g a huge
concave buckler in front of him, and felt a third bullet pierce
through the twofold layers of buffalo-hide and graze his body.

The torches went out one after another, whereupon the spacious
court-yard was darkened; only the flash of firearms cast an occasional
gleam of light upon the struggling mass.

It might have been two hours after midnight when suddenly there was a
cessation of hostilities. Both sides were weary, and ceased firing;
the Janissaries whispered amongst themselves, and at last in the midst
of a deep silence, Kara Makan's thunderous voice made itself heard:

"Listen, all of ye who are inside the Seraglio. Ye are good warriors,
and we are good warriors also, and it is folly for the Faithful to
destroy one another. We did not take up arms to slay you and plunder
the Seraglio, neither do we wish to kill the Padishah nor the heir to
the throne; but we would rescue them from the hands of the traitors
who surround them, and we would also deliver the realm from faithless
Viziers and counsellors. Give us, therefore, the prince, the Sultan's
son. Of a truth no harm shall befall him, and we will thereupon quit
the court-yard of the Seraglio and trouble nobody within these doors.
If, however, you will not grant our request, then Allah be merciful to
all who are within these beleaguered walls."

The Kizlar-Agasi conveyed this message into the Seraglio, and
besiegers and besieged awaited with rapt attention the reply of the
Valideh; for the decision lay with her--she was superior in rank to
all four of the Asseki sultanas.

After the lapse of a quarter of an hour the Kizlar-Agasi returned, and
signified to the besiegers that the prince would be handed over to
them.

The Janissaries received this message with a howl of triumph, while
the ichoglanler shrugged their shoulders.

"They are not all women in there for nothing," said Thomar, savagely,
to the Kizlar-Agasi, and he remained standing in the gate, that he
might, at any rate, kiss the young prince's hand and whisper to him
not to go.

The Janissaries relit their torches and crowded towards the gate.
Inside reigned a pitch-black darkness.

Not long afterwards footsteps were audible in the dark corridor, and,
escorted by two torch-bearers, the prince descended the steps. He had
on the same garment which he wore when he went on horseback to the
Mosque of Sophia during the Feast of Bairam. How the people had then
huzzahed before him! He wore pant