Other detachments of these gunners are
distributed among the various hillocks. On the wings of the host are
placed the Albanian cavalry, the Tartars, and the Druses of Horan. The
centre of the host belongs of right to the flower, the kernel of the
imperial army--the haughty Janissaries.
And certainly they seemed to be very well aware that they were the cream
of the host, and that therefore it was not lawful for any other division
of the army to draw near them, much less mingle with them, unless it
were a few _delis_, whom they permitted to roam up and down their ranks
full of crazy exaltation.
The whole host is full of the joy of battle, and if, from time to time,
fierce shouts and thunderous murmurings arise from this or that
battalion, that only means that they are rejoicing at the tidings of the
declaration of war: the war-ships express their satisfaction by loud
salvoes.
Sultan Achmed, meanwhile, is engaged in his morning devotions, day by
day he punctually observes this pious practice.
The previous night he did not spend in the harem, but shut himself up
with his viziers and counsellors in that secret chamber of the Divan,
which is roofed over with a golden cupola. Grave were their
deliberations, but nobody, except the viziers, knows the result thereof;
yet when he issues forth from his prayer-chamber the Kizlar-Aga is
already awaiting him there and hands the Sultan a signet-ring.
"Most glorious of Padishahs! the most delicious of women sends thee this
ring.
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