“The Seraglio is in an uproar over the murder of Iskender-to?/‹f£. and Ibrahim has not a single friend left. He has shown that neither fortune, birth, merit, nor the most tested fidelity in the Sultan’s service can protect a man from his mad lust for blood.”
This and much more she said, but I paid little heed, being still full of the wonder of Bagdad, and I had not the smallest doubt that despite all intrigues the Grand Vizier’s star of fortune was now rising to its zenith.
Soon after my return a wealthy Jewish dealer in precious stones called upon me, honored me with many fine presents, and by way of introduction brought me greetings from Aaron in Vienna. After mutual expressions of esteem he said, “You’re the friend of the great Khaireddin, Michael el-Hakim, and it seems that last summer when Khaireddin attacked Tunis, Sultan Muley-Hassan was forced to flee from his kasbah. In his fright he left behind him a red velvet bag containing two hundred selected diamonds of considerable size. In the list of presents sent by Khaireddin to the Sultan there is no mention of these stones, and no trace of their sale has been found either in Istanbul, Aleppo, or Cairo. I have made many inquiries about the matter among my colleagues in different cities, for as you may fancy, so considerable a treasure aroused my curiosity. You need not regret speaking openly to me, Michael el-Hakim, and telling me all you know of this. I would offer you the highest possible prices and assure you of my silence. If necessary I can sell these diamonds in India and even China without anything becoming known of the matter. I am accustomed to such traffic, and if as I suppose the Grand Vizier is concerned in it-for it represents a vast fortune-he need feel no uneasiness about the consequences.”
“Allah is Allah!” I exclaimed in some indignation. “Where did you hear all this nonsense? And how dare you insult the Grand Vizier by mentioning his name in the same breath with such an affair? I have never even heard of these diamonds.”
But the Jew swore to the truth of what he said and in an attempt to convince me he went on, “Muley-Hassan himself laments his loss in a letter to the Emperor-a letter actually seen by a colleague of mine. The Tunisian Sultan’s ambassador to the Imperial Court has openly boasted of it, to draw attention to his lord’s wealth.”
Aghast, I seized the Jew by the beard, and shaking his head by it I cried, “Wretch, what are you saying? What is Muley-Hassan’s ambassador doing at the Emperor’s Court?”
The honest Jew freed his beard and said reproachfully, “Are you a stranger in the city? The news is in every man’s mouth. The Knights of St. John and the Pope himself have besought the Emperor to drive Khaireddin from Tunis. Sultan Muley-Hassan has appealed to the Emperor; he declares that all his misfortunes have resulted from his loyalty to Charles, and so for his own sake Charles must at least try to help him.”
If all this was true it was indeed high time for me to hasten to Tunis, carry out my task there, and hurry away before the Emperor’s attack. I ought to have relied more on Ibrahim’s foresight and not dallied so long on the way. I therefore hastily dismissed the Jew with renewed assurances that I knew nothing of his diamonds, and with promises to inquire secretly into the matter. This I did merely to be rid of him, for I had other things to think of now.
Fair winds and a swift galley brought me to the yellow Tunisian coast and within sight of the Fortress of La Goletta, from whose tower floated Khaireddin’s green and red standard with its silver crescent. Great activity prevailed. Trenches were being dug, barricades erected, and thousands of half-naked, sunburned Spanish and Italian slaves were widening the canal to Tunis. This city is situated on the shores of a shallow salt lake and is separated from the sea by swamps. The sight of Khaireddin’s war galleys anchored in long rows in the harbor greatly relieved and cheered me, but not until I approached the city itself did I realize the true significance of Khaireddin’s latest capture. I had indeed heard much of the wealth and might of Tunis, but discounted much of it as flights of fancy on the part of Khaireddin and Sinan the Jew. Within the city walls there were, besides the kas- bah and the great mosque, about twenty thousand houses, or at least two hundred thousand people; Tunis could thus compare with the great cities of Europe. Not even Khaireddin knew the number of Christian slaves, but I fancy their number did not exceed twenty thousand.
To my great delight I saw that the reconquest of Tunis for Muley- Hassan would be no easy task even for the Emperor. Only by cunning and the incitement of the inhabitants to revolt had Khaireddin contrived to enter it, and even after Muley-Hassan’s flight there had been long and bloody street fighting before the people laid down their arms. The sturdy, defiant towers of La Goletta appeared impregnable and blocked the road that ran along the canal into the city, while numberless little lakes and poisonous swamps on either side of this canal made encirclement almost impossible.
Khaireddin received me with every sign of delight, embracing me like a long-lost son and entertaining me so lavishly that I began to fear the worst. He gave me no opportunity of speaking, but boasted loudly of his defenses and the savage lesson he would give the Emperor and Doria if they came too near Tunis. When I inquired how it was that his proud ships lay at anchor instead of sailing forth to engage Doria in open combat, he turned very sulky and asked for the latest news of the war in Persia and of Iskender-ta?/e£’.r execution, of which he had heard only the mendacious rumors of the Seraglio. Was it indeed true that Grand Vizier Ibrahim had gone out of his mind and ran about on all fours foaming at the mouth and chewing the carpets? To this I replied sharply that such a tale was nothing but malicious invention. Khaireddin listened attentively, stroking his beard, and I fancied I saw a guilty look in those prominent eyes of his, as of a child caught out in some misdeed. My misgivings increased.
The same evening, therefore, I sought out Abu el-Kasim, since Andy was outside the city directing the fortifications. Abu had bought himself a pleasant house with a walled garden and had so far overcome his avarice as to furnish it richly and buy a flock of slaves to wait upon his wife and son. Looking at him now it was easy to forget that he was nothing but a petty merchant who had made his fortune by adulterating drugs and inventing new names for age-old ointments.
Like a proud father he led the splendidly dressed Kasim forward to greet me, and seemed to imagine I had forgotten that the boy was not his son. Contrary to Moslem custom he allowed his Russian wife to approach me with only a thin veil over her face, hoping to elicit my admiration for her gorgeous clothes and jewels, beside which he looked like a gray spider.
Having sent wife and son back to the harem, Abu el-Kasim offered me wine and said in a worried tone, “Khaireddin’s janissaries and renegades are perhaps not the best shepherds in the world, and their manner of fleecing their sheep has aroused much discontent among the inhabitants of Tunis-above all among the old Arab families who under Tunisian sultans were members of the Divan and could manage the city as they pleased. A month or so ago a Spanish merchant arrived here. He seems to have no notion of the nature or value of his wares, and sells the most precious of them to chosen customers for a mere song in the hope of winning their favor. He sells spices and even perfumes without the least reference to the prices agreed upon among the merchants here, so you may judge of my indignation when I heard of him.”
Abu el-Kasim assumed an injured air and looked sideways at me as he sipped his wine.
“This Spaniard has in his service a Christian Moor who is far too much inclined to wander about after dark-not with sighs and a rose in his hand, but on visits to Muley-Hassan’s warmest adherents and other malcontents. From sheer curiosity I have had these two men shadowed and several times the Spaniard has openly visited the kasbah and offered merchandise to no less a man than Khaireddin. Not only that, but Khaireddin has had lengthy conversations with him in private. I’m prepared to wager that the foreigner is an Imperial agent and probably a Spanish nobleman, since he behaves so foolishly and has a Christian Moor for a servant.”