in a room, the window of
which opened into a small square planted with flowers, Dervish Sefer, as
the acknowledged head of our society, began his story in the following
words:

'I am the son of the Luti Bashi, or head Merry-Andrew of the Prince
of Shiraz, by a celebrated courtezan of the name of _Taous_, or the
Peacock. With such parents, I leave you to imagine the education which
I received. My principal associates, during my infancy, were the monkeys
and bears that belonged to my father and his friends, and, perhaps,
it is to the numerous tricks in which they were instructed, and to the
facility with which they learnt them, that I am indebted for the talent
of mimicry that has been of so much use to me through life. At fifteen I
was an accomplished luti. I could eat fire, spout water, and perform all
sorts of sleight of hand, and I should very probably have continued to
prosper in this profession, had not the daughter of the prince's general
of camel artillery become enamoured of me, as I danced on the tight-rope
before the court on the festival of the new year's day. A young
camel-driver under his orders had a sister who served in the harem of
the general: he was my most intimate friend, and his sister gave him the
intelligence of the effect my appearance had produced upon her mistress.
I immediately went to a mirza or scribe, who lived in a small shed in
a corner of the bazaar, and requested of him to write a love-letter for
me, with as much red ink in it as possible, and crossed and re-crossed
with all the complication he could devise. Nothing could be better than
this composition--for at the very outset it informed my mistress that I
was dead, and that my death was owing to the fire of her eyes, that had
made roast meat of my heart. Notwithstanding this assertion, I ventured
at the end to say that as I had never yet seen her, I hoped that she
would contrive to grant me an interview. In the joy of my heart for the
possession of such a letter, in great confidence I told the scribe who
my charmer was, which he had no sooner heard, than hoping to receive
a present for his trouble, he went forthwith and informed the general
himself of the fact. That the son of the _Luti Bashi_ should dare to
look up to the daughter of _Zamburekchi Bashi_ was a crime not to be
forgiven, and as the latter had influence at court, he procured an order
for my instant removal from Shiraz. My father did not wish to incur the
prince's displea