Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 341, March, 1844, Vol. 55 by Various

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It was Easter Sunday in the town of Gradiska. The strict religious
ceremonies with which the Passion week was commemorated at the court of
the youthful but pious Archduke Ferdinand were at an end; the black
hangings disappeared from the church walls, and the bells rang out a merry
peal in joyful commemoration of the Saviour's resurrection. The nobles and
ladies of the court, wearied with the vigils and fasting which the
religious zeal of the time rendered imperative, betook themselves with
lightened hearts to their apartments, the elder portion to repose, the
younger ones to prepare for the brilliant festival and ball which the
following day was to witness.

In a richly furnished apartment of the castle, the young and handsome wife
of one of the archducal counsellors was pacing up and down, her full and
voluptuous form reflected on every side by the tall Venetian mirrors that
covered the walls of the apartment. The lady was apparently in no gentle
mood; her step was hurried and impatient, her face flushed, her lips
peevishly compressed, and her irritation seemed to increase each time that
she passed before a table on which were displayed a number of jewel-boxes
and caskets, all open, and nearly all empty. Since the Easter festival of
the preceding year, the caprices and necessities of this spendthrift
beauty had abstracted one by one the rich kernels from these now worthless
husks, and the recollection of the follies, or worse, in which their value
had been squandered, now came to aggravate the vexation which the want of
the jewels occasioned her. So absorbed was she in the consideration of her
annoyances and perplexities, that for some time she took no notice of the
presence of a young and graceful female in plain attire, who stood
apparently in deep thought in the embrasure of one of the windows. The
maiden had her back turned to the room; but the admirable contours of her
fine figure, and the rich luxuriance of the jet-black locks that flowed
over her shoulders, gave promise of a perfection that was not belied, when,
on an exclamation of impatience from her mistress, she suddenly turned
round, and revealed the beauteous features of Dansowich's daughter. She it
was who formed the usual medium of communication between the pirates and
their archducal allies; and during her frequent sojourns at Gradiska, she
assumed the character of attendant on the counsellor's lady.

"Holy Virgin!" exclaimed the court dame, stamping her foot violently on
the polished floor. "What can detain the knaves? Say, girl! where can they
be lingering?"

Strasolda made no reply to this impetuous enquiry. She was no longer the
excited and impetuous Uzcoque heroine, invoking the spirit of the storm
amidst the precipices and caverns of her native shores. A total change had
come over her. Her look was subdued, her cheek pale, her eyes red and
swollen with weeping. She cast an humble and sorrowful glance at the lady,
and a tear trembled on her long dark lashes.

"Why come they not?" repeated the angry dame in a voice half-choked with
passion. "By all the saints!" she continued, with a furious look at
Strasolda, "I believe thy father, Dansowich, to be the cause of this delay;
for well I know it is with small good-will he pays the tribute. But if the
thieving knaves thus play me false, if the Easter gift is wanting, and for
lack of jewels I am compelled to plead sickness, and pass to-morrow in my
apartment, instead of, as heretofore, eclipsing every rival by the
splendour of my jewels, rest assured, maiden, that thy robber friends
shall pay dearly for their neglect. A word from me, and thy father,
brethren, and kinsmen grace the gallows, and their foul eyrie is leveled
with dust."

Strasolda pressed her hands upon her heart, and burst into a flood of
tears. Then throwing herself at the lady's feet--

"That word you will never have the cruelty to utter," cried she. "Bethink
you, noble lady, of the perils to which they are exposed. The bravest
cannot command success, and you know not yet whether their last expedition
may not have been unprosperous."

"I!" replied her irritated mistress. "How should I be privy to their
proceedings? But _you_ ought to be able to give some tidings: Wherefore
did you not accompany your father this last voyage?"

"I told you, lady," answered Strasolda, "that I was busied with plans for
the deliverance of the Uzcoques now held captive in Venice. I have
brothers amongst those unfortunate prisoners, and it is the uncertainty of
their fate which thus afflicts me."

The maiden gazed tearfully and imploringly at the angry lady. It was not
without good reason that she concealed from her the fact of her father's
captivity. The stern and inflexible Dansowich had ever viewed with an eye
of disapproval the connexion between his people and the counsellors at
Gradiska; and the latter, aware of this, would not have been likely to
take much pains for the release of one who was unfavourable to their
interests. It was only, therefore, by representing the captive Uzcoques as
less nearly connected with her, that Strasolda could hope for aid to
rescue them from the hands of the Venetians.

