The Middy and the Moors - Robert Michael Ballantyne (best biographies to read .txt) š
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At the time when our hero first arrived at Ben-Ahmedās home, he had been despoiled of his own garments while he was in bedāthe slave costume having been left in their place. On application to his friend Peter, however, his pocket-knife, pencil, letters, and a few other things had been returned to him. Thus, while waiting, he was able to turn his time to account by making a sketch of the interior of the coffee-house, to the great surprise and gratification of the negroes thereāperhaps, also, of the Moorsābut these latter were too reticent and dignified to express any interest by word or look, whatever they might have felt.
He was thus engaged when Peter returned.
āHallo, Geoāge!ā exclaimed the negro, āwhat you bin up toāmakinā picturs?ā
āOnly a little sketch,ā said Foster, holding it up.
āA skitch!ā repeated Peter, grasping the letter, and holding it out at armās length with the air of a connoisseur, while he compared it with the original. āYou call dis a skitch? Well! I neber see de like ob disāno, neber. Itās lubly. Dereās de kittles anā de pots anā de jars, anāāha, ha! dereās de man wid deādeāwart on āis nose! Oh! das fust-rate. Massaās awrful fond ob skitchinā. He wouldnāt sell you now for ten tāousand dollars.ā
Fortunately the Arab with the wart on his nose was ignorant of English, otherwise he might have had some objection to being thus transferred to paper, and brought, as Arabs think, under āthe power of the evil eye.ā Before the exact nature of what had been done, however, was quite understood, Peter had paid for the coffee, and, with the amateur artist, had left the place.
āNothing surprises me more,ā said Foster, as they walked along, āthan to see such beautiful wells and fountains in streets so narrow that one actually has not enough room to step back and look at them properly. Look at that one now, with the negress, the Moor, and the water-carrier waiting their turn while the little girl fills her water-pot. See what labour has been thrown away on that fountain. What elegance of design, what columns of sculptured marble, and fine tessellated work stuck up where few people can see it, even when they try to.ā
āTrue, Geoāge. De water would run as well out ob a ugly fountain as a pritty one.ā
āBut itās not that I wonder at, Peter; itās the putting of such splendid work in such dark narrow lanes that surprises me. Why do they go to so much expense in such a place as this?ā
āOh! as to expense, Geoāge. Dey donāt go to none. You see, we hab no end ob slabes here, ob all kinds, anā trades anā purfessions, what cost nuffin but a leetle black bread to keep āem alibe, anā a whackinā now anā den to make āem work. Bress you! dem marble fountains anā tāings cost the pirits nuffin. Now weās goinā up to see the Kasba.ā
āWhat is that, Peter?ā
āWhat! you not know what de Kasba am? My, how ignorant you is! De Kasba is de citadālāde fortāwhere all de money anā tāingsātreasure you call itāam kepā safe. Strong place, de Kasbaāawrful strong.ā
āIāll be glad to see that,ā said Foster.
āHo yes. You be glad to see it wid me,ā returned the negro significantly, ābut not so glad if you go dere wid chains on you legs anā pick or shovel on you shoulder. Seeādere dey go!ā
As he spoke a band of slaves was seen advancing up the narrow street. Standing aside in a doorway to let them pass, Foster saw that the band was composed of men of many nations. Among them he observed the fair hair and blue eyes of the Saxon, the dark complexion and hair of the Spaniard and Italian, and the black skin of the negroābut all resembled each other in their looks and lines of care, and in the weary anxiety and suffering with which every countenance was stamped,āalso in the more or less dejected air of the slaves, and the soiled ragged garments with which they were covered.
But if some of the resemblances between these poor creatures were strong, some of their differences were still more striking. Among them were men whose robust frames had not yet been broken down, whose vigorous spirits had not been quite tamed, and whose scowling eyes and compressed lips revealed the fact that they were ādangerous.ā These walked along with clanking chains on their limbsāchains which were more or less weighty, according to the strength and character of the wearer. Others there were so reduced in health, strength, and spirit, that the chain of their own feebleness was heavy enough for them to drag to their daily toil. Among these were some with hollow cheeks and sunken eyes, whose weary pilgrimage was evidently drawing to a close; but all, whether strong or weak, fierce or subdued, were made to tramp smartly up the steep street, being kept up to the mark by drivers, whose cruel whips cracked frequently on the shoulders of the lagging and the lazy.
With a heart that felt as if ready to burst with conflicting emotions, the poor midshipman looked on, clenching his teeth to prevent unwise exclamations, and unclenching his fists to prevent the tendency to commit assault and battery!
āThis is dreadful,ā he said, in a low voice, when the gang had passed.
āYes, Geoāge, it is dreffulābut weās used to it, you know. Come, weāll foller dis gang.ā
Keeping about twenty yards behind, they followed the slaves into the Kasba, where they met with no interruption from the guards, who seemed to be well acquainted with Peter the Great, though they did not condescend to notice him, except by a passing glance.
āHow is it that every one lets you pass so easily?ā asked Foster, when they had nearly reached the southern wall of the fortress.
