The Wanderer (55 page)

“But,” said she, “the sea pashas are irascible old men, and I would not hurt their feelings. All I can do is to tell my lord of the excellent impression I have of you, great Khaireddin. I will chide him gently for so long neglecting to give you the reward you deserve. He may reply, ‘It was the Grand Vizier’s suggestion, not mine, and the sea pashas in the Divan opposed it.’ Then I shall say, ‘Let the Grand Vizier decide! If having seen Khaireddin he is of the same mind, then bestow at once on the great man the three horsehair switches you promised him, and show him honor.’ The Grand Vizier has full powers and not even a unanimous Divan can reverse his decision.”

I could hardly believe my ears. She was renouncing in favor of the Grand Vizier all the advantages she would have gained had Khaireddin been indebted to her for his promotion. Charmed by her voice and her purling laughter I began to think that jealousy alone had inspired the Grand Vizier’s opinion of this lovely woman.

Accordingly, Khaireddin left for Aleppo, and shortly afterward Abu el-Kasim came to me and rubbing his hands together in some embarrassment he said, “Your enchanting daughter Mirmah is getting her teeth and no doubt will soon cease to suck at that opulent breast. I have a great favor to ask of you, Michael el-Hakim. Will you sell me that round-cheeked nurse and her son? for I feel old age creeping upon me and would gladly have so soft and white a pillow for my head. The boy shall be my heir.”

I was astonished, for from motives of thrift Abu el-Kasim avoided feminine society almost entirely. Nor was I sure whether I could grant his request. I said, “Giulia may not agree to this. And there is another point. I would be loath to hurt your feelings, Abu el-Kasim, but you are after all a dirty, skinny, stringy-bearded old man, while the nurse is in the flower of life. My conscience forbids me to sell her to you against her will.”

Abu el-Kasim sighed and wrung his hands and enlarged upon his passion, and when I asked how he meant to pay for the woman and her son he suggested hopefully that we might effect an exchange.

“I will give you my deaf-mute whom you’ve always coveted. That scar on your head should remind you how conscientious a watchman he is, and you will never regret the bargain.”

I burst into a fit of laughter at this idiotic proposal, until it occurred to me that he would never have made it unless he believed me the greatest simpleton Allah ever created. My laughter ceased and I replied with asperity, “Not even on the strength of our friendship should you suggest such a thing. I’m no pander and I refuse to hand over this woman to your senile lust for so paltry a return.”

Abu el-Kasim hastened to explain further.

“But I was in earnest, for my deaf-mute is a treasure of whom I alone know the value. Have you not often seen him sitting among the yellow dogs of the Seraglio and observing all that goes on ? When you lived in my house you must also have noticed how queer strangers came to visit him and converse with him. He is not the fool you take him for.”

I did indeed recall a couple of powerful Negroes who sometimes sat with him in the courtyard making rapid signs to him with hands and fingers. Yet such visitors in no way enhanced the value of Abu el- Kasim’s feeble-minded slave, and again I refused sharply even to consider the matter. But Abu el-Kasim, looking about him cautiously, bent forward and whispered, “My slave is a treasure, but only in the neighborhood of the Seraglio. To take him back with me to Tunis would be to bury a diamond in a dunghill. He is as faithful to me as a dog because I’m the only man in the world who has shown him kindness, but you too would gain his devotion by a friendly word or two and a pat on the shoulder. Now you must often have seen three deaf-mutes pacing through the courts of the Seraglio. Their clothes are blood red, and over their shoulders they wear silken nooses of different colors. No one looks them in the face, for their striking dress gives passers-by enough to think about. There are seven in all, and when on duty they walk about in threes. They bring a silent death and even the most exalted pashas tremble at their blood-red clothes and dragging footsteps. Being deaf-mutes they cannot utter a word about their work, but such men can converse among themselves in a language understood by deaf-mutes in all lands. My slave is on good terms with these fellows and they chatter together in sign language to an extent altogether unsuspected by the Sultan. I have taken pains to learn their signs and have acquired much terrible knowledge, though in my position I can make no use of it. But you have won to a high position and the day may soon come when knowledge of what the deaf-mutes say to one another may be of inestimable value.”

