The youth of the Old Dominion

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Chapter I. The Battle-field

" God is great ! Extolled be the perfection of Him who changeth others, but is not changed ! "

Such were the words of Mustapha Bey, as he wiped his dripping blade upon the mane of his charger.

" Thou sayest well, my lord," replied Belgogi, a Tartar chief, who bore marks of desperate fight. " Praise be to God, who hath enabled us to triumph ! "

" There is no strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great! But may the victories like this which He grants to the faithful be few ! " And there was heavy gloom upon his brow as Mustapha surveyed the battle-field.

Thirty thousand men lay there, weltering in blood ; more than twenty thousand followers of El Islam, and nearly ten thousand who had fought under the banner of the cross. The dying shriek of the war-horse, and the dying groan, imprecation, or prayer of the mangled soldier, were making terrific discord there, as

A THE YOUTH OF THE OLD DOMINION.

the sun was sinking to his rest. Such was the scene ill the valley of Veristhorne, on the 18th of November, in the year of our Lord 1602. At sunrise, forty thousand Turks and Tartars had intercepted the retreat of eleven thousand veteran warriors of the German Emperor Rodolph II., under the Earl of Meldritch, in the narrow and rugged pass where the mountain of Rotterton, in the province of Wallachia, abuts on the river Altus. The gallant band of Christians, cut off from all possibility of retreat, had discovered their condition without dismay, and prepared to die as soldiers should die. At high noon, they had received and repulsed the headlong charge of Mustapha Bey. Belgogi, with his wild squadrons, had come to the rescue. Legion had followed legion, each fresh and each fierce. Until nearly sunset, the Christians had stood firm, dealing dreadful but unavailing havoc upon their fierce assailants. Their general, hopeless of all else, had then concentrated the remnant of his little army, and heroically headed them in the desperate attempt to cut their way through, the dense masses before them. With a handful of survivors, he had already reached the banks of the Altus.

" By Allah!" exclaimed Belgogi, "the Nazarenes take to the river ! The dogs ! they would rather drown than bleed ! May Azraeel * gather them under his wing ! "

Mustapha and his staff looked on in breathless silence. The fugitives were plunging into the stream, and in a few moments they were beyond the reach of Moslem sword or spear. A brief struggle with the

* The angel of death.

THE BATTLE-FIELD. 3

waters, and Meldritch, with only thirteen hundred faint and bleeding horsemen, gained the farther shore. Save a few who were floating, helpless and dying, upon the current, all the rest of his eleven thousand braves were strewn on the field of strife. With the plunge of the last Christian into the waters, all sound of conflict ceased. The victors stood gazing with admiration, and even with a chivalric satisfaction, upon this last and successful struggle of their foes. Among the group which we have designated, Mustapha broke the silence.

" God, the all-seeing and all-knowing, who hath appointed a cause for every event, hath decreed their escape. The will of the Compassionate, the Merciful, is good." Then, turning to one of his aids : " Let the signal of recall be given, and the field searched for the living. The sword of the believer is the key of heaven and of hell."

With this significant license for the slaughter of the disabled Christians, the general and his staff departed. The slain and wounded lay literally in heaps ; for regiment after regiment had grappled over the bodies of the fallen, and added their own to the ghastly pile. The field was now rapidly searched in every direction by detached parties, who dragged forth the dying from the dead, bearing away their fellows, but for the most part despatching the Christians with the dagger. Those only were spared whose appearance gave promise of a large ransom.

As the two victorious generals, with their attendants, were leisurely pursuing their way, the hoof of Relgogi's steed struck upon a prostrate cavalier^ who writhed convulsively under the blow, uttered a momentary cry of pain, and sank again upon his bloody bed. The Tartar, with a hissing curse, aimed a passing blow at "the Christian dog," and pursued his way.

The movement and the outcry of the wounded man attracted the attention of a rambling party, who instantly advanced, but found him relapsed into insensibility. His war-horse lay lifeless, and in his fall had pinned to the ground his rider, who still, all unconscious as he was, retained a rigid grasp upon his sword.

" It was the dog's last howl. The soul of the Giaour * has gone to its doom," said one of the party as he spurned the body.

