CHAPTER XIII.

THE FALCON'S SWOOP.

It is very painful to record the fearful trials of this innocent and helpless girl, but truth demands it; and I indulge a hope, that, by drawing attention to the facts, I may enlist the sympathy of those who may have the power, and will exert their influence, for the amelioration of the condition of an unprotected race, and perhaps avert future similar outrages on our common humanity.

This new project of the Sultan soon became known through the town, and affected, with surprise and consternation, the friends who were working for Azora's deliverance. Ali had already some five-and-twenty of his followers in the town; these had introduced themselves as country Arabs with wood, vegetables, or fruit, for sale, while their horses were led by others personating horse-dealers. It is true that all strangers on entering the town were obliged to leave their guns at the gate with the guard till their exit; but this they evaded by carrying a second Moorish gun, while their own shorter pieces were smuggled in, in the loads or otherwise. Ali, however, did not feel himself strong enough for a _coup-de-main_, and was waiting anxiously for the chief, who, while his main body were plundering the provinces, was on his way with a chosen band, with the intention of carrying a foray to the very gates of Marocco, as well to intimidate his enemies as to aid at the same time, whether by stratagem or open force, in the redemption of his Pledge.

Ain ed Djin, a Jew himself, had informed Rachel and Ali, who had met him by appointment, of his orders, but could do nothing to help them. I will draw a veil over the sufferings of Azora's afflicted mother. Ali el Bezz was almost at his wits' end, not but that he would have destroyed every wild beast in the town rather than fail in his trust, but caution was absolutely necessary.

"Could you not poison this lion, O Jew?" said he.

"Doubtless, O Sheik!" said Demon-eye: "but there are three others."

"What will kill one will kill four," said Ali.

"And that is true, O my lord," said Demon-eye, "but then there are the panthers! O Sheik, look at these stripes upon my back. If one lion died, would here be still any skin remaining? If more lions died, how long would the Jew be alive? My head is not so beautiful as that of Rachel's daughter, but it is as useful to me; and, Inshallah, I mean to keep it. Besides, O Sheik!" and here his brutal face softened, "I love my lions, and Nasser is a king of lions, and he knows me. You Arabs love your horses."

A chord in the Arab's bosom vibrated in unison to the feeling in the breast of the Jew, and called up reminiscences, as it were the flash of light upon a picture; he was for a moment absent, and then his eyes beamed mildly on the degraded Jew, on whom he had previously looked with disgust. "God is great!" said Ali. "But where is this to take place, for I must find other means?"

"There is an old fondak," said Demon-eye, "about three hundred yards from the Rahamna gate; it is now seldom used, except when a cafila of black slaves comes in."

The Arab's face brightened. "It has a gate studded with iron, half open," said Ali hastily; "there is a mulberry-tree in the open space in front, and you can just see the top of the Kitibea above the houses. There is a water fountain under the mulberry-tree."

"You know it, O Sheik!" said Ain ed Djin. "But I hope the Rabbi's daughter will not be obstinate; better be a Moslem than eaten by a lion. I have seen these things before, but it never came to blood, for none can look on the face of a lion, with his eyes fixed on them, and no bars between, and not tremble and submit. I will delay to the last, to-morrow afternoon."

Ali had been ruminating, and heard little more than the end of this speech.

"O woman!" he said to Rachel, with a countenance which gave assurance to his words; "be of good cheer, God is merciful, your daughter is safe!"

The building above mentioned, and which was the same visited by Ali on his entrance into the town, related in a former chapter, was the arena chosen for the forthcoming ordeal. Around the centre court a massive colonnade, connected by Gothic arches, supported a roofed gallery, running above the building below; the aisles, formed by the pillars, had originally been divided into small arched rooms, intended for shops for merchants; most of these were now in ruins. The two ends were open, and at the end opposite the gateway, a double row of columns formed a deep recess under the gallery. The court-yard, long neglected, was overgrown here and there with brushwood and brambles. To this place, on the following day, Ain ed Djin removed his favourite Nasser; his heavy cage was placed upon a low truck, and dragged by a number of Jews pressed into the service. Unaccustomed to this mode of conveyance, and half famished, the lion made the crowd tremble with tremendous roars. He was at length safely lodged in a corner of the court-yard near the gate, and a cord fastened to the sliding door of the cage was carried to the gallery above.

It was late in the afternoon when the Sultan's cortege arrived: this was a signal for the crowd to disperse, their movements being accelerated by the sticks of the guards, and only a limited number of the more respectable people were admitted.

Azora in the meantime had been brought to the place in a covered litter in a state of mind impossible to describe, helpless, hopeless, wishing for death to relieve her from her misery. Passing through a crowded part of the bazaars, a ray of hope seemed to gleam upon her, as she heard a voice call out, "Is the black horse ready?" and the reply, "All is safe." It was an assurance that her friends were watchful; but nothing else occurred until she reached her destination.

