d in my father's house, and he had succeeded in raising ugly
suspicions in my mind against two persons whom I felt it to be a sin to
suspect; but I doubted whether he could do more.

However, he appeared again on the following morning, accompanied by
the capiji, and by several of those who had been present at the former
scene. The akhon, however, did not appear, and my mother was also
absent, upon pretext of being obliged to visit a sick friend. We
proceeded in a body to the mound, and the dervish having made a holy
invocation, he approached it with a sort of mysterious respect.

'Now we shall see,' said he, 'whether the Gins and the Peris have been
at work this night'; and exclaiming 'Bismillah! he dug into the earth
with his dagger.

Having thrown off some of the soil, a large stone appeared, and having
disengaged that, to the astonishment of all, and to my extreme delight,
a canvas bag well filled was discovered.

'Oh my soul! oh my heart!' exclaimed the humpback, as he seized upon the
bag, 'you see that the Dervish Teez Negah is not a man to lose a hair
of his beard. There, there,' said he, putting it into my hand, 'there is
your property: go, and give thanks that you have fallen into my hands,
and do not forget my _hak sai_, or my commission.'

Everybody crowded round me, whilst I broke open the wax that was affixed
to the mouth of the bag, upon which I recognized the impression of my
father's seal; and eagerness was marked on all their faces as I untied
the twine with which it was fastened. My countenance dropped woefully
when I found that it only contained silver, for I had made up my mind
to see gold. Five hundred reals[85] was the sum of which I became the
possessor; out of which I counted fifty, and presented them to the
ingenious discoverer of them. 'There,' said I, 'may your house prosper!
If I were rich I would give you more: and although this is evidently but
a small part of what my father (God be with him!) must have accumulated,
still again I say, may your house prosper, and many sincere thanks to
you.'

The dervish was satisfied with my treatment of him, and took his leave,
and I was soon after left by the rest of the company--the capiji alone
remaining. 'Famous business we have made of it this morning,' said he.
'Did I not say that these diviners performed wonders?'

'Yes,' said I, 'yes, it is wonderful, for I never thought his operations
would have come to anything.'

Impelled by a spirit of