I had noticed certain incidents that bore out what he said, yet I still did not fully appreciate his offer, for the deaf-mute inspired me only with repugnance. Nevertheless a quite unexpected impulse of generosity caused me to answer, to my own surprise, “You’re my friend, Abu el-Kasim, and a man of my rank and standing should show liberality to his friends. Take the Russian, if she consents to go with you, and her son too; you shall have them as a present from me, in the name of the Compassionate. And I will take care of your slave. He shall sleep in the porter’s hut or under the boathouse, but had better keep out of sight during the day. The less Giulia sees of him the better.”

“Believe me,” said the old rogue piously, “you won’t regret the bargain. But never hint the reason for it to your wife. Learn the deaf-and- dumb language secretly; if Giulia seems inquisitive, blame me and say I persuaded you into this foolish bargain when you were in your cups. This she will readily believe.”

In the course of the winter Khaireddin returned from Aleppo, much shaken by his long ride. Ibrahim had received him with all honor, confirmed his appointment as beylerbey in Algeria and other African countries, and decreed that he should take precedence before all governors of similar standing. This alone was a high honor and carried with it membership in the Divan, but the Grand Vizier also dispatched a letter to the Sultan, having first read it aloud to Khaireddin to leave him in no doubt as to where thanks were due for his promotion.

“In him,” the letter ran, “we have at last found a true seaman worthy of the highest honors, whom you may appoint without misgivings as pasha, member of the Divan, and admiral of the fleet.”

The Grand Vizier sent me a copy of this letter and added, “Khaireddin is at heart even more childish than I thought, however bold and cunning he may be at sea. Honors go to his head like incense, for he cannot forget his low birth. He is won by flattery—the grosser the better—and this makes him an easy prey to the intrigues of the Seraglio. Therefore I have thought it best to load him with as many honors as possible, that there may be nothing left for others to tempt him with. I believe also that because of his childish nature he is relatively honest; nevertheless keep a sharp eye on him and let me know at once if he should show the least sign of treachery to me or to the Sultan. Africa is Khaireddin’s weak spot; we must support his enterprises in Tunisia lest the Emperor tempt him with it. Tunis can also serve as a good base for our conquest of Sicily.”

Regardless of my warnings, Khaireddin puffed himself up like a frog and prepared a long speech to the Sultan, to be delivered before the Divan. On receiving Ibrahim’s letter the Sultan hesitated no longer; indeed, I believe he was overjoyed that for once his beloved Khurrem and Ibrahim were agreed, and he lost no time in calling the Divan. At this assembly he presented Khaireddin with a sword whose hilt and scabbard sparkled with countless diamonds, and he conferred upon him the Vizier’s standard of three horsehair switches and the title of Kapudan-pasha of the navy, with unlimited powers at sea. This represented something very different from the authority vested in senior Venetian officers, for example. The eyes of the Signoria were ever upon these men and their powers were limited by the sealed orders issued to them beforehand to cover different situations. But the Sultan nominated Khaireddin independent governor of all his ports and islands, with supreme command of all vessels and their captains. In naval matters he was subordinate to none but the Sultan, and at meetings of the Divan he took his place beside the Sultan’s viziers. Thus the erstwhile potter was elevated at a stroke to rank with the four or five most eminent men in the Ottoman Empire.

In acknowledgment of these unprecedented honors, Khaireddin delivered a voluble and bombastic address in a voice with which he was used to make himself heard above the roar of the elements, until some of the eunuchs cast anxious glances upward, fearing the collapse of the starry roof. He brought the speech to an end with the following words: “In short, I mean to inflict as much damage as I may upon the unbelievers and carry the Crescent to honor and victory upon the seas. First I shall overwhelm, destroy, annihilate, and sink the idolater Doria, who is my personal enemy. Let me conquer Tunis as I have so often besought you, and thereby gain an important base for the fleet. For centuries the caravan routes from the Negro lands beyond the desert have converged upon this city, and I shall be able to send you and your harem an abundance of gold dust and ostrich feathers. But dominion of the seas is naturally my chief aim. And believe me, O Commander of the Faithful, he who rules the sea soon comes to rule the lands about that sea!”