"So much the more should you desire the arrival of the tribute!" exclaimed
the lady. "Did I not, at your request, make interest with our ambassador
at Venice, that he should insist upon the surrender of the Uzcoques as
Austrian subjects? Assuredly the feeble signoria will not venture to
refuse compliance. A casket of jewels is but a paltry guerdon for such
service, and yet even that is not forthcoming. But it is not too late to
alter what has been done. If I say the word, the prisoners linger in the
damp and fetid dungeons of the republic, until they welcome death as a
blessing."

"Alas, alas!" sobbed Strasolda; "have you the heart thus to add to my
sorrow? Is it not enough to know those I love in captivity, to behold my
people, once so noble and heroic, degraded to the very refuse of humanity
despised and detested of all men, having their dwelling on a barren rock,
and earning by crime and bloodshed a precarious existence and doubtful
freedom? Is it not enough"--

"Hush!" interrupted the lady in a quick sharp whisper, raising her finger,
and glancing towards the door of the apartment. There was a noise as of
stealthy footsteps in the corridor. Strasolda sprang from the kneeing
posture which she had maintained during her conversation with her mistress,
and resumed her station in the recess of a window, while the counsellor's
lady snatched up a rich shawl from a damask covered ottoman, and threw it
over the caskets spread out upon the table. Scarcely were these
arrangements completed, when the door was partially opened, and a wild
sunburnt and bearded countenance showed itself at the aperture.

"Heaven and the saints be praised!" exclaimed the lady. "They are come at
last. In with you, Jurissa Caiduch: there is no one but Strasolda here."

The person thus addressed, was a strongly built and active man, rather
under the middle size, muffled in a coarse brown cloak, which was drawn
over the lower part of his face, apparently with a view to concealment. A
broad-brimmed felt hat was slouched over his small black eyes, which
glittered through its shadow like those of a snake, never fixing
themselves on an object, but casting restless and suspicious glances, as
though apprehensive of danger or treachery. Gliding into the room, and
closing the door noiselessly behind him, he approached the table, and
placed upon it a tolerably large casket, which he produced from under his
cloak; then retreating a step or two, he removed his hat, and stood in an
attitude of silent respect, his eyes still gleaming, however, with their
habitual expression of mistrust and cunning.

Without uttering a word, the lady seized the casket, and impatiently
forced open its delicate silver lock. A cry of joyful surprise burst from
her lips on beholding the rich contents of the jewel-case. Diamond chains,
golden girdles and bracelets, combs and hair ornaments studded with orient
pearls, passed in rapid succession through the white and eager fingers of
the gratified dame, who seemed to lack words to express her pleasure and
astonishment at the sight of such costly gems. At last she turned to the
bearer.

"Of a truth, Jurissa" cried she, "you are unusually liberal this time, and
you must have great need of the good offices of myself and Father Cipriano,
to be willing to purchase our influence with the archduke at so high a
price."

"Our last expedition was a successful one, noble lady," replied the
Uzcoque. "The tender-hearted Strasolda," added he with a spiteful glance
at the maiden, who still kept her station by the window, "that guardian
angel, who so often steps between us and our prey, was absent, and we had
no need to stay our hands."

As he spoke, the door was again hastily opened as softly as before, but
somewhat wider, and the burly figure of a monk entered the room. This was
no other than the Father Cipriano Guido Lucchese, whom the lady had
alluded to, and who, by his pleadings at the papal court, in favour of the
Uzcoques, had earned himself the honourable cognomen of Ambassador de
Ladri, or the Thieves' Envoy. He had expiated his discreditable
intercession by a sojourn in the prisons of the Inquisition, which did not,
however, present his being in high favour with the Archduke Ferdinand, at
whose court he filled the triple office of theologian, confessor, and
privy counsellor.

The sleek and unctuous physiognomy of the monk wore an expression of
unusual care and anxiety. Without bestowing a salutation or a look upon
the lady whose apartment he thus unceremoniously entered, he addressed
himself at once to the Uzcoque Jurissa.

"Away with you!" cried he. "Out of the palace; and quietly, too, as your
own shadow. Thumbscrews are waiting for you if you linger."

