Filled with anxiety, Ali awaited news at Prevesa, where a courier, sent off at the beginning of the action, had brought him oranges gathered in the orchards of Parga.  Ali gave him a purse of gold, and publicly proclaimed his success.  His joy was redoubled when a second messenger presented two heads of French soldiers, and announced that his troops were in possession of the lower part of Parga.  Without further delay he ordered his attendants to mount, entered his carriage, and started triumphantly on the Roman road to Nicopolis.  He sent messengers to his generals, ordering them to spare the women and children of Parga, intended for his harem, and above all to take strict charge of the plunder.  He was approaching the arena of Nicopolis when a third Tartar messenger informed him of the defeat of his army.  Ali changed countenance, and could scarcely articulate the order to return to Prevesa.  Once in his palace, he gave way to such fury that all around him trembled, demanding frequently if it could be true that his troops were beaten.  “May your misfortune be upon us!” his attendants answered, prostrating themselves.  All at once, looking out on the calm blue sea which lay before his windows, he perceived his fleet doubling Cape Pancrator and re-entering the Ambracian Gulf under full sail; it anchored close by the palace, and on hailing the leading ship a speaking trumpet announced to Ali the death of his admiral, Athanasius Macrys.

“But Parga, Parga!” cried Ali.

“May Allah grant the pacha long life!  The Parganiotes have escaped the sword of His Highness.”

“It is the will of Allah!” murmured the pacha; whose head sank upon his breast in dejection.

Arms having failed, Ali, as usual, took refuge in plots and treachery, but this time, instead of corrupting his enemies with gold, he sought to weaken them by division.

CHAPTER VII

The French commander Nicole, surnamed the “Pilgrim,” on account of a journey he had once made to Mecca, had spent six months at Janina with a brigade of artillery which General Marmont, then commanding in the Illyrian provinces, had for a time placed at Ali’s disposal.  The old officer had acquired the esteem and friendship of the pacha, whose leisure he had often amused by stories of his campaigns and various adventures, and although it was now long since they had met, he still had the reputation of being Ali’s friend.  Ali prepared his plans accordingly.  He wrote a letter to Colonel Nicole, apparently in continuation of a regular correspondence between them, in which he thanked the colonel for his continued affection, and besought him by various powerful motives to surrender Parga, of which he promised him the governorship during the rest of his life.  He took good care to complete his treason by allowing the letter to fall into the hands of the chief ecclesiastics of Parga, who fell head-foremost into the trap.  Seeing that the