st of contemptuous laughter, and
Ali Pasha himself, springing forward, whirled the dagger from my grasp
with his yataghan. This done, he sternly fixed his glance upon me and
said:

"'Haydee, wife of Monte-Cristo, Haydee, the Greek slave, you are my
captive! Sons of Islam, seize her and conduct her to the slave mart of
Stamboul!'

"Three Turks advanced to obey this command. They seized me and in vain
did I struggle in their ruffianly grasp. In a moment I was securely
bound and gagged. A mantle was thrown over my head. I felt myself thrust
into a sack and swooned just as one of the buccaneers was lifting me
upon his shoulder.

"When I recovered consciousness, I found myself, with a number of
half-clad Georgian and Circassian girls, in the dreaded slave bazaar of
Constantinople. Old memories, fraught with terror, rushed upon me. I
recalled the time when I was before exposed for sale and Monte-Cristo
had bought me. Would he come to my rescue once more? I scarcely dared to
hope for such a thing. I pictured to myself the Count's desolation and
distress on discovering that I had been stolen from him. But what could
he do? How could he find me again? And even should he discover me, how
could he snatch me from the grasp of Ali Pasha, whose favor with the
Sultan was notorious? Monte-Cristo, with all his prestige, was but one
man, and no match for the mendaciousness, duplicity and power of the
entire Turkish court! I was lost, and nothing could save me!

"How shall I describe my feelings when I realized that I was even then,
at that very moment, exposed for sale, that from being the free and
honored wife of Monte-Cristo I had suddenly become a mere article of
human merchandise, valued simply at so many miserable piastres! My fate
hung upon a thread. Would I be purchased by some grandee as a new
ornament for his harem, or was I destined to fall into the hands of a
brutal master, to be used as a household drudge for the execution of
bitter and revolting tasks?

"When each new purchaser entered the bazaar I trembled from head to
foot, I quivered in every limb. One by one I saw the unfortunate
Georgian and Circassian girls inspected and disposed of, until at last I
was the only slave unsold in the entire mart. I thought my turn must
speedily come, that the next Mussulman who entered would surely buy me,
and I had firmly resolved upon suicide at the first opportunity,
choosing death rather than slavery.

"Ali Pasha had personal