Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-11-30


with honeyed words, saying that l wa
just gathering in my wine harvest, ant
that begged that he would have me ex
| cused In less than an hour the messen
ger returned; the Mutessarif, he said, wa
grieved at my refusal it seemed that
was of an unforgiving heart and deter
mined TO be at emnity with him, more
oyer a refusal to such an invitation lookeC
as if doubted his, the Mutessarif's, honor
and feared his hospitality covered evil de
signs; he could not, said the messenger
doubt my courage, which was widely
famed abroad, but nevertheless, in order
to ressure me, he gave me his word o
honor that no harm should come to me
or mine, and he begged therefore that
| would no longer refuse, but would
with my wife, honor his invitation. ]
still suspected him, but the allusion to my
courage was too much for me, and / gave
way. "Take many salutes to the Mutes-
sarif from me-" said, "tell him that !
fear nothing; that will leave my work
for to-day and will be with him in az
hour and my wife shall come with me tc
pass on and pay her respects to the
hannum." Then | turned and went to pre-
pare myself My wife was much
frightened and tried hard to dissuade me
But would not listen TO her; babe her
hold her peace, and not bother me with
her woman's fears, but make herself ready
to come with me- And so | walked forth
with her from my home, and went to the
Konak. As we passed through the gates,
and my wife left my side to turn to the
door of the harep, [ saw the Mutessarif
seated under a big tree which was there,
smoking a narghile. He rose when he saw
me, and advanced smiling towards me as
if graciously to receive me. And even as
| was bowling to make my first salaam to
him, was seized suddenly from behind
and thrown on my back, and so was held
by two men, while third bound my hands
and feet So suddenly was this done, and
so suddenly was l taken by surprise, that
l had no time to resist. Within minute
after l had passed the gate | was lying a
helpless log on the ground. l had heard
nv wife give a shrek, and could see from
where l lay that she had been roughly
stopped by two men, and forced to stay
where she was. Then l heard the gate
shut.
"Bring .,im here" said the Mutessarif.
And they ragged me to him.
"Now, yols dog" cried the Mutessarif,
"will you gi that land or not?" heard
my wife cryin,t to me not to be obstinate
but to bow beiere the will of the Mutes.
sariff, and so obtain mercy, and go in peace
and safety.
"Silence, womanw 1 called to her
"You make me fear that YOU are the
mother of towards. Cease your crying,
for will not let my courage ooze through
your eyes," But she stopped me again
with her wailing "Yield, Stepan, yield,
she sobbed; 'they will kill you; l shall
have you no more, and your children will
be fatherless. Yield am not | and your
children better than all your land ?"
Then paid her no more attention, and
looking at the Mutessaritf, | said, "This,
Efendi, is no doubt joke you are play
ing upon me, but you have frightened my
wife too much. Tell these fellows 10 I'M
bind ne, and let me go, for we have had
enough of this play"
The Mutessariff was smoking his mar
CHILE, and evilly smiling to himself as he
heard my wife's mourning. "Will you
give me the land ?" he said.
mo" l said, II have told you l will
not. But do you forget your message to
me-your word of honor that if / came
to you now no harm should come to me
or mine?"
empty words" he answered disdain-
fully; "what have such dogs as you to dc
with honor? If | want to kill an obstinate
beast, do not | hold him out at tempting
morsel in one hand and plunge my knife
into him with the other? Is there any
necessity that l should feel my honor hurt
because he believes in the pleasant meal
and knows not of the knife? Honor ??
said he, laughing bitterly, "What an in
solent knaye this is, to be sure Will you
give up your land, fellow ~ he concluded
furiously.
For an instant my heart fell, as heard
my dear young wife weeping and moan
ing to herself; but when l saw the Mutes.
sarif smiling evilly again at her sobs, and
smoking quietly the while, my rage knew
no bounds. mol" l shouted, 81 would
rather die first Do your worst, hound
and may the curse of God be upon you anC
your children forever"
"Then 90 on" said the Mutessarif in s
quiet voice, and settling himself back tc
smoke more comfortably.
At these words two men, who till ther
had been hidden behind a tree, came forth
dragging between them two upright posts
with horizontal plank fixed between
them about three feet from the ground, il
the center of which were scooped two
semicircular notches. They brought thi.
up to me, then raising my feet from tht
ground, barred them, while did not strug
gle, for | saw that it was useless, anC
scorned to show fear, and bound my
ankles tightly into the notches, my fee
projecting over the other side. Then they
went behind the tree again, and brought
forth each bundle of long heavy sticks
every stick as thick as tire,
fingers. They each selected stick, anC
went and stood on each side of me behinC
the posts.
evil you give me the land ?" said tht
Mutessarif.
NO." 1 replied, through my set teeth
"Then go on said the Muttessarif, il
the same voice as before.
/ saw the sticks go up and descend with
all the force the men could command upon
the soles of my feet. The pain was sucf
that it seemed to me as if mountain o
agony had risen up from each foot, anC
was reaching up to the blue sky above me
At each blow the mountains sprang W
higher, until they seemed to fill all space
they seemed to crush me under theil
weight, and their bases were lakes of liv
ing fire. / heard my wife shrieking
but it seemed as if the shrieks were al
unreasonable distance of. My ear
were full of confused sound, and th'
sky seemed to come down and meet MY
eyes; l saw the branches of the tre'
between me and it, but they seemed to bt
part of my brain, and the leaves tortured
me by their shivering. Yet the men hac
only struck me five times. Then there
was pause, and I heard the voice o
the Mutessarif, mingled with my wife
screams, coming to me as if far away
''Will you give me the land ?"
'No," 1 painted, but my voice was as thu
II. 7 -