Captain John Smith

by C. H. Forbes-Lindsay

John Smith had never found himself in worse straits than now, as shackled to a fellow slave he tramped along the road between Axopolis and the Turkish capital. Hopeless as the situation seemed to be, he did not give himself up to despair, nor wear himself by repining over a condition which was beyond his power to remedy. He had learned from experience that the sun is apt to break through the clouds of the darkest day and when we are least expecting it. So, with the philosophy that is characteristic of the true soldier of fortune, he determined to await the turn of events with patience, and meanwhile found entertainment for his mind in a study of the strange people and places that came to his notice on the way. He has left an interesting account of these, but as they had no direct bearing upon the actual events of his life, we will pass them over.

The Pasha Bogall appears to have been a character somewhat like Sir John Falstaff, the hero of imaginary military exploits. He prepared the Lady Charatza—as Smith calls her—for the reception of his gift by a letter. In this fanciful missive the Giaour was described as a Bohemian nobleman whom the valiant Bogall had defeated in single combat and made prisoner. In his desire to exalt himself in the mind of his mistress, the Turk fell into two errors. He took it for granted that the slave and the Turkish damsel would be unable to converse with each other and he expatiated on Smith’s prowess in order to enhance by comparison his own valor in overcoming him.

The fair Charatza was naturally curious to see this noble and unfortunate slave for whom she could hardly fail to entertain feelings of compassion. When they met, the lady was more impressed than she would have cared to acknowledge by the bearing and address of the handsome captain. They found a ready means of communication in Italian which both understood and spoke with tolerable fluency. Questioned as to the combat in which the Pasha had defeated him, Smith laughed and declared that he had never set eyes on the doughty Turk until they met in the market place of Axopolis. As to being a Bohemian nobleman, he claimed no greater distinction than that of an English gentleman and a captain of horse.

Charatza did not doubt the truth of Captain Smith’s statement to her, but she caused inquiry to be made about him amongst the other captives who had been distributed here and there in the city. Thus she learned that her slave, whilst in truth no more than a captain in rank, was one of the most renowned soldiers in the army of the Emperor, and indeed had no equal among men of his age. The story of the three Turks reached her through the same sources and aroused admiration where curiosity and compassion had before been excited. The outcome was something like that in the story of Othello and Desdemona.

The Turkish lady, young and romantic, found the stories of Captain Smith’s adventures so interesting that she insisted upon his telling them over and over again. In order to enjoy this pleasure, without arousing criticism of her unusual familiarity with a male slave, she had him assigned to work in her private garden which formed a part of the extensive grounds attached to the mansion. There undisturbed, hours were spent daily by the captive in reciting to his fair owner stories of his varied experiences and in giving her accounts of different places and peoples in the wonderful world of which she knew almost nothing.

Thus several weeks passed and our hero, who was well fed and comfortably lodged meanwhile, fast regained his wonted strength and energy. It may be asked, why did he not attempt to escape? The thought of course entered his mind, but investigation soon satisfied him that the difficulties in the way were almost insurmountable. The place was surrounded by high walls which were guarded day and night by armed eunuchs. Smith had no clothes but his own nor any means of securing others. Even if he gained the streets he would be marked as a foreigner and suspected of being an escaped slave. Under the circumstances he determined to abide his time in the hope that his fair mistress might become willing to release him and aid in his escape.

But affairs took a turn that neither of the young people, who were beginning to feel a strong regard for each other, had looked for. The mother of Charatza, informed by a jealous Turkish servant of the meetings between her daughter and the Giaour, came upon them one day and expressed her indignation in stinging terms. She declared her determination to sell the English slave immediately and would have carried her threat into effect but for the suggestion of Charatza that the Pasha might not be pleased at such disposition of his gift. Finally a compromise was agreed upon. The brother of Charatza was a Timariot, that is a Turkish feudal chieftain, at Nalbrits, in a distant province. It was decided that Smith should be sent there, Charatza hoping to be able to contrive his return, and indeed having some idea that the captive might be induced to turn Muhammadan and enter the Sultan’s army.

So John Smith was sent to Nalbrits and at the same time Charatza despatched a letter to her brother in which she begged him to treat the young Englishman kindly and to give him the lightest sort of work. Any good effect that might have accrued from this well-intentioned but ill-advised letter was prevented by another which went forward at the same time. In it the Pasha’s mother told of the extraordinary interest Charatza had displayed in the infidel slave and expressed a suspicion that the young girl’s affections had become fastened upon him. This of course enraged the haughty and fanatical Turk and the unfortunate Smith immediately felt the weight of his new master’s displeasure. Within an hour of his arrival at Nalbrits he was stripped naked, his head and face were shaved “as smooth as the palm of his hand” and he was put into a garment of undressed goat-skin with an iron ring round his neck.

Our hero now entered upon a life too miserable for description and, as he expresses it, “beyond the endurance of a dog.” He was subjected to the hardest and vilest tasks and, being the latest comer among hundreds of slaves, became slave to the whole herd, for such was the custom which he was in no position to contest. He found his companions a poor lot, broken in body and spirit, and sunk in apathetic resignation to their condition. He endeavored to discover among them a few with sufficient courage and enterprise to plan an uprising, but soon abandoned the idea. It was clear that any chance that might arise for escape would be impaired by the co-operation of such hopelessly sunken wretches. During the months that he remained in this terrible bondage his main effort was to sustain his own spirits and to combat the tendency to fall into despair. Few men could have succeeded in this, but John Smith combined with great physical strength and the highest courage an unshakable trust in Providence. The event justified his confidence and he fully deserved the good fortune which ultimately befell him.

When he had been several months at Nalbrits, it happened that Smith was put to work on the threshing floor at a country residence of the Pasha. Here he labored with a long heavy club, the flail not being known to the people of those parts. The Pasha seems to have entertained a feeling of positive hatred for the slave, fanned no doubt by frequent letters from Charatza, who could have no knowledge of his condition. It was a favorite pastime with the Turk to stand over Smith whilst at his labor and taunt him. At such times, it was with the greatest difficulty that the captain restrained the desire to leap upon his persecutor and strangle him. He knew, however, that to have raised his hand against his cruel master would have entailed torture and probably a lingering death.