"'That as this pipe belongs to me, as I have bought it and paid for it, I may break it to atoms if I choose, and nobody has a right to object.' So saying, the pacha broke his pipe, and threw the fragments into the middle of the room.
"'All very well, as far as a pipe goes,' said the minister; 'but Osmin, but Zaida?'
"'Less than a pipe,' said the dey gravely.
"'How! less than a pipe! A man less than a pipe! A woman less than a pipe!'
"'Osmin is not a man, and Zaida is not a woman: they are slaves. I will cut off Osmin's head, and throw Zaida into the sea.'
"'No!' said the magistrate. 'Not at Naples at least.'
"'Dog of a Christian!' shouted the dey, 'do you know who I am?'
"'You are the ex-dey of Algiers, and I am the Neapolitan minister of police; and, if your deyship is impertinent, I shall send him to prison,' added the minister very coolly.
"'To prison!' repeated the dey, falling back upon his divan.
"'To prison,' replied the minister.