The pasha—or to speak more correctly, the pasha's deputy, for it was the deputy that had imposed upon the poor orphan—was absent from the house temporarily, and so they were able to walk about whither they listed, thanks to the backstairs influence of which their friend and guide had boasted.
The head of the pasha's household was the person to whom they owed this unusual privilege.
There was not a great deal to see in the Konaki now that they were there, and their visit would probably have been cut very short had they not been attracted by sounds of distant music just as they were upon the point of leaving.
"What's that?" said Jack.
"That's from the seraglio," returned their conductor; "some Circassian girls that have just been sent as a present to the pasha are very clever dancers, it is said."
Jack pricked up his ears at this.
"Come on," he said, moving forward briskly.
"To this seraglio?"
"Aye."
"Why, you rash boy," said the Irish Turk, with a frightened look, "do you know what you are talking about?"