A canopied seat had been prepared for the Sultan over the gateway within, and here he took his place surrounded by his officers and guards, while Azora was conducted to the end of the court-yard, and left standing in the recess under the colonnade. As the attendants left her, one of them loitered a minute and whispered, "Fear not, the lion shall not hurt you!" an assurance which could not affect her conviction that nothing short of a miracle could save her if the lion was let loose, and this attempt to raise in her heart a hope impossible of realization was only an aggravation of her sufferings.

One of the scribes in the Sultan's gallery now rose, and in a monotonous voice, as if repeating a lesson, said, "O woman, thou who hast apostatized from the faith of Islam, which thou didst acknowledge art thou ready to submit to the mercy of our lord the Khalifa, and make the profession, 'There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the Prophet of God?' Behold the lion is ready to be let loose to destroy the unbeliever." Here the deep, thundrous growling of the impatient animal came from the cage, to add emphasis to the exhortation of the Taleb.

The Sultan watched Azora eagerly to detect any sign of her wavering and appealing to his protection, but no indication of any change in her resolve met his eye. She stood absorbed, her hands clasped before her, and her eyes fixed on the ground. Suddenly rousing herself as she heard the blasphemy imputed to her, the spirit of the martyr became strong within her, she stood erect in her enthusiasm, and a halo of glory seemed visibly to surround her, as looking up with one hand aloft and the other pressed to her bosom, she exclaimed,--

"The Lord he is the God! The Lord he is the God!"

"Let loose the lion!" said the Sultan; and the door of the den was drawn up.

There was a dead silence. The lion first put his huge head cautiously forward, and looked about, but seeming ashamed of his fear he stepped boldly out and walked majestically to the middle of the space; here shaking out his mane to double its volume, he stood still,--a magnificent monster; then he looked slowly all round until his deadly eyes rested on the fragile girl. All held their breath, while the blood ran cold to every man's heart at this fearful sight.

Poor Azora, though prepared for the worst, seeing herself almost within the grasp of this powerful and merciless brute, now frowning fiercely upon her, shook with a pang of terror, which the bravest man must have felt in her position. It could not shake her resolve of dying for her faith, but she mentally prayed to that God who had delivered the prophet from the lions, to aid her in her extremity. The lion at first appeared surprised at being offered a prey, to whose species he had been so long subject. He stood glaring on the unfortunate girl and lashing his sides with his tail, when his instinct suggesting to him that some cunning was necessary to secure his victim, he walked away, apparently regardless of her presence, until hid from her by one of the large columns among the ruins, when, taking advantage of its concealment, he turned short round, and, creeping a few paces, uttered a tremendous roar, and sprang with a terrific bound towards his intended victim. A cry of horror burst involuntarily from all who witnessed this inhuman scene!

Azora's nature was no longer able to bear up against the horrors of her situation; drawing her hands convulsively to her bosom, her eyes distended, and shrinking instinctively from his fatal spring she sunk senseless and fainting to the earth. It was the work of a moment; but before the lion reached her a double shot had sent two balls through his body, and the noble animal rolled over within five yards of her, pierced to the heart, and in the agonies of death. A natural feeling of relief came over the spectators notwithstanding their fanaticism, and they were probably not displeased at the change of victims; but the Sultan could not contain his rage at this unexpected and daring interposition.

"Seize the traitor!" he shouted. "Five hundred gold pieces for the man who fired the shot!"

And the crowd poured in at the gate, some to search for the offender, and some to look at the dying lion.

Among these was poor Ain ed Djin, who sat down and took the enormous head of his pet on his knees till it had ceased to breathe. He made a shrewd guess at the author of his death, but though he loved the lion, his attachment to his race was paramount, and there was no danger of his betraying him.

Azora, as soon as she was restored, was sent back in the litter in which she came. The Sultan was convinced that his experiment was a complete failure, and, not prepared to carry further so illegal a mode of procedure, resolved to hand her over to the sentence of the law.

