Page:Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz (1862).djvu/164

 searched on, with great terror, till he trembled from head to foot, and found only some simple letters, which our comrades and acquaintances had written to us from Vienna. When the strong boxes were opened for him, he found in them a simple account of receipts and payments, and something else, which was not worth anything. And my lord ceased not to torment him, always telling him, scornfully, to look better, till he discovered the secrets, and brought the pasha the important things in return for which he would be presented with the gallows.

Then, when already about to leave the chancery, the villain espied a cupboard by the door, and ordered it to be opened for him. Then, first, the secretary recollected himself, and remembered that he had left all the most important things lying in it, and looked at my lord. My lord, imagining that those things were concealed in the proper place, and as it did not even occur to him that his secretary could have been so careless, insulted the traitor with a laugh, and the jeering exclamation, “Here they’ll be! here they’ll be found!” and, smiling, ordered the cupboard to be opened. But, as soon as Ali Beg put his hand into it, he lighted upon the original documents, about six sheets thick, and drew them out of the cupboard. My lord recognized them, and turned as white as a sheet, and being unable to support himself, leant against the wall. The unhappy steward looked at them, and cried out, “I will have this and nothing more!” and, going out of the chancery in quite a cheerful mood, boasted of his success before the Turks. Although many of us were present, we did not know what the wretch had taken, nor of what he was boasting, or, certainly, had we known