ed the Messiah and his queen, and brought them to
Adrianople.

XXIII

The Hakim Bashi, the Sultan's physician, who as a Jew-Turk himself,
was thought to be the fittest to approach Sabbatai, laid the decision
of the Grand Seignior before him on the evening of his arrival at
Adrianople. The released prisoner was lodged with mocking splendor in
a commodious apartment in the palace, overlooking the river, and lay
upon a luxurious divan, puffing at a chibouque with pretended calm.

"What reverences is it customary to make to the Grand Seignior?" he
asked, with affected nonchalance, when the first salutations with the
physician had been exchanged. "I would not be wanting in the forms
when I appear before his exalted majesty."

"An end to the farce, Sabbatai Zevi!" said the Hakim Bashi, sternly.
"The Sultan demands of thee not posturings, but a miracle."

"Have not miracles enough been witnessed?" asked Sabbatai, in a low
tone.

"Too many," returned the ex-Jew drily. "Yet if thou wouldst save thy
life there needs another."

"What miracle?"

"That thou turn Turk!" And a faint smile played about the physician's
lips.

There was a long silence. Sabbatai's own lips twitched, but not with
humor. The regal radiance of Abydos had died out of his face, but its
sadness was rather of misery than the fine melancholy of yore.

"And if I refuse this miracle?"

"Thou must give us a substitute. The Mufti Vanni suggests that thou be
stript naked and set as a mark for the archers; if thy flesh and skin
are proof like armor, we shall recognize thee as the Messiah indeed,
and the person designed by Allah for the dominions and greatnesses to
which thou dost pretend."

"And if I refuse this miracle, too?"

"Then the stake waits at the gate of the seraglio to compel thee,"
thundered the Hakim Bashi; "thou shalt die with tortures. The mercy of
decapitation shall be denied thee, for thou knowest well Mohammedans
will not pollute their swords with the blood of a Jew. Be advised by
me, Sabbatai," he continued, lowering his tone. "Become one of us.
After all, the Moslem are but the posterity of Hagar. Mohammed is but
the successor of Moses. We recognize the One God who rules the heavens
and the earth, we eat not swine-flesh. Thou canst Messiah it in a
white turban as well as in a black," he ended jocosely.

Sabbatai winced. "Renegade!" he muttered.

"Ay, and an excellent exchange," quoth the physician. "The Sultan is a
generous pa