His Imperial Majesty knows how to protect his nobles
from insult, and would never endure that a General of his army
should be treated in matter of quarantine as though he were a mere
Eastern Jew!" This argument told with great effect. The Pasha
fairly admitted that he felt its weight, and he now only struggled
to obtain such a compromise as might partly save his dignity. He
wanted us to perform a quarantine of one day for form's sake, and
in order to show his people that he was not utterly defied; but
finding that we were inexorable, he not only abandoned his attempt,
but promised to supply us with horses.
When the discussion had arrived at this happy conclusion
tchibouques and coffee were brought, and we passed, I think, nearly
an hour in friendly conversation. The Pasha, it now appeared, had
once been a prisoner of war in Russia, and a conviction of the
Emperor's vast power, necessarily acquired during this captivity,
made him perhaps more alive than an untravelled Turk would have
been to the force of my comrade's eloquence.
The Pasha now gave us a generous feast. Our promised horses were
brought without much delay. I gained my loved saddle once more,
and when the moon got up and touched the heights of Taurus, we were
joyfully winding our way through the first of his rugged defiles.
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