Strasolda gazed in alarm at Father Cipriano. Jurissa thrust his right hand
under his cloak, and seemed to clutch some weapon. Even the counsellor's
dame for a moment turned her eyes from the jewels she was admiring to the
anxious countenance of the padre.

"Your last exploit will bring you into trouble," continued the latter to
Jurissa. "You have gone beyond all bounds; and a special ambassador has
arrived here from Venice."

"Well!" replied the Uzcoque surlily, "was not the sack of doubloons
sufficient fee to keep you at your post?"

"I have but just left it," answered the monk, "and you may thank me if the
storm is averted for the moment, although it must burst erelong. Before
the ambassador could obtain his audience, I hurried to the archduke, and
chanted the old ditty; told him you were the Maccabees of the century--the
bulwarks of Christendom: that without you the Turks would long since have
been in Gradiska--that the Venetians, through fear and lust of gain, were
hand and glove with the followers of Mahomet--and that it was their own
fault if you had to strike through them to get at the infidel: that they
cared little about religion, so long as the convenience of their traffic
was not interfered with--and that it would be a sin and a shame to deprive
himself of such valiant defenders for the sake of obliging the republic.
This, and much more, did I say to his highness, Signor Jurissa," concluded
the fat priest, wiping away the perspiration which his eagerness and
volubility had caused to start out on his brow; "and, in good truth, I
think your paltry bag of doubloons but poor reward for the pains I took,
and the zeal I have shown in your defence."

"And wherein consists the danger, then," interrupted Jurissa, "since your
eloquence has sped so well on our behalf?"

"You do not hear me out, my son," replied the priest. "The greybeards at
Venice have chosen an envoy who is right well informed of your small
numbers, bad equipment, and cowardice in broad daylight. Nay, man, never
grind your teeth. I do but repeat the ambassador's words; for I had
stationed myself in an adjoining room, and heard all that passed between
him and the archduke. He said, moreover, that, far from being of use as a
bulwark against Turkish encroachments, it was you who had afforded to the
infidels a pretext to wrest more than one rich province from Christian
potentates. All this seemed to make some impression upon the archduke, and
to plant suspicions in his mind which bode no good to you and your race.
For the present, the capture of those two Turks, one of whom is a person
of rank, is testimony in your favour with his highness, to whom the
crescent is an abomination. Could he follow his own inclinations, he would,
I fully believe, start a new crusade against the followers of Mahoun. But
come, Jurissa, this is no time for gossip. You must not be seen in
Gradiska. Away with you!"

"And the Venetian," cried Jurissa, "what is his name?"

"It is the Proveditore Marcello, who has lately returned from a long
absence in the East."

The Uzcoque started. The name seemed to have some potent and mysterious
effect upon him, and he stood for a few moments with his eyes fixed upon
the ground, apparently forgetful of the necessity for his immediate
departure. The priest took him by the arm, and drew him towards the door,
which he was about to open, when Jurissa shook off his grasp and hastily
approached the counsellor's wife, who had thrown herself into a large
gilded chair before one of the pier-glasses, and was busily engaged in
trying on the ornaments that had just been brought her.

"Have a care, noble lady!" cried the Uzcoque. "You will do well to let a
couple of weeks elapse before you appear in public with those pretty gauds.
At any rate, wear them not at to-morrow's ball, lest, perchance, they find
an owner. Beware, lady, of the Proveditore Marcello!"

With a look of peculiar meaning he left the room, accompanied by Father
Cipriano. But his warning fell faintly upon the lady's ear, who, though
she heard the words, was far too much engrossed in arranging and admiring
the costly gems so lately become her own, to give much heed to their
import. She remained before her mirror, loading her white neck and arms
with chains and jewels, and interweaving diamonds and pearls in her
tresses, regardless of the grief of Strasolda who sat in tears and sadness,
deploring her father's increasing peril, and the cloud that menaced the
future fortunes of her people.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BALL.

