The commodore had sworn that the Egyptian went to church only for the purpose of ingratiating himself with Americans upon whom he had designs. The rector had retorted that he could not allow himself to suspect one of his flock of any but pure motives when entering the house of God. He himself, I felt, disliked the man from the East, but he concealed it well. Therefore, when Murad came to our door, the rector invited him into the library and told him briefly what had happened.
"I am heart-broken over it!" Murad exclaimed, gazing at me with his great liquid eyes, "and I am helpless because I am no longer a follower of Mohammed; yet your Government will surely be able to ransom your brother and his comrades. I do not think their lives will be in danger if your statesmen appropriate the money promptly. It's shocking, of course, yet it's quite the usual thing to pay these ransoms. England, Spain, France—all do it. You see, ever since the days when the Queen of Sheba brought tribute to King Solomon, the Orientals have been trained to look for gifts from foreigners who touch their shores."
The rector looked dismayed at this attempt to justify kidnapping by the Scriptures. "It's time," he said, "for this western world to teach those ruffians that blackmail is blackmail and that murder is murder!"
He fumbled with the envelope that had contained Alexander's letter. A slip of paper slid out. He read to us this memorandum, written by my brother:
Amount of Ransom demanded by the Dey of Algiers for the Release
of American captives
| "Crew of ship Dauphin: | |
| Algerine Sequins | |
| Richard O'Brien, captain, ransom demanded | 2,000 |
| Andrew Montgomery, mate | 1,500 |
| Jacob Tessanoir, French passenger | 2,000 |
| Wm. Paterson, seaman | 1,500 |
| Philip Sloan | 725 |
| Peleg Lorin | 725 |
| John Robertson | 725 |
| James Hall | 725 |
| "Crew of ship Marie: | |
| Algerine Sequins | |
| Isaac Stephen, captain, ransom demanded | 2,000 |
| Alexander Forsyth, mate | 1,500 |
| George Smith, seaman | 900 |
| John Gregory | 725 |
| James Hermet | 725 |
"How much is 1,500 Algerine sequins?" I asked Murad.
"A sequin," he explained, "amounts to eight shillings sterling, so that 12,000 shillings will be required for Alexander, and 126,000 shillings for the entire lot. There must be added to this sum 10 or 20 per cent of the total as bribes to the Dey's officers, and as commission to brokers. There are Jewish merchants over there whose chief business it is to procure the release of captives—for a consideration!
"I know such a merchant in Algiers," Murad went on, "I shall write to him to interest himself in the captives and to use his influence to see that they are kindly treated. Perhaps he will be able to reduce the amount of the ransom. When the money is raised, I shall be at your service for negotiations."