Mohammed Ali and His House [154]
calculation," said Cousrouf. "I remained three years in Cavalla. By Allah, they seemed to me to be three centuries! Yes, I remained there three years, and you were therefore eighteen when I left Cavalla?"
"Yes, eighteen years old; and a wild, reckless lad I was, too! Even now I beg your forgiveness for my conduct at that time," said Mohammed, humbly.
The viceroy bowed a gracious consent.
"Since then twelve years have passed, and you are therefore now thirty."
"You see, I am an old man! And when I look back at the past it seems to me I have lived an eternity. Yes, highness, I am an old man, and can hardly say that any wishes or aspirations now find a place in my bosom."
"Are you alone in the world?" asked Cousrouf. "Have you no family?"
A strange fire gleamed for an instant in Mohammed's eyes, and he compressed his lips firmly. How could he who had inflicted such intolerable anguish upon him, how could he question him as to his heart's history? Woe to him for so doing! for this, too, shall retribution be visited upon him!
"Yes, highness, I have a family. I have a wife and three sons at home in Cavalla."
"One wife only!" said the pacha. "Are you contented with one wife?"
"One is often too many," replied Mohammed. "But this does not apply to my wife. She is the niece of the tschorbadji, and devoted to me. I have no cause to complain of her."
"Is that all?" asked the pacha, with an air of indifference. "You have nothing further to say of her? Then you do not love her, I suppose?"
"Highness, I believe love was torn from my heart in my youth."
"Everyone says that until he loves," replied Cousrouf, composedly blowing clouds of smoke from his mouth. "Yet, in my opinion, one is never too old to love; the heart never grows old. Let me know it if you feel that another love can blossom in your heart, and that you wish, in addition to the wife you have long possessed--and I know that possession gives satiety--another, a young and beautiful wife. Perhaps I can find such a one for you. And I will do so, Mohammed, if you return victorious from the new campaign."
"A new campaign? and against whom?" was Mohammed's only response.
"Against whom? Against the insolent Mameluke beys, of course. The time has come to dispose of them finally," said Cousrouf. "Listen, general. The grand-sultan, weary of these incessant struggles with the rebellious Mameluke beys, is resolved to bring them to a conclusion, and restore peace to the province of Egypt. You, however, have now been here long enough to know that peace in Egypt means death and destruction to the Mameluke beys."
"Yes, highness, peace in Egypt means death to the Mameluke beys!" replied Mohammed Ali. "Truly, while one of them survives, so long will his proud, ambitious heart prompt him to endeavor to reconquer the rule which he believes is predestined for the Mameluke beys by Allah and the prophet."
"They shall learn that Allah has doomed them to destruction!" cried Cousrouf, passionately. "All is arranged. To the Franks we are indebted for one thing, and that is for having fought these rebellious beys. Since the French expedition the number of the Mamelukes is diminished by at least one-half. In order to prevent them from recruiting their decimated ranks, the grand-sultan has issued a firman which prohibits further importation into Egypt of Circassian and Georgian slaves."
"And yet, as I have heard, they resort to other sources to refill their depleted ranks," said Mohammed, respectfully. "I am told that they recruit their forces with the inhabitants of the desert, with the children of Albania, and the tribe of Achmed Ali."
"They do, it is true. But the Arabs and Bedouins are poor substitutes for the Georgian and Circassian slaves. You cannot make lions of wild-cats, nor tigers of jackals. Moreover, discord has fallen out among the Mameluke beys themselves, since Mourad Bey fell. He was a great man and a hero! But since his death they have lacked a chieftain who could unite them; Tamboudji Bey was such a one for a brief season, but, as you
"Yes, eighteen years old; and a wild, reckless lad I was, too! Even now I beg your forgiveness for my conduct at that time," said Mohammed, humbly.
The viceroy bowed a gracious consent.
"Since then twelve years have passed, and you are therefore now thirty."
"You see, I am an old man! And when I look back at the past it seems to me I have lived an eternity. Yes, highness, I am an old man, and can hardly say that any wishes or aspirations now find a place in my bosom."
"Are you alone in the world?" asked Cousrouf. "Have you no family?"
A strange fire gleamed for an instant in Mohammed's eyes, and he compressed his lips firmly. How could he who had inflicted such intolerable anguish upon him, how could he question him as to his heart's history? Woe to him for so doing! for this, too, shall retribution be visited upon him!
"Yes, highness, I have a family. I have a wife and three sons at home in Cavalla."
"One wife only!" said the pacha. "Are you contented with one wife?"
"One is often too many," replied Mohammed. "But this does not apply to my wife. She is the niece of the tschorbadji, and devoted to me. I have no cause to complain of her."
"Is that all?" asked the pacha, with an air of indifference. "You have nothing further to say of her? Then you do not love her, I suppose?"
"Highness, I believe love was torn from my heart in my youth."
"Everyone says that until he loves," replied Cousrouf, composedly blowing clouds of smoke from his mouth. "Yet, in my opinion, one is never too old to love; the heart never grows old. Let me know it if you feel that another love can blossom in your heart, and that you wish, in addition to the wife you have long possessed--and I know that possession gives satiety--another, a young and beautiful wife. Perhaps I can find such a one for you. And I will do so, Mohammed, if you return victorious from the new campaign."
"A new campaign? and against whom?" was Mohammed's only response.
"Against whom? Against the insolent Mameluke beys, of course. The time has come to dispose of them finally," said Cousrouf. "Listen, general. The grand-sultan, weary of these incessant struggles with the rebellious Mameluke beys, is resolved to bring them to a conclusion, and restore peace to the province of Egypt. You, however, have now been here long enough to know that peace in Egypt means death and destruction to the Mameluke beys."
"Yes, highness, peace in Egypt means death to the Mameluke beys!" replied Mohammed Ali. "Truly, while one of them survives, so long will his proud, ambitious heart prompt him to endeavor to reconquer the rule which he believes is predestined for the Mameluke beys by Allah and the prophet."
"They shall learn that Allah has doomed them to destruction!" cried Cousrouf, passionately. "All is arranged. To the Franks we are indebted for one thing, and that is for having fought these rebellious beys. Since the French expedition the number of the Mamelukes is diminished by at least one-half. In order to prevent them from recruiting their decimated ranks, the grand-sultan has issued a firman which prohibits further importation into Egypt of Circassian and Georgian slaves."
"And yet, as I have heard, they resort to other sources to refill their depleted ranks," said Mohammed, respectfully. "I am told that they recruit their forces with the inhabitants of the desert, with the children of Albania, and the tribe of Achmed Ali."
"They do, it is true. But the Arabs and Bedouins are poor substitutes for the Georgian and Circassian slaves. You cannot make lions of wild-cats, nor tigers of jackals. Moreover, discord has fallen out among the Mameluke beys themselves, since Mourad Bey fell. He was a great man and a hero! But since his death they have lacked a chieftain who could unite them; Tamboudji Bey was such a one for a brief season, but, as you