both profit by it. Don't let such a once-in-a-lifetime chance slip through
your hands."

The Haji answered: "_Kh_an, how would I square it with God? Let me be. I
shall tell the truth and nothing but the truth."

The Consul was beside himself. He began to threaten and belabor
'Ali-'Askar. "Do you want to make me out a liar?" he cried. "Do you want
to make me a laughingstock? I will jail you; I will have you banished;
there is no torment I will spare you. This very instant I will hand you
over to the police, and I will tell them that you are an enemy of the
state, and that you are to be manacled and taken to the Persian frontier."

The Haji only smiled. "Jinab-i-_Kh_an," he said. "I have given up my life
for the truth. I have nothing else. You are telling me to lie and bear
false witness. Do with me as you please; I will not turn my back on what
is right."

When the Consul saw that there was no way to make 'Ali-'Askar testify to a
falsehood, he said: "It is better, then, for you to leave this place, so
that I can inform the Government that the owner of the merchandise is no
longer available and has gone away. Otherwise I shall be disgraced."

The Haji returned to Adrianople, and spoke not a word as to his stolen
goods, but the matter became public knowledge and caused considerable
surprise.

That fine and rare old man was taken captive in Adrianople along with the
rest, and he accompanied the Blessed Beauty to the Akka fortress, this
prison-house of sorrows. With all his family, he was jailed in the path of
God for a period of years; and he was always offering thanks, because the
prison was a palace to him, and captivity a reason to rejoice. In all
those years he was never known to express himself except in thankfulness
and praise. The greater the tyranny of the oppressors, the happier he was.
Time and again Baha'u'llah was heard to speak of him with loving kindness,
and He would say: "I am pleased with him." This man, who was spirit
personified, remained constant, true, and joyful to the end. When some
years had passed, he exchanged this world of dust for the Kingdom that is
undefiled, and he left powerful influences behind.

As a rule, he was the close companion of 'Abdu'l-Baha. One day, at the
beginning of our time in the Prison, I hurried to the corner of the
barracks where he lived--the cell that was his shabby nest. He was lying
there, running a high fever, out of his head. On his right side lay his
wife, sha