The parties searching the court-yard were attracted by a cloud of smoke resting on one of the thickets, and on searching the spot they discovered the well; and near its mouth they found a double gun, its butt on the ground, and the barrel resting on a forked stick planted in the earth, with a string attached to the triggers, and passing out into the court-yard. "El Aarb" (an Arab) passed from mouth to mouth, for they alone use double guns. A man now descended the well, but reported no egress, a mass of rock blocking up the passage into the underground canal. All these circumstances went to prove that the animal had been killed by a spring gun. This was reported to the Sultan as the fact, with which he was fain to be satisfied for the present. There was one in attendance, however, who was not so easily satisfied about the catastrophe of the lion's death as the Sultan; this was Abdslem: he and Hassan had not been so long plotting together without being acquainted with each other's secrets, and it was perfectly plain to him that the passage to the well had been made use of for bringing about the termination to the scene they had just witnessed. He knew of Hassan's repentance, and who but he was interested in saving Azora, and who else was acquainted with the passage? He had no doubt in his mind but that Hassan was the culprit, and his belief was confirmed on looking round and finding that he was absent. They had latterly avoided each other, but Abdslem's cupidity was excited by the offered reward of the Sultan; and while all were searching or busy on the spot, he quitted the fondak alone, and made his way to the town gate with the intention of intercepting Hassan at the pit outside the walls.

Hassan, who had been horrified at the ordeal he heard was preparing for Azora, had remained at home, but at length unable to restrain his anxiety with respect to the success of Ali's project for her deliverance, he had wandered away outside the town; and soon after arriving near the fosse he heard the report of the Arab's gun, and he retired and sat down under a tree to wait for him. A quarter of an hour had passed and Ali came not, but presently hearing some one approach he turned round, and saw it was his former ally Abdslem; this alarmed Hassan on Ali's account, but before he could decide on the mode of getting rid of him, Abdslem addressed him,--

"We have travelled that road before together."

"What road, O unwelcome one?" said Hassan.

"Underground," said Abdslem, jeeringly.

"Where you will soon be, O evil-eyed one, if you do not go whence you came. I know not what you talk of."

"How should you, O poor man?" said Abdslem; "you know nothing of the wonderful case in the fondak? You cannot shoot lions; we do not know the well; and here you are taken in the fact?"

Hassan's eye was beginning to glow.

"Wilt thou not go thy ways, O accursed one? I want not thy company."

"I know it, O darweesh!" said Abdslem, "but I want yours. In the name of the Sultan I summon you. Follow me."

"Ha! ha! the Sultan! O son of a black father, go! Return--I follow not a slave."

Abdslem derived courage from the knowledge that if he killed Hassan, he would not only be justified but rewarded. He therefore advanced upon him, saying,--

"Come you must; it is the Sultan's command."

Hassan had sprung to his feet, Abdslem rushed upon him, and a struggle ensued; Abdslem was the stronger man, and coming prepared, his dagger was first in his hand, and after a short struggle both came to the ground, Hassan under.

"Will you surrender?" said Abdslem, holding down Hassan's dagger hand, while he raised his own to strike.

"Never!" grinned Hassan, glaring upon him and catching his uplifted arm.

Abdslem's whole attention was engaged in the struggle, and he was thus prevented from noticing the presence of Ali el Bezz, who during this time had emerged from the pit and approached them. But what was his dismay on hearing a voice repeat the warning of the Duquela gate, "Beware the Falcon's swoop!" and looking up terror-struck, he met the stern glance of his former prisoner, who stood over him, and before he could recover from his surprise Ali's ataghan was buried in his throat.

As Abdslem fell, Hassan arose.

"May you be rewarded, O my friend!" he said. "The slave was too strong for me; but Azora--is she saved?"

"Saved!" said Ali; "the lion is dead, and the Sultan's beard is defiled."

"And suppose the pan had flashed," said Hassan, with a shudder.

"Both shots would not have failed; the worst is, I have lost an old friend, for I was forced to leave my good gun, to deceive the Sultan's slipper-hunters."

"But," said Hassan, "why did you delay, they will find the well, and you will be pursued?"

"Dost thou see Sheik Ali's ears growing," he said, "that I should lock the door and give my enemy the key? Before I took my station I had filled up the passage with the exception of space for me to pass, and a big rock was loosened ready to shut that, so I waited when all was done to see if they intended to open the way. But, no! one came down--I could have touched him through the crevices, and he shouts, 'There is no passage; the rocks of creation are here; it is a trap gun.' Oh, that Moslems should be such fools; may their houses be desolate!"

"God is wonderful," said Hassan, "and this lying witness, is he not accursed? But stop! if I go now, and retract my perjury, there will be no witness against her."

"I see not, O friend, how that can help her, they have the writing sworn. But what think you the Sultan cares for your witness? his will is law."

"No! he dare not," said Hassan, "the witnesses must be present, or her blood will be on the people."

"Trust it not; the eagle wants no witness against the dove; but what shall we do with this?" said Ali, pointing to the body.

"Cast him into the pit," said Hassan, "he may be wanted, and I can find him; he knew the road before, this is the last time he will use it;" and taking him between them they swung him over the side, and the body went crashing through the boughs to the bottom of the pit.

It was now getting late, and Ali promising to meet Hassan at his house after dark, they parted.