charge of the interpreter and of Arthur, together with a
considerable gratuity for the Marabout, and authority for any ransom
that Cabeleyze rapacity might require,--still, however, with great
doubt whether all might not be too late.
CHAPTER XII--ON THE MOUNTAINS
'We cannot miss him. He doth make our fire,
Fetch in our wood, and serve in offices
That profit us.' Tempest.
Bugia, though midway on the 'European lake,' is almost unknown to
modern travellers, though it has become a French possession.
It looked extremely beautiful when the French tartane entered it,
rising from the sea like a magnificent amphitheatre, at the foot of the
mountains that circled round it, and guarded by stern battlemented
castles, while the arches of one of the great old Roman aqueducts made
a noble cord to the arc described by the lower part of the town.
The harbour, a finer one naturally than that of Algiers, contained
numerous tartanes and other vessels, for, as Ibrahim Aga, who could
talk French very well, informed Arthur, the inhabitants were good
workers in iron, and drove a trade in plough-shares and other
implements, besides wax and oil. But it was no resort of Franks, and
he insisted that Arthur should only come on shore in a Moorish dress,
which had been provided at Algiers. Thanks to young Hope's naturally
dark complexion, and the exposure of the last month, he might very well
pass for a Moor: and he had learnt to wear the white caftan, wide
trousers, broad sash, and scarlet fez, circled with muslin, so
naturally that he was not likely to be noticed as a European.
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