tch of all the objects around him. They then relieved him of
his short sword, as none may approach the Sultan with arms, and threw
across his shoulders an ample caftan trimmed with ermine. He did not
reflect for the moment what a distinction this was. His only feeling
was a slight surprise that he should be dressed in green down to his
very heels, as, with the dragoman on his left hand, he was conducted
into the Hall of the Seven Viziers, where the Sultan sat in the midst
of his grandees.

Morrison greeted the Padishah very handsomely, just as he would have
greeted King George IV. or King Charles X., perhaps.

"Bow to the ground--right down to the ground, milord!" whispered the
dragoman in his ears.

"I'll be damned if I do!" replied Morrison. "It is not my habit to go
down on my knees in uniform!"

"But that was why they put the caftan on you," whispered the dragoman,
half in joke. "'Tis the custom here."

"And a deuced bad custom, too," growled Morrison; and, after
reflecting for a moment or two, he hit upon the idea of letting his
hat fall to the ground, and then bent down as if to pick it up again.
But, by way of compensation, immediately after righting himself he
stood as stiff and straight as if he were determined never to bend his
head again, though the roof were to fall upon him in consequence.

The Sultan addressed a couple of brief words to the sailor,
metamorphosed by the dragoman into a floridly adulatory rigmarole,
which he represented to be a faithful version of the Sultan's
ineffable salutation. In effect he told the sailor that he was a
terrible hippopotamus, an oceanic elephant, who had ground to death
countless crocodiles with his glorious grinders, trampled them to
pieces with his mighty hoofs, and torn them limb from limb with his
trunk, and had therefore merited that the sublime Sultan should cover
him with the wings of his mantle. Let him, therefore, ask as a reward
whatever he chose, even to the half of the Padishah's kingdom. I may
add that if any one had in those days actually asked for half of the
Sultan's kingdom, he would probably have got that part of it which
lies underground.

Morrison thanked the Sultan for his liberal offer, and asked that he
might see the favorite wife of the Grand Signior.

At these words the dragoman turned pale, but the Sultan turned still
paler. The convulsive twitching of the muscles of his face betrayed
his strong revulsion of feeling, and, lowering his