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The career of the Arabian adventurer, Ali-Naro,
had been a wild and stormy one, and his
name was a terror to the rich merchants of India
and Persia, who voyaged in their well-freighted
vessels, to trade with distant ports, and
barter with caravans at points upon the shore
which served as entrepots of inland merchandize.
The corsair was always sure to know beforehand
of the time of departure, the value of cargo,
and capabilities of defence, of every ship
which traversed the waters over which he claimed
command; and not a few of the islands
either through their princes, or by their chief
merchants, chose rather to purchase the protection
of the formidable freebooter, by a yearly
payment of tribute, than to run the risk of losing
thrice as much by his bold descents upon the
shore, or attacks of their vessels of trade. Consequently
Ali-Naro enjoyed a sort of sovereignty
throughout the insular kingdoms around which
his flag was borne triumphantly from the masts
of three ships, the largest of which was commanded
by the corsair himself, and was that in
which Prince Selim now found himself—an
honored guest.

The remaining two vessels comprising Ali-Naro's
fleet, were signalled by the lookout from
the “Green Bird,” which was the name of the
admiral's bark, in a very few hours after the
embarkation of Ali-Naro and his new friend from
the “Isle of Death.” They appeared at first
like small feluccas upon the horizon, and gradually
approaching, were discerned by the prince
to be much inferior in size and armament to the
“Green Bird,” on the quarter-deck of which he
now stood, with her captain.

“The `Green Bird' is my fighting vessel,
prince!” said the old chief. “Many a Persian
corvette has struck her flag to my pennon, and
the Franks know me so well that they never fail
to give sea room in plenty for the `Green Bird's'
flight.”

“And have you never been defeated, captain?”
asked Selim.

“I have met my match, prince, and have been
fain to sheer off, after a hot brush with a superior
force, but never has the good Bird received more
than she gave in return, in the matter of blows,
my young friend. It is not many days since I
fought two Persian ships of twice our size, at
once, and so sure was I of victory, that yonder
craft were ordered to keep within hail in order
to take possession of the `Green Bird's' prizes
when the battle should be decided.”

“And you captured both?”

“Two richly laden barks from Cathay—with
silks and spices, worth a king's jewels, my friend.
The Bird's handmaidons yonder, as I call the

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other vessels, are even now returning from our
free port, where the flag of Ali-Naro floats over
three hundred brave men, the corsair subjects of
a corsair-chief. So I may well call you cousin,
noble prince, though my true throne is the deck
of a battle-ship.”

The smaller vessels now advanced, and answering
the “Green Bird's” signals, ranged
behind the latter, whilst she led the way over the
bright waters which a brisk breeze was now agitating.
Selim, as he glanced from the calm and
grave countenance of the old chief, to the swarthy
and determined crew, who moved back and
forth over the well-ordered deck, trimming the
sails, and making firm every line and rope, as the
ship bounded on her way, could not help comparing
his own situation, betrayed, as he doubted
not, by his brothers, with the power and freedom
enjoyed by the sea rover with whom he had been
so strangely brought into connection. It was
true that the gentle soul of the prince recoiled
from sympathy with the lawless life of a pirate;
nevertheless, he could not but reflect that, after
all, the position of All-Naro was on a par with
that of most of the monarchs of the earth, whose
dominion was held, oftentimes, only by reason
of their strength over weaker men, and whose
possessions were generally increased by the same
means employed by the corsair to swell his coffers—
that is to say, by violence and aggression
upon those who crossed his path.

“In what then, alas,” said Selim, to himself,
“are princes less freebooters, when, by force of
arms, they seek to subjugate a neighboring state?
And are not my brothers Osmyn and Nadab,
more worthy of execration than this corsaircaptain?
He declares himself boldly a sovereign
of the ocean, and demands tribute from all who
cross his domain; but my unhappy brothers
have sought, like ignoble assassins, to gain
their objects by the most wicked treachery.”

Doubtless the expressive countenance of the
prince of Guzan revealed somewhat of the reflections
occurring to his mind, to the keen eyes
of Ali-Naro; for the latter, with a sympathizing
look, addressed him once more:

“Prince!” said the captain. “Give not way
to sad or gloomy thoughts. I have promised
that I would be your friend, and believe me, I
will prove that I can yet be of service to you.
We are now directing our course to a small
island which we shall reach before to-morrow
morning. It is my citadel, storehouse and hospital.
There I retire, when the season of traffic
is over, and feel myself as much a monarch as
when on my quarter-deck. There my brave
companions have their wives and children like
the soldiers of your island kings; but there,
when wounded or disabled, the invalid subject
of the corsair Ali-Naro finds shelter and support
for life, whilst you land-princes leave the
poor slave to shift for himself, when he is no
longer serviceable to his master.”

“And you are doubtless as happy as a monarch
of Persia or Cathay?” said Prince Selim.

