"Ye see a dead man before you," said the Grand Vizier, Damad Ibrahim, to
the freshly arrived dignitaries. "I am lost. We are the four victims.
The Chief Mufti perhaps may save his life, but we three others shall not
see the dawn of another day. It cannot be otherwise. The Sultan must be
saved, and saved he only can be at the price of our lives."
"I said that long ago," observed the Kapudan Pasha. "Our corpses ought
to have been delivered up to the rebels yesterday, I fear it is already
too late, I fear me that the Sultan is lost anyhow. The Banner of
Affliction ought never to have been exposed at all, we should have been
slain there and then."
"You three withdraw into the Chamber of the Executioners," said the
Grand Vizier to his colleagues, "but wait for me till the Kizlar-Aga
arrives to demand from me the seals of office, till then I must perform
my official duties."
The three ministers then took leave of Damad Ibrahim, embraced each
other, and were removed in the custody of the bostanjis.
It was now the duty of the Grand Vizier to elect a new Chief Mufti from
among the Ulemas. The Ulemas, first of all, chose Damadzadi, but he
declining the dignity on the plea of illness, they chose in his stead
the Cadi of Medina, and for want of a white mantle invested him with a
green one.
After that they elected from amongst themselves Seid Mohammed and
Damadzadi, to receive the secret message of the Sultan from the
Kizlar-Aga and deliver it to Halil Patrona.
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