CHAPTER LXXXII.
THE CONSPIRATORS--THE DEED--THE FALSE INFORMERS.
The walls of Alla-hissar gleamed in the noontide heat.
The air was heavy with sleep, which weighed upon all living things, andmade them seek shelter from the burning sun.
All was still in the city.
It seemed as if the spirit of death brooded over all the habitations.
Yet there were some awake at that dreary hour.
Gathered together at one of the principal houses in secret conclavewere some of the chief Turks of the province.
In spite of the heat, the heavy curtains covered the doorways.
The door was shaded, and the assembly spoke in subdued tones.
At length Ibrahim Bey, a grave old Turk, subtle and resolute, arose.
"It is sacred then, friends," he said, looking round at the assembly;"the deed must be done, and the hour is at hand."
"Such is the will of Allah," was the reply of the conspirators.
"'Tis decided then, that Moley Pasha, our new governor, has, since hehas assumed power, done all he could to destroy our old customs, andintroduce the manners of the infidel Franks, therefore he must die."
"He must die," murmured the assembly.
"Allah's will be done," said old Ibrahim, turning up his eyes piously;"but by whose hand shall the blow be struck? Who will take upon himselfthe dangerous deed?"
Up rose Abdullah, the interpreter, formerly of Mr. Mole's party.
"I will do it," he said, in a firm voice; "he dies ere another hour hassped. I will risk the deadly danger, if you will guarantee, that if Isucceed, I shall be rewarded."
"That is but just," said Ibrahim Bey. "Should it be his sacredmajesty's pleasure that I succeed Moley, a post of honour shall be theguerdon of your bravery."
"I accept the terms," said Abdullah; "I know a secret way into thepalace, I have a disguise and a dagger; doubt not my courage for therest. Wait here, my friends, and ere another hour strikes, I shallreturn to say the deed is done."
He glided from the room, leaving the others wondering at the coolaudacity with which he undertook so desperate and criminal a deed.
The angel of sleep had spread her wings over the seraglio of MoleyPasha.
The veiled beauties of the harem had retired to their luxurious rooms.
The pasha slept soundly and peacefully.
Well for him had his dreams warned him against the peril that hoveredover him like a black shadow.
For the form of a woman, tall, thin, closely-veiled, glided along thepassages of the harem.
Her steps gave forth no sound, and she disturbed not the sleepingservants.
She glided like a smooth serpent, or an invisible spirit; her presencewas unseen, unfelt, unsuspected.
She enters the inner chamber where lies the unconscious pasha.
She bends over him, she draws forth a knife, slender, tapering to apoint almost like a needle.
The pasha still slept on, the fountain outside made sweet music, heardthrough the curtains and windows.
A smile played upon the pasha's lips.
He was dreaming, perchance, of the rosy bowers and the dark-eyed_houris_ of Paradise.
Suddenly the knife descended, there was the flash of a moment, while ithovered like a hawk over its quarry, the next instant it was buried inthe pasha's heart.
A deep groan was the only effort of expiring nature.
The fiercely flashing eyes, and a part of the face of the murderer werenow exposed; the dress was that of a woman, but the form and featureswere those of Abdullah the interpreter.
For a moment he stood gazing on his deed, then lifted some tapestrywhich concealed a small door, and disappeared.
* * * *
What cry was that which startles the seraglio from its siesta?
What combined lamentation disturbs the whole palace with its harrowingintensity?
All the inmates of the establishment have been rudely awakened fromtheir slumbers.
It was the pasha's favourite wife who had broken in upon the privacy ofher lord, and she had found him dead.
Dead, plainly by the assassin's dagger, but what assassin, none couldeven suspect.
None could conjecture by what means any stranger could have obtainedentrance and exit.
Then arose that dreadful wail of despair, that beating of breasts, andtearing of tresses.
The news soon spread, and the whole town was in a fever of commotion.
Who had done the deed?
Who was to be Moley Pasha's successor?
The conspirators played their parts well.
Ibrahim Bey pretended to be terribly amazed and shocked: he refused tobe placed at the head of affairs until the sultan's will should beknown, and he offered rewards for the discovery of the assassin.
A council, consisting of Ibrahim and others, was now established totemporarily rule the town.
A grand funeral, at which all the dignitaries of the place attended,was given to the unfortunate pasha, the evening after hisassassination.
The same night arrived a firman from the sultan, proclaiming IbrahimPasha of Allahissar.