The ancient burg, or castle, of Gradiska had been originally on a larger
scale, but, at this period, consisted only of a centre, flanked at right
angles by two wings ending in square towers, large, grey, and massive, and
embattled, with overhanging galleries for sentinels to pace along, while
similar galleries, on a smaller scale, extended along the entire front and
wings of the castle. The central edifice contained, on the ground-floor,
numerous apartments and offices for menials; above which arose a spacious
saloon and other lofty apartments, lighted by windows high above the
flooring, and terminating in the round-headed arches so commonly seen in
the castellated mansions of northern Italy. In this palatial hall
preparation had been busy for the ball, to which the wife of the archducal
counsellor so impatiently looked forward, as an opportunity to eclipse all
rivals by the splendour of her jewels. The hour of reception by the
archduke had arrived. The exterior of the spacious edifice was illuminated
from end to end by nunerous torches, and the capacious staircase was
lighted by a double rank of torch-bearers, in splendid apparel. In the
interior of the vast apartment huge waxen tapers were fixed above the
_chevron_, or zig-zag moulding, which ran round the walls, and connected
the casement of each window. Large crystal lamps, pendant from the point
of each inverted pinnacle on the lofty roof, diffused a flood of brilliant
light, and imparted life and colour to the rich tapestries, portraying
stirring scenes from the Crusades, which covered the walls from floor to
window. Complete suits of armour, exhibiting every known device of harness,
and numerous weapons, fancifully arranged, decorated the spaces between
the windows. And now began to appear, in this scene of splendour, groups
of knights and nobles, arrayed in velvet and cloth of gold, and attending
upon fair dames, sparkling with jewels, and bearing nodding plumes upon
their braided hair. Conspicuous amidst these, and towering above all in
stature, appeared the haughty mistress of Strasolda, attired in a robe of
dark green velvet, which well relieved the fairness of her complexion, and
displaying upon her finely moulded neck and arms a collar and bracelets of
large and lustrous oriental pearls. Her firlgers were bedecked with costly
rings, and upon her head she wore an ornament of singular device, which
soon attracted universal attention. Above the rim of a golden comb, richly
chased and studded with brilliants, arose a peacock with expanded tail.
The body was of chased gold in imitation of feathers, the arching neck was
mosaic work of precious stones, the eyes were sparkling diamonds of the
purest water, and the feathers of the tail glittered with emeralds, rubies,
and sapphires of singular beauty and lustre. So great was the curiosity
excited by the dazzling splendour of these jewels, that the fair wearer
was followed round the room by a train of ladies, anxious to observe at
leisure a display of ornaments so extraordinary, and whispering to
sympathizing ears conjectures not over charitable to the counsellor's wife.
When, at length, she had seated herself upon one of the sofas which lined
the walls, a circle of admiring gazers was formed, whose numbers were
rapidly increased by the attendant cavaliers. While the lady was enjoying
her triumph, a bustle at the entrance of the hall turned every head in
that direction, when the cause appeared in the person of the young
archduke, who entered in full costume, followed by a group of courtiers,
and accompanied by a Venetian cavalier, of tall and commanding person,
with whom he appeared to be in earnest discourse. The stranger was a
large-boned, spare, and powerful man, of middle age, and attired in a
black vest and pantaloons of woven silk, with a short cloak, of the same
hue. The golden hilt of his rapier, and a gold chain and medallion round
his neck, were his only ornaments. His features were large, regular, and
grand, and the gaze of his full dark eyes serene, yet firm and potent; his
complexion pale, and contrasting strongly with a dark beard which circled
his visage like a frame. His high and massive forehead, and well closed
lips, had a character of thought and decision, while his mien and tread
were those of one long accustomed to authority. He seemed a man born after
his time, and worthy to have lived and acted in the high and palmy days of
Venice. After attending the archduke to the steps of the dais at the upper
end of the hall, he made his bow, and began to pace the floor in seeming
abstraction from the gay scene around him. Arrested in his progress by the
numerous groups which, after saluting the archduke, had again collected
around the counsellor's lady, he paused in returning conciousness; and,
looking for the cause of such unwonted attraction, was enabled, by his
lofty stature, to obtain a glimpse of the jewelled lady within the circle.
Her features were unknown to him; but when his careless gaze fell upon the
rare ornament which crowned her redundant tresses, his countenance became
suddenly darkened by some strong emotion. Again, he looked more earnestly,
and with increasing wonder and curiosity. Controlling, by a sudden effort,
all outward evidence of feeling, he watched his opportunity, and at length
penetrating within the crowd, stood for some moments before the object of
attraction, and gazed, as if admiringly, upon her various adornments in
succession; then, bowing gracefully, he addressed to her some words of
compliment upon the splendour and value of the dazzling bird upon her head.
"Fair lady," he continued, "I have a daughter whom I fondly love, and fain
would I bestow upon her youthful beauty such ornaments as yours. But say,
I pray you, where can the cunning hand be found which fashions such
glorious birds? Was it in Venice or Vienna that you bought this materpiece
of art?" Unsuspicious of evil, and bridling at gratified vanity at this
attention from a stranger of such distinguished mien, the spoil-bedecked
fair one replied to him as she had done to others.

