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Random documents with unrelated
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and men, as they realized that their defeat was due to their own
folly more than to the strength of their foe. In every tentless group
the men disturbed the quiet of the night with their ceaseless
quarrels. Members of the different commands, hopelessly confused
in the general flight, rivalled one another in the rancor and contempt
of their mutual recriminations as much as they ever emulated one
another in the courage and prowess of a well fought field. Among
those of highest rank bitter and insulting words were followed by
blows, as if the general disgrace could be washed out by a
gratuitous spilling of their own blood.
But a different interest kept Ballaban waking. Beneath the great
tree, which had been designated as the headquarters of the
Janizaries, and from a limb of which was suspended the symbolic
kettle, his prisoner had been awaiting the Chief Aga. The glimpse of
his face at the time of the capture had awakened in the Janizary
more than a suspicion of the personality of the captive; while the
name of Ballaban, which he had heard from the soldiers, revealed to
the Albanian that of his captor. With impatience the Aga conversed
with the various commanders who thronged him, and as soon as
possible dismissed them. When they were alone Constantine rose,
and, without completing his salâm, exclaimed,
"You play more roughly, Michael, than when last we wrestled
together among the rocks of Slatiza."
"Ah, my brother Constantine, I thought of you when you gripped me
in the fight to-day; for it was the same old hug with which we rolled
together long ago. I would have known you, had you only given me
time to think, without your raising the visor."
The brothers stood for a moment in half embrace, scanning each
other's face and form. An onlooker would have noted that their
mutual resemblance was not in the details of their features, so much
as in certain marked peculiarities; such as the red and bristling hair,
square face, prominent nose and chin. Constantine's forehead was
higher than Michael's, which had more breadth and massiveness
across the brows. In speaking, Constantine's eye kindled, and his
plastic lips gave expression to every play of sentiment: while
Michael's face was as inflexible as a mask; the deep light of his
glance as thoroughly under control of his will as if it were the flash
of a dark lantern; his appearance revealing not the shadow of a
thought, not the flicker of an emotion, beyond that he chose to put
into words. This physiognomical difference was doubtless largely due
to the training of years. The Janizary's habit of caution and
secretiveness evolved, as it were, this invisible, but impenetrable,
visor. The custom of unquestioning obedience to another, and that of
the remorseless prosecution of whatever he regarded as politic for
the service, gave rigidity to the facial muscles; set them with the
prevalent purpose; stereotyped in them the expression of
determination. A short beard added to the immobile cast of his
countenance. Thus, though when separated the two men might
readily be taken the one for the other, when together their
resemblance served to suggest as wide contrasts.
The entire night was spent by the brothers in mutual narrations of
their eventful lives. Though their careers had been so distinct, in
different lands, under rival civilizations, in the service of contending
nations, and inflamed by the incentives of antagonistic religions, yet
their roads had crossed at the most important points in each. They
learned to their astonishment that the most significant events, those
awakening the deepest experience in the one life, had been due to
the presence of the other. As Michael told of his raid upon the
Albanian village, Constantine supplied the key to the mystery of the
escape of his fair captive, and the arrest of Michael for having at that
time deserted his command. Then Michael in turn supplied the key
to Constantine's arrest by Colonel Kabilovitsch's men as a Turkish
spy. Constantine solved the enigma of Amesa's overtures to Michael
in reference to the Dodola Elissa; and Michael solved that of
Constantine's rough handling by the garrison of Sfetigrade for having
dropped the dog into the well. Constantine unravelled the diabolical
plot which had nearly been tragic for Michael in the old reservoir at
Constantinople; and Michael as readily unravelled that of the serio-
comic drama in the tent of Mahomet, when Constantine's life was
saved through the assumption that he was his lunatic brother.
Constantine supplied to Michael the missing link in the story of
Morsinia's escape from Constantinople; and Michael supplied that
which was wanting of Constantine's knowledge of the story of her
escape from death in the horrors of the scene in St. Sophia after the
capture of the city. They had, under the strange leadings of what
both their Christian and Moslem faith recognized as a Divine
Providence, been more to each other than they could have been had
their lives drifted in the same channel during all these years. In the
old boyhood confidence, which their strange meeting had revived,
Michael did not withhold the confession of Morsinia's influence upon
him, though she had been to him more of an ideal than a real
person, a beautiful development to his imagination out of his
childhood memory of his little playmate in the Balkans. Nor did
Constantine hesitate to declare the love and betrothal by which he
held the charming reality as his own. He told, too, of her real
personality as the ward of Scanderbeg, and the true heir of the
splendid estates until recently held by Amesa.
