said," replied the pacha.

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I was so convinced that it was nothing of this world, that, as soon as I
could recover my legs, I made a blow at him with my attaghan, fully
expecting that he would disappear in a flame of fire at the touch of a
true believer; but on the contrary, he had also recovered his legs, and
with a large cane with a gold top on it, he parried my cut, and then
saluted me with such a blow on my head, that I again fell down in the
mud, quite insensible. When I recovered, I found myself on a mat in an
outhouse, and attended by my opponent, who was plastering up my head.
"It is nothing," said he, as he bound up my head, but I suffered so much
pain, and felt so weak with loss of blood, that in spite of his
assertions, I very much doubted the fact. Shall I describe this son of
Jehanum? And when I do so, will not your highness doubt the fact? Be
chesm, upon my head be it, if I lie. He was less than a man, for he had
no beard; he had no turban, but a piece of net-work, covered with the
hair of other men in their tombs, which he sprinkled with the flour from
the bakers, every morning, to feed his brain. He wore round his neck a
piece of linen, tight as a bowstring, to prevent his head being taken
off by any devout true believer, as he walked through the street. His
dress was of the colour of hell, black, and bound closely to his body,
yet must he have been a great man in his own country, for he was
evidently a pacha of two tails, which were hanging behind him. He was a
dreadful man, to look upon, and feared nothing; he walked into the house
of pestilence--he handled those whom Allah had visited with the plague--
he went to the bed, and the sick rose and walked. He warred with
destiny; and no man could say what was his fate until the hakim had
decided. He held in his hand the key of the portal which opened into
the regions of death; and--what can I say more? he said live, and the
believer lived; he said die, and the houris received him into Paradise.

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"A yesedi! a worshipper of the devil," exclaimed Mustapha.

"May he and his father's grave be eternally defiled!" responded the
pacha.

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I remained a fortnight under the hakim's hands before I was well enough
to walk about; and when