The tschorbadji offered his hand to Mohammed, bowing and smiling kindly. "Mohammed, I wish you would, at last, yield to the united prayers of my son and myself, and would consent to live in this house. Let me have two sons, and I shall be doubly rich."

"In veneration I will be your son," replied Mohammed, pressing the governor's hand to his brow; "I will obey you in all things! One thing alone do not demand--that I shall irrevocably relinquish my freedom. Let me come and go at my pleasure. Love always draws me back to my Osman, even when, in the restlessness of my heart, I wander on the sea, or in the mountains, or remain solitary in my silent hut. Friendship for you has bound chains about my soul, and I must always return. Leave to me the feeling of independence, or I shall not be happy."

Osman nodded smilingly to him. "It shall be as you wish, and we will never weary him again, my father, with our prayers. He will return to us, he says, and Mohammed always keeps his word. But look, father what can be the matter with these two officers who are hurrying toward us?"

"They seem to have met with some misfortune; they look pale and excited, and are coming here without being announced," he said, rising from his cushions, and beckoning to the collectors, who had remained respectfully standing at the entrance, to come forward.-- "Well, what is the matter? You look as disturbed as if something dreadful had happened to you!"

"Yes, governor, something dreadful has happened," they answered, bowing deeply. "We have been down to Praousta, as your excellency ordered, to collect the double tax."

"And you have brought the gold with you, and given it to my treasurer?"

"No, we have not brought it."

"Not brought it!" exclaimed the tschorbadji, with the utmost astonishment; "I send you to collect the taxes, and you return without the money. Have thieves fallen upon you, and robbed you? My collectors have allowed the gold to be taken from them, and now dare to appear, empty-handed, before me!"

"O governor, we are innocent," replied the men. "No thieves took the money from us, but the men of Praousta have revolted; they have assembled together in the market place, and have solemnly declared that they will never pay the double tax!"

While they were making their report, Mohammed sprung from his seat, and listened breathlessly to them.

"They refused to pay the tax," said the tschorbadji, in an angry voice. "And did you not go to the sheik and ulemas?"

"The men of Praousta went themselves, and brought out the sheik and the ulemas, that they might speak decisively for all. We were to take their answer to the tschorbadji."

"And they did this?" cried Mohammed, forgetting all proper reverence, and speaking to the men in the presence of the governor.

"Yes, they did this," returned the collectors, breathing hard.

"What did they say!" demanded the tschorbadji, excitedly.

"The sheik looked at us contemptuously, and ordered us to state to the tschorbadji that Praousta had no thought of paying either the double or the simple tax."

"And the ulemas?" asked Osman, rising from his couch, "did they confirm what the sheik said?"

"Yes, sir, they confirmed what the sheik said," answered the collectors.

"It is then an open revolt," cried the outraged tschorbadji. "They refuse obedience to my commands!"

"Yes, they refuse to obey you!" repeated the collectors. "Every fisherman has armed himself with sword and knife, and swears to die sooner than pay this unjust tax, as they call it."

"And you allowed yourselves to be frightened by such words," cried Mohammed, with flaming eyes. " And you did not fall upon them, sword in hand, to force them to their duty!"

"We were but two against fifty!"

"Two men against fifty cowards! I should think the men would have carried the day. But you are not men; you did not even draw your swords and fell this seditious sheik to the earth!"

"The people would have torn us to pieces!" exclaimed the collectors, "if we had attempted it."

"You would have perished in the fulfilment of your duty!" cried Mohammed. "Far better that, than to return home with the knowledge that you had acted as cowards!"

Osman looked wonderingly at his friend, while the tschorbadji stood lost in thought, his countenance growing darker and darker.

"This is revolt--rebellion!" he said, after a pause. "What shall I do? The men of Praousta are remarkable for their strength, as well as for their free and independent opinions."

He ordered the collectors to leave the room, and await his call without; then paced thoughtfully up and down. The two young men dared not disturb him.

"I do not know what to do," he said, after a long silence. "I have no military force, and in Praousta dwell more than fifty brave, bold men. You know I have only fifty collectors in my service in all the districts of the peninsula. I do not know where to begin; even if I had the men, I would very unwillingly use force. I believe the best thing I can do would be to go down, with a few servants, to the village, and seek, by kind words, to quiet the people, and induce them to pay the tax. What do you think, my son, Osman?"

Mohammed listened, with flashing eyes, to the tschorbadji; and breathlessly awaited Osman's answer. But Osman only looked at his friend, and said to his father, "Ask Mohammed what he thinks."

"Well, then, you speak, Mohammed," said the tschorbadji; "what do you think of my proposition?"

"I think that such a thing should never be permitted. It does not become you to go and beg, when you should command, governor," he cried. "Will you empower me to collect the tax?"

"How will you do it?" asked the tschorbadji, with a doubting smile.

"That is my secret, governor. Give me authority to treat with the rebels, and give me, in addition, two collectors and six armed soldiers."

"I will give you my small body-guard. They are eight in number, and I give you full authority to collect the tax."

"I thank you, governor," cried Mohammed, with a beaming face. "You have given me a weighty commission, and you shall see that I will justify the confidence you place in me. I will go at once."

"Do so, and I will order my men to obey you in all things," said the tschorbadji.

"Farewell, my Osman," cried Mohammed his whole being as full of energy and determination as if he were going to battle. He bowed smilingly to his friend, and passed from the hall with a firm step.

The collectors received the tschorbadji's order, to return to Praousta with Mohammed, with bowed heads and anxious countenances.

"They will murder us." groaned one of them. "They are all armed with swords and knives, and they will tear our arms from us at once."

"If they should tear your arms from you, and you do not fall upon them, with tooth and nail," cried Mohammed, with determined look, "you are nothing but cowards, and I will kill you with my own hand."

The tschorbadji had, in the mean time, called his small body guard together, and commanded them to go down to Praousta with Mohammed, and to obey him in all things.

"Come, then, my men, let us go," cried Mohammed.

The tschorbadji detained him a moment. "Will you not take a weapon, you are entirely unarmed?"

"Yes, I will take a weapon. Not that I fear for myself; no, I have no fear; but I will make one more combatant against the rebels. Give me a sword and a pistol."

The tschorbadji himself brought both to him, and then bade him farewell.

Mohammed, at the head of the eight soldiers and the two collectors, went down the mountain path to the village. There every thing had become quiet. Obeying the words of the sheik, the men had gone to their huts, and did not see that Mohammed and his followers had entered the great mosque, which stood at the entrance of the village. Then Mohammed bowed down within the holy of holies, and, turning his head toward Mecca, prayed in a low voice to the prophet "Thou seest, my lord and God, that I have raised my foot to take the first step on the way to my great future. Uphold my feet, let me not fall into the abyss of forgetfulness. Give me strength, that I may go forward without fainting. Be with me, Mohammed, thou great prophet. Permit thy stars to be a light unto me, and be merciful to the poorest of thy servants!"

Then, raising himself proudly up, he ordered the soldiers to close three of the entrances of the mosque, and to leave only the principal door open.

"Now draw your swords. Four of you remain with me in the mosque-the four others go down to the sheik and the ulemas. Inform them that an ambassador has come from the tschorbadji, to bring them an important message. Each of you three must bring one of the ulemas with you, and the fourth must bring the sheik here to me. Go at once, and return quickly.-And you," he said, turning to the four who remained behind, "swear to me, in the name of Allah and the prophet, that you will be hewn in pieces sooner than yield to the rebels!"

They all swore, placing their hands upon their swords, that they would be hewn in pieces sooner than yield. Mohammed nodded graciously to them.