The dawn brought duties to the Aga which precluded further
conference with Constantine.
"We must part, my dear brother," said Michael. "Our armies will
probably return through Macedonia, and abandon the campaign: for
such is the unwise determination of our commander Isaac. You must
escape into your own lines. That can be easily arranged. We may
not meet again soon; but I swear to you, by the memory of our
childhood, that your personal interest shall be mine. Aside from the
necessities of the military service, we can be brothers still. And
Morsinia, that angel of our better natures; you must let me share
with you, if not her affection, surely her confidence. I could not woo
her from you if I would; but assure her that, though wearing the
uniform of an enemy, I shall be as true in my thoughts of her as
when we played by the old cot on the mountains; and as when I
pledged my life to serve her while she was in the harem at
Stamboul."
"But why must this war against Castriot continue? I would that our
compact were that of the armies to which we belong," said
Constantine.
"It is impossible for a Janizary to sheath the sword while Scanderbeg
lives," replied the Aga. "Our oath forbids it. He once was held by the
vow of the Prophet's service, and deserted it. I know his temptation
was strong. In my heart I might find charity for him." The speaker
hesitated as if haunted by some troublesome memory, then
continued—"But a Janizary may show no charity to a renegade.
Besides, he is the curse of Albania. But for his ambition, these
twelve years of blood would have been those of peace and
happiness through all these valleys, under the sway of our
munificent and wise Padishah."
"Your own best thoughts, Michael, should correct you. What are
peace and its happy indolence compared with the cause of a holy
faith?"
"You speak sublimely, my brother," replied Michael, "but your faith
gains nothing by this war. Under our Padishah's beneficence the
Giaours are protected. The Greeks hold sufficient churches, even in
Stamboul, for the worship of all who remain in that faith. Indeed, I
have heard Gennadius the monk of whom you were speaking awhile
ago—say that he would trust his flock to the keeping of the Moslem
stranger sooner than to the Pope of Rome. I have known our
Padishah defend the Greek Giaours from the tyranny of their own
bishops. He asks only the loyalty of his people to his throne, and
awaits the will of Allah to turn them to his faith; for the Book of the
Prophet says truly, Allah will lead into error whom he pleaseth and
whom he pleaseth he will put in the right way.[109] Believe me, my
brother, Albania's safety is only in submission. The Fate that directs
all affairs has indubitably decreed that all this vast peninsula
between Adria and Ægea shall lie beneath the shadow of the
Padishah's sceptre; for he is Zil-Ullah, the shadow of God. Who can
resist the conqueror of the capital of your Eastern Christian Empire;
the conqueror of Athens, and of the islands of the sea?"
"Let us then speak no more of this," said Constantine. "Our training
has been so different, that we can not hope to agree. But we can be
one in the kindliness of our thoughts, as we are of one blood. Jesu
bless you, my brother!"
"Allah bless you, Constantine!" was the hearty response, as the two
grasped hands. Eyes which would not have shown bodily pain by so
much as the tremor of their lids, were moist with the outflow of
those springs in our nature that are deeper than courage—springs of
brotherly affection, fed by hallowed memories of the long ago.
Two Janizaries accompanied Constantine beyond the Turkish lines.
"What new scheme has the Aga hatched in his brain now?" said one
of them, as they returned.
"He has twisted that fellow's brain so that he will never serve
Scanderbeg truly again," was the knowing reply. "The Aga is the
very devil to throw a spell over a man. They say that when he
captured the fellow yesterday, he had only to squint into his face a
moment, when, as quick as a turn of a foil, the man changed his
looks, and was as much like the Aga as two thumbs."

CHAPTER LVI.

T he splendor of the victory, and the inestimable spoil which fell

into the hands of the Albanians, elated the patriot braves; and
the good news flew as if the eagles that watched the battles from
afar were its couriers. Castriot, however, seemed to be oblivious to
the general rejoicing. The wrath he had displayed during the time of
Amesa's menace from the ranks of the enemy, was displaced by pity
as he looked upon the contemptible and impotent man. He touched
him with his foot, and said, in half soliloquy—
"And in this body is some of the blood of the Castriots! Humph!"
