Page:Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz (1862).djvu/217

that is, from the cannon on our tower and the castle opposite, to raise our voices and wish the pasba prosperity, and all that was good, promising, also, to intercede for us with him, for which we returned him many thanks. As soon as they began to fire, we shouted with the utmost power of our throats, wishing prosperity to the pasha; and our aga, going in a small boat to the pasha, as he sailed past our fortress, informed him of our great necessity; and Ibrahim asked who and what manner of prisoners we were, and, on hearing that we were servants of the late imperial ambassador, ordered him to bring a couple of us to him in the garden. The aga landed and came to us immediately with joy, and, informing us of the pasha’s order, asked us whom we wished to send him. On hearing this, and having all kissed the hem of his garments, we deputed the priest, John von Winor, and the doctor of medicine, an old man about sixty years of age, who had long grey hair flowing over his shoulders. These our deputies had scarcely any shirts, but lice, insects, and other filth in abundance; and when they issued forth out of such darkness, it was impossible for them to gaze at the brightness of the sun, for, their eyes being disused to the light, tear followed tear, so that they were like blind men. Then our aga—Ibrahim being by birth a Croatian—told the priest, John, how and what to say to him, and bade them both fall at his feet, kiss them, and entreat for our release. As these our deputies could not see, he led them like blind men on board the boat, into which the aga also entered with them, and they sailed to the pasha’s garden. On getting out of the boat they espied Ibrahim leaning on two young men, and walking about