" By Allah ! " exclaimed a comrade, " he has left us a goodly spoil. This belt, this cimeter, — three hundred ducats could not buy the like. Jewels too ! " said he, removing a diamond locket and brooch, while the other wrenched away the splendid sword of the soldier, and a third raised the body to secure its gorgeous belt. A deep groan arrested the plunderers, one of whom instantly drew his dagger, exclaiming, " To thy place, thou accursed ! "

" By the beard of the Prophet, hold ! — thou shalt not," shouted he who supported the knight, and parrying the stroke of his companion. u "WouMst spurn Fortune, as thou didst the unbeliever ? "

" Fortune ! " retorted the other in a mocking tone. « Where ? "

" Art blind ? Look at the steed. Look at his trappings. Look at the rich appointments of his lord.

* In Turkey, an unbeliever or infidel.

THE BATTLE-FIELD. D

This is no common soldier, Abdallah ! but an officer, a nobleman, perchance a prince. He can pay a princely ransom, and will bring a price on the mart. Put up thy blade."

u Lo, mine eyes open, Selim ! Thou speakest wisely. It is the will of Allah that we sell the dog, and who shall resist that which is appointed ? "

The men now extricated their captive from his horse, and, having removed his casque and corslet, busily chafed his temples, stanched his wounds, and administered such simple restoratives as they chanced to have.

" By Allah ! what have we here ? " said Selim, as the pallid face of the officer was exposed. " Some one strayea from its mother? Yet it hath a little beard, Abdallah! as thou mayest see by inspection."

" Youthful and comely," replied the other ; " scarcely ripe for battle. No warrior, methinks. He cannot have earned his rank by his arm ; it must have come to him by birth."

" Not ripe for battle ! " said Ali, the other of the party. " He is a very David." *

" A David ! " exclamed Abdallah.

" The lion, and the bear, and the Philistine thought David was a man of valor."

" And a stripling," retorted Ali.

* Mohammedans acknowledge, as " the uncreated word of God, revealed to his prophets," the five books of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospels of Jesus Christ ; but these they consider greatly corrupted. The Koran they regard as in an uncorrupted and incorruptible state, as surpassing in excellence all preceding revelations, and as having abrogated them. Lane's Arabian Nights, Note 1 to the Introduction. 1*

« And this lad ? "

" Is a stripling and a David."

" Meanest a prince ? So J judged by his accoutring."

" Nay ; but a warrior."

" Thou hast a vein for silly riddles, Ali ! "

u Abdallah ! Selim ! Ye are bold and war-worn, with scars which will exalt you. Yet had you met this boy to-day, you would have found him a lion's whelp, and might have been in Paradise to-night."

" Cease prating."

" What dost mean ? "

" I know his armor and his war-horse. When the unbelievers were hewing their way through our squadrons, that sword was his plaything. Not a stroke of it but brought a Moslem to the ground. It was a Tartar's spear which felled his horse ; and the horse which pinioned him. By Allah! a second David!"

" Didst see it ? "

" Wast near ? "

" I saw it, content to be no nearer. Do I not speak truth, O son of perdition ? " seeing the young man feebly raise his eyelids.

It was but a vacant, bewildered look, and for a moment only. But now the efforts of his captors were becoming so rapidly effectual, that conversation ceased, and the whole attention of the soldiers was given to the sufferer. At length he became able to aid in his own removal, and was taken to a rude shelter hurriedly constructed for the wounded. When found by his captors, the tide of life had almost ebbed from the veins of the fallen youth ; for the rush of battle had been terrific over him, and many a blow

THE BATTLE-FIELD.

had he received from sword and spear, and ironed hoof, as he lay there pinioned, but righting to the last. Weeks of skilful and even tender nursing elapsed before he was restored to strength. His keepers exulted over his recovery, as each day developed in him not only a remarkable vigor and symmetry of person, but a countenance which commanded both admiration and respect. The expression of his eye, in particular, was anything but imperious or defiant ; yet its most transient glance disclosed an inward nobleness, and power of purpose, which even the haughtiest Turk felt and acknowledged. He was now ready for market, and was transported, with some scores of his fellow-prisoners, to Axiopolis, or Rassovat, in the neighboring province of Bulgaria. Here he was sold, as his captors had anticipated, for a high price, and became the chattel personal of the Bashaw Bogall.

