omes to the same thing,--the end of it has been
that the king's goods have burnt. That is plain enough, is it not, Mirza
Abdul Cossim?' said he, addressing himself to the mushtehed.

'Yes, by the sacred head of the king,' answered the holy man; 'generally
in all such cases between man and woman, they, and they alone, can speak
to the truth.'

'But what does our holy religion say in such cases?' observed the king:
'the Shah has lost a slave--there is a price of blood for the meanest
of human beings--even a Frank or a Muscovite have their price, and why
should we expend our goods gratis, for the amusement of either our chief
physician or our sub-deputy executioner?'

'There is a price upon each of God's creatures, and blood must not be
spilt without its fine; but there is also an injunction of forgiveness
and lenity towards one's fellow creatures,' said the mushtehed, 'which
our holy Prophet (upon whom be eternal blessings!) has more particularly
addressed to those invested with authority, and which, O king, cannot
be better applied than in this instance. Let the Shah forgive this
unfortunate sinner, and he will reap greater reward in Heaven than if he
had killed twenty Muscovites, or impaled the father of all Europeans, or
even if he had stoned a Sufi.'

'Be it so,' said the Shah; and turning to me, he said with a loud
voice, '_Murakhas_, you are dismissed; and recollect it is owing to the
intercession of this man of God,' putting his hand at the same time
upon the shoulder of the mushtehed, 'that you are free, and that you are
permitted to enjoy the light of the sun. _Bero!_ Go! open your eyes, and
never again stand before our presence.'

[Illustration: Hajji's father dying. 26.jpg]

CHAPTER XLVIII

Hajji Baba reaches Ispahan, and his paternal roof, just time enough to
close the eyes of his dying father.

I did not require to be twice ordered to depart; and, without once
looking behind me, I left Kom and its priests, and bent my steps towards
Ispahan and my family. I had a few reals in my pocket, with which I
could buy food on the road; and, as for resting-places, the country was
well supplied with caravanserais, in which I could always find a corner
to lay my head. Young as I was, I began to be disgusted with the world;
and perhaps had I remained long enough at Kom, and in the mood in which
I had reached it, I might have devoted the rest of my life to following
the lectures of Mirza Abdul Cossim, and a