Ali heard with delight, but replied that he must see it in action before purchasing.
In the dungeons of the castle by the lake, a poor monk of the order of St.Basil was slowly dying, for having boldly refused a sacrilegious simony proposed to him by Ali.

He was a fit subject for the experiment, and was successfully blown to pieces, to the great satisfaction of Ali, who concluded his bargain, and hastened to make use of it.

He prepared a false firman, which, according to custom, was enclosed and sealed in a cylindrical case, and sent to Yussuf Bey by a Greek, wholly ignorant of the real object of his mission.

Opening it without suspicion, Yussuf had his arm blown off, and died in consequence, but found time to despatch a message to Moustai Pacha of Scodra, informing him of the catastrophe, and warning him to keep good guard.
Yussuf's letter was received by Moustai just as a similar infernal machine was placed in his hands under cover to his young wife.

The packet was seized, and a careful examination disclosed its nature.
The mother of Moustai, a jealous and cruel woman, accused her daughter-in-law of complicity, and the unfortunate Ayesha, though shortly to become a mother, expired in agony from the effects of poison, only guilty of being the innocent instrument of her grandfather's treachery.
Fortune, having frustrated Ali's schemes concerning Moustai Pacha, offered him as consolation a chance of invading the territory of Parga, the only place in Epirus which had hitherto escaped his rule, and which he greedily coveted.