Such is the perilous nature of the power and dignity in Eastern lands.
Ibrahim at once appointed Abdullah his vizier, and gave all the otherconspirators important posts.
Several perfectly innocent men were arrested and hanged on a pretendedsuspicion of having caused the late pasha's death.
At the first divan held by the new pasha, two Englishmen wereannounced, who were said to be the bearers of important evidence aboutthe murder.
They were admitted accordingly, and proved to be no others than Murrayand Chivey.
"Christians, you are welcome," said Ibrahim, through his new vizier."Allah in his wisdom hath sent you hither, wherefore discover yourknowledge."
Murray bowed, and seated himself upon a chair pointed out to him by thepasha.
Chivey, as a servant, wasn't honoured with a seat, whereat he murmured,half to himself--
"Well, they might let a cove sit down, and if they offered us a drop ofsomething cool this hot weather, it wouldn't come unwelcome."
Reclining on his divan in the old Turkish style, and smoking his_hookah_, Ibrahim listened to Murray's communication.
"It may already be known to your excellency that there is in yourdominions a young scapegrace of an Englishman, named Jack Harkaway. Hehas surrounded himself with many doers of evil, worse even thanhimself, amongst whom is an old scoundrel, formerly a schoolmaster,who, though he has lost both his legs, still continues to go about, andget into mischief."
"The audacious giaour who dared to impersonate Moley Pasha?" askedIbrahim.
"The same," continued Murray. "Well, I have received proofs that it wasthis Harkaway and his friend who murdered the real Moley Pasha."
"Shade of Eblis!" exclaimed Ibrahim, pretending to be much shocked."This must be seen to; Christian, proceed."
"Harkaway was once my friend," continued Murray, "and it is quiteagainst my will to speak against him; but my love of justice is aboveall other considerations."
"Christian," said Ibrahim, "proceed."
"In the harem of your illustrious predecessor," said Murray, "therelately resided a Greek girl, of exquisite beauty, named Thyra, a pearlof delight, a peri of Paradise, and she was bewitched by this Harkaway,who, how we know not, penetrated within the sacred precincts of hishighness's harem, and stole her away."
"Vengeance of Allah! but he deserves death!" exclaimed the pasha, halfrising, and his eyes flashing with anger.
"But, your eminence, to make his crime complete, he committed another;he stabbed the pasha to the heart."
"By the sword of the prophet, he dies!" exclaimed Ibrahim; "but whatproof hast thou of all this?"
"I can bring several witnesses to the truth of what I say," saidMurray. "If any other proof were wanting, Thyra, the pearl beyondprice, disappeared from the palace the very day,
the very hour of thepasha's death, and she is now at the residence of Harkaway and hisfriends."
"Please, your worship," here broke in Chivey, "if you'll let me have mytalk, I'll prove it, as sure as eggs are eggs."
"The giaour's servant entreats your highness to listen to the words oftruth," was the way in which the astute Abdullah translated thisappeal.
Chivey gave his evidence, a story carefully concocted between him andhis master, and to this was added the confirmation of several nativesof the town, men who would swear black was white, for a dollar or two.
Of course, old Mole was represented as Harkaway's chief adviser, andhis aider and abettor in the late pasha's death.
This story, of course, did not really impose upon Ibrahim Pasha; heknew more of the actual facts than Murray could do, but it served histurn to pretend to believe it, so he thanked Murray for hisinformation.
Abdullah (the real assassin) was so profound a dissembler, so utterlydevoid of conscience, that he put down, at Murray's dictation, thenames of the innocent Harkaway and his friends, remarking calmly--
"I think we have got hold of the right criminals at last."
"We will send and have them arrested at once," said Ibrahim. "Vizier,let these Christians be rewarded for their information by a purse ofgold, and despatch an armed force to the lair of those English dogs,who have slain my lamented predecessor. And, Vizier, don't forget,whatever you do, to bring the beautiful Thyra to me."
"Pasha, to hear is to obey," said Abdullah.
"Ha, ha! I think we've done for the Harkaway party this time," saidMurray gleefully to Chivey.
"It was a capital dodge, I must say," answered Chivey, "although mybelief is that Ibrahim Passher is an old rascal, and knows who reallydid for the last governor."
"Keep all such suspicions to yourself," said Murray.
In a short time the captain of the pasha's guards, with a detachment oftroops, marched out to arrest our hero and his friends.
The news spread like wildfire that the murderers of the late pasha hadat length been discovered.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks Page 24