"I bought this ornament, some weeks back, in Venice, at the store of a
Greek trader from the Levant."

"Ha!" exclaimed the stranger; "and where dwelt this Greek, that I may see
and ask him for another such?"

The concious lady, embarrassed by such close questioning, and somewhat
alarmed by the kindling glances of the questioner, replied in haste--"Nay,
signor, now I remember better, it was not a Greek I bought these gauds,
but of a trading Jew, who walks the Merceria with a box of jewellry."

"Just now, methinks, you said a Greek, fair lady; and now you say a Jew.
What next? Why not a Moslem, or perchance _an Uzcoque?_"

At this ominous conclusion, which the stranger muttered in tones of marked
significance, the alarmed culprit started to her feet; and her fierce
temper getting the better of her prudence, she boldly faced the cavalier,
exclaiming, in a louder key than beseemed a courtier's wife--

"And who are you, signor, that dare thus question the lady of an archducal
counsellor?"

"Lady!" he sternly answered, "here I am known to none save your husband's
master; but in Venice men call me the Proveditore Marcello."

And now flashed upon the indignant signora a fearful reminiscence of
Jurissa's unheeded and forgotten warning, to hide her jewels for a time,
and to beware of the Proveditore Marcello. In utter dismay, and nearly
fainting with alarm, she sank upon the sofa, and her eyes expanded into
the wide stare of terror as she gazed at the menacing visage of the
Venetian noble. Unwilling to expose the conscience-striken woman before so
numerous an assemblage, he seated himself beside her, and in tones
inaudible to others thus whispered in her ear--"Lady! but eight days back
the jewels that you wear were mine. That peacock was my own design, and
made for my daughter by a cunning artificer in Candia. Its like exists not
in the world; for the mould was made by my order, and broken as soon as
used. 'Twas mine until the base Uzcoques plundered my baggage. How thus
quickly it passed from them to you, is as well known to me as to yourself.
But mark me, lady! if all these jewels are not delivered at my apartments
in the west wing of the castle ere midnight, I will denounce your husband
and his colleagues as long-suspected and now-proved partakers with the
Pirates of Segna. And, should redress be denied me here, the ambassador of
Venice shall report this infamous collusion before a higher tribunal in
Vienna."

Struck dumb by this terrible denunciation, the fair culprit gasped for
breath, and her evident distress having been watched in growing wonder by
the assembled ladies and cavaliers, the latter began to mutter threats of
vengeance. One of them now stepped forward, and, grasping the hilt of his
rapier, accused the Venetian of having insulted the wife of a nobleman
high in the councils of the archduke, when the Proveditore, looking down
upon the courtier with that riveted and intensely piercing gaze which
staggers the beholder like a sudden blow, and may still be noted in many
of Titian's portraits, answered with brief and startling emphasis--

"Signor! you do me grievous wrong. 'Tis I, and not the lady, who am the
injured party."

Awed by his gathering brow, and the settled, stern, unsparing resolution
which flashed from every feature, and indicated a man confident in his own
resources, the courtiers did involuntary homage to his loftier spirit, and
gave way. The proud Venetian strode through the yielding circle and
quitted the hall, while the counsellor's wife, pleading illness and
fatigue in reply to the pointed and numerous questions of surrounding
friends and enemies, summoned her husband to attend her, and retired to
her apartments.

