er their compatriots and their lost home and faith,
others out-heroded the Moors themselves in ferocity, especially towards
the Christian captives; nor was a Dutchman likely to have any special
tenderness in his composition, above all towards the French. However,
there was a certain smile on the lips of Reis Hamed, and he answered with
a very hearty, 'Ja! ja! Madame. Upon my soul I will let no harm come to
you or the pretty little ones, nor the young vrouwkins either, if they
will keep close. You are safe by treaty. A Reis would have to pay a
heavy reckoning with Mehemed Dey if a French ambassador had to complain
of him, and you will bear me witness, Madame, that I have not touched a
hair of any of your heads!'

'I am sure you wish me well, sir,' said Madame de Bourke in a dignified
way, 'but I require to be certified of the safety of the rest of my
suite, my steward, my lackey, and my husband's secretary, a young
gentleman of noble birth.'

'They are safe, Madame. This Italian slave can bear me witness that no
creature has been harmed since my crew boarded this vessel.'

'I desire then that they may be released, as being named in my passport.'

To this the Dutchman consented.

Whereupon the skipper began to wring his hands, and piteously to beseech
Madame to intercede for him, but the Dutchman cut him short before she
could speak. 'Dog of an Italian, the lady knows better! You and your
fellows are our prize--poor enough after all the trouble you have given
us in chasing you.'

Madame de Bourke spoke kindly to the poor man, telling him that though
she could do nothing for him now, it was possible that she might when she
should have rejoined her husband, and she then requested the Reis to land
her and her suite in his long-boat on the Spanish coast, which could be
seen in the distance, promising him ample reward if he could do so.

To this he replied: 'Madame, you ask what would be death to me.'

He went on to explain that if he landed her on Christian ground, without
first presenting her and her passport to the Dey and the French Consul,
his men might represent him as acting in the interests of the Christians,
and as a traitor to the Algerine power, by taking a bribe from a person
belonging to a hostile state, in which case the bowstring would be the
utmost mercy he could expect; and the reigning Dey, Mehemed, having been
only recently chosen, it was impossible to guess how he might deal with
such cases.