“If my poor Ali had been spared,” cried the
corsair, turning his head to hide the softening of
his eyes which denoted how deeply the loss of
his son had affected his stern nature; “if he had
not rashly cast himself away, Ali-Naro would
have ceased his wanderings, and dwelt among
his people, a friend and father. This year had
been the last of my outlaw life, prince!”

“Allah knows I pity you!” murmured Selim,
taking the old mariner's hand, and looking in
his face with an undisguised expression of deep
commiseration.

“May Allah reward you, noble prince!” returned
Ali-Naro. “But—let me not show this
weakness, or my comrades will think me about
to turn dervish. My son is gone—and my dream
of a peaceful close to my stormy life is past also.
But, you, prince, shall know me as a friend. We
shall refresh our men by a brief sojourn at the
`Isle of Eagles,' as I have named my rocky
home, and then, with all the force I ever command,
you shall be conveyed to your father's
kingdom. If the base men who abandoned you
have returned before, they shall eat dirt in their
father's presence.”

“Nay, my friend, Ali-Naro!” cried Selim,
“I bear no malice toward my brothers. They
were blinded by ambitious desires, and—”

“Would have murdered you to attain them,”
rejoined the corsair. “No, prince, you have given
me your confidence, and I feel that you have been
wickedly betrayed. The prediction of the astrologer
will doubtless be fulfilled, as is apparent
from your preservation in the `Isle of Death,'
but the crime of your brothers is not lessened
because of its lack of success. They triumph
now, believing in your destruction. Let it be
my task to deal with these treacherous princes.”

“But my father will be distracted should he
learn of their baseness.”

“You are a good son!” cried Ali-Naro, his
memory reverting to his unfortunate boy.
“Well, let Allah, in whom you trust devoutly,

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direct us when we arrive at Guzan. Be it may
pleasure to escort you thither, as becomes a
prince.”

Over the smooth Indian Ocean, the three vessels
sped swiftly, and, when on the morning succeeding
that in which he had awoke to find
himself abandoned on the “Isle of Death,”
Selim arose from the couch which had been prepared
for him on board the “Green Bird,” and
ascending to the crowded deck, he discovered
that the vessel was rapidly nearing a wide, precipitous
point of rocky land, beyond which extended
a narrow opening of water, forming a
channel of communication from the ocean to a
secluded harbor completely imbedded in the
grassy slopes of a lovely island, crowned by a
succession of steep ramparts, on which waved a
flag like that flying from the “Green Bird's”
mast-head. A multitude of women and children,
dressed as if for a gala, crowded the heights,
and a hundred or more armed men were drawn
in array on the beach, whilst many others occupied
various points along the shore, waving flags
and beating drums, as the “Green Bird” entered
the narrow inlet.

“These are my subjects—or rather children,”
said Ali-Naro. “Not a child among them all
but has kissed me with its infant lips, and not a
father but would die for me.”

“This is to be a monarch indeed!” cried Selim.
“O, that I could be so beloved by my
people. It would be worthy of ambition!”

“Be just, and you cannot fail to win the hearts
of your subjects, prince,” replied Ali-Naro.
“If a corsair, whose life is lawless, and whose
hand has been against the whole world, can thus
gain the affection and esteem of his rude companions,
why may not an enlightened and generous
prince learn to make himself the favorite
of his countrymen?”

The ship had now threaded her way through
the devious channel which conducted between
overhanging bluffs to the green bank of shore,
and, casting anchor abreast of the little town,
saluted the inhabitants with a blast of martial
music, and the display of a hundred gay flags of
different nations. The multitude on the ramparts,
and many who had put off in boats bedecked
with silken streamers, now burst into a
simultaneous cheer, and afar up in the precipices,
a thousand echoes replied to the wild acclaim.
Prince Selim, standing beside the captain, near
the stern of the ship, could behold the entire
population of the place, seemingly actuated by a
single emotion of enthusiasm, and he began to
forget that Ali-Naro was only a freebooter, and
to fancy that he witnessed the greeting of a
faithful city's inhabitants, to some victorious
king who had brought succor to their distresses.

But, when, disembarking, the corsair-chief
conducted his guest to a beautiful castle which
was built upon a lofty eminence, back of the
village, and from out of a screen of thick foliage,
commanding a view of the ocean for miles on
every side; and when, to the hall of audience
where Ali-Naro sat, like a sultan at his divan,
came hundreds of the happy islanders, thronging
to bid their leader welcome; stern, swarthy men
wreathing their fierce faces with smiles, and
beautiful women kissing the old mariner's hands,
and gentle children climbing around his seat—
while, all the time, great shouts arose without,
and the din of merry music shook the entire
island—Prince Selim was well-nigh bewildered,
and thought to himself, that such a welcome had
never greeted his father on returning to Guzan.
And, then, remembering Ali-Naro's words, the
young prince said to himself:

“If a corsair is thus beloved and reverenced,
why may not a prince be? I will be just to my
people, and merit their affection—if, in his good
time, Allah shall please to give to me the crown
of Guzan.”