was nearly a month since the corsair had arrived, and the story of the
Genoese tartane being captured and lost with French ladies on board had
leaked out. The French Consul had himself seen and interrogated the
Dutch renegade captain, had become convinced of the identity of the
unfortunate passengers, and had given up all hopes of them, so that he
greeted the boy as one risen from the dead.

To know that the boy's sister and uncle were still in the hands of the
Cabeleyzes was almost worse news than the death of his mother, for this
wild Arab tribe had a terrible reputation even among the Moors and Turks.

The only thing that could be devised after consultation between the two
consuls, the French envoy, and the English captain, was that an audience
should be demanded of the Dey, and Estelle's letter presented the next
morning. Meanwhile Arthur and Ulysse were to remain as guests at the
English Consulate. The French one would have made them welcome, but
there was no lady in his house; and Mrs. Thompson had given Arthur a hint
that his little charge would be the better for womanly care.

There was further consultation whether young Hope, as a runaway slave--who
had, however, carried off a relapsed renegade with him--would be safe on
shore beyond the precincts of the Consulate; but as no one had any claim
on him, and it might be desirable to have his evidence at hand, it was
thought safe that he should remain, and Captain Beresford promised to
come ashore in the morning to join the petitioners to the Dey.

Perhaps he was not sorry, any more than was Arthur, for the opportunity
of beholding the wonderful city and palace, which were like a dream of
beauty. He came ashore early, with two or three officers, all in full
uniform; and the audience having been granted, the whole party--consuls,
M. Dessault, and their attendants--mounted the steep, narrow stone steps
leading up the hill between the walls of houses with fantastically carved
doorways or lattices; while bare-legged Arabs niched themselves into
every coigne of vantage with baskets of fruit or eggs, or else
embroidering pillows and slippers with exquisite taste.

The beauty of the buildings was unspeakable, and they projected enough to
make a cool shade--only a narrow fragment of deep blue sky being visible
above them. The party did not, however, ascend the whole 497 steps, as
the abode of the Dey was then not the citadel, but the palace of Djenina
in the heart