Turning away he paced the tent—
"And why not Castriot's blood in Amesa! It is not too immaculate to
flow in his veins, since it has filled my own. I was a Turk, too, once.
But——" looking at the wrinkles upon his hand—"growing old in a
better service may atone somewhat for the shame of earlier days.
And these hands never murdered a peaceful neighbor and his
innocent wife, and robbed a child of her inheritance—though they
did murder that poor Reis-Effendi. But God knows it could not be
helped. But what is one man that he shall condemn another!" An
officer approached for orders.
"What, Sire, shall be done with the prisoner?"
"Let him lie until Constantine comes!" was the response.
Late in the night the general sat gazing upon the miserable heap of
humanity that crouched by the tent side. Amesa raised himself as far
as his bonds would permit, and began to speak.
"Silence!" demanded Castriot, but without taking his eyes from the
prisoner.
A subaltern, anxious to induce the general to take needed rest,
again suggested some disposition of the prisoner for the night.
"Let him lie until Constantine comes!"
"Captain Constantine has been captured, Sire," replied the officer;
"men who were with him have returned, and so report."
"By whom captured?" asked the general in alarm.
"By Janizaries."
Castriot smiled, and asked, "It is certain he was not slain?"
"Certain, Sire, for Ino saw him being taken away."
"Let the prisoner lie there until Captain Constantine returns."
The morning found Amesa still bound. No one had been allowed to
speak to him, nor he to utter a word.
During Castriot's absence from the tent not one approached it; only
the guard patrolled at the distance of a couple of rods.
"The torture of such a villain's thoughts will be more cruel than our
taunts or swords. Let him lie there, and tear himself with his own
devil claws!" had been Castriot's order.
Toward noon the camp rang with cheers. Scouts reported that
Constantine had escaped, and was returning. Castriot alone seemed
unsurprised, though gratified with the news. He went to the edge of
the camp to meet him.
"Well, my boy, your brother was not so well pleased with your looks,
and let you go sooner than I thought he would. I expected you not
until to-night."
"My brother? How knew you, Sire, that I had seen him? for I have
told it to none."
"Then tell it to none. To warn you of that I came to meet you, lest
your tongue might be unwise. Did you not tell me yourself that
Ballaban was the Moslem name of your brother?"
"But how knew you that he was in this service?" asked Constantine.
"As I know every officer in the enemy's service in Albania above an
ojak's command. And the Aga of the Janizaries is to my mind as the
commander of the expedition. And I will tell you more, my boy;—
unless the Padishah has gone daft with his chagrin over this defeat,
Ballaban Aga will command the next campaign against us: for none
save he kept his wits in the fight yesterday. His plan was masterful,
and saved the whole Moslem army. He held his Janizaries so well in
hand, and so well placed, that I could not follow up our advantage,
nor even strike to rescue you. Ballaban evidently has been much in
the Albanian wars, and has learned my methods better than any of
our own officers. Should he succeed to the horse-tails, the war
hereafter will not be so one-sided as it has been. Mark that, my dear
fellow. But we must look to our royal prisoner, after I have heard
your story."
Late in the day Castriot summoned Moses Goleme, Kabilovitsch, and
Constantine. Amesa was unbound, and was bidden to speak what he
could in extenuation of his treason. The Voivode protested his
innocence of any designs against the liberties of his country; and
declared that he had despaired of obtaining her independence under
Castriot's leadership. Better was it to take the virtual freedom of
Albania under the Sultan's nominal suzerainty, than to longer wage a
hopeless war. In this he was seconded, he said, by the noblest
generals and patriots. He was about to mention them; but was
forbidden to utter so much as a suspicion against any one.
"I would not know them," said the magnanimous chief. "I will not
have a shadow of distrust in my mind toward any who have not
drawn sword against us. Let them keep their thoughts in their own
breasts. Noble Moses, your lips shall pronounce the sentence due
Amesa's treason."
The Dibrian general was silent.
"Then, if Moses speaks no condemnation, no other lips shall," said
Castriot.
Amesa threw himself at the feet of the chief, and began to pour
forth his gratitude.
"The life thou hast spared, Sire, shall ever be thine. My sword shall
be given to thee as sovereign of my heart, as well as of my country."
"Hold!" said Castriot. "What says Arnaud, the forester?"
