follow them, but
the key refused to turn, so he gave up the chase and went back to bed.

The next day all his sorrows returned with tenfold force. He felt
himself lonelier and poorer than ever, and in a fit of despair he thrust
his turban on his head, stuck his sword in his belt, and left the house
determined to seek an explanation from the merchant who had sold him the
silver watch.

When Neangir reached the bazaar he found the man he sought was absent
from his shop, and his place filled by another Jew.

'It is my brother you want,' said he; 'we keep the shop in turn, and in
turn go into the city to do our business.'

'Ah! _what_ business?' cried Neangir in a fury. 'You are the brother of
a scoundrel who sold me yesterday a watch that ran away in the night.
But I will find it somehow, or else you shall pay for it, as you are his
brother!'

'What is that you say?' asked the Jew, around whom a crowd had rapidly
gathered. 'A watch that ran away. If it had been a cask of wine, your
story might be true, but a watch----! That is hardly possible!'

'The Cadi shall say whether it is possible or not,' replied Neangir, who
at that moment perceived the other Jew enter the bazaar. Darting up, he
seized him by the arm and dragged him to the Cadi's house; but not
before the man whom he had found in the shop contrived to whisper to his
brother, in a tone loud enough for Neangir to hear, 'Confess nothing, or
we shall both be lost.'

When the Cadi was informed of what had taken place he ordered the crowd
to be dispersed by blows, after the Turkish manner, and then asked
Neangir to state his complaint. After hearing the young man's story,
which seemed to him most extraordinary, he turned to question the Jewish
merchant, who instead of answering raised his eyes to heaven and fell
down in a dead faint.

The judge took no notice of the swooning man, but told Neangir that his
tale was so singular he really could not believe it, and that he should
have the merchant carried back to his own house. This so enraged Neangir
that he forgot the respect due to the Cadi, and exclaimed at the top of
his voice, 'Recover this fellow from his fainting fit, and force him to
confess the truth,' giving the Jew as he spoke a blow with his sword
which caused him to utter a piercing scream.

'You see for yourself,' said the Jew to the Cadi, 'that this young man
is out of his mind. I forgive him his blow, but do not, I pray you,
leave me in his powe