destroyed my happiness.  To show me every attention and respect, the sultan had ordered Abdallah in person to escort me to my own country, with a picked body of cavalry.  The cavalcade was magnificent—­treasure had been heaped on treasure—­present upon present; twenty women of my own country, and numerous slaves had been permitted to attend upon me, and the procession wore the appearance of a pageant.  I ascended my litter with an aching heart; and, journeying by easy stages, arrived at the land of my nativity.  The borders were passed, and Abdallah requested me to write an acknowledgment that he had done his duty, which the sultan would require of him upon his return.  I gave him the paper, and, professing many wishes for my future happiness, he assembled his troops, and the escort turned the heads of their neighing steeds towards the city, where my heart had truly been left behind.

It will now be necessary to revert to the Georgian slave, who had been presented to my brother by the sultan, and had afterwards been made over to Abdallah.  When she heard that I was about to depart for my own country, loaded with presents, her rage was without bounds.  Already had her beauty and talents made great impression upon Abdallah, and she soon won him over to a plot which would be advantageous to him, at the same time that it would throw me, whom she distrusted, into her power.  She proposed to Abdallah that, after having escorted me to the frontiers, and received from me the acknowledgment required by the sultan, he should follow my small escort of slaves, cut them to pieces, take possession of me and all my treasure, and return with it to Constantinople, where I might be immured in his harem.  The avarice of Abdallah was not able to withstand the temptation, and aware that there was no chance of the nefarious transaction being discovered by the sultan, he agreed to the proposal.  On the second night after we had parted with Abdallah, a body of horsemen galloped down upon us, and all my attendants, male and female, were massacred.  I was seized, put into a sack, and thrown across a horse, and as soon as the treasure could be collected, they set off at a rapid pace.  I was nearly dead when they halted, and when I was removed from my painful situation I fainted away.

Abdallah had never seen my face; the soldiers reported me dead, and he was glad when he heard of it, for it was only to please his wife that he had promised to bring me back.  He walked up to where I lay, and was, even in my miserable situation, enamoured with my beauty.  His heart acknowledged that I was the most valuable of all his plunder.  Every care and attention was bestowed upon me, and after several hours’ halt to allow me to refresh myself, I was placed in a small litter, and our journey recommenced.  He was studious to obtain my favour:  at first I spurned him:  but when he told me that the Georgian slave had instigated him to the deed, and had insisted that he should bring me back, I well knew for what