The Pirate City: An Algerine Tale
Page 26
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
IN WHICH RAIS ALI AND TED FLAGGAN PLAY A VIGOROUS PART.
When Colonel Langley's star descended, as has been described, hishousehold was, of course, scattered to the winds. Those who wereslaves, meekly--or otherwise--awaited their orders, which were various,according to their condition. Some of them were sent to toil at thefortifications, others to carry material into the town. Those who werefree betook themselves to their kindred, and their favouriteemployments. A few members of the household joined the army of defence.
Among these latter was our friend Rais Ali, who, being a Moor, andhaving been a pirate, and still being young and strong, was deemed a fitsubject to defend his hearth and home.
His hearth, by the way, was defended pretty well by the Moorish ladywhom we introduced at the beginning of this volume, with the ableassistance of a small negro whom Rais had purchased for a few shillingsin the slave-market.
It must not be supposed that Rais Ali was a willing defender of hishome. If he could have delegated that duty to others, he would havepreferred it. Had it been possible for him to have retired into adistant part of the Zahara, and there dwelt at ease, while dailytelegrams were forwarded to him of the progress of events, he would haveconsidered himself supremely happy; but such was not his fortune, and,being of a philosophical turn of mind, he wisely succumbed to theinevitable.
It was so fated that Rais Ali was ordered to serve as a gunner at theFish Market battery, just in front of the mosque Djama Djedid. Bravelydid our interpreter proceed daily to his duties, and intensely did hehope that there might never be any occasion for his services.
But whatever fate might decree for him, Rais Ali had a peculiar knack ofdecreeing a few things for himself which neither fate nor anything elseappeared to be able to deprive him of. One of these decrees was that,come what might, he should have his morning cup of coffee; another, thathe should have a daily shave; a third, that he should have a bath atleast once a week.
As one of the occasions on which he fulfilled his destiny and carriedout his own fatal decrees bears on our tale, we will follow him.
Having begun the day, at a very early hour, with his cup of coffee, heproceeded in a leisurely way to a certain street in the town where waskept a Turkish bath. This was not an Anglified Turkish bath, goodreader, but a real one; not an imitation, but the actual thing itselffresh from Turkey, managed by Turks, or Moors who were at least halfTurks, and conducted in accordance with the strictest rules of Turkishetiquette.
Approaching the door of the bath, he observed a tall dignified and verypowerful Arab sauntering in front of it.
Rais Ali seemed troubled by the sight of him, paused, advanced, halted,and again advanced, until the tall Arab, catching sight of him, stalkedforward with solemn dignity and held out his hand.
"What for yoo comes here?" demanded Rais rather testily.
The tall Moor slowly bent his hooded head and whispered in hisear--"Faix, it's more than I rightly know mesilf."
"Yoo's mad," said Rais, drawing the tall Arab into the porch of thebath, where they could avoid the observation of passers-by. "Did not Itell yoo for to keep close?"
"So ye did, Rais Ally," said Ted Flaggan, for it was he, "and it's closeI kep' as long as I cu'd, which was aisy enough, seeing that ye broughtme purvisions so riglar--like a good feller as ye are; but body o' me,man, I cudn't live in a cave all me lone for iver, an' I got tired o'lookin' out for that British fleet that niver comes, so I says to mesilfwan fine evenin', `Go out, Ted me boy, an' have a swim in the say--it'lldo 'ee good, and there's not much chance of any wan troublin' ye here.'No sooner said than done. Out I wint round beyont the Pint Pescade, an'off wid me close an' into the say. Och! but it _was_ plisint! Well,just as I was coming out, who should I see on the rocks above me but abig thief of an Arab? I knew at wance that if I was to putt on closehe'd guess, maybe, who I was, so I came out o' the wather an' ranstraight at him naked--meanin' to frighten him away like. An' sureenough he tuk to his heels like a Munster pig. I don't know how it is,but I have always had a strong turn for huntin'. From the time whin Iwas a small gosoon runnin' after the pigs an' cats, I've bin apt to givechase to anything that runned away from me, an' to forgit myself. So itwas now. After the Arab I wint, neck an crop, an' away he wint like thewind, flingin' off his burnous as he ran; but I was light, bein' naked,d'ye see, an' soon overhauled him. For a starn-chase it was theshortest I remember. When I came up wid him I made a grab at his head,an his hake--is that what ye calls it?--comed away in me hand, leavinghis shaved head open to view, wid the tuft o' hair on the top of it.
