d enjoyed at
Constantinople when in the land of Morpheus, which he had been
promised to enjoy in the sunshine, if he came to Egypt. Alas! for
Hadji Ahmet; the only bread he had to eat was that which was given him
by sympathizing humanity. Time sped on, sympathy was growing tired of
expending itself on Hadji Ahmet, and his crusts of bread were few and
far between.

Wearied of life and suffering, he decided to ask Allah to let him die,
and wandering out to the Pyramids he solicited the stones to have pity
and fall on him. It happened that a Turk heard this prayer, and said
to him:

"Why so miserable, father? Has your soul been so strangled that you
prefer its being dashed out of your body, to its remaining the
prescribed time in bondage?"

"Yes, my son," said Hadji Ahmet. "Far away in Stamboul, with the help
of God, I managed as a junkman to feed my wife and myself; but here am
I, in Egypt, a stranger, alone and starving, with possibly my wife
already dead of starvation, and all this through a dream."

"Alas! Alas! my father! that you at your age should be tempted to
wander so far from home and friends, because of a dream. Why, were I
to obey my dreams, I would at this present moment be in Stamboul,
digging for a treasure that lies buried under a tree. I can even now,
although I have never been there, describe where it is. In my mind's
eye I see a wall, a great wall, that must have been built many years
ago, and supporting or seeming to support this wall are towers with
many corners, towers that are round, towers that are square, and
others that have smaller towers within them. In one of these towers, a
square one, there live an old man and woman, and close by the tower is
a large tree, and every night when I dream of the place, the old man
tells me to dig and disclose the treasure. But, father, I am not such
a fool as to go to Stamboul and seek to verify this. It is an
oft-repeated dream and nothing more. See what you have been reduced to
by coming so far."

"Yes," said Hadji Ahmet, "it is a dream and nothing more, but you have
interpreted it. Allah be praised, you have encouraged me; I will
return to my home."

And Hadji Ahmet and the young stranger parted, the one grateful that
it had pleased Allah to give him the power to revive and encourage a
drooping spirit, and the other grateful to Allah that when he had
despaired of life a stranger should come and give him the
interpretation of his dream. He certainly h