Amesa raised his face, blanched as suddenly with horror as it had
been flushed with elation. The venerable Kabilovitsch sat in silence
for a time, lost in the vividness of his recollections. At length, with
slow speech and tremulous voice, he portrayed the scenes of that
terrible night when the castle of the gallant De Streeses was
destroyed, its owner slain, the fair Mara driven back into the flames
from which she would have fled.
"It is a lie," shouted Amesa. "The deed was wrought by Turks!"——
"Thy words condemn thee!" said Castriot. "The crime was not laid to
thy charge, Amesa. But now it shall be. Let Drakul be brought."
Soldiers led in the man. The villain, whose hand had stayed at no
deed of daring or cruelty, was now seized with such cowardly fright
that he could scarce keep his legs. He was dragged before the
extemporized court. In answer to questions, he admitted his part,
not only in the original murders, but also in the raid upon the hamlet
where Amesa had suspected the heiress of De Streeses to be
concealed.
Amesa's rage at this betrayal burst forth in savage oaths, mingled
with such contradictory denials of his story as clearly confirmed its
truth.
"For his treason against my authority, I refuse to take vengeance,"
said Castriot. "But Albania, appealing for God's aid in establishing its
liberties, must, in God's name, do justice. What says Colonel
Kabilovitsch?"
The old man spoke as if the solemnity of the Last Judgment had
fallen upon him,—
"As soon I must go before Him whose mercy I shall so sadly need
for the sins of my own life, I forgive Amesa the cruelty with which he
has followed me. God is my witness, that my personal grievance
colors not a thought of my heart. But, as I shall soon stand before
the Judge, together with the noble De Streeses, who was robbed of
life in its meridian, and that bright spirit whose cry for Amesa's
mercy I heard from out the flames, I say, Let justice be done! and
let the soul of the murderer be sent to confront his victims there
before their God!"
"Amen!" said Constantine. Moses Goleme was silent.
Amesa had lost all his bravado. He trembled as would the meanest
of men who should bow his neck to the sword. He confessed his
crime, and piteously begged for his life; or, at least, that time should
be given him to make preparation for what he dreaded worse than
death. A spirit already damned seemed to have taken possession of
his quivering frame.
"Your life, Amesa," said the chief, "is forfeit for your crimes. On the
citadel walls of Croia, when we shall have returned there, as the sun
sets, so shall your life! Jesu grant that, through your repentance and
the prayers of Mother Church, your soul may rise again in a better
world!"
"Amen!" responded all.
The army returned from the Thessalian border through the country
northward, everywhere received with ovations by the people. The
fate of Amesa, though commiserated, was as generally commended.
No one, however attached by association to the once popular
Voivode, raised a voice in dissent from the sentence, or in pity for
the culprit.

CHAPTER LVII.
T he news reached Morsinia at Croia long before the return of the
army. She took little joy in the hearty and generous acclaim that
welcomed her to her inheritance. She had no vanity to be stimulated
by the popular stories which associated her beauty with her wealth.
Her thoughts seemed to be palled with heaviness, rather than
canopied by the bright prospects which fortune had spread for her.
When Castriot officially announced to her the restoration of the
DeStreeses' property, she refused to enter upon her estates, which
were to come to her through the ceremony of blood in the execution
of her enemy.
"No! Let them be confiscate to the State. I cheerfully surrender their
revenues for Albania. I ask nothing more than to be the instrument
of so aiding our noble cause and its noble leader," said she.
"Albania will insist that you shall obtain your right. From voivode to
lowest peasant, the people will be content only as the daughter of
DeStreeses graces his ancient castle."
"But," responded she, "I shall never enter its doors over the body of
my enemy. May not some other fate be his?"
"Law should be sacred," said Castriot.
"But is it not a law of Albania that even a murderer need not be
executed if all the family of his victim unite in his behalf, and he pay
the Krwnina?[110] Am I not all the family of DeStreeses? Let then the
estates be the Krwnina."
"That cannot be," replied Castriot. "The law requires the price of
blood to be paid by the murderer, and the estates belong not to
Amesa. Besides, Albania will be better served by your occupation of
the castle, reviving its ancient prestige, and proclaiming thus that
the reign of justice has been restored in our land."
"But let justice be mingled with mercy," said Morsinia.
"Nay, the mercy would dilute the quality of the justice."
