Washington sentinel., 1854-01-05


him to proceed to the tent of Persaf Pasha, and
to make his personal Acknowledgements for the
courtesy with which his proposals of peace had
been met and answered; nor did the magnate
feel himself in a position to refuse compliance.
The gaudy tent,with its green and crimson
awnings, surmounted by crescent which gilt
tered in the evening light, was pitched near the
centre of the camp, and keretsenyi checked his
horse few PAGES from its entrance; where,
dismounting slowly and gravely, he advanced on
foot to the tapestry hangings which formed the
outer door, and which were held back upon the
spear-heads of two well-armed soldiers. He
had scarcely passed them, however, when half
a dozen janissaries fell upon, disarmed, and
dragged him through a second opening into the
presence of the pasha.
Solyman's favorite was at that period at the
very acme of his pride and power, nor did he
dream how soon he should be called upon to
mourn the loss of his magnificent and munif-
cent master. The interior of his tent was one
blaze Of gliding and embroidery; golden COB
lets, filled with sherbet, stood on table of
ebony, inlaid with mother-ofpearl and studded
with Jewels and the diyan. which lined three
sides of the splendid canvass saloon, was of
silver tissue worked with colored silks, and
deeply fringed. Upon this divan, on the forced
entrance of the magnate, sat the pasha, en-
gagged in smoking voluminous narghile, with
It's crystal vase filed with rose water; and be-
Side him, few inches nearer the edge of the
sofa, was another individual similarly engaged,
of sombre dress, melancholy look, and stern
demeanor.
AS his eye fell upon Keretsenyi, standing
sullenly before him in the grasp Of the janissa-
ries, the pasha took the pipe from his mouth,
and with contemptuous smile said disdainful-
ly- .#
"Thou art then here at last, thou pillar of
Christendom, thou terror of the Moslem! we
have not awaited then in vain. Knowest thou
this noble beside me, whose slave thou wilt be
henceforth? | will even deign to be thy in
structor in this, as | have been in policy, and
in faithfulness to my emperor. This is Fetch
Pasha, the father of your brave prisoner. Ali
the husband of the lady Zelma. Hal you
start Christian tiger! and your lip quivers,
and your cheek grows white Murderer! you
quail in your turn. You, who made sham
bic of your fathers house, and butcher OF
your only son; you then can fear for yourself
1t is well, for the blood of Ali must be atoned."
"Away with him to Belgrade!" exclaimed
the elder Pasha passionately; "you have wasted
upon him too many words already. The grave
Of his father is defled; and dogs eat dirt upon
the body of his mother. What would you
have? Away with him!" ss
The magnate would have expostulated, but
Persaf Pasha waved his hand impatiently
and the janissaries, striking him upon the
mouth with the hilt of their daggers, to com.
pei his silence, hurried him from the presence
of his conqueror, and at once conveyed him
to Belgrade; where he was flung, into a dun
geon below the bed Of the river, to await the
arrival of his new master, Fetch Pasha.
The fate of the ill.starred garrison whom he
had SO wantonly betrayed was as wretched as
the own. All were massacred, save few Of
his mounted Hungarian troops who were saved
by the swiftness of their horses, and by whom
the tragic tale was born to the camp of Maxi
milan. The Mosem army planted their ban
ner on the keep-tower with the rising sun and
they destroyed the wounded, the sick, and the
women, as ruthlessly as they had sacrificed the
troops, for the Persaff Pasha was exasperated
at the pertinacity with which such mere hand
ful of men had withstood his forces for so long
q period, and the delay which they had occa
stoned in his onward march while his colleague
was eager to immediate as many victims as
came within in reach in revenge for the
wrongs which he had suffered at the hands of
their leader. They had, like Keretsenyi on a
former occasion, redeemed their pledges ac
cording to the strict letter of the bond; they
had permitted the Christians to march out Of
their stronghold in safety; but they had made
a spoil and a sacrifice of them beyond the
shadow of its walls.
Fetch Pasha waited only to see the extirpa-
ton of the little Christian band, before he turned
his steps to Belgrade; and when there, having
duly visited the mosque. and made his namdz
Tor prayer,) he lost no time in summoning his
miserable captive to his presence. When they
we're once more face to face, the old man sat
for several moments in silence, earnestly gazing
at the fettered wretch who had wrought the
misery of his age and then, having sated him.
self with the contemplation, which was not inter-
rupted by one sentence from the naughty mag
nate, who was too proud to plead where he at
once felt that all expostulation must be vain,
he rose coldly from his divan, and, motioning
to the mutes who held his prisoner, to follow
with their charge, he led the way to a stately
mausoleum of white marble, situated about an
arrow's-fight from the walls of the city. Leav-
ing his slippers on the threshold, he entered,
and Keretsenyi was forced forward behind him; /;
upon two slabs of black marble, in the very
SaiuOheo III WHICH thSy huu pCcH uiSpdtCHeu
from Nikolsburg, he beheld the embalmed
bodies Of Ali, the son of his captor, and the
lady Zelma. Between them stood Hassau,
with heavy iron hammer in his hand, and his
eyes fixed eagerly upon those of the bewildered
prisoner.
"Dost thou recognise the dead 2" asked
Fetch Pasha, gloomily, for the first time break
ing silence. "Dost thou recognise thy vic
TINS? Know, man of blood, that when they
we're restored to me- cold and stark as they lie
here even now, took an oath upon the beard
the prophet that they should not be inferred
according to our religious customs until their
deaths we're avenged. 1t was to enable me
to redeem my vow that Gynla suffered siege.
1t was the renegade Rebek, the uncle of the
bloodthirsty son who betrayed thee. 1t is /
who am to terminate thy hated career, and to
rid the world Of demon of cruelty and false
hood. And now away with theel We shall
never meet again"
As he ceased speaking, the aged man turnd
coldly and loftily away, and Keretsenyi was
once more plunged into his foul and loathsome
dungeon. He was not long however fated to be
its inmate for, on the following day, he was
rudely awakened from the ftful and uneasy