Then for a long time Halil gazed into the old man's face.
"Manoli!"
"At thy command, my master."
"Thou seest the sun rising up yonder behind the hills?"
"Yes, my master."
"Before the shadows return to the side of yon hills take care to be well
behind them, and let not another dawn find thee in this city!"
The boatman bent low with his arms folded across his breast, then he
disappeared in his skiff.
But Halil Patrona hastened into the mosque.
The Sultan's ambassadors were awaiting him. Sheik Suleiman came forward.
"Halil!" said he, "the bodies of the three dead men I have given to the
people and their heads I have sent to thee."
"Who were they?" asked Halil darkly.
"The first was the corpse of the Kiaja Beg, his body was cast upon the
cross-ways through the Etmeidan Gate."
"And the second?"
"The Kapudan Pasha, his body was flung down in front of the fountains of
Khir-Kheri."
"And the third?"
"Damad Ibrahim, the Grand Vizier. His body we flung out into the piazza
in front of the Seraglio, at the foot of the very fountains which he
himself caused to be built."
Halil Patrona cast a searching look at the Sheik's face, and coldly
replied:
"Know then, oh, Sheik Suleiman, that thou liest, the third corpse was
_not_ the body of Damad Ibrahim the Grand Vizier. It was the body of a
sailor named Manoli, who greatly resembled him, and sacrificed himself
in Damad's behalf. But the Grand Vizier has escaped and none can tell
where he is.
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