Chapter II. The Indignant Maiden

Charatza Tragabigzanda, a budding Turkish maiden, was reclining upon the divan of her apartment in Constantinople. She had just completed her morning toilet, and had abandoned herself to the luxurious repose in which the Muslim-eh of the higher class pass much of their time. She was surrounded by all the elegant appurtenances of Oriental wealth. A beautiful lute lay at her feet ; the cushions upon which she reposed were of the most costly stuffs ; birds of rare plumage were singing in their gilded cages ; the morning air, laden with the fragrance of flowers, was gushing freely through the lattice ; while a small fountain threw up its jet of sparkling water from the centre of the " durka'ah," or depressed portion of the room. The maiden turned her eyes languidly around, and breathed a light sigh expressive of dissatisfaction. Her rich drapery, her sparkling jewels, and all the adornments of her apartment, had evidently failed to give her pleasure.

This was natural ; for there is an instinctive and immortal craving in every human soul which no form of luxury or beauty can satisfy, — never, perhaps, more distinctly felt or emphatically confessed than when the heart has just come to scorn the toys of childhood, and to feel the opening aspirations of its immortal nature. Then a chance hour of idleness or lassitude reveals that self is not enough for self, and that " the elements of the world are beggarly " in comparison to the want within.

"A solemn murmur in the soul Tells of the world to be ; As travellers hear the billows roll Before they reach the sea."

It was this sensation of unsatisfied immortality which made the maiden sigh.

" Fatima ! " she suddenly exclaimed, " thy lute ! Strike one of the happy airs of thy country."

A beautiful Abyssinian slave,* who stood at the opposite end of the " aa'h " or saloon, her arms meekly folded upon her bosom, promptly answered the command of her mistress. But in vain. The fair maiden soon tired, and, with something like petulance, reproached her attendant for want of skill.

" O my mistress ! " humbly replied the girl, " would that I had skill ! Command thy slave to something which shall make thine heart light. Shall I send for a reciter of romances ? "

" Nay, girl : neither tales nor music suit me. Am I not peevish, my faithful one ? " caressing her. " Methinks the fault is here," laying her hand upon her heart. " And yet what sorrow have I ? what want ? Allah preserve me ! "

" May the Compassionate help thee ! " devoutly ejaculated the slave.

* The slaves usually called Abyssinians, although from, the territories of the Gallas, appear to have been a mixed race between negroes and whites. Many of the females among them were very beautiful. Lane's Arabian Nights, Note 13, Chap. I.

For a while the mistress relapsed into silence, gazing at the play of the fountain with a listlessness which pained the devoted and watchful Fatima, who was glad when they were interrupted by the entrance of a eunuch of the household. With the customary Oriental reverence, he solemnly presented, upon a salver of exquisite workmanship, a letter whose perfume filled the apartment, and as solemnly retired. It was certainly with apathy that the fair lady received and held negligently a missive which she well knew abounded with protestations of love and adoration.

" What Allah hath decreed must be fulfilled," she murmured. " Heigho ! Girl, this Bashaw talks of love. Think you he knows what it is ? "

" How could he fail to know who is espoused to so much loveliness ? "

" Loveliness, forsooth ! He hath not seen me. For aught he knows, I may be as ugly as Iblees." *

" The beauty of the Houris is known on earth, yet no man living hath seen them. So are the charms of my mistress known. Birds of the air have reported them. And many are they who sigh to possess them."

" Silly girl ! What saith the Prophet of those who flatter with their lips ? This Bashaw would be my lord and master, and I suppose is appointed unto me by Heaven. But as for love, — fie, girl ! Here, cut this silk."

The silken band of the letter was cut, and at length the lady languidly opened its folds. As she read, she broke into a merry laugh.

* Chief of the evil Jinn. The evil Jinn are supposed to be " horribly hideous." Lane's Arabian Nights, note 21 to the Introduction.