"Can there be no mitigation of our cousin Amesa's fate, which shall
not prejudice the right?" asked the fair intercessor. "If Jesu prayed to
his Father that His murderers might be forgiven, may not I plead
that my father, the father of his country, shall be gracious to him
who has wronged me?"
Castriot was absorbed in deep thought. At length he replied:
"Ah, how little we men, schooled to revenge and bloodshed, know
what justice is, and what mercy is, as these sentiments move in the
heart of the Eternal! Your pure soul, my child, has closer kinship with
heaven than ours. I fear to deny your request, lest I should offend
that mysterious Spirit which has seemed to counsel me since, in the
land of the Moslems, I swore to return to my Christian faith; and
which, in my prayers and dreams, has been strangely associated
with you. In all that is right and good your conscience shall still
inspire mine: for you are my good angel. Amesa's life shall be
spared. But no breath of his must so much as taint the air of
Albania. I am summoned by my old ally, Ferdinand of Naples, to
assist in driving the French from his domains. Amesa shall go with
me, and be kept in custody among strangers. But it must be
proclaimed from the citadel of Croia that his life is restored him by
the daughter of Musache de Streeses.
"And yet, my dear child," continued he, "in these rude times you
cannot dwell alone in the castle. You need a protector who is not
only wise and brave, and loyal to Albania, but loyal to you. My duties
elsewhere will prevent my rendering that service. Colonel
Kabilovitsch's age is stealing the alertness from his energies. Our
Constantine—Ah! Does the blush tell that I am right?" He took her
hand, as he asked: "May I exercise the father's privilege, according
to our Albanian custom, and put this hand into Constantine's, to
keep and to defend?"
Morsinia replied frankly. "Since, Sire, I may not give my estates to
my country, bestow them upon whom you will; and my hand must
go to him, who, since we were children, has held my heart."
The following day, as the sun gilded the walls of Croia with his
setting rays, an immense concourse of soldiers and peasants
gathered within the citadel court. The executioner led the traitor,
followed by a priest, out upon the bastion. A trumpet sounded, and
the silence which followed its dying note was broken by the voice of
the crier, who announced that, in the name of God and the
sovereign people, and by the ordaining of George, Duke of Albania,
the decree of justice should be executed upon the Voivode Amesa.
Then followed the record of his crimes, together with the declaration
that his appearance in arms among the enemy, having been,
according to his declaration, not treason against his country, but
rebellion against the military chieftaincy of Duke George, was by the
grace of that high official forgiven; and further that the sentence of
death for his foul murder of Musache De Streeses and his wife Mara
Cernoviche, was, through the intercession of Mara, sole survivor of
that ancient house, and by the authority of Duke George, commuted
to perpetual banishment from the realm, in such place and condition
as seemed best to the Duke for the security of the land.
The people stood in amazement as they listened. The relief from the
horror of the anticipated spectacle, when the head of the former
favorite should be held up by the executioner, led them to accept
complacently this turn in affairs, even though their judgment did not
commend it. In a few moments the cry rose, "Live Duke George! A
Castriot forever!" Soon it changed to wilder enthusiasm, "Long live
Mara De Streeses!" This storm of applause could not be stilled until
Morsinia permitted herself to be led by Castriot to the edge of the
battlement.
As the sun was setting, the huge mass of the citadel rose like a
mighty altar from the bosom of the gloom which had already settled
about its base. Slowly the shadow had climbed its side, crowding the
last bright ray until it vanished from the top of the parapet. It was at
this instant that Morsinia appeared. The citadel beneath her was
sombre as the coming night which enwrapped it, but her form was
radiant in the lingering splendor of the departing day. As she raised
her hand in response to the grateful clamor of the people, she
seemed the impersonation of a heavenly benediction. The multitude
gazed in reverent silence for a moment. Then, as the sun dropped
behind the western hill, veiling the glory of this apparition, they
made the very sky resound with their shouts; and in the quick
gathering darkness went their ways.
A few weeks later, the castle of De Streeses was decked with
banners, whose bright colors rivalled the late autumnal hues of the
forest from the midst of which it rose. Multitudes of people all day
long thronged the paths leading up to it from the valleys around.
