The Pacha of Many Tales

hout success; and Mustapha, who observed that he was becoming

. He was now in the employ of the vizier, commanding an armed xebeque which the latter had purchased. She passed off as a government cruiser, but was in reality a pirate. Selim, for that was the name which the renegade had adopted when he abjured his faith, condemned every vessel that had the misfortune t

stapha, who was not content with pillaging the pacha's subjects on dry land,

rom the quay but a fortnight before; but the renegade could always give a satisfactory explanation to the vizier; and after a Jew, who coul

loud, vaunted his own exploits, curled his whiskers as he swore to the most improbable asserti

reliminary question, inquired if e

the renegade; "many yea

the voyages of S

only man that could ever h

stories; and it is my wish that you prepare to reco

am I to ge

hich, his highness, if pleased, will no

ange it for base metal. I can coin lies in my mint faster than he can coin sequins in his; a

directions, for every thi

treet, through which Mustapha took care that the pacha should pass in his disguise. When he perceived their approa

u call upon Heaven for happ

o, after a life of danger and disaster, am anxiously a

erved the pacha:-"Mustapha, as you v

acha returned to the palace

gade was ordered in. Prostrating himself before the pacha, he then rose

night: and to know what was the promise made to you in your seventh and last voyage; but I

life shall, if you command it, be submitted to your ear. It will, however, be necessary that

t is, provided that it is a good one:" and Selim, having obeyed a sign f

KAB

; a profession (continued the wily renegade), which, I have no hesitation to assert, has produced

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l said, by Allah!"

obation, and the renegade

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added that of bleeding and tooth-drawing. At ten years old I could cut hair pretty well. People did say, that those upon whom I had operated, looked

r, at first I gave great dissatisfaction, either from breaking the decayed tooth short off, and leaving the stump in the socket, or from mistaking the one pointed out, and drawing a sound engine of mastication in its stead. In the latter, I made more serious mistakes, having more than once cut so deep as to open the artery, while I missed the vein; in consequence of which I was never

f the cannon, which, in its extreme velocity, is turned from the direction which has been given it by glanci

urs to trust him in my hands;-but I held the basin, procured water, and arranged the bandages. He had a daughter, a lovely girl, whom I adored in secret; but her rank in life was too far above mine to allow me to express my feelings. I was then a handsome young man, although Time has since exerted his utmost, through jealousy, to make me appear

a dilemma. She had two brothers in the army, who were returning home, and I dreaded their vengeance. I loved her very much, but I loved myself more; so, one evening, I packed up all that I could call my own, and all that I could lay my hands on belonging to my honoured parent, and shipped on board a Genoese vessel, which was then standing out of the harbour. She was a large ship, mounting twel

h in my profession; for it was as much as my life was worth to draw blood, although they made no scruple of carrying on a conversation during the whole time of the operation. We had taken the cargoes out of several vessels, all of which were added to the "manifest" by our correct captain; when one day, we were chased by an English frigate. I never met the English on shore, but I must say that, afloat, they are

an island about seven miles distant, and anchored under the protection of a battery. Austria-the nation to w

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ng of an armed neutrali

s, your highness; but, generally spe

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of men, and each mounting a gun at her bow, our captain thought it advisable to refuse them permission to come on board. As a hint that he disapproved of their measures, he poured his who

er of their men, that we both tumbled overboard together. I lost my cutlass, but he had not parted with his; and as soon as we rose to the surface, he seized me by the collar, and presented the point to my breast. It seemed to be all the same to him whether he fought on the deck or in the water. Fortunately I shifted a little on one side, and he only drove it through my jacket. I recollected that I had my razor in my pocket, which I took out under the water unperceived, and,

sed us about for many days, and the master of the vessel had no idea to where she had been driven. He consoled us, however, by asserting that we could never go to the bottom, as there wa

and lay half-dead upon the beach until the morning. When the day broke, I looked around me: there were the fragments of the vessel strewed upon the beach, or tossed in mockery by the surge; and close to me lay the dead body of the lady, whose sanctity the captain had assured us would be a safeguard to us all. I then turned from the beach to look at the inland country, a

t soon take place. I was then without a symptom of beard; and, from the hardship and ill-treatment which I had received on board of the Genoese, was thin and sallow in the face. It was easy in a nun's dress to mistake me for a woman of thirty-five yea

having come over at the request of the bishop to assume the guidance of the convent of St Therese; and added, that I had called upon the Virgin in my distress, who had come to my aid, and floated me on shore with as

onage so especially under the protection of Heaven. I was conducted to the bishop's palace, where I held a sort of court, being visited by deputations from the official bodies, the governor, and all the people

