the Christian captives; nor was a Dutchman likely to have any special tenderness in his composition, above all towards the French.  However, there was a certain smile on the lips of Reis Hamed, and he answered with a very hearty, ’Ja! ja!  Madame.  Upon my soul I will let no harm come to you or the pretty little ones, nor the young vrouwkins either, if they will keep close.  You are safe by treaty.  A Reis would have to pay a heavy reckoning with Mehemed Dey if a French ambassador had to complain of him, and you will bear me witness, Madame, that I have not touched a hair of any of your heads!’

‘I am sure you wish me well, sir,’ said Madame de Bourke in a dignified way, ’but I require to be certified of the safety of the rest of my suite, my steward, my lackey, and my husband’s secretary, a young gentleman of noble birth.’

’They are safe, Madame.  This Italian slave can bear me witness that no creature has been harmed since my crew boarded this vessel.’

’I desire then that they may be released, as being named in my passport.’

To this the Dutchman consented.

Whereupon the skipper began to wring his hands, and piteously to beseech Madame to intercede for him, but the Dutchman cut him short before she could speak.  ’Dog of an Italian, the lady knows better!  You and your fellows are our prize—­poor enough after all the trouble you have given us in chasing you.’

Madame de Bourke spoke kindly to the poor man, telling him that though she could do nothing for him now, it was possible that she might when she should have rejoined her husband, and she then requested the Reis to land her and her suite in his long-boat on the Spanish coast, which could be seen in the distance, promising him ample reward if he could do so.

To this he replied:  ‘Madame, you ask what would be death to me.’

He went on to explain that if he landed her on Christian ground, without first presenting her and her passport to the Dey and the French Consul, his men might represent him as acting in the interests of the Christians, and as a traitor to the Algerine power, by taking a bribe from a person belonging to a hostile state, in which case the bowstring would be the utmost mercy he could expect; and the reigning Dey, Mehemed, having been only recently chosen, it was impossible to guess how he might deal with such cases.  Once at Algiers, he assured Madame de Bourke that she would have nothing to fear, as she would be under the protection of the French Consul; and she had no choice but to submit, though much concerned for the continued anxiety to her husband, as well as the long delay and uncertainty of finding him.

Still, when she perceived that it was inevitable, she complained no more, and the Dutchman went on with a certain bluff kindness—­as one touched by her courtesy—­to offer her the choice of remaining in the tartane or coming on board his larger vessel.  The latter he did not recommend, as he had a crew of full two hundred Turks and Moors, and it would be necessary to keep herself and all her women as closely as possible secluded in the cabins; and even then, he added, that if once seen he could hardly answer for some of those corsairs not endeavouring to secure a fair young Frank girl for his harem; and as his eye fell on Rosette, she bridled and hid herself behind Mademoiselle Julienne.