Gorgeously arrayed voivodes, accompanied by their suites, made the
ravines resound with their rattling armor; and bands of peasants, in
cheap but gaudy finery, threaded through the by paths. Those who
possessed tents brought them. Others, upon their arrival in the
proximity of the castle, erected booths and festooned them with
vines, which the advancing season had painted fiery red or burst
into gray feathery plumes. From cleared places near the castle walls
rose huge spirals of smoke, as oxen and sheep, quartered or entire,
were being roasted, to feed the multitude of guests; while great
casks of foaming beer and ruddy sparkling wine excited and slaked
their thirst. The recent defeat of the Turks had led to the withdrawal
of their armies, at least until winter should have passed; and the
people of the northern country gave themselves up to the double
celebration of the well-won peace and the nuptials of Mara De
Streeses.
Within the castle the great and the dignified of the land abandoned
themselves to equal freedom with the peasants, in the enjoyment of
games, and the observance of simple and fantastic national customs.
Morsinia and Constantine kissed again through the ivy wreath, as in
the days of childhood. The new matron's distaff touched the oaken
walls of the great dining hall; and her hand spread the table with
bread and wine and water, in formal assumption of her office as
housewife. When she undressed and dressed again the babe,
borrowed from a neighboring cottage, she received sundry scoldings
and many saws of nursery advice from a group of peasant mothers.
The happy couple were almost buried beneath the buckets of grain,
which some of the guests poured over them, as they wished them
all the blessings of the soil. When they approached the fire place
they were showered with sparks, as some one struck the huge
glowing log and invoked for them the possession of herds and flocks
and friends as many as the fireflecks that flew.
Gifts were offered: those of the poor and rich being received with
equal grace;—a rare breed of domestic fowls following a case of
cutlery from Toledo in Spain; and a necklace of pearls preceding a
hound trained by some skillful hunter. On opening the casket which
Castriot presented, as he kissed the golden cluster upon the
forehead of the bride, there was found within a cap of sparkling
gems, such as is worn by oriental brides, a parchment
commissioning Constantine as a voivode in the Albanian service,
with governor's command of the Skadar country.
The blessing of the priest was supplemented by those of the old
men, which were put in form of prophecies. Kabilovitsch inclosed the
happy couple in outstretched arms, and gazing long into their faces,
said:
"As on that night at the foot of the Balkans I wrapped you, my
children, in my blanket, and, in my absence, another greater than
we knew, our generous Castriot, took my place to watch over you;
so now, as soon I must leave you forever, One greater than man
knows, even our Covenant God, shall be your guardian!"
A man, apparently decrepit with the weight of years, assumed the
privilege of a venerable stranger upon such occasions, and came to
utter his prophecy. His head was covered with a close fitting fur cap,
which concealed his brow to the eyes. Straggling gray locks hung
partly over his face and down his neck. As he spoke, Constantine
started with evident amazement, which was, however, instantly
checked. The bride seemed strangely fascinated. Kabilovitsch, who
had been too much absorbed with his own thoughts to notice the
stranger's approach, lifted his head quickly, and put his hand to his
ear, as if catching some faint and distant sound. This was the old
prophet's blessing—
"Allah ordains that these walls, consecrated to Justice, and inhabited
by Love, shall from this day be guarded by Peace. Even the Moslem's
sword shall be stayed from hence!"
He bowed to the floor, touching with his lips the spot where Morsinia
had stood. Before the guests could fully comprehend this scene, he
was gone. But lying on the floor where he had bowed was a silken
case, elegantly wrought. Morsinia uttered a subdued, yet startled,
cry as she seized it. The gift seemed to have thrown a spell about
her; for, with paled cheeks, she asked that she might retire to rest
awhile in her chamber.
"A wjeshtize!" cried several, looking out from the door through which
the man had passed.
"Heaven grant he has left no curse!" exclaimed others.
The silken case contained several crystals of atar of roses. In one of
these, which was larger than the others, gleamed, instead of the
perfumed drop, a splendid diamond. Upon a piece of parchment, as
fine as the silk of which the case was made, Morsinia read—
"My pledge to give my life for thine shall be kept when need requires
—Meanwhile know that the Padishah, the rightful Lord of Albania, has
bestowed this castle upon Ballaban Badera, Aga of the Janizaries, who
in turn bestows it upon Mara De Streeses—
"Signed,
"Michael."

