s the mollah bashi!"

'The wife again fell into a trance; the slaves made their cries; in
short, there was that stir amongst them, that one would have thought
they had heard the "blast of consternation from the trumpets of the
resurrection."

'But amidst all the wailing, which by this time had attracted every
woman in the building, one of the slaves cried out, "But it cannot be
our Aga, for I saw him return from the bath, I made his bed, and I am
sure he was soon asleep. It is impossible he can be in bed and asleep,
and in the bath, drowned, at one and the same time. It must be somebody
else."

'This observation threw them all into greater consternation than ever,
because they immediately felt that what the slave had seen must have
been her master's ghost. "See," said the wife,--who had again come
to life,--pointing to the face of the corpse, "I am sure this was my
husband; there is the scratch I gave him but yesterday." "And there,"
said one of her servants, "that is the place in his beard from which you
plucked a handful of hairs."

'These tender recollections threw the poor widow into a violent flood
of tears, which were only stopped by her slaves assuring her that the
mollah bashi was still alive. "How else could he have taken the lamp
from my hand?" said the slave--"how could he have shut the door? how
dismissed me? how snored?" So persuaded was she of the truth of what she
said, that she forthwith dressed herself, and volunteered to go to her
master's bed-room, where no doubt she would find him asleep.

'"But if he is there," said one of the women, "then what can this be?"
(pointing to the corpse.)

'"Why, this must be his ghost," said another; "for surely no man can
possess two bodies,--one in which he lives, and the other by way of a
change."

'"No," said a third in a waggish tone, "that would be quite new. He
might then make the same use of them as he would of a town and country
house."

'All this time (many additional bathers having poured in) whilst those
who were indifferent were speculating after this fashion, the chief
priest's women were uttering loud and piercing shrieks, particularly
when the slave returned and informed them that no mollah bashi had she
found, and that he had left no trace behind except the print of his body
in the bed.

'The story had now got abroad, the bath was surrounded by a crowd, who
pressed to gain admittance; and ere the women had had time to dress
themselves, the