may be said to be endless. A throne won by
treachery, violence, and bloodshed cannot stand long in--"

"Villain!" shouted the Dey.

"Nay, I do but jest," said Baba, with a look of simplicity.

"Jest or no jest, thou shalt smart for it," cried the Dey, whose anger
had been greatly roused.--"Ho! seize him and give him the bastinado, and
afterwards bring him hither again."

Two chaouses, who were in attendance in a neighbouring room, at once
entered, and, seizing the unfortunate story-teller, hurried him down to
an apartment in the palace which was reserved for punishments of various
kinds, including strangulation. Here they stripped off Baba's
embroidered shoes and white hose.

"We have long been fellow-servants under this roof," said Hadji Baba, as
they were about to begin.

"That is true," replied one of the chaouses sternly.

"_I_ shall be forgiven, and depend on it _thou_ shalt not be forgotten,"
said Baba quietly.

The executioner, who knew that the story-teller had been a man of
influence and power in the previous reign, hesitated.

"We have our orders, Hadji Baba," said he, remonstratively, "and you
know that it is as much as our lives are worth to fail in our
obedience."

"I bid you not to fail in the performance of your duty, but I counsel
you to lay on lightly," returned the jester, with a grim smile.

"And how if the Dey should expect to hear thy cries, and afterwards to
see thee limp into his presence?" asked the man in a tone of indecision.

"Depend on't he shall both see and hear," exclaimed Baba, with a laugh.
"Thinkest thou that my head is not equal to the saving of my feet? Lay
on _lightly_, so that there may be somewhat to show; but see thou dost
not over-do it. I will engage to let the tyrant hear on the deafest
side of his head, and will limp into his presence with most unfeigned
sincerity."

"Well, then, I begin," said the man, applying a few strokes with a lithe
rod to the soles of the jester's feet.

Baba was true to his word. He suddenly gave vent to a yell so appalling
that the very executioner, accustomed though he was to such sounds,
quailed for a moment, and said anxiously--

"Did I hit you too hard?"

"Hard!" echoed Baba, mingling a roar of laughter with his next yell.
"Fear not, good comrade; go on, do thy duty--ha! ha!--ho-o-o! Stop!
Why, it is worse than I had imagined," he added, as the man delivered a
cut that was rather sharp. "But go on," cried Hadji Baba, wit