Our story has covered a period of thirteen years. For eleven years
more the genius of Scanderbeg, which his perhaps too partial
countrymen used to compare to that of Alexander and Pyrrhus,
withstood the whole power of the Ottoman Empire, directed against
him by the most skilful generals of the age. Sinam and Assem,
Jusem and Caraza, Seremet and the puissant Sultan Mahomet
himself successively appeared in the field; but retreated, leaving
their thousands of slain to attest the invincibility of the Albanian
chief. Only one Ottoman commander ventured to return for a second
campaign. The old Latin chronicles of the monk Marinus Barletius—
who records the deeds of Castriot in thirteen volumes—assign this
honorable distinction to the Janizary, Ballaban Badera. In six
campaigns this redoubtable warrior desolated Albania. From
Thessaly, northward over the land, poured the Moslem tide, but it
stayed itself at the waters of Skadar; and, as if fate had approved
the prophecy of the aged stranger at the nuptials of Constantine and
Morsinia, the castle of De Streeses during all these terrible years,
looked down upon bloodless fields. Though his lands were ravaged,
the courage of Castriot was not wearied, nor was his genius baffled,
until, in the year 1467, there came upon him a mightier than
Ballaban, a mightier than Mahomet. In the presence of the last
enemy he commended his country to the valor of his voivodes, his
family to the protection of friends,[111] and his soul to the grace of
Jesu, his Saviour. They buried him in the old church at Lyssa. Years
after, no Scanderbeg succeeding Scanderbeg, the Turks possessed
the land. They dug up his bones, and, inclosing their fragments in
silver and gold, wore them as amulets. Pashas and Viziers esteemed
themselves happy, even in subsequent centuries, if they might so
much as touch a bone of Scanderbeg; "For perchance," they said,
"there may thus be imparted to us some of that valor and skill which
in him were invincible by the might of men."

THE END.

FOOTNOTES
[1] A title of the Sultan.
[2] Bashaw; an old name for pasha.
[3] Arnaout; Turkish for Albanian, a corruption of the old
Byzantine word Arvanitæ.
[4] Koran, Chap. II.
[5] Iscander-Beg; or The Lord Alexander.
[6] Giaours; a term of reproach by which the Turks designate the
unbelievers in Mahomet, especially Christians.
[7] 800 of the Hegira; 1422 of the Christian era.
[8] Sanjak; a military and administrative authority giving the
possessor command of 5,000 horse.
[9] The Moslems are allowed four wives. Beyond this number
their women can be only concubines.
[10] The Moslems call Christians dogs.
[11] These are still Servian customs.
[12] Vide Apochryphal Gospels.
[13] Divan; the Turkish Council of State.
[14] A lake in Albania.
[15] Voivode; a Servian and Albanian term for general.
[16] Gunpowder was at this time coming into general use.
[17] The old chronicles admit, as one weakness of Scanderbeg, a
fondness for personal decoration.
[18] The author adds these lines to the meagre details of this
battle as known, for the purpose of accounting for its immediate
issue, and for the subsequent events.
[19] Some historians represent Scanderbeg as having had
Albanian accomplices in this murder.
[20] Spahi: master of cavalry.
[21] Bismallah; "Please God," a Turkish common exclamation.
[22] Lake Scutari.
[23] The Inexpert, or lower grade of Janizaries.
[24] An incident narrated in Turkish history.
[25] Timour-lenk or Timourlane; Timour the Lame.
[26] See old annals.
[27] Vide, the Greek Empress Irene and her son Constantine.
[28] The bridge over hell mentioned above.
[29] Afterward Sultan Mahomet II.
[30] Literally, Man of Blood, a title of the Sultan.
[31] The custom also in other Oriental nations than the Turkish.
[32] Aga; commander.
[33] Kara Khalil Tschendereli, the founder of the Janizaries in the
time of Sultan Orchan.
[34] According to a Moslem tradition the beautiful birds of
paradise hold in their crops the souls of holy martyrs until the
resurrection.
[35] Kaiks or caiques; light row-boats.
[36] Whence the word Ottoman. Also written Osman, whence the
Osmanlis.
[37] Yeni Tscheri; new troop; corrupted in Janizary.
[38] Vide Koran.
[39] About 1280 A. D.
[40] About the end of the tenth century.
[41] Between 997 and 1030 A. D.
[42] Tribes of Turkius were mentioned by Pliny.
[43] This perversion of the Christian dogma of the Trinity was
taught by heretical sects in the time of the Prophet Mahomet, and
is embodied in the Koran.
[44] A. D., 1444.
[45] Fiefs or portions of conquered lands given to soldiers.
[46] Sir William Temple.
[47] Still a Servian and Albanian superstition.
