r to cancel the sentence against your father and brother, and
let them be sent to the palace immediately. I will speak with thee
again on the matter.--Meanwhile, will Monsieur le Consul come and behold
the present which I am preparing for my royal master the Sublime Porte?"

There was a touch of sarcasm in the tone in which he used the words
"royal master," which the consul understood well enough, for he was
aware that although nominally subject to Turkey, Algiers was to all
intents and purposes an independent power, and that the present referred
to was almost all the benefit derived by the Sultan from his piratical
vassal.

It was costly enough, no doubt, viewed simply in the light of a gift,
and afforded a subject of great interest to the consul when permitted to
survey it--an honour, by the way, which the Dey would not have conferred
on the consul of any of the other nations represented at the Algerine
court, for the British consul at that time was, as we have said, a
special favourite. It consisted of two magnificent milk-white Arab
horses, richly caparisoned; their saddles and bridles being profusely
ornamented with diamonds and other gems, and their shoes being made of
pure gold; several boxes of rare and costly jewels; six women-slaves
with skins of the most beautiful ebony tint; a number of black-maned
lions, several parrots, and a few monkeys.

"Your highness is resolved to please the Sultan by means of variety,"
observed the consul, with a smile, after commenting on the gift in
detail.

"That," replied Achmet, "would have little power to please if the jewels
were not numerous and costly. But happily our treasury can afford it,
although we have not been very successful in war of late."

He looked at the consul with a sly smile as he spoke, but the latter
deemed it wise to be lost in admiration of some of the jewels in
question.

After examining the "present," the consul retired, and Achmet went to
his private apartments to enjoy a cup of coffee and a pipe.

The room in which he sat was similar to that already described as being
the reception-room of the bridal party, only the decorations were if
possible more elaborate and sumptuous. Here, seated on rich cushions,
with, not his most beautiful, but his wisest wife beside him, Achmet--
once a petty officer of janissaries--gave himself up to the enjoyment of
the hour. Christian slaves--once the happy butterflies of European and
other lands--attended o