me of Allah, the All-wise,
and All-seeing,' he placed the cup on the floor, treating it with much
reverence, both in touch and in manner.

He then said to the lookers-on, 'Inshallah, it will lead us at once to
the spot where the money of the deceased Kerbelai Hassan (may God show
him mercy!) is or was deposited.'

We all looked at each other, some with expressions of incredulity,
others with unfeigned belief, when he bent himself towards the cup,
and with little shoves and pats of his hand he impelled it forwards,
exclaiming all the time, 'See, see, the road it takes. Nothing can stop
it. It will go, in spite of me. Mashallah, Mashallah!'

We followed him, until he reached the door of the harem, where we
knocked for admittance. After some negotiation it was opened, and there
we found a crowd of women (many of whom had only loosely thrown on their
veils) waiting with much impatience to witness the feats which this
wonderful cup was to perform.

'Make way,' said the diviner to the women who stood in his path, as he
took his direction towards a corner of the court, upon which the windows
of the room opened--'Make way; nothing can stop my guide.'

A woman, whom I recognized to be my mother, stopped his progress several
times, until he was obliged to admonish her, with some bitterness, to
keep clear of him.

'Do not you see,' said he, 'we are on the Lord's business? Justice will
be done, in spite of the wickedness of man.'

At length he reached a distant corner, where it was plain that the earth
had been recently disturbed, and there he stopped.

'_Bismillah_, in the name of Allah,' said he, 'let all present stand
around me, and mark what I do.' He dug into the ground with his dagger,
clawed the soil away with his hands, and discovered a place in which
were the remains of an earthen vessel, and the marks near it of there
having been another.

'Here,' said he, 'here the money was, but is no more.' Then taking up
his cup, he appeared to caress it, and make much of it, calling it his
little uncle and his little soul.

Every one stared. All cried out, '_ajaib_, wonderful'; and the little
humpback was looked upon as a supernatural being.

The capiji, who was accustomed to such discoveries, was the only one
who had the readiness to say, 'But where is the thief? You have shown us
where the game lay, but we want you to catch it for us:--the thief and
the money, or the money without the thief--that is what we want.'

'