As this story agreed with the report which M. B. had brought, I lost no time in telling Lady Hester; but she knew perfectly well what his coming meant; and, having long expected him, was not disturbed by the report. Immediately, although the evening was far advanced, a dragoman was sent for, to write a letter to the Capugi Bashi, appointing a meeting at Abrah; for letter-writing is made a craft in the East, and few are competent to it. Hence comes the name of katib, or scribe, as an office in the suite of all governors and great Turks, which is generally filled by Christians. Such a one, indeed, is expected to make himself acquainted with all the forms, official and ceremonial, used in writing letters, petitions, &c.
This event abridged Lady Hester’s stay at Shuifád. She had seen Syt Habûs in the morning, and found her to be a money-getting woman, with her keys by her side; clever, perhaps, but with nothing very lady-like about her. The interview took place in the presence of the Shaykh Beshýr, and I acted as interpreter: for, by this time, I understood Arabic, and could express myself tolerably on ordinary subjects.
On the 27th we left Shuifád, and proceeded towards Abrah. I rode forward with a servant, to find a resting-place for her ladyship, half way on the day’s journey. This man, one of the walking grooms, was named Mbàrak, a native of Bisra, the son of the curate, of which circumstance he was exceedingly proud. As he knew this part of the country perfectly, he pointed out to me a retired cottage, in the midst of a mulberry plantation, very proper for our purpose. It was found to be empty, and the door locked with one of the wooden locks used very generally[33] throughout Syria. But he gave me a proof of his cleverness, by cutting a twig of a particular shape, by means of which he picked the lock, and we entered. Suspecting that this invasion of private property would not escape notice, I waited in the orchard, smoking my pipe, to see the issue of it; when a man came running from a village on the slope of the mountain, whence he had seen us enter his grounds. A promise, however, of half a crown for the use of his cottage pacified him; the more particularly as I told him we had an order from the emir for free quarters. I then rode on to Nebby Yunez,[34] a mosque built over the tomb of Jonas, him of Nineveh, said by the Moslems to have been vomited up, and also, after his death, to have been buried here. At this place the arrangements for the night were somewhat difficult; for the rooms, though good, were not sufficient to hold the whole party; and there were, besides, a few pilgrims seeking lodging, many of whom, for the sake of devotion, occasionally resorted thither. The water from the well of the mosque was brackish and unpalatable: but we caused a supply to be brought from Berdja, a village close by, from which likewise fuel was sent to us.
Lady Hester did not arrive; and, somewhat alarmed, I rode back to meet her. She had been delayed by the river Damûr, the ancient Tamyras, which was to be forded; and, not then having a bridge, this was no easy matter on asses. There is, also, great danger from giddiness to those who, in crossing a rapid stream, look down on it. Nevertheless, Werdy, one of the maid servants, a native of Acre, was so intrepid in dangers of this sort, that she often put the very men to shame. I forded the river seven times on this occasion, in assisting Lady Hester and the maids.
On the 28th, we resumed our journey. As the mountain rises close to the sea-shore, the road is on the sands. We arrived in four hours at Mar Elias. I hastened to my cottage, which I now looked on as my home. The peasantry came, and crowded round my door. Their felicitations, though unpolished, seemed to have too much sincerity not to please me: and if, as I have grown older, I have since thought that interest might have had some part in them, I still recollect with pleasure their expressions of welcome at my return.
We were scarcely settled, when a messenger came to inform Lady Hester that the Zâym[35] or Capugi Bashi was arrived at Sayda, and wished to see her at the governor’s; meaning that a Moslem of such consideration as a Capugi Bashi never could demean himself so far as to go to a Christian’s house. But Lady Hester sent such an answer, that the Capugi Bashi, who best knew his own affairs, suddenly ordered horses; and our dinner was just over, when a great bustle was heard in the courtyard, with the trampling of horses’ feet and the voices of the servants. The Capugi Bashi was soon afterwards announced. Not yet apprized of the precise nature of his mission, I must confess I felt some inclination to believe, with the people, that his arrival portended no good. M. Beaudin, the secretary, was of the same opinion; and when, to my inquiry of Lady Hester whether she apprehended any mischief from his presence, her answer was intentionally equivocal, I communicated my suspicions to M. Beaudin, and we agreed to put our pistols in our girdles, fresh primed, determined that, if we saw the bow-string dangling from under the Capugi’s robe, at least no use should be made of it whilst we were there.
To account for these seemingly unnecessary precautions, I ought to premise that, in Turkey, a Capugi Bashi never comes into the provinces, unless for some affair of strangling, beheading, confiscation, or imprisonment. These are the missions upon which the emissaries of a secret court are sent; and their presence is always dreaded, as it is seldom known where the blow will fall, and as their presence rarely portends any good. Various were the whispers which went about: some thought that he was sent to arrest Lady Hester, others to order her out of the country; some to give her money for secret service to the Porte. But his real object will be known in the succeeding chapter.
CHAPTER V.
Probability of the existence of Hidden Treasures in the East—Manuscript pretending to reveal such Treasures, brought to Lady Hester—She obtains firmáns from the Porte authorizing her to make researches—She sends to Hamah for Mâlem Musa—Her letter to the Pasha of Acre—Her plans for raising money—Journey of the Author to Damascus—His Visit to Ahmed Bey—Ambergris—Damascus sabres—Horse Bazar—Horse Dealing and Horse Stealing—M. Beaudin’s night journey to Tyre—His horse stolen—Detection and punishment of the thieves—Return of the Author to Mar Elias—His dangerous situation in a snow-storm—Interior of a Drûze Cottage.
I will now endeavour to explain the business upon which the Capugi Bashi (or Zâym, as he was more frequently called) had been sent by the Sublime Porte to Lady Hester. In the preceding year, her ladyship, during her illness, had upon several occasions hinted at the existence of hidden treasures, a clue to which she had by some means become possessed of; but, finding me incredulous on the subject, she dropped it, and never more spoke of it until the day after the Zâym’s arrival; when, as I was to assist in the management of the business, she gave me a history of it, as follows:—