t up his
stall earlier than usual, and went to his house, that was situated
not far from the little mosque in the fish-market, of which he was the
muezzin.

Old Dilferib, his wife, was almost as much bent double as her husband;
and in consequence of the two gold pieces, and contemplation of more
which they expected to receive, they treated themselves to a dish of
smoking kabobs, a salad, dried grapes, and sweetmeats, after which they
consoled themselves with some of the hottest and most bitter coffee
which the old woman could make.

True to his appointment, Babadul was at his stall at midnight, where
he was as punctually met by Mansouri. Without any words, the former
permitted himself to be blindfolded, whilst the latter led him away by
the hand, making many and devious turns, until they reached the imperial
seraglio; there, stopping only to open the private iron gate, Mansouri
introduced the tailor into the very heart of the sultan's private
apartments. The bandage over his eyes was taken off in a dark chamber,
lighted up only by a small lamp, which stood on the shelf surrounding
the top of the room, but which was splendidly furnished by sofas of the
richest brocade, and by carpets of the most costly manufacture. Here
Babadul was commanded to sit, until Mansouri returned with a bundle,
wrapped in a large shawl handkerchief: this being opened, a sort of
dervish's dress was displayed to the tailor, and he was requested to
look at it, to consider how long he would be making such a one, and
then to return it again, duly folded up, to its shawl covering. In the
meanwhile, Mansouri told him to stay there until he should return to
take him away again, and then left him.

Babadul, having turned the dress over and over again, calculated
each stitch, and, come to his proper conclusions, packed it up in the
handkerchief, as he had been commanded; but no sooner had he done this
than a man of lofty demeanour and appearance, whose look made the poor
tailor shrink within himself, came into the room, took up the bundle,
and walked away with it, without uttering a single word.

A few minutes after, as Babadul was pondering over the strangeness of
his situation, and just recovering from the effects of this apparition,
a door opened in another part of the apartment, and a mysterious figure,
richly dressed, came in, bearing a bundle, equally covered with a shawl,
about the size of that which had just been taken away; and making the
l