Meanwhile the young Moslem and his companion in misfortune, who had been
brought prisoners to Gradiska, were confined in one of the massive towers
which flanked the castle. They had arrived not long before the comencement
of the festival, and when going under guard along a corridor in the east
wing, Ibrahim passed the open door of an apartment in which Strasolda was
adjusting the rich jewels of the counsellor's lady before her appearance
in the ball-room. Startled by the approaching tramp of armed men, the
Uzcoque maiden raised her eyes, and beheld the noble and well-remembered
features of the young Turk, whose captive she had been, and whose image
had so strangely reappeared to her through the flitting cloud of smoke in
the cavern. "Mother of Heaven!" she exclaimed, covering her eyes with her
hands; "do I again behold that Moslem youth, ever appearing when least
expected?" Again she gazed; but the prisoners, hurried onward by their
guards, had proceeded to the end of the corridor, where a narrow winding
staircase, fashioned in the immense thickness of the tower wall, led to
their appointed prison, a large square apartment, the sides of which were
panneled to a considerable height, and imperfectly lighted by small
windows, or rather embrasures, perforating a wall many feet in thickness.
Here they were left to their reflections, and to what comfort they could
derive fron a lamp and a supply of provisions. Hassan, wearied with his
journey, hastily swallowed his supper, and, stretching himself upon a
paillasse, soon forgot his calamities in sound repose. Ibrahim, more
vigilant and less apprehensive of future evil, as the Turks and Austrians
were then at peace, paced awhile along the floor of his spacious prison,
musing on the peerless charms of the Uzcoque maiden. From time to time he
gazed upon the walls and windows as if calculating the chances of escape,
when gradually the peculiar and regular design of the panneling caught and
fixed his attention. It was divided by prominent mouldings into oblong
squares, from the centres of which projected large diamond-shaped bosses
of carved oak. This peculiarity at length roused into action some
reminiscences of the early life and adventures of his beloved patron, the
pacha of Bosnia, to the recital of which he had often, in his boyhood,
listened with eager delight. These recollections, at first shadowy and
indistinct, became gradually more vivid and accurate, until finally the
full conviction flashed upon him that his benefactor, when taken prisoner
in his youth by the Austrians, had been confined in this very tower and
room, and, by a singular discovery, had been enabled to liberate himself
and his fellow-prisoners. The pacha, then a subordinate in rank, in
endeavouring to reach the level of one of the embrasures, had mounted upon
the shoulders of a comrade, and was supporting himself by a firm grasp of
the large boss in the centre of the pannel, when suddenly he felt it
turning round in his hand. Surprised to find it not a fixture, he pulled
it towards him, and found that it slowly yielded to the impulse. Drawing
it out of the socket, he saw it followed by an iron chain, which for a
time resisted all his efforts, but at length gave way, and he heard a
grating sound like the drawing of a rusty bolt. Suddenly the entire pannel
shook, and then the lower end started back sufficiently to betray a recess
in the wall. Hastily descending on his comrade's shoulders, and pushing
back the pannel, he discovered that it was supported by hinges, and was
doubtless intended to conceal a secret issue from the castle, which he
soon ascertained, and effected his escape. These facts were all that the
memory of Ibrahim could supply; but they were enough to guide him in his
search, and he immediately proceeded to sound the pannels in succession
with his fist. Commencing with the southern or outer wall, which he
supposed more massive and more likely to contain a secret passage, he
sounded each pannel, and perceiving in the corner one more reverberation
than in the others, he roused Hassan from his slumbers. "Hassan! Hassan!"
he exclaimed, "Arouse thee, man! and listen to good tidings." The awakened
sleeper gazed with half-opened eyes upon his excited companion, and would
have dropped to sleep again had not a few words of explanation and the
hope of escape fully roused him. Having with some difficulty perched his
rotund person upon the ample shoulders of Ibrahim, he followed his
directions and grasped the wooden boss, which, to the inexpressible
delight of both, yielded, as it had done forty years before to the captive
Turk, and displayed the iron chain. Bidding Hassan replace the boss,
Ibrahim determined to postpone his attempt until the festival had
collected all the guards and menials into the central edifice and its
approaches. An hour before midnight, when the young Moslem expected the
revelry would be at its height, Hassan again mounted upon his shoulders,
and after many strenuous efforts, at length succeeded in drawing up the
bolt. The pannel receded some inches, and Ibrahim raising it still further,
seized the lamp and entered a small oblong recess in the wall, which was
not less than ten or twelve feet in thickness. Perceiving no outlet, he
examined the wooden flooring, and soon discovered a trap, which, when
raised by the ring attached, exposed to view a steep and narrow descending
staircase, leading apparently to some sally-port beyond the castle ditch.
After carefully trimming his lamp, he was about to lead the way into this
dark abyss, when a sound, sharp and sudden, as of something falling in the
adjacent prison, caught his ear. Retracing his steps, he re-entered the
apartment, where, after a brief search, he found beneath one of the
embrasures a paper folded round a large pebble. Hastily opening it, the
following lines, written in the _lingua Franca_ so common in the Levant,
were visible.

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