" O thou most valiant Bashaw ! " she exclaimed. " Girl ! of a surety the lord Bogall doth love ! Verses do not prove it. Gifts of jewels, and gifts of embroidered apparel, and gifts of Arabian perfumes, do not prove it. But what shall we say now ? O daughter of the burning deserts ! When one's betrothed fights, and wades in blood, and braves death, to win a gift for his mistress, must we not say, * Love hath possessed him ' ? And yet methinks love would not speak such swelling words."

" Thy slave is slow of understanding. Didst thou speak of winning battles ? "

u Yes, girl ; I suppose so. The Bashaw Bogall hath proved himself a warrior, of which I had not dreamed. He hath sent me a gift won in battle, a useful gift, — a gift that hath life. Now, I suppose, I must love and adore."

" That hath life ! A bird, my mistress ? "

" Silly child ! No."

" A gazelle ? "

The girl's countenance fell, and she clasped the hand of her mistress.

" O my mistress ! do not say that he hath sent another to come between thee and me ! "

" Thou art nearer in thy guess, Fatima."

The girl covered her face in silence. Soon the hot tears streaming through her fingers, and then sobs, betrayed her agony.

" Cease, girl, cease ! " cried her mistress, startled at this outburst of affectionate passion. " Thou 'rt wrong. < Between me and thee ! ' Never. Hush, hush, Fatima ! look up."

The girl obeyed, and the roguish, arch look of her mistress dispelled her fear and checked her emotion.

" It would have broken my heart," she murmured.

" Listen, child ! The decrees of Heaven are mysterious, and it was certainly a mysterious decree which sent the Bashaw to fight in a real battle. Of a truth he hath done valiantly. He hath captured an enemy, and hath sent him to me as a trophy. A male memlook,* that is all. Shall a man (always saving my hero-lord) come between me and thee ! There, wipe thy tears."

" A man-slave for my mistress ! "

" He shall be my page, child ; and thine too, perhaps, if thou art good. Wilt have him for a lover ? I must cherish him as a memorial of — of — of what? O, I have it, — of chivalry, and of generosity, and of love ; but, especially, of common sense. Think of it, child, a useful gift ! I hope it is not old, or ugly, or halt, or blind."

So saying, and fairly roused from her pensive humor, she clapped her hands, and was immediately answered by the appearance of another attendant.

" My lord the Bashaw Bogall hath sent me a captive. Hath the man arrived ? "

" O my mistress ! he is guarded by two soldiers in the court."

" Give them entertainment and gold, and bid them go in peace. Then conduct the memlook hither."

" As he is, lady ? "

« As he is ! How is he ? "

" Dressed like an infidel and in irons," said the slave, putting her hand to her throat.

* White slave.

" What ! collared ? muzzled ? Does he bite ? "

" Nay, O my mistress, he is gentle."

" Then he is put in irons because he is so strong ? "

" I do not know, my mistress, he does not look evil."

" Off with his irons. Give him apparel fit for the eye of a believer, and send him in with two armed eunuchs."

" Ironed ! " she continued, turning to Fatima, as the other withdrew. il It is because he is one of those monsters, the Christians. The lord Bogall must be a gallant knight to overcome an adversary so terrible."

Great was her surprise, when, instead of a halfcivilized soldier of the ranks, worn and battered by service, and of repulsive person, she found in her presence a man in the flower of youth, of attractive features, of commanding carriage, who, by a digni- . fied, courtly inclination, acknowledged her right to^ his respect. Such were the manliness and independence of his bearing, that a blush mantled her face, and she instinctively dropped her veil, unable to realize at the moment that he was her slave.* The captive, however, perceived his advantage; for the instant

* Notwithstanding the strictness with which the Mohammedan women are guarded from the eyes of all men, except their near relatives, yet " a slave may lawfully see the face of his own mistress ; but this privilege is seldom granted in the present day to any slave but a eunuch." — Lane's Arabian Nights, Chap. IV. note 39. " It is related that Mohammed once made a present of a man-slave to his daughter Fatimeh ; and when he brought him to her, she had on a garment which was so scanty that she was obliged to leave either her head or her feet uncovered ; and that the Prophet, seeing her in great confusion on that account, told her that she need be under no concern, for that there were none present but her father and her slave." — Lane's Modern Egyptians, Part I. Chap. VI. 2 during which her face was uncovered was sufficient to reveal to his quick perception that it was not only maidenly diffidence, but maidenly admiration, which moved his mistress.