I have quoted this much of his address to show how irresponsible, childish, and rash was Khaireddin’s conduct in the Seraglio. Little did he know of the ways of the Divan when he thus trumpeted abroad his private schemes. A whisper in the Divan quickly arrived at every court in Europe, and no earthly power could prevent it even when, according to ancient Ottoman tradition, the Divan was held on horseback to discuss questions of peace and war. Yet strange as it may seem, once at sea Khaireddin outdid all his rivals in cunning, and because of his notorious guile the Imperial envoys would not believe that his main objective was indeed Tunis. They laughed at him up their sleeves for fancying he could delude them. The Knights of St. John were convinced that he intended the capture of Malta, while others believed that Rome itself or Cartagena was in his mind.

Yet however ludicrous Khaireddin’s behavior in the Divan, it must be stressed that in seafaring matters he had no equal. No sooner had the horsetail switches been bestowed than he rolled up the sleeves of his kaftan of honor and started a great turnout of the arsenal. Many useless heads ended under the archway of the Gate of Peace, and to replace various Seraglio-trained striplings in silken kaftans Khaireddin appointed seasoned renegades. He laid down the keels of new war galleys and reorganized the distribution of sea pashas among the islands and along the coasts, so as to bring back capable men to arsenal and ships.

The spring cleaning of the arsenal stirred up the same conflicts that had cost Andy his plume, though this time the roles were reversed. Having now encountered the terrifying carrack of the Knights of St. John, the old sea pashas at last showed an inclination to move with the times and demanded larger craft to carry heavier armaments. But although Khaireddin fully appreciated the firing powers of these great Christian vessels, yet he considered them too slow in maneuvering and, as an experienced pirate, attached far more importance to speed and mobility than to size.

It was now Khaireddin’s business, through my mediation, to be reconciled with Chief Pilot Piri-reis, whom he had so deeply wounded by his contemptuous behavior, for notwithstanding his sneers he had the greatest respect for the famous book of charts and valued the old man’s advice more than he would admit. They debated long together as to the respective merits of large and small vessels, but whereas Piri- reis spoke in favor of the former, Khaireddin remained unconvinced and preferred to act upon his own experience.

After the spring rains the Grand Vizier began the march from Aleppo to Persia at the head of his magnificent army, and at once the Sultan was seized with a great restlessness. Fresh winds were blowing, and the stuffy air of the Seraglio so irked him that despite all tenderly whispered dissuasion he was minded to set out in time to lead the forthcoming campaign.

Meanwhile Khaireddin hoisted sail and the greatest and best-appointed fleet ever seen off Istanbul stood out to sea. Andy sailed with him in the flagship as master gunner, Abu el-Kasim embarked also, while I remained behind to spread helpful rumors as to Khaireddin’s real intentions. I succeeded best with the story that he was bound for Genoa, to recapture that city on behalf of the French King, for everyone knew what a triumph it would be for him to swoop on Doria’s very aerie. This attempt of mine to keep Doria within the shelter of his city succeeded beyond all hope, and I was thus of far greater service to Khaireddin than if I had gone to sea with him as his adviser.

The Sultan had much to attend to before setting forth to war, including the imprisonment of Rashid ben-Hafs, Prince of Tunis, which was so secretly effected that Khaireddin’s own officers believed the Prince had sailed with them and was merely staying below decks because of the rolling seas. But undoubtedly the most important step taken by Suleiman was the appointment of Prince Mustafa as Governor of Anatolia. The Prince was now fifteen years old and had ruled as sanjak over a district; this new appointment finally confirmed the Sultan’s choice of Mustafa as his lawful heir, though many had been led by Sultana Khurrem’s ever increasing influence to doubt this. Pious Moslems, dazzled by the incomparable splendor of their military and naval forces, were persuaded that the great age of Islam had dawned. Only Sultana Khurrem was silent.

One day toward the end of summer, I was crossing the janissaries’ deserted courtyard, with my perfumed handkerchief to my nose because of the stench of severed heads from the vaults of the Gateway of Peace, when a limping onbash came up to me, struck me roughly on the shoulder with his cane, and having made sure of my name announced that he had orders to arrest me—to throw me in chains and confine me in the Fort of the Seven Towers.

I shouted aloud for help and insisted that there must be some terrible mistake, since I had nothing to hide and all my actions could bear the light of day. But the onbash silenced me with a blow across the mouth, and before I was fully aware of what was happening he had taken me to the smith, who riveted shackles about my ankles and held out a sooty hand—I must reward him for neither burning me nor breaking my bones. A sack was drawn over my head lest any in the street should recognize me. I was lifted onto a donkey and led the long way from the Seraglio to the Fort of the Seven Towers.