I fancied the noise was all salutes and salvos until something crashed into the wall of the mosque. I ran out in a fright, to see the great minaret toppling in a cloud of lime dust. Nothing more fortunate for Khaireddin’s purpose could have occurred, for the crowds, filled with righteous indignation, accused the Spaniards with shrieks of deliberately firing upon the mosque.
Captain de Varga himself must have been appalled at what he had done, for the firing soon ceased. But Khaireddin proclaimed in a voice of thunder that this sacrilege should be the last crime committed by Christians in Algiers. For Abu el-Kasim the incident was a gift from heaven, since the merchants were in a hurry to get home, and the Faqih suddenly remembered that it was his hour for solitary meditation. The valuation of the goods was therefore very summarily performed and much to the advantage of Abu el-Kasim, who professed willingness to remain in the mosque all day for the sake of a fair and equitable assessment.
Our house in the street of the spice merchants stood at a relatively sheltered corner, and Abu el-Kasim hastened, not without difficulty, to convey his new possessions home. With the help of a few courageous donkey drivers we at last had everything secured behind bolts and bars.
I began to feel great anxiety about my brother Andy, and wanted to visit the palace and help him in any way I could. At first Abu refused on any account to let me go, saying that the deaf-mute could not be left to guard the treasure alone. But when I mocked him for becoming a slave to his own greed, instead of trusting to Allah as the best watchman, he cursed and swore indeed. Yet he sought out the deaf-mute and, thrusting a cudgel into his hand, ordered him in violent pantomime to stay behind the door and club anyone on the head who tried to enter.
Abu el-Kasim and I then hastened to the palace, and as we went Abu observed, “Great men have short memories. We must put in a word for your brother and try to get in touch with Sinan the Jew. And if we achieve nothing else, we shall at least be invited to a meal at the palace.”
We encountered many merchants and sheiks belonging to the most distinguished families in the city. They were coming away from an audience with Khaireddin, and gesticulated excitedly as they discussed what had been said.
On our arrival we were warmly welcomed by Khaireddin, who sat beneath a canopy on Selim’s red velvet cushion, surrounded by his most eminent officers, of whom I already knew Sinan the Jew and proud Captain Torgut. A map of Algiers harbor lay outspread at Khaireddin’s feet. Pointing to the Spanish fortress and the sandbanks near it he said, “Allah is with us, and I could not have chosen a better moment for the capture of that fortress. It lacks both provisions and powder, the guns are worn, and I have some of my own men there who will do as much damage as they can, and try to convince the Spaniards of the uselessness of resistance. We must waste no time over this little enterprise, for our anchorage is exposed, and the spring victualing flotilla from Cartagena may already have sailed with necessities for the garrison. You shall have eight days in which to effect the capture.”
Khaireddin explained to each officer what he had to do, and gave orders for the ships to weigh anchor next morning and bombard the fortress from the sea. The shore battery he put under Torgut’s command, since this proud man had risen to his present position from the rank of ordinary gunner. He then commended his officers to Allah’s protection and dismissed them, keeping only Sinan at his side. Mustafa ben-Nakir also remained, being too deeply engrossed in the scansion of a new Persian poem to notice that the others had withdrawn. But now he raised his eyes and stared at me with the veiled look of a sleepwalker, then rose and despite my protests undressed me and gave me in exchange the fine kaftan and the Aga’s turban that he had been wearing. He resumed his own mendicant dress, and the music of its little bells so greatly inspired him that he was soon deep in composition once more.
I put on the kaftan, but having set the turban upon my head also I quickly removed it and said, “I’m but a slave and have certainly no right to the Aga’s turban. By your favor, O lord of the sea, I lay it at your feet. Bestow it upon some worthier man whom your warriors will obey.”
Though it was a bitter thing to renounce the plumed and jeweled turban, I thought of the forthcoming siege, and the flaunting of so noticeable and perilous a headdress tempted me not at all. The folds of the kaftan, however, felt unusually thick. As if fate would reward me for my unselfishness, I found two pockets, in each of which was a heavy purse. But I would not expose anyone to temptation by taking them out to examine them. To cap this, Mustafa ben-Nakir contemptuously threw at me my own purse, which I had left in the girdle pocket of his dress, for men of his sect despise money beyond everything.
While I was putting on the kaftan, Sinan the Jew suddenly spoke. “What do I seep Is this not the angel Michael, my slave, whom I lent to Abu el-Kasim, to help him prepare the way for the Deliverer?”
He rose and embraced me warmly, taking care at the same time to feel the stuff of my kaftan; for it was indeed a superb garment, embroidered all over with gold and having gold buttons set with green stones. Abu el-Kasim was pale with envy, but Sinan the Jew turned to Khaireddin and said, “Believe me, Khaireddin, this man who has chosen the right path brings good fortune with him, for he has a singular gift for creeping in and out through the smallest keyhole, and whatever happens to him he falls on his feet, like a cat. With all this he bears ill will to no one, and would have everyone be happy in his own fashion.”
Abu el-Kasim broke in hotly, “Don’t listen to him, lord of the sea! Michael is the laziest, greediest, most ungrateful man on earth. If he had any sense of what is fitting he would change kaftans with me, for what is he but my slave?”
Khaireddin replied, “That kaftan becomes him better than it would you, and he needs such a one, so I’m told, to win the heart of a certain vain woman. Your secrets I have already learned from Mustafa ben- Nakir here, when he appeared before me as the ear and eye of the High Porte. This, of course, I ought not to have mentioned, and I can’t think how it came to slip over my tongue.”
Abu el-Kasim was thrown into a great fright by this, and made haste to kiss the ground before Mustafa ben-Nakir, and would have kissed his feet too, if the poet had not kicked him. But I said, “Lord, may your slave address you? While laughter wrinkles are yet radiant about your eyes, let me put in a word for my brother, lying now in fear of death in the dungeon beneath our feet. Let him be fetched and let me speak on his behalf, for he’s a foolish, simple man, incapable of arranging words in a seemly manner.”
Khaireddin replied, “Not so, let us go ourselves to fetch the notable Antar, of whose strength I have heard such tales. But don’t betray me. Let me stand by unknown, and hear what he says when he wakes.”
We left Mustafa ben-Nakir to finish his poem and descended to the cellar floor-Khaireddin, Sinan, Abu el-Kasim, and myself. The jailer shoved aside the iron trap door, and each of us in turn was lowered into the cell, where my dog Rael at once greeted me with joyful barks. Andy woke and sat up, holding his head in both hands and staring at us bleary eyed. The water jar was empty and all the bread eaten, and he had indescribably befouled the floor all about him. After glaring at us for some time he asked in a feeble voice, “What’s happened? Where am I? Why weren’t you with me, Michael, in the hour of my degradation? Only this brute beast witnessed my awakening, and licked my aching head in pity.”
He put his hand to his stomach and groaned.