"I laughed to that extint at this that he got away from me, so I gavehim a finishin' Irish howl, by way o' making him kape the pace goin',an' thin stopped and putt on the hake. By and by I comes to where theburnous was, and putts it on too, an faix, ye couldn't have towld mefrom an Arab, for the bare legs an' feet and arms was all right, onlyjust a taste over light in colour, d'ee see? Thinks I to mesilf, Ted,me boy, ye cudn't do better than remain as ye are. Wid a little browndirt on yer face an' limbs, yer own mother wouldn't know ye. An' troth,Rais, I did it; an' whin I lucked at mesilf in a smooth pool on thebaich, it was for all the world as if somebody else was luckin' at me.To be short wid ye, I've bin wanderin' about the country for the lastthree or four days quite free an' aisy."
"Nobody see yoo?" asked Rais in great surprise.
"Och! lots o' people, but few of 'em tuk a fancy to spake to me, an'whin they did I shuck me head, an' touched me lips, so they thought Iwas dumb."
"But why you comes to town?" asked Rais Ali, in a remonstrative tone.
"Just bekaise I'm hungry," replied the seaman, with a smile. "Ye see,Ally Babby, the gale of day before yesterday sint a breaker into thecave that washed away all the purvisions ye brought me last, so it wasaither come here and look for 'ee or starve--for the British fleet hasapparently changed its mind, and ain't goin' to come here after all. Imeant to go d'rec' to yer house, but knowin' yer fondness for baths, andrememberin' that this was yer day, I thought it betther to cruise abouthere till you hove in sight."
While Ted Flaggan was relating all this, his friend's countenanceexpressed alternately doubt, disapproval, anxiety, amusement, andperplexity.
When he had finished, Rais informed him that instead of the fleet havingchanged its mind, there was great probability of its sudden appearanceat any moment. He also mentioned the arrest of the British consul andthe boat's crew of the "Prometheus," and explained that the mostenergetic measures were being taken to place the city in a state ofdefence.
"Oho!" exclaimed Flaggan, in a low tone, "that clears up wan or twothings that's been puzzlin' me. I've bin thinkin' that the ship I sawlave the port was British, but the weather bein' thick I cudn't quitemake out her colours. Then, I've been sore perplexed to account for theflocks of armed Arabs that have bin steerin' into the town of late, an'whin I passed the gates this mornin' I was troubled too, to make outwhat was all the bustle about. It's all clare as ditch-wather now.--Butwhat's to be done with _me_, Rais? for if the cownsl an' the Britishgin'rally are in limbo, it's a bad look-out for Ted Flaggan, seein' thatI'm on the black list already."
Rais Ali appeared to ponder the case for a few seconds.
"Come an' have one bath," he said, with sudden animation; "after that wego brikfast togidder."
"Av we cud `brikfust' _fust_, Ally Babby, it would be plisinter,"returned the hungry seaman; "but, I say, I dursn't go into the bath,'cause what would they think of a man wid dark-brown arms, legs, an'face, an' a pink body? Sure, they'd take me for a spy or a madman, an'hand me over to the p'leece!"
"Wash here, fust," said Rais, leading his friend to a small fountain ina retired angle of the court. "Ebbery body here too bizzy 'joyin'theirselfs to look to yoo. An' des corner dark. Me stan' 'tween youan' dem."
"But who ever heard of a white Moor?" objected Ted.
"Oh, lots of 'em--'alf-castes, almost white as you," said Rais.
"Nebber mind; sailors of France, Denmark, an' odder places what havconsuls here, when waitin' for ship carry dem home comes here for fun--"
"Ay, but they don't come disguised as Moors," said Flaggan, "and I niverwas inside a Turkish bath before. Don't know more nor a child what todo."
"Yoo don' go in bath dressed--go naked," returned Rais, growingimpatient. "Do noting in bath, only let 'em do what dey pleases toyoo."
"Very good, plaze yersilf, Ally Babby," said Ted, resignedly plunginghis arms into the cistern; "only remimber, I give ye fair warnin', avthe spalpeens attempts to take me prisoner, I'll let fly into theirbreadbaskets right an' left, an' clear out into the street, naked orclothed, no matter which,--for I've said it wance, an' I means to stickto it, they'll niver take Ted Flaggan alive."
"All right," returned Rais Ali, "yoo wash yours faces an' holds yourtongue."
After removing as much as possible of the brown earth from his visageand limbs, the seaman drew the hood of his burnous well over his face,and--having assiduously studied the gait of Moors--strode with Orientaldignity into the outer court, or apartment, of the bath, followed hisfriend into an unoccupied corner and proceeded to undress.
"Musha! it's like a house-full of Turkish corpses," whispered Ted as hesurveyed the recumbent figures in white around him.
