side,
and the wheels began their whirring, he made some rather silly joke to
his friends about "the Turkish gentleman's having a roasting-jack
inside him." Every one laughed; and the Exhibitor--who did not seem to
appreciate the joke very much--stopped winding up the machinery.
Whether it was that the hilarious mood of the company displeased the
wise Turk, or that he chanced not to be "in the vein" on that
particular day, his replies--though some were to very witty and
ingenious questions--seemed empty and poor; and Lewis, in particular,
had the misfortune to find that he was scarcely ever properly
understood by the oracle, so that he received for the most part crooked
answers. The Exhibitor was clearly out of temper, and the audience were
on the point of going away, ill-pleased and disappointed, when
Ferdinand said--

"'"Gentlemen, we none of us seem to be much satisfied with the wise
Turk, but perhaps we may be partly to blame ourselves, probably our
questions may not have been altogether to his taste; the fact that he
is turning his head round at this moment, and raising his arm" (the
figure was really doing so), "seems to indicate that I am not mistaken.
A question has occurred to me to put to him; and if he gives one of his
apposite answers to it, I think he will have quite redeemed his
character."

"'Ferdinand went up to the Turk, and whispered a word or two in his
ear. The Turk raised his arm as unwilling to answer. Ferdinand
persisted, and then the Turk turned his head towards him.

"'Lewis saw that Ferdinand instantly turned pale; but after a few
seconds he asked another question, to which he got an answer at once.
It was with a most constrained smile that Ferdinand, turning to the
audience, said--

"'"I can assure you, gentlemen, that as far as I am concerned at any
rate, the Turk has redeemed his character. I must beg you to pardon me
if I conceal the question and the answer from you; of course the
secrets of the Oracle may not be divulged."

"'Though Ferdinand strove hard to hide what he felt, it was but too
evident from his efforts to be at ease that he was very deeply moved,
and the cleverest answer could not have produced in the spectators the
strange sensation, amounting to a species of awe, which his
unmistakable emotion gave rise to in them. The fun and the jests were
at an end; hardly another word was spoken, and the audience dispersed
in uneasy silence.

"'"Dear Lewis," said Ferdinand, as so