of a man the Calif was, of whom so much was said?

"He is no man," replied the Arabian; "but a monster."

"Of what do his subjects accuse him?" asked the Calif.

"Of the most inhuman barbarities," answered the indignant Arabian.

"Have you ever seen him?" demanded Hegiage.

"No," the other replied.

"Look at him now!" said the Calif; "for it is to him you speak."

The Arabian, without betraying the least sign of fear or surprise, fixed
his eyes on him, and said,--"And you, sir, do you know who _I_ am?"

"No," replied the Calif.

"I am of the family of Zobair," the Arabian continued, "all whose
descendants are infected with madness one day in the year; and _this_ is
_my_ mad day."

The faster I walked to that part of the town where the yacht lay, the
denser became the crowd of people; and I met regiments of foot-soldiers
and troops of cavalry scampering in every direction, as if Gottenborg
were besieged by a hundred thousand men, or the sun had slipped, when
setting, and fallen in the market-place. A fat Swede, who stood
demurely smoking his pipe, attracted my attention by the indifference
of his manner in the general confusion; and, noting the sagacity of his
little, roguish, blue eye, which he blinked as frequently as he blew the
smoke, in a horizontal spire, from his mouth, I asked him what the
uproar meant.

"Eld, eld," he said; and that was all the explanation I could obtain
from him. However, I soon discovered the cause of the hubbub; for,
following the direction of the people's eyes, I saw, elevated higher
than its fellows from the roof of an older house, an old chimney
ejecting volumes of the sootiest smoke, and causing the inmates to toss
beds, blankets, chairs, tables, and, even, their darling pipes out of
the windows. I immediately understood the alarm of the inhabitants of
Gottenborg. A chimney was on fire.

The conflagrations in Sweden and Norway have been so extensive and
frightful of late years, that the natives of those two countries regard
them as the most dreadful scourges of Odin, Thor, or Frey; and adopt
every precaution they possibly can, in their primitive way, to prevent a
fire, or to allay its fury when one does break out. I am not surprised
at their consternation, for many of the houses are entirely built of
fir, which is very inflammable; and a fire must bring a very fearful
catastrophe to such a crowded town as Gottenborg where you can shake
hands from an attic window with your