There were some differences between this genuine Turkish bath and ourBritish imitation of it which merit notice.
The court or hall in which the friends unrobed served the purpose of adrying-chamber as well as a dressing-room. Hence those bathers whoentered to commence the operation of undressing had to pass between rowsof the men who had gone through the bath, and were being graduallycooled down. They were all swathed from head to foot in white sheets,with large towels or pieces of linen tied turban-fashion round theirheads, and as they lay perfectly straight and still, their resemblanceto Turkish corpses was disagreeably strong. This idea was still furthercarried out in consequence of the abominable smell which pervaded theplace, for Algerines were at that time utterly indifferent tocleanliness in their baths. Indeed, we may add, from personalexperience, that they are no better at the present time than they werethen! A few of the corpses, however, possessed sufficient life toenable them to smoke and sip tea or coffee.
This outer court was the immediate vestibule to the bath, orstewing-room--if we may be allowed the name. There was no passing, aswith us, from a private undressing-box, through a mild cooling room, andthence into the hot and the hottest rooms. The Moors were bold, hardyfellows. The step was at once made from the cooling into the hot room,or bath, and in taking the step it was necessary to pass over one of theopen sewers of the town--to judge from the smell thereof. But this lastwas a mere accidental circumstance connected with the bath, not anessential part of it. Thus it will be seen there were but twoapartments in the establishment, with an outer lobby.
When the two friends had unrobed and wrapped a piece of striped calicoround their loins, they were led by a young Moor in similar costumetowards the stewing-room.
"Don' be frighted," whispered Rais Ali; "it's pretty hottish."
"I'll _try_ to be aisy," replied the seaman with a quiet smile, "an' avI can't be aisy I'll be as aisy as I can."
Although he treated the idea of being frightened with something ofcontempt, he was constrained to admit to himself that he was powerfullysurprised when he stepped suddenly into a chamber heated to an extentthat seemed equal to a baker's oven.
The apartment was octagonal, and very high, with a dome-shaped roof,from which it was dimly lighted by four small and very dirty windows.Water trickled down the dirty dark-brown walls; water and soap-sudsfloated over the dirty marble floor. In the centre of the floor was amass of masonry about three feet high and seven feet square. This wasthe core of the room, as it were--part of the heating apparatus. It wascovered with smooth slabs of stone, on which there was no covering ofany kind. There is no knowing how much lurid smoke and fire rolledbeneath this giant stone ottoman.
It chanced that only two men were in the place at the time. They hadadvanced to a certain stage of the process, and were enjoyingthemselves, apparently lifeless, and in sprawling attitudes, on the hotsloppy floor. The attendant of one had left him for a time. Theattendant of the other was lying not far from his temporary owner, soundasleep. One of the Moors was very short and fat, the other tail andunusually thin; both had top-tufts of hair on their shaven crowns, andboth would have looked supremely ridiculous if it had not been for thehorrible resemblance they bore to men who had been roasted alive on thehot ottoman, and flung carelessly aside to die by slow degrees.
"Do as I doos," said Rais to Flaggan, as he stretched himself on hisback on the ottoman.
"Surely," acquiesced Ted, with a gasp, for he was beginning to feel theplace rather suffocating. He would not have minded the heat so much, hethought, if there had only been a _little_ fresh air!
Rais Ali's bath-attendant lay down on the slab beside him. Flaggan'sattendant looked at him with a smile, and pointed to the ottoman.
"Och, surely," said Ted again, as he sat down. Instantly he leaped upwith a subdued howl.
"W'y, what wrong?" asked Rais, looking up.
"It's red-hot," replied Flaggan, rubbing himself.
"Nonsense!" returned Rais; "you lie down queek. Soon git use to him.Always feel hottish at fust."
Resolved not to be beaten, the unfortunate Irishman sat down again, andagain started up, but, feeling ashamed, suddenly flung himself flat onhis back, held his breath, and ground his teeth together. He thought ofgridirons; he thought of the rack; he thought of purgatory; he thoughtof the propriety of starting up and of tearing limb from limb theattendant, who, with a quiet smile, lay down beside him and shut hiseyes; he thought of the impossibility of bearing it an instant longer;and then he suddenly thought that it felt a little easier. From thispoint he began to experience sensations that were slightly pleasurable,and a profuse perspiration broke out over his whole body.
Evidently his attendant was accustomed to deal occasionally with whitemen, for he watched his huge charge out of the corner of a wicked eyefor some time. Seeing, however, that he lay still, the fellow went offinto a peaceful slumber.
