The Captain of the Janizaries

  CHAPTER XLV.

  The courage of Morsinia when she appeared before Mahomet had beenstimulated by an event which occurred a little before her summons.

  She was sitting by the latticed window in the house of Phranza. Itoverlooked the wall surrounding the garden, which on that side was anarrow enclosure. This had been her favorite resort in brighter days.From it she could see what passed in the broad highway beyond, whilethe close latticed woodwork prevented her being seen by those without.While musing there she was strangely attracted by an officer whofrequently passed. His shape and stature reminded her strongly ofConstantine. As he turned his face toward the mansion the featuresseemed identical with those of her foster brother. Recovering from thestroke of surprise this apparition gave her, Morsinia rubbed her eyesto make sure she was not dreaming, and looked again. He was inconversation with another. It could not be Constantine, for, asidefrom the general belief in Constantine's death before the terminationof the siege, this person was saluted with great reverence by thesoldiers who passed by, and approached with familiarity by otherofficers of rank.

  The sight brought into vivid conviction what had long been her daydream, namely, that Michael, her childhood playmate, might be living,and if so, would probably be among the Turkish soldiers; for hisgoodly physique and talent, displayed as a lad, would certainly havebeen cultivated by his captors. She now felt certain of her theory. Sostrong was the impression, and so active and exciting her thoughts asshe endeavored to devise a way by which the discovery might beutilized to the advantage of both, that even the loathsome splendor ofthe Sultan's garden party, had not impressed her as it otherwise wouldhave done.

  For several days after she was almost oblivious to the monotony of theharem life; so busy was she with her new problem. She determined that,at any cost, she would bring herself into communication with theofficer, and, if her theory should be confirmed, declare herself, andboldly propose that he should rescue her. For she could not conceivethat, however much he had become accustomed to Turkish life, he hadlost all yearning for his liberty and all impression of his Christianfaith.

  But how could she convey any intelligence to him? Except through theeunuchs, the inmates of the harem had little communication with theouter world. The customs of life there were as inflexible as thewalls.

  To her natural ingenuity, now so quickened by necessity and hope,there at length appeared an end thread of the tangle. The women of theharem relieved the tedium of their existence by making variousarticles, the construction of which might not mar the delicacy oftheir fingers; such as needlework upon their own clothing, coveringsfor cushions, curtains, tapestried hangings, spreads for couches,cases in which the Koran could be kept so that even when being readit need not be touched by the fingers, bags of scented powders, andthe like. Many of these articles were disposed of at the bazaars ofthe city, and the proceeds spent by the odalisks at their own caprice;generally for confections and gew-gaws. At the time there was quite ademand for articles made in the harem. Many thousands of Moslems hadbeen imported from Asia Minor to take the place of the rapidlydisappearing Greek population. Large stores of articles were sent fromthe great harem at Adrianople, and sold for fabulous prices in thebazaars of Stamboul, as the new capital was called by the Turks. Theagents for the sale of these things were generally the femaleattendants at the harem, who had free association with the bazaarkeepers. Sometimes these women sold directly to the individualpurchasers without going to the trade places. An officer or youngcitizen was often inveigled into buying, and paying exorbitant pricestoo, on hearing that some odalisk had set longing eyes upon him, andwrought the purse or belt, the dagger-sheath or embroidered jacket, asa special evidence of her favor. Many were the stories which thegallants of the city and garrison were accustomed to tell, as theydisplayed their purchases, about nocturnal adventures, in which theywere guided only by a pair of bright eyes, and of favors received frombeauties whose names, of course, prudence forbade them to mention. Allthe traditions of lovers, romances of moon-shadowed grottoes, and allthe stories of castles with the thread at the window, that have beentold from the beginning of the world, had their counterpart in thosethe swains of Stamboul told about the Sultan's earthly paradise atAdrianople, or those which, in their amatory bantering, they had madeto cluster about the villa of the late Phranza at the new capital.

  An old woman, who, formerly a servant in the harem, had been given bythe Valide Sultana, the mother of Amurath, to a subaltern officer aswife, but had long been a widow, was permitted freely to enter theharemlik, and engaged as a convenient broker between those within andthose without. One day Morsinia, in giving her some of her handiworkfor sale, held up an elegant case of silk containing several littlecrystals, or phials, of atar of roses.

  "Kala-Hanoum, do you know the young Captain Ballaban?"

  "Ay, the Knight of the Golden Horn?" asked the woman.

  "And why do they call him that?"

  "Because," she replied, "his head glows like one, I suppose."

  "Yes, he is the man--Well! find him--Tell him any story you pleaseabout my beauty."

  "I need not invent one; I must only tell the truth to bewitch him,"replied the old dame, with real fondness and admiration. "But thatwill be difficult. I can invent a lie better than describe the truth,unless you help me."

  "Well," said Morsinia, "tell him as much truth about my appearance asyou can, and invent the rest. Tell him--let me see--that my eyes areas bright as the stars that shine above the Balkans."

  "Do they shine there more brilliantly than here where they make theirtoilet in the Bosphorus?" asked the woman.

  "Oh! yes," said Morsinia, "for the air is clearest there of any placeon the earth. Tell him, too, that my teeth are as white as the snowsthat lie in the pass of Slatiza."

  "Where is that?" queried the messenger.

  "Oh! it is a grotto I have heard of, that lies very high up toward thesky, where the snows are unsoiled by passing through the clouds,which, you know, always tints them. And then tell him that altogetherI am as queenly as--as--well! as the wonderful Elizabeth Morsiney, thebride of the Christian king Sigismund."

  "Elizabeth Morsiney? yes, I will remember that name, if some day youwill tell me her story."

  "That I will," said Morsinia. "And tell the young officer that theodalisk who made this lovely case has dreamed of him ever since shewas a child."

  "He cannot resist that," said the woman.

  "But you must sell it to no one else. And see this elegant sash ofcashmere! I will give it to you to sell on your own account, Hanoum,if you bring me some sure evidence that he has bought the case ofperfume. And be sure to tell him that just when the sun is setting hemust go somewhere alone, and look at the sun through each of thelittle phials, and he may see the face of her who sent them; for youknow that a true lover can always see the one who sends a phial ofatar of roses in the sun glints from its sides. And when you bring meevidence that he has bought it, then, good Kala, you shall have thesash of cashmere." The old woman's cupidity hastened her feet uponher errand.