beautiful countenances attracted my attention and I gave the kiss of peace with more zest than prudence would have justified. The last of the sisterhood came forward, and was introduced as Soeur Marie. Gracious Heaven! it was the poor girl whom I had deserted. I started when I saw her advance: her eyes were bent upon the ground, as if in reverence to my acknowledged sanctity. As she knelt be

through I complained of fatigue,

ter difficulty. Where could it end? After a long reverie, I decided that I would make Marie my confidante, and trust to circumstances to guide my future conduct. I

ly had no reason to compliment myself upon being abbess, as far as the previous characters of the nuns under my surveillance were concerned. "Good sister," replied I, "I thank you for your information, which I shall not fail to profit by in my plans for the improvement of the morality of those under my charge. I have always made it a rule, that one of the sisterhood should remain in my room

tioned her as one to whom severe penance would be of especial benefit. I conversed with her for another hal

e passed, sat down near to the lamp which was lighted before an image of the Virgi

for the first time, and throwing herself down upon her knees before the image of the Virg

when you started at the face beneath the nun's attire; and you must now be certain, from the voice which you have heard, that I am indeed Fran?ois. How I became the lady abbess of this convent you have yet to learn." I then narrated wha

emained at the foot of the bed, but advanced not; and I perce

Marie, if ever

h directed towards you, could never be confirmed. I bore the offspring of my guilt in solitary anguish, afterwards loaded with reproaches when I needed comfort and consolation, and stunned with imprecations when I required soothing and repose. I

to me, I will explain my motives for leaving Marseilles, and what my future intentio

r crime by even harbouring the idea of impropriety, and add not to my humiliation by supposing for a moment that I am capable of being a participator. Holy Virgin," cried she, fallin

t is safe with me, provided that you do not again request my presence, as you have this night. My prayers sha

the beauty of virtue as it appeared in Marie, and I passed the night in melancholy reflections. I felt more love for h

till loved, and who still adored you. Vows made in delusion are not registered. Leave this convent with me, become my wife, and yo

d? Had you but pointed out your danger to me, I should have been the first to have insisted upon your absence, and all, all would have been borne with patience, if not with pleasure, for your sake. If what you now say

entreat you to cons

was to you. He will not desert me; and if I suffer now, will re

d a great reputation, was sent for against my wishes. When I heard of his arrival, I dressed to receive him, for I was fearful of some scrutiny. He inquired what ailed

's cure: kissing them all, and pronouncing over them a solemn blessing, I dismissed them. As soon as it was dark, I threw off my nun's attire, leaving it in my bed, as if I had slipped out of it; and as the windows of my apartment, which looked into the convent garden, were not barred, unclothed as I was I dropped down, and reached the ground in safety. I took the precaution, when I was outside, t

uite dead; and it immediately occurred to me that a robbery had been committed, and the lamentations which I had heard proceeded from those who had escaped with their lives. The cloak of the dead man was lying underneath him; it was a capote, such as are worn by officers. I unclasped it from his neck, round which it was fastened with two bear's-paws chased in silver, and, wrapping it round my benumbed limbs, proceeded further on to where I now occasionally heard voices much plainer than before. I again fell in with two more prostrate bodies, and, as the day had now begun to break,

as I came close to them, she cried out, "Oh, I know him by his cloak; it's the gentleman who

eded to cast loose the ropes by which the father and daughter (as by their conversation they appeared to be) had been confined to the wheels. The robbers had stripped them both nearly to the skin, and they were so numbed with the cold that they could scarcely stand whe

the old gentleman, "I wish you would lend my poor dau

ak and put it in at the window, saying, "Believe me, madam, I should have offered it to you before, but the fact is, the rascals served me, as I lay stunned, in the same manner as they h

ed with blood, as he had received his death-wound from a bullet in the brain. I then dragged the body to the other side of the hedge, where I threw it into a ditch, and covered it with long grass, that it might not be discovered. Daylight had made its appearance before I

attack began, before I had come to their assistance: and from the information I received from him, I was enabled to form a very good idea of the story that I was to tell. I found

ady, I turned to her, as she lay muffled up in the cloak, and expressed a hope that she did not feel cold. She put her head out, and answered in the negative with such a sweet