After a brief silence she addressed him. But he could only reply by a courteous bow, and by a sign denoting his ignorance of her language. Perceiving this, she cut short the interview, by bidding the attending eunuchs to remove him, and to find some one in the household or neighborhood who could communicate with him, and who should instruct him in the Turkish tongue.

"And let him be informed immediately," she added, " that it will be his duty to be in waiting in the anteroom of my apartment, to answer my call, and to perform all the services of my page."

Left alone with her confidential attendant, she exclaimed : " By Allah ! the lord Bogall does well to , be proud. To make prisoner of such a man is an exploit not to be forgotten, or to be thought of lightly. What sayest thou, Fatima ? "

" The diamond on thy brow is the more lustrous for its position. A rare slave, my mistress, and fitly bestowed."

The lady Tragabigzanda made no rejoinder; but fell to musing, and soon resumed her ordinary occupations and amusements.

Several days passed with nothing worthy of observation, save that the mistress had so many trivial occasions for the presence and services of her memlook, that it seemed wonderful how she could have been sufficiently served before his arrival. One day she overheard him singing in a low voice. Her attention was instantly arrested; and, after listening a moment, she suddenly clapped her hands, and the soldier page immediately answered the summons. Looking with ingenuous earnestness in his face, she abruptly addressed him in Italian.

" Was that an Italian song ? "

The young man started ; and, with gladness in his face and voice, answered in the same language : " It was. Thank God that I can converse with your ladyship, in whose custody the fortune of war has placed me."

With a girlish laugh, — half sincere, half sarcastic, — she replied : " It will be convenient. Thy name."

« John Smith."

" Yoo-seef ? A good name. Well bestowed, I trust ; for the patriarch was princely and honored of God."

The young man bowed in acknowledgment of the rather singular compliment, but simply replied : " John Smith, my lady," endeavoring to correct a careless utterance.

" I understand, — Yoo-seef. The patriarch, too, was in bondage in his youth, though not captured in battle. Hast thou need of anything for thy comfort ? "

" Of nothing, lady."

"It is well. Direct the household to fulfil thy wishes. If they obey thee not, they shall be better taught. Enough."

The young man retired to his station without ; and an Englishman might have heard him soliloquize gravely : " True, my beautiful lady, the patriarch was not captured in battle. Nor was he by Potiphar's wife. Why, the girl is romantic, and as impressible as wax.

One can see that in her eye ; so deep and yet so clear, so eloquent of virgin guilessness and trust. John Smith! John Smith! have a care! An unguarded, untaught maiden heart should be held sacred. John Smith ! she miscalls you Joseph ; then be a Joseph." *

Young as he was, he had great knowledge of the world, and rare sagacity in detecting character. Without the vanity to suppose the lady enamored of himself, he perceived that a mere novice might easily excite her to love. He resolved, therefore, to guard his own honor and conscience by a scrupulous deference, which should serve as a safeguard of her peace. Yet bondage was terribly chafing to one who had hitherto been as free as the winds of heaven ; and he hoped so far to excite the lady's compassion as to effect his deliverance.

The lady Tragabigzanda, on her part, was only interested in her slave as any maiden, just conscious of needing some unknown good, would have been in a youth of his person and manners. Thus her inward discontent, and her new and fluttering interest, led her, as already remarked, to be constantly demanding his presence and conversation. She also indulged a natural curiosity to know his history.

" Yoo-seef !" said she, as he was one day in attendance in her secluded garden, " thou wast of rank in the army ? "

* It should be borne in mind that the young Joseph is the traditional Apollo, or model of masculine beauty, with the Moslems. If, therefore, the lady was too ready to misunderstand Smith's English pronunciation, she was only guilty of giving utterance to her own impressions by a delicate and well-marked compliment to his person ; but which he could not detect.