āEberybody knows me so wellādas one reason,ā answered the negro, with a grin of self-satisfaction.
āIās quite a public krakter in dis yar city, you musā know. Den, anoder tāing is, dat our massa am a man ob power. He not got no partikler office in de state, ācause he not require it, for heās a rich man, but heās got great power wid de Deyāweās bof got dat!ā
āIndeed; how so?ā
āStand here, under dis doorway, and I tell youādis way, where you can see de splendid view ob de whole city anā de harbour anā sea bāyond. We kin wait a bit here while de slabes are gittinā ready to work. You see de bit ob wall datās damaged dere? Well, deyāre goinā to repair dat. Weāll go look at āem by-anā-by.ā
As the incident which Peter narrated might prove tedious if given in his own language, we take the liberty of relating it for him.
One fine morning during the previous summer the Dey of Algiers mounted his horseāa fiery little Arabāand, attended by several of his courtiers, cantered away in the direction of the suburb which is now known by the name of Mustapha SupĆ©rieur. When drawing near to the residence of Ben-Ahmed the Deyās horse became unmanageable and ran away. Being the best horse of the party, the courtiers were soon left far behind. It chanced that Ben-Ahmed and his man, Peter the Great, were walking together towards the city that day. On turning a sharp bend in the road where a high bank had shut out their view they saw a horseman approaching at a furious gallop.
āIt is the Dey!ā exclaimed Ben-Ahmed.
āSo it am!ā responded Peter.
āHe canāt make the turn of the road and live!ā cried the Moor, all his dignified self-possession vanishing as he prepared for action.
āI will check the horse,ā he added, in a quick, low voice. āYou break his fall, Peter. Heāll come off on the left side.ā
āDas so, massa,ā said Peter, as he sprang to the other side of the narrow road.
He had barely done so, when the Dey came thundering towards them.
āStand aside!ā he shouted as he came on, for he was a fearless horseman and quite collected, though in such peril.
But Ben-Ahmed would not stand aside. Although an old man, he was still active and powerful. He seized the reins of the horse as it was passing, and, bringing his whole weight and strength to bear, checked it so far that it made a false step and stumbled. This had the effect of sending the Dey out of the saddle like a bomb from a mortar, and of hurling Ben-Ahmed to the ground. Ill would it have fared with the Dey at that moment if Peter the Great had not possessed a mechanical turn of mind, and a big, powerful body, as well as a keen, quick eye for possibilities. Correcting his distance in a moment by jumping back a couple of paces, he opened his arms and received the chief of Algiers into his broad black bosom!
The shock was tremendous, for the Dey was by no means a light weight, and Peter the Great went down before it in the dust, while the great man arose, shaken indeed, and confused, but unhurt by the accident.
Ben-Ahmed also arose uninjured, but Peter lay still where he had fallen.
āWāen I come-to to myself,ā continued Peter, on reaching this point in his narrative, āde fusā tāing I tāink was dat Iād been buāsted. Den I look up, anā I sees our black cook. Sheās a nigger, like myself, only a she one.
āāHallo, Angelica!ā says I; āwass de matter?ā
āāMatter!ā says she; āyouās deadāaāmost, anā dey lefā you here wid me, wid strik orders to take care ob you.ā
āāDas good,ā says I; āanā you better look out anā obey your orders, else de bowstring bery soon go round your pritty little neck. But tell me, Angelica, who brought me here?ā
āāDe Dey ob Algiers anā all his court,ā says she, wid a larf dat shut up her eyes anā showed what a enormous moutā she hab.
āāIs he all safe, Angelica,ā says Iāāmassa, I mean?ā
āāOh, I tāought you meant de Dey!ā says she. āOh yes; massaās all right; nuffināll kill massa, heās tough. And de Dey, heās all right too.ā
āāDas good, Angelica,ā says I, feelinā quite sweet, for I was beginninā to remember what had took place.
āāYes, das is good,ā says she; āanā, Peter, your fortinās made!ā
āāDas awkāard,ā says I, āfor I aināt got no chest or strong box ready to put it in. But now tell me, Angelica, if my fortinās made, will you marry me, anā help to spend it?ā
āāYes, I will,ā says she.
āI was so took by surprise, Geoāge, when she say dat, I sprung up on one elber, anā felled down agin wid a howl, for two oā my ribs had been broke.
āāNeber mind de yells, Angelica,ā says I, āitās only my leetle ways. But tell me why you allers refuse me before anā accepā me now. Is itādeāde fortin?ā Oh, you should have seen her pout wāen I ax dat. Her moutā came out about two inch from her face. I could hab kissed itābut for de broken ribs.
āāNo, Peter, for shame!ā says she, wid rijeous indignation. āDe fortin hab nuffin to do wid it, but your own noble self-scarifyinā bravery in presentinā your buzzum to de Dey ob Algiers.ā
āāTāank you, Angelica,ā says I. āDas all comfrably settled. Youās a good gall, kiss me now, anā go away.ā
āSo she gib me a kiss anā I turn round anā went sweetly to sleep on de back ob datāfor I was awrful tired, anā de ribs was
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