stoms and manners of an ape. They ceased to prop
their elbows on the table; they no longer tilted back their chairs;
they were silent until spoken to; they laid aside their spectacles, and
were good and obedient; and if any one of them chanced to slip back
into the old ways, the Gruenwiesel people would say, "It is an ape!"
But the ape, that had so long played the _role_ of a young gentleman,
was surrendered to the learned man who possessed a cabinet of natural
curiosities. He allowed the ape to have the run of his yard, fed it
well, and showed it as a curiosity to strangers, where it can be seen
to this day.

There was loud laughter in the _salon_, when the slave had concluded,
in which the young men joined. "There must be singular people among
these Franks; and, of a truth, I would rather be here with the sheik
and mufti in Alessandria, than in the company of the minister, the
mayor, and their silly wives in Gruenwiesel!"

"You speak the truth there," replied the young merchant, "I should not
care to die in the Frank's country. They are a coarse, wild, barbaric
people, and it must be terrible for a cultivated Turk or Persian to
live there."

"You will hear all about that presently," promised the old man. "From
what the steward told me, the fine-looking young man yonder will have
something to say about the Franks, as he was among them for a long
time, and is by birth a Mussulman."

"What, the last one in the row? Really, it is a sin for the sheik to
free him! He is the handsomest slave in the whole country. Only look at
his courageous face, his sharp eye, his noble form! He might give him
some light duties, such as fan or pipe-bearing. It would be an easy
matter to provide such an office for him, and truly such a slave as he
would be an ornament to the palace. And the sheik has only had him
three days, and now gives him away? It is folly! It is a sin!"

"Do not blame him--he, who is wiser than all Egypt;" said the old man,
impressively. "I have already told you that he gives this slave his
freedom, believing that he will thereby deserve the blessing of Allah.
You say the slave is handsome and well-formed; and you say the truth.
But the son of the sheik--whom may the Prophet restore to his father's
house--was also a beautiful boy, and must be now tall and well-formed.
Shall the sheik then save his money, and set a less expensive slave
free, in the hope to receive his son therefor? He who wishes to do
anything in t