bet!'

'Father, let me go?'

'You will be in the way; you are too young; you will see nothing. Little
boys should stay at home.'

'No, they should not. I will go. You can put me on your shoulders.'

'Where is Ibrahim? Where is Ali? We must all keep together. We shall
have to fight for it. I wish Abdallah were here. Only think of his
selling sherbet!'

'Keep straight forward. That is right. It is no use going that way. The
bazaar is shut. There is Fakreddin, there is Osman Effendi. He has got a
new page.'

'So he has, I declare; and a very pretty boy too.'

'Father, will they impale Alroy alive?'

'I am sure I do not know. Never ask questions, my dear. Little boys
never should.'

'Yes, they should. I hope they will impale him alive. I shall be so
disappointed if they do not.'

'Keep to the left. Dash through the Butchers' bazaar: that is open. All
right, all right. Did you push me, sir?'

'Suppose I did push you, sir, what then, sir?'

'Come along, don't quarrel. That is a Karasmian. They think they are to
do what they like. We are five to one, to be sure, but still there is
nothing like peace and quiet. I wish Abdallah were here with his stout
shoulders. Only think of his selling sherbet!'

The Square of the Grand Mosque, the same spot where Jabaster met Abidan
by appointment, was the destined scene of the pretended trial of Alroy.
Thither by break of day the sight-loving thousands of the capital had
repaired. In the centre of the square, a large circle was described by
a crimson cord, and guarded by Karasmian soldiers. Around this the
swelling multitude pressed like the gathering waves of ocean, but,
whenever the tide set in with too great an impulse, the savage
Karasmians appeased the ungovernable element by raising their
battle-axes, and brutally breaking the crowns and belabouring the
shoulders of their nearest victims. As the morning advanced, the
terraces of the surrounding houses, covered with awnings, were crowded
with spectators. All Bagdad was astir. Since the marriage of Alroy,
there had never been such a merry morn as the day of his impalement.

At one end of the circle was erected a magnificent throne. Half way
between the throne and the other end of the circle, but further back,
stood a company of negro eunuchs, hideous to behold, who, clothed in
white, and armed with various instruments of torture, surrounded the
enormous stakes, tall, thin, and sharp, that were prepared for the final
c