" Only a major, my lady."

" Only a major ! " with a look of surprise. " If I understand the Christian title, thou 'rt young to wear it."

" I was born, gracious lady, in the year 1579 of the Christian era, which is the year 957 of the Hegira, from which you date. Thus I am twenty-two years of age."

" Thou must have gained military rank through thy family."

" No, madam ! " said Smith with spirit ; " by my sword. Family influence I never enjoyed."

" A nobleman, and no family influence ! "

" A nobleman ! "

" Art not a Bohemian nobleman ? " asked the lady tartly, and stopping in her walk.

" A Bohemian ! A nobleman ! No lady, I am an Englishman, and have no pretensions to noble birth."

" By Allah ! " looking earnestly in his face, " thou dost perplex me " ; and for the first time the captive officer saw her angry.

" It is my misfortune to have offended your ladyship?"

" Wert not taken prisoner when fighting against the armies of the faithful ? "

" No, my lady, I was left for dead upon the field. Never yet have I been taken prisoner 'when fighting.'" *

The flush of the lady's indignation now changed to pallor, and her lip quivered as she resumed.

" Yoo-seef ! in the name of the Crucified, tell me the truth. Wast thou not taken prisoner in battle by the Bashaw of Bulgaria, who sent thee hither ? Didst thou not yield to his sword ? "

2 *

The Briton met the keen, flashing look of his mistress with the coolest scorn ; and answered only by a short, sarcastic laugh. Instead of resenting the seeming insult, she resumed, in a tone of real distress : " Answer me, Yoo-seef ! By Jesus, answer me ! "

" Gracious lady, I never saw the Bashaw of Bulgaria until he bought me a chained captive in the market of Axiopolis."

" As thou hopest for Paradise, as thou believest in him of Nazareth, this is true ? "

" As I so hope, and so believe, it is."

With a look as though she would fathom his very soul, she passionately stamped her foot, bit her lip, bade the Abyssinian follow her, and returned to her apartments with the stately air of an offended queen ; leaving the Englishman very unpleasantly bewildered.

Chapter III. The Young Adventurer

It was no childish passion which impelled the lady to her retirement; but a keen sense of indignity to her sex. Her womanly nature had been trifled with, and was roused ; and with right womanly spirit did she measure to resent the wrong. All this was betrayed to the watchful scrutiny of her female attendant, by the compressed lip, the dilated eye, the firm and haughty step with which her mistress traversed and retraversed her hall. Fatima, who had heard, but had not understood, the dialogue in the garden, was alarmed by such strange and towering emotion in one hitherto gentle, and even indolent, in all her ways. But she humbly waited in silence for the mystery to be revealed.

" Ha, girl ! art here ? " said the lady sharply, and stopping in her nervous walk.

" The loving slave is always at the right hand of her mistress."

The lady Charatza resumed her walk until she could refrain no longer.

" Ha, ha ! " she exclaimed, with a hysterical laugh ; " a hero ? a warrior ? How cowards do pant for glory, and how they crawl to win it! O thou most infamous ! "

An involuntary exclamation escaped the slave, who added, with signs of anger : " Hath the memlook dared to offend? O my mistress ! he speaks a tongue unknown to thy slave."

" No, child, no. It is the dog Bogall ! the Bashaw of Bulgaria ! By Allah ! he hath dared to lie, — and to me, — me, the lady Tragabigzanda ! Truckles for a slave ; buys him ; sends him to me as a trophy of his own chivalry ; and all the while talks of love, — the reprobate ! Pah ! win my heart and my hand by red-hot perjury ! Stoop to compound a lie, — sugar the cursed potion with the dialect of love, — and then administer it to me ! to me ! Ha ! only a silly woman am I ? a soft, credulous maiden ? fit thing for a man to sport with and befool ? By Allah, — a foul dishonor ! Child ! does love make a man deflower his honor ; strangle his manliness ; degrade his soul ; insult his mistress ? O the detestable ! the accursed I O Allah ! I would rather be a withered virgin, than wife to such a thing! Ay; and would rather mate with such a thing — than be it ! "