CHAPTER LI.
Captain Ballaban was among the first to learn of the personality ofthe odalisk who had escaped at the time of the race. His first thoughtwas to aid her in eluding pursuit, presuming that she had gone aloneand without accomplice. But when the horses were discovered at theSeven Towers, he gave way to a fit of jealousy. In his mind he accusedMorsinia of having made him her dupe; for, notwithstanding hisassurances of aid, she had evidently made a confidant of another. Hisbetter disposition, however, soon led him to believe that she had beenspirited away through some plan devised in the brain of Scanderbeg.While he rejoiced for her, he was disconsolate for himself; anddetermined that, upon his return to the war in Albania, to which fieldhe knew it was the purpose of the Padishah to transfer him, he woulddiscover the truth regarding her. He had learned from her secretmissives, which Kala Hanoum had brought him before the flight, of thedeath of his father Milosch and his mother Helena, and the supposeddeath of his brother Constantine. There were, then, no ties ofkinship, and but this one tie of affection to Morsinia, to divide hisallegiance to the Padishah. And Morsinia had faded again from reality,if not into his mere dream, at least into the vaguest hope. His ardentsoul found relief only by plunging into the excitement of the militaryservice.
Mahomet had not exhausted his favors to Ballaban by the gift of theAlbanian Venus, Elissa. Summoning him one day he repeated his purposeof designating him as the chief Aga of the Janizaries, the old chiefhaving been slain in a recent engagement. Ballaban remonstrated, asonce before, against this interference with the order of the corps, inwhich the choice of chief Aga was left to the vote of the soldiersthemselves.
Mahomet replied angrily--"I tell you, Ballaban, my will shall now besupreme over every branch of my service. My fathers felt theindependence of the Janizaries to be a menace to their thrones. Theirpower shall be curbed to my hand, or the whole order shall beabolished."
"Beware!" replied Ballaban. "You know not the alertness of the lionwhose lair you would invade. I will serve my Padishah with my life inall other ways, but my vows forbid my treachery to my corps. Strikeoff my head, if you will, but I cannot be Aga, except by the sovereignconsent of my brothers."
"I shall not take off your head, comrade," replied Mahomet. "I needwhat is in it too much, though it belongs to a young rebel. Butbegone! I shall work my plans without asking your advice in thematter."
A firman was issued by which the Padishah claimed the supreme power ofappointing to command in all grades of the military service. Within anhour after its proclamation, the Janizaries were in open defiance ofthe sovereign. Before their movements could be anticipated, the greatcourt in front of the selamlik in the seraglio was filled with theenraged soldiery. That sign of terror which had blanched the faces offormer Padishahs--the inverted soup-kettle--was planted before thevery doors of the palace, and the Sultan was a prisoner within.
"Recall the firman! Long live the Yeni-Tscheri!" rang among theseraglio walls, and was echoed over the city.
The Sultan not appearing, there rose another cry, at first only amurmur, but at length pouring from thousands of hoarse throats,--
"Down with Mahomet! Live the Yeni-Tscheri!"
Still the Sultan made no response. There was a hurried consultationamong the leaders of the insurgents. Then a rapid movement throughoutthe crowd. For a moment it seemed as if they had turned every managainst his fellow. But Mahomet's experienced eye, as he watched fromthe latticed window, saw that the swarm of men was only taking shape.The mob was transformed into companies. Between the ranks passed men,as if they rose out of the ground; some dragging cannon; some bearingscaling ladders.
Mahomet appeared upon the platform, dressed in full armor. He raisedhis sword, when silence fell upon the multitude.
"I am your Padishah."
"Long live Mahomet!" was the cry.
"Do I not command every faithful Ottoman? Who will follow whereMahomet leads?"
"All! all!" rang the response.
"Then reverse the kettle!" commanded he, his face lit with theassumption of victory.
"Reverse the firman!" was the answer.
"Never!" cried the monarch, infuriated with this unexpected challengeof his authority.
The Janizaries retreated a few steps from the platform. The Padishahassumed that they were awed by his determination, and smiled in histriumph. But his face was as quickly shaded with astonishment; for themovement of the insurgents was only to allow the cannon to beadvanced.
The sagacity of the monarch never forsook him. Not even the wildnessof passion could long lead him beyond the suggestion of policy.Raising his hand for silence, he again spoke.
"We are misunderstanding each other, my brave Yeni-Tscheri. If youhave grievance let your Agas present it, for the Padishah shall be thefather of his people, and the Yeni-Tscheri are the eldest born of hischildren."
The Sultan withdrew. Eight Agas held a hurried consultation, andpresented themselves to the sovereign to offer him absolute andunquestioning obedience upon the condition of their retaining asabsolute and unquestioned self-government within the corps.
While they were in consultation, Captain Ballaban appeared among thetroops. He waved his hand to address them.
"He is bought by the Padishah. We must not hear him," cried one andanother.
"My brothers!" said the Captain, having after a few moments gainedtheir attention. "I love the Padishah. But I adore that royal handchiefly because, beyond that of any of the heirs of Othman, it hasalready bestowed favor upon our corps. But our order is sacred. He maycommand to the field, and in the field, but it must be from without.We must choose our own Aga as of old."
"Long live Ballaban!" rose from every side.
The speaker broke into a rhapsodic narration of the glories of thecorps, interwoven with the recital of the exploits of the Padishah,during which he was interrupted by cheer after cheer, mingled with thecry of "Ballaban! Ballaban forever!"
The Sultan, hearing the shout, shrewdly seized upon the opportunity itsuggested, and leaving the Agas, rushed to the platform. He shouted--
"Allah be praised! Allah has given one mind to the Padishah and to hisfaithful Yeni-Tscheri. Ballaban forever! Yes, take him! Take him foryour Aga! The will of the corps and the will of the sovereign are one,for it is the will of Allah that sways us all!"
The soldiers, caught by the enthusiasm of the instant, repeated theshout, drowning the voices of the few who were clear-headed enough toremember that the firman had not been withdrawn.
"Ballaban! Long live Ballaban Aga! Long live Mahomet Padishah!"
The Agas appeared, but were impotent to assert their dissent. As wellmight they have attempted to howl down a hurricane as to makethemselves heard in the confusion. Indeed, their presence upon theplatform was regarded by the corps as their endorsement of thePadishah's desire, and served to stimulate the enthusiasm that brokeout in redoubled applause.
Mahomet followed up his advantage, and formally confirmed the apparentelection by announcing--
"A donative! A double pay to every one of the Yeni-Tscheri! and thePadishah's fifth of the spoil shall be divided to the host!"
The multitude were wild with delight. The inverted soup-kettle wasturned over, and swung by its handle from the top of the staff;following which, the crowd poured out from the court.[105]
Within a few days Ballaban, as chief Aga, led his corps towardAlbania.
The Captain of the Janizaries Page 51