at distance, and bought a convenient house. It had a
good garden and a moderate court, in which there was a deep well that
was not now used.

The good man, having made this purchase, put on the habit of a
dervish, and in a short time he established a numerous society of
dervishes.[16] He soon came to be known by his virtues, through which
he acquired the esteem of many people, as well of the commonalty as of
the chief of the city. In short, he was much honored and courted by
all ranks. People came from afar to recommend themselves to his
prayers; and all who visited him, published what blessings they
received through his means.

[Footnote 16: Sir Paul Ricaut gives this account of the dress of the
dervish. "Their shirts are of coarse linen, with a white plaid or
mantle about their shoulders. Their caps are like the crown of a hat
of the largest size. Their legs are always bare, and their breasts
open, which some of them burn or scar in token of greater devotion.
They wear a leathern girdle, with some shining stone upon the buckle
before. They always carry a string of beads, which they call Tesbe,
and oftener run them over than our friars do their rosary, at every
bead repeating the name of God."--_History of Ottoman Empire_, p. 263.

"Their order has few rules, except of performing their fantastic rites
every Tuesday and Friday. They meet in a large hall, where they all
stand with their eyes fixed on the ground, and their arms crossed,
while the imaun or preacher reads part of the Koran from a pulpit, and
after a short exposition on what he has read, they stand around their
superior, and tying their robe, which is very wide, round their waist,
begin to turn round with an amazing swiftness, moving fast or slow as
the music is played. This lasts above an hour, without any of them
showing the least appearance of giddiness, which is not to be wondered
at when it is considered they are used to it from their infancy. There
were among them some little dervishes, of six or seven years old, who
seemed no more disordered by that exercise than the others. At the end
of the ceremony they shout out, 'There is no other god but God, and
Mohammed is his prophet'; after which they kiss the superior's hand
and retire. The whole is performed with the most solemn gravity." Lady
M. W. Montague's _Letters_, vol. ii, p. 43.]

The great reputation of this honest man having spread to the town from
whence he had come, it touched the envious m