attention of the Turkish fleet, and then row out to
Beikos. With favorable weather thou shouldst get to Durazzo in ten
days. Simultaneously, I from one quarter, Kleon from a second, and
Odysseus from a third will attack the army of Gaskho Bey, and if my
sons are victorious at sea, in the evening of the same day we shall be
able to rest in one another's arms."

Dirham wept like a child.

The pasha continued his directions:

"At every step be cautious. Accomplish everything amidst the greatest
secrecy. Don't let my sons scatter their money right and left, lest
their wealth be suspected and give rise to envy and jealousy. It would
be better if they left the bulk of it on board ship, and only drew
from it whatever may be necessary for the time being. When thou dost
communicate with Bublinia, write on the parchment all sorts of
different things higgledy-piggledy. Say, for instance, that thou art
disembarking wool in Crete, and will consign it to Argyrocantharides,
who is friendly with the Sultan and all the pashas, and, at the same
time, an intermediary between us and the Greeks. But in the empty
spaces between the lines let Mukhtar write the message for Bublinia in
special characters with oil of vitriol; then, when thou dost hand over
the documents, moisten these special rows of letters with a piece of
citron. But stay, I will give thee a still better counsel. Melt some
lunar caustic in water, and write therewith thy message on the shell
of hard-boiled eggs. Then boil the eggs again; and when thou dost
break them open thou wilt find the writing visible on the white
membrane inside. Do that. Eggs are the least suspicious of cargoes."

Dirham made a careful mental note of all that was told him, secretly
amazed that Ali Pasha should have extended his attention to the
smallest details.

"One thing more," said Ali, and his voice trembled with emotion. "I
know right well that I am giving my sons dangerous parts to play, and
the issue thereof is uncertain. Take, therefore, this ring; the stone
set in it contains a talisman. Give it to Mukhtar. Let him wear it on
his finger, and if ever he finds himself environed by a great danger,
a very great danger--which Allah forfend!--then let him open the stone
of the ring and read the talisman engraved therein. But this he is
only to do if a great danger be at hand, when he trembles for his
life, when the lowest slave would not change heads with him; for when
once it has been read th