have been
no one else but Zogheir, for he had been sitting with him--had stolen
his money. The sheikh severely reprimanded the merchant for making a
false accusation, asking whether he was a liar or was mad, and then,
taking him off to the prison, he showed him Zogheir heavily bound in
chains; and after this the unfortunate merchant had to thank his good
fortune that he himself did not receive a flogging.

During the famine Zogheir drove a thriving trade. On one occasion he
discovered some Arabs in the market who had just sold a quantity of
dhurra, and were counting out their money, which amounted to 700
dollars, which they were carefully examining, to see that all were good.
This sight made Zogheir long to get the money, so he winked to his
accomplice, and then seated himself near the Arabs, and began asking
them whether he could offer them "Medjidie" in exchange for "Makbul"
dollars.

When the agreement was nearly concluded, Zogheir took two dollars out of
his pocket and gave them to one of his accomplices, to buy some dates,
and when the man returned with the dates he began throwing them about in
all directions, calling out "Karama! Karama!" ("Alms! Alms!"). The
starving beggars flocked to him in crowds, and began quarrelling over
the dates, whilst the leather bag in which were the 700 dollars suddenly
disappeared.

The cries of the Arabs, searching for their lost money, could scarcely
be heard in the frightful din occasioned by the distribution of the
dates, and all this time Zogheir kept on condoling with the Arabs over
their loss, and then he seized a favourable moment to make off and
divide the contents of the leather bag amongst his friends. At length
complaints against him became so numerous that he was sentenced to have
his right hand and left foot cut off. He submitted quite cheerfully to
the operation, which is really a very simple one.

A butcher is called up, who ties the arm and foot tightly with string
just above the place where the cut is to be made. This butcher, who has
had an immensity of practice, knows exactly where to cut, and it takes
only a very few moments to sever the hand and foot at the joints. The
tightly-tied string keeps the victim from bleeding profusely, and in
order to prevent gangrene or mortification setting in, the mutilated
members are at once dipped into boiling oil or fat, and are then smeared
over with katran (a sort of mixture of tar and grease), or sesame. In
the course