[48] Moslems do not remove the hat in making salutation.
[49] Two horse-tails; the symbol of a Beyler Bey, a chief bey of
Europe or Asia.
[50] A title of Janizaries given them by the dervish who blessed
the order at its institution in the days of Orchan.
[51] According to the Moslems, hell is divided into seven stories
or cellars, the lowest being reserved for hypocrites.
[52] Bride of Othman.
[53] Ivo, the Black, or Tsernoi, from whom the mountain country
to the north of Albania was called Tsernogorki, or, in its Latinized
form, Montenegro.
[54] Lake Scadar or Scutari.
[55] The Tsernoyevitcha, the great river of Montenegro which
empties into Lake Scutari.
[56] Still noted by travellers on this river.
[57] An Albanian title of Elijah.
[58] The Albanians regard Mary as the sender of lightning.
[59] Tsigani; a word by which Slavic people designate the
gypsies, who are supposed by them to have come from India in
the time of Tamerlane.
[60] Help me, Mary!
[61] The death angel.
[62] In Albanian speech the sun is feminine.
[63] Marinus Barletius, a Latin monk of the time, has given us in
his chronicles, the most extended account of Scanderbeg.
[64] Filioque; "and the Son." The Latin Church holds that the Holy
Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Greeks deny the
latter part of the proposition.
[65] A modern Greek talent weighs 125 English pounds.
[66] The present art of "slow approach" was an invention of the
Turks.
[67] A face of Christ was wrought in mosaic in the wall above the
chancel of St. Sophia. The Turks still have a traditional saying that
the Christian shall not again possess Constantinople until the face
of Jesus appears visibly in St. Sophia. At the time of its capture
by the Moslems this picture of Christ was painted over. It is now
again dimly discerned through the fading and scaling paint.
[68] The "Azymites" were those who used unleavened bread in
the sacrament, and at the time of which we are writing the word
was used among the Greeks as a term of reproach to the
Latinizers, that is, those who favored union with the Latin Church.
[69] A suburb of Constantinople, occupied by the Genoese.
[70] Brothers of the infidels.
[71] One of the sultanas of Amurath II. and daughter of George
Brankovitch, Despot of Servia.
[72] The type of a beautiful complexion according to the Koran,
Chap. XXXVII.
[73] Koran, Chap. XXXIV.
[74] Koran, Chap. IV.
[75] Shadow of God, one of the titles of the Sultan.
[76] The niche in mosques, on the side toward Mecca, in the
direction of which the Moslems turn their faces to pray.
[77] The Panurgia, a name given to the Holy Virgin, who at a
former siege of Constantinople, in 1422, was imagined to have
appeared upon the wall for its defense.
[78] The Ottomans regard the appellation of "King of the Turks"
as an insult, since the Turks are comparatively few of the many
subjects of the Sultan in Europe. Some of the most distinguished
servants of the empire are of Christian parentage, and either
have been conquered or have voluntarily submitted to the
domination of the Moslem.
[79] The Moslem superstition led them to believe that witches, by
tying knots in a cord and blowing on them, brought evil to the
person they had in mind.
[80] Easter.
[81] The Coptic Mary with whom the Prophet was said to have
been enamored.
[82] In 1437 the Venetians carried many large ships across the
country from the river Adige to the lake of Garda.
[83] At Actium.
[84] Odalisk; the title of a childless inmate of the harem.
[85] Mother of the Sultan.
[86] Hamamjina; bath attendant.
[87] Hanoum; a title given to matrons.
[88] Muderris; professors in the high schools.
[89] Chain of Ulemas; a renowned system of colleges.
[90] Gibbon; Chapter LXVIII.
[91] Porphyry column; now the famous Burnt Column.
[92] Staff of Moses; one of the relics held sacred by the Greeks at
the time.
[93] Gibbon's statement of Mahomet II's. opinion.
[94] Punishment of those in hell, according to Koran.
[95] See effigy in the museum of the Elbicei-Atika at
Constantinople.
[96] A similar remark was made afterward by Mahomet II. to a
chief officer who asked him his plans for a certain campaign.
[97] Koran, Chapter IV. "When you are saluted with a salutation,
salute the person with a better salutation, or at least return the
same."
[98] According to the Koran the houris perspire musk.
[99] About an English pound sterling.
[100] Kaikji; a common boatman.
[101] Koran, Chap. II.
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