ion of a stick, and Vaya, apparently overwhelmed by terror and
affliction, went round to all the nobles of the town, vainly entreating
them to intercede for him. The only favour which Mouktar Pacha could
obtain for him was a sentence of exile allowing him to retreat to
Macedonia.

Athanasius departed from Janina with all the demonstrations of utter
despair, and continued his route with the haste of one who fears
pursuit. Arrived in Macedonia, he assumed the habit of a monk, and
undertook a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, saying that both the disguise and
the journey were necessary to his safety. On the way he encountered
one of the itinerant friars of the great Servian convent, to whom he
described his disgrace in energetic terms, begging him to obtain his
admission among the lay brethren of his monastery.

Delighted at the prospect of bringing back to the fold of the Church
a man so notorious for his crimes, the friar hastened to inform his
superior, who in his turn lost no time in announcing to Pacho Bey that
his compatriot and companion in misfortune was to be received among the
lay brethren, and in relating the history of Athanasius as he himself
had heard it. Pacho Bey, however, was not easily deceived, and at once
guessing that Vaya's real object was his own assassination, told his
doubts to the superior, who had already received him as a friend. The
latter retarded the reception of Vaya so as to give Pacho time to escape
and take the road to Constantinople. Once arrived there, he determined
to brave the storm and encounter Ali openly.

Endowed by nature with a noble presence and with masculine firmness,
Pacho Bey possessed also the valuable gift of speaking all the various
tongues of the Ottoman Empire. He could not fail to distinguish himself
in the capital and to find an opening for his great talents. But his
inclination drove him at first to seek his fellow-exiles from Epirus,
who were either his old companions in arms, friends, or relations, for
he was allied to all the principal families, and was even, through his
wife, nearly connected with his enemy, Ali Pacha himself.

He had learnt what this unfortunate lady had already endured on his
account, and feared that she would suffer yet more if he took active
measures against the pacha. While he yet hesitated between affection
and revenge, he heard that she had died of grief and misery. Now that
despair had put an end to uncertainty, he set his hand to the work.