onguls appeared on the
shore. The men in the boat immediately pushed off. The Monguls, full
of disappointment and rage, shot at them with their arrows; but the
sultan was not struck by any of them, and was soon out of the reach of
his pursuers.

The sultan lay in the boat almost helpless, being perfectly exhausted
by the terror and distress which he had endured. He soon began to
suffer, too, from an intense pain in the chest and side, which
gradually became so severe that he could scarcely breathe. The men
with him in the boat, finding that he was seriously sick, made the
best of their way to a small island named Abiskun, which is situated
near the southeastern corner of the sea. Here they pitched a tent, and
made up a bed in it, as well as they could, for the sufferer. They
also sent a messenger to the shore to bring off a physician secretly.
The physician did all that was in his power, but it was too late. The
inflammation and the pain subsided after a time, but it was evident
that the patient was sinking, and that he was about to die.

It happened that the sultan's son, Jalaloddin, the one who had been
set aside in favor of his brother Kothboddin, was at this time on the
main land not far from the island, and intelligence was communicated
to him of his father's situation. He immediately went to the island to
see him, taking with him two of his brothers. They were obliged to
manage the business very secretly, to prevent the Monguls from finding
out what was going on.

On the arrival of Jalaloddin, the sultan expressed great satisfaction
in seeing him, and he revoked the decree by which he had been
superseded in the succession.

"You, my son," said he, "are, after all, the one among all my children
who is best able to revenge me on the Monguls; therefore I revoke the
act which I formerly executed at the request of the queen, my mother,
in favor of Kothboddin."

He then solemnly appointed Jalaloddin to be his successor, and
enjoined upon the other princes to be obedient and faithful to him as
their sovereign. He also formally delivered to him his sword as the
emblem and badge of the supreme power which he thus conferred upon
him.

Soon after this the sultan expired. The attendants buried the body
secretly on the island for fear of the Monguls. They washed it
carefully before the interment, according to custom, and then put on
again a portion of the same dress which the sultan had worn when
living, having no mea