I went on my mission; one was habited in a livery similar to the coach-man who lay dead by his horses; the other was in that of a groom, and I took it f

my purse, before I fell in with a countryman, who was leading his horses to the plough. Briefly narrating the circumstances, I offered him a handsome remuneration, if he would mount one of his horses, and procure immediate assistance. Having seen him off in a hand-gallop, I returned to the carriage to try if it were possible to have one more view of that fac

e proceeding to their chateau about seven miles distant, where he hoped I w

fect; again the lovely face appeared from under the cloak, and the sweetest voice in the world expressed a wish that I would not refuse her father's invitation. I bl

uis and myself were briefly taken; his as to what he had seen, and mine "to the best of my knowledge and belief." The papers were signed, the dead bodies were

oak. As soon as I had laid her down upon a sofa, I left her to the care of the females who were in attendance and quitted the room. The Marquis had retired to his own apartment, to supply the deficiencies in his attire, and for a short time I was left alone to my

d good fortune for the issue. I felt it to be impossible to tear myself from the sweet creature whose personal charm

s more than ever enchanted;-but I will not detain

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ad souls!" The renegade did not think it advisable to express his opinion in contradiction to that of his highness, and the assertions of the prophet. "It cannot be said that I behaved to them as if they had," replied he; "and before I changed my religion, I was often smitten with remorse for my selfish and unfeeling conduct towar

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mething that irresistibly prevented me; yet I knew that I was not viewed with indifference. Our party was then increased by the appearance of the Bishop of Toulouse, the brother of the

ear to where the robbery occurred, and has been recognised to be that o

trepidation, "a body recognised as the son of the Comte de Rouillé? My poor, poor brother! my dear Victor, have you then perished? what injustice have I done you!

exclaimed the Ma

poken; but after the first discharge of firearms I found that he was not at my side, and I imagined that he had deserted me from fear. I could not bear that such a disgrace upon the family should be known, and I therefore made no mention of him when I came back. Little did I think, that wh

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t appears to me that in your younge

ut, in extenuation, your highness must call

t, that is well said, and v

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ing their endeavours fruitless, quitted the room, thinking it advisable to leave me to myself. Cerise, for that was the name of the

y defence that he lost his life: it was to your courage that I am indebted for my preservation:-he

umed my seat upon the sofa, I drew her gently towards me. She offered no resistance,

sengaged herself, and rose to depart. Returning once more at my request, I im

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tion," interrupted the pacha: "pray what mi

if communing with times past. "Love is not to be bought. The Moslem pur

t say I wish you had done the same: for, with all this lov

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have heard so much, and whose disappearance has been attributed to miraculous agency: but during our consultation, a piece of information was sent in, which has very much changed the opinion of parties as to her reputed sanctity. It appears that near the spot where the vessel was wrecked they have discover

from my chair when I heard it; but I had sufficient mastery over myself to conc

, and at the chateau; from others that he had been murdered: others congratulated him in their letters upon the escape of one of his sons. He requested the Marquis to inform him of the real state of affairs, and to let him know by the bearer whether his eldest son was wit

blow will only fall heavier upon the old man when it does come. You are aware, sir, I mentioned it to you (or rather, I believe, it was to Mademoiselle Cerise), that my father is blind, and has been so for the last two years. They have been afraid to tell him the truth, and have made him believe that Victor is there. You must know, sir, that it was clandestinely that my dear brother quitted his father's house

m the Marquis the loan of his seal, I applied the wax, and desired the servant to deliver it as an answer to the messenger, whom I

th more than usual kindness by the Marquis and his brother, as if in compensation for their having, for a moment, harboured a suspi

on her memory now, though years have rolled away, and she has long been mingled with the dead. Yes, Cerise, if from the regions of bliss, where thy pure spirit dwells, thou canst look down upon a wretch so loaded wit

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"that you would go on with your story: you are t

red into scenes which long have been dismissed from my memory; and the feelings attendi

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rs away, and the time flew rapidly. I persuaded her to allow me an

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ed the pacha, impatiently: "now go on; you r

s," replied the renegad

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sea, as I was afraid that I should be discovered if I remained on shore. I purchased a small venture with the money in my purse, and having made m

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ory of my First Voyage, and the i

but, I suppose, if you had left the first out it would not have been so long. Mus

stories, I must not be checked and dictated to. I could have talked for an hour afte

d of these sort of adventures; he likes something muc

o you

hy, tell a few lies,-not adhere

, vizier!-why, I have not

not all

it, as I hope t

t about Marie and th

rom beginni

you never

in my

trophes to the dead Cerise, when you

izier, and wished to gain time, t

t; but mind that your next voyage is more wonder

my five pieces, and I'll be off: I'm choked with thirst, and shal

rk!" exclaimed the vizie

Kafir;-don't forget t

our slave lives but to ob

ttered the renegade, who was now out of hearing, "of all the scoundrels-" Whom they were referring to in their separate soliloquies mus