"'Tis an amazin' place intirely," observed Ted, who felt inclined totalk as he began to enjoy himself. "If it wasn't so dirty that an Irishpig of proper breedin' would object to come into it, I'd say it wasraither agreeable."
Rais Ali being in the height of enjoyment, declined to answer, but theseaman's active mind was soon furnished with food for contemplation,when one of the attendants entered and quietly began, to all appearance,to put the tall thin Moor to the torture.
"Have I to go through _that_?" thought Flaggan; "well, well, niver saydie, owld boy, it's wan comfort that I'm biggish, an' _uncommon_ tough."
It would be tedious to prolong the description of the Irishman's bathethat morning. Suffice it to say that, after he had lain on the ottomanlong enough to feel as if the greater part of him had melted away, heawoke his attendant, who led him into a corner, laid him on the sloppyfloor, and subjected him to a series of surprises. He first laid Ted'shead on his naked thigh, and rubbed his face and neck tenderly, asthough he had been an only son; he then straightened his limbs and bakedthem as though he had been trained to knead men into loaves frominfancy; after that he turned him on his back and on his face; punchedand pinched and twisted him; he drenched him with hot water, and sousedhim with soap-suds from head to foot, face and all, until the stoutmariner resembled a huge mass of his native sea-foam; he stuck his hairup on end, and scratched his head with his ten nails; and tweaked hisnose, and pulled his fingers and toes till they cracked again!
All this Ted Flaggan, being tough, bore with passing fortitude,frequently saying to the Moor, internally, for soap forbade the openingof his lips--
"Go ahead, me lad, an' do yer worst!"
"Pull away, me hearty!" thought Flaggan, purposely making himself aslimp as possible.
The Moor did pull; and while his victim's arms were stretched acrosseach other to the uttermost, he suddenly fell upon them, thereby almostforcing the shoulder-joints out of their sockets.
"Och! ye spalpeen!" shouted Ted, flinging him off as if he had been afeather. Then, sinking back, he added, "Come on; you'll not ketch meslaipin' again, me honey!"
The amused Moor accepted the invitation, and returned to the charge. Hepunched him, baked him, boxed him, and battered him, and finally,drenching him with ice-cold water, swathed him in a sheet, twisted awhite turban on his head, and turned him out like a piece of brand-newfurniture, highly polished, into the drying-room.
"How yoos like it?" asked Rais Ali, as they lay in the Turkish-corpsestage of the process, calmly sipping tea.
"It's plis'nt," replied Ted, "uncommon plis'nt, but raither surprisin'."
"Ha," responded Rais.
At this point their attention was turned to the little fat Moor who hadbeen their fellow-bather, and to whom Ted in his undivided attention tothe thin Moor had paid little regard.
"Musha!" whispered Ted, "it's the capting of the port."
The captain of the port it was, and if that individual had known who itwas that lay cooling within a few yards of him, he would probably havebrought our nautical hero's days to a speedy termination. But althoughhe had seen Ted Flaggan frequently under the aspect of a British seaman,he had never before seen him in the character of a half-boiled Moor.Besides, having been thoroughly engrossed and lost in the enjoyment ofhis own bath, he had paid no attention to those around him.
"Turn yoos face well to de wall," whispered Rais Ali. "He great hass;hims no see yoo."
"Great `hass,' indade; he's not half such a `hass' as I am for comin' inhere," muttered the sailor, as he huddled on his Arab garments, keepinghis face carefully turned away from the captain of the port, who laywith his eyes shut in a state of dreamy enjoyment.
In a few minutes the two friends paid for their bath, and went out.
"I feels for all the world like a bird or a balloon," said Ted, as hiscompanion hurried him along; "if I don't git some ballast soon in theshape o' grub, I'll float away intirely."
Rais Ali made no reply, but turned into a baker's shop, where hepurchased two rolls. Then hurrying on down several narrow streets, thehouses of which met overhead, and excluded much of the light of day, heturned into a small Moorish coffee-house, which at first seemed to thesailor to be absolutely dark, but in a few minutes his eyes becameaccustomed to it, and he saw that there were several other customerspresent.
They were nearly all in Arab costume, and sat cross-legged on twobenches which ran down either side of the narrow room. Each smoked along pipe, and sipped black coffee out of a very diminutive cup, whilethe host, a half negro, stood beside a charcoal fire, in the darkness ofthe far interior, attending to an array of miniature tin coffee-pots,which exactly matched the cups in size. A young Moor, with a red fez,sat twanging a little guitar, the body of which was half a cocoa-nut,covered with parchment.
