The Circassian Slave | Page 9

with
countless boats swarming in the Golden Horn, and then the eye would
turn back again to the city with its thousand minarets. There lay, too,
the velvet-carpeted Valley of Sweet Waters, where was the Sultan's
serai, looking like some fair scene described in the Koran, so soft,
fairy-like, and enticing.
The rider now slowly gathered up the reins from his horse's neck, and.
slightly restraining the spirited animal by a pressure of the curb,
permitted him slowly to walk on while his master appeared still to be
lost in thought. Once or twice he cast his eyes again towards the city,
and then again mused to himself, as though his cares and thoughts lay
there. So much was the rider absorbed within himself that he did not

observe two power Bedouin Arabs of the desert, who had wandered to
the outskirts of the city, and whose longing eyes were bent, not on him,
but upon the horse which he rode. To the skillful eyes of these children
of the desert he was almost invaluable; every step betrayed his metal,
while the clean limb, nervous action, and distended nostrils told of the
fleetness that was in him!
You may trust an Arab often with gold or precious goods; the very fact
of the confidence, you accord to him makes him faithful. You may trust
your life in his hands, and the laws of hospitality shall protect you; but
trust him not with a fine horse--that will betray him, though nothing
else might do so. Born in the desert where they are reared and loved so
well, he imbibes from childhood a regard for the full blooded barb, that
falls little short of reverence; and being once possessed of one, no
money can part them. The two Bedouins stealthily watched the Turk as
he rode slowly along, and were evidently only awaiting a favorable
moment to attack and overcome him.
By an ingenious movement they doubled a slight hillock that lay
between them and the woods of Belgrade, and as they came up on the
other side, placed themselves directly in the path of the horseman. Still
they were unobserved by him, and not until one had laid his hand upon
the bridle, and the other violent hands upon his garments, did he arouse
from the dreamy thoughts which had so completely absorbed him. Thus
taken at disadvantage, the horseman was forced from the saddle before
he could offer any resistance, but having once reached the ground, and
being fairly on his feet, his bright blade glistened in the sun and flashed
before the eyes of the Arab robbers.
"Yield us the horse and go thy way!" said one of the assailants,
soothingly.
"By the Prophet, never!" shouted the Turk, setting upon them fiercely
as he spoke and wounding one severely at the very outset, while he
held the bridle of the horse.
The horseman was one used to the weapon he wielded, and the Arabs
saw that they had no easy enemy to conquer. He who held the horse

was forced to unloose the bridle to defend himself, while the other was
now striving to use the gun that was strapped to his back; but they were
at too close quarters for the employing of such a weapon, and the stout,
iron-like frames of the Arabs were fast conquering the skill and
endurance of the Turk. But that bright sword was not wielded so
skillfully for naught, and one of the robbers was already glad to creep
from without its reach, just as his companion succeeded in breaking the
finely-tempered blade with his gun barrel, leaving the Turk
comparatively at his mercy; and again he bade him surrender the horse,
the animal trained to the nicest point of perfection, still remaining quiet
close to the spot where the encounter had taken place. The clashing of
the weapons had startled him, and he breathed quick, and his ears
showed that the nervous energy of his frame was aroused, but a spear
point thrust into his very flanks would not have started him away until
his master bade him to go.
"Yield thou now, or die!" shouted the excited Bedouin, drawing his
long dagger.
"By the Prophet, never!" again exclaimed the Turk, with vehemence,
though he panted sorely from the extraordinary exertion he had made to
defend himself from the attack of his two assailants.
All this had transpired in far less time than we have occupied in the
relation, and once more now having him greatly at disadvantage, the
Bedouins rushed upon him.
But there came now upon the scene a third party, at this excited
moment, from out the forest of Belgrade. He seemed but a weary
traveller, though when his eyes rested upon the scene we have
described, an instantaneous change