This musician produced very dismal tones from its two strings, but theArabs seemed content, and sat in silent, not to say dignified, enjoymentof it.
"Eat away now," whispered Rais to Flaggan, as they entered--"cross yoolegs, look solemn, an' hold yoos tongue. Me goes git shave."
Obedient to instructions--as British seamen always are--Ted took hisplace on one of the narrow benches, and, crossing his legs _a la Turk_,began with real zest to eat the rolls which his friend had provided forhim, and to sip the cup, or thimbleful, of coffee which mine hostsilently, by order of the same friend, placed at his side.
Meanwhile, Rais Ali submitted himself to the hands of the host, who wasalso a barber, and had his head and face shaved without soap--though alittle cold water was used.
During this operation a boy ran hastily into the cafe and made anannouncement in Arabic, which had the surprising effect of startling theArabs into undignified haste, and induced Rais Ali to overturn hiscoffee on the barber's naked feet, while he seized a towel and driedhimself violently.
"What's to do, old feller?" demanded Flaggan, with a huge bite of breadalmost stopping up his mouth.
"De British fleet am in sight!" shrieked Rais Ali.
"Ye don't mean that?" cried Ted, in his turn becoming excited. "Thenit's time that _I_ was out o' the city!"
"Yis, away! go to yous cave! Only death for Breetish in Algiers--off!away!"
The Moor dashed out and hastened to his post on the ramparts, while TedFlaggan, drawing his burnous well round him, made straight for thenorthern gate of the town, casting an uneasy glance at his now whitelegs, of which at least the ankles and beginning of the brawny calveswere visible. We use the term "white" out of courtesy, and in referenceto the distinct difference between the bold seaman's limbs and those ofthe brown-skinned Arabs. In reality they were of a very questionableneutral tint, and covered with a large quantity of hair.
Their appearance, however, signified little, for by that time the wholetown was in an uproar of active preparation and excitement.
Men of various colours--black, brown, and yellow, with everyintermediate shade, and in many different garbs--were hastening to theramparts, while anxious women of the lower orders, and frightenedchildren, were rushing to and fro, either engaged in some dutiesconnected with the defence, or simply relieving their feelings byviolent action: while bodies of janissaries were hastening to theirvarious stations, or came trooping in from all the outposts of thesurrounding country.
In the midst of such confusion our tall Arab attracted no notice. Hepassed through the streets unmolested, and out at the Bab-el-Oued gateunchallenged.
It was little more than daybreak at the time, for Arabs are early risersat all times, and on the present occasion they had reason to be earlierthan usual.
The moment our tar caught sight of the sea, his heart gave a wild boundof exultation, for on the horizon appeared a few white specks, likesea-mews, which he now knew to be the British fleet.
Without any definite intention as to what he meant to do, Flaggan spedalong the road leading to his cave at Point Pescade, his chief feelingbeing a strong desire to get out of the sight of natives, that he mightmeditate alone on his future movements, which he felt must be prompt anddecisive.
Before quite reaching his destination fortune favoured him. Cominground a rocky point of the coast, he observed a boat with one man in itrowing close inshore.
"That'll do," whispered Ted to himself, as he went behind a rock andhastily smeared his face and limbs with earth.
When the boat approached he went to the edge of the sea and made signsto the fisherman, for such he was, to approach, at the same timepretending to take something out of a wallet at his side, to which hepointed with eager interest, as though he had something important to sayabout it.
The man lay on his oars a moment, and then pulled in, but cautiously,for he suspected the stranger. When within about four or five yards ofthe rocks the man again stopped.
"Arrah come on, won't 'ee?" exclaimed the impatient Irishman,gesticulating wildly.
The fisherman had evidently seen and heard enough, for he at once dippedhis oars with the intention of rowing off, when Ted made a suddenspring, and went with a heavy plunge into the water within a yard of theboat, which was a very small one.
Unfortunately for the fisherman, instead of pulling away he raised anoar with the intention of striking Flaggan when he should rise. It wasa fatal mistake. He did indeed strike him, and on the head too; butthat was the most invulnerable part of the Irishman's body. Ted graspedthe oar, caught the gunwale of the boat, and in a moment overturned itand i
ts occupant on his shoulders.
Diving clear, he rose and watched for his adversary. The man also rosea moment later, and Ted, who was a splendid swimmer, went at him like asmall steamboat, caught him by the neck, and half throttled him; thendragging him ashore, untwisted his turban, and therewith tied his armsand legs fast, after which he carried him into a small cave near athand, and left him to his meditations.
This accomplished, he returned to the little boat, swam off and rightedher, baled her out, shipped the oars, and rowed straight out to sea.