ry to carry you through
life: do not repine at the first beating; it win probably save you many
more, and will teach you another time to discover a Mohtesib, although
hid under a woman's veil: but' (taking hold of his beard) 'for a man of
my age, one who has seen so much of the world, to be obliged to set out
upon his travels again, is truly a great misfortune.'

'But it would have been easy for you,' said I, 'to remain at Meshed, if
you had chosen it: had you been regular in your prayers and ablutions,
you might have bid defiance to the Mollahs.'

'That is true enough,' said the Dervish; 'but the fact is, that the
festival of the Ramazan is now close at hand, when I should have been
more closely watched than ever by them; and as I cannot and will not
fast (smoking being as necessary to me as air, and wine as daily bread),
I have thought it better to make a journey during that time, for the
sake of the indulgence which is permitted to travellers. I might perhaps
have deceived them, as I have frequently done before, by eating and
smoking in secret; but one so notorious as I, who lives by the supposed
sanctity of his character, being narrowly watched, cannot take such
liberties.'

We arrived at Semnan without the occurrence of anything remarkable,
excepting, that a day or two before we reached it, when I was helping my
friend Ali Katir to load one of his mules, I sprained my back again in
its old place: the pain was so great, that it became impossible for
me to proceed with the caravan, and I determined to remain where I was
until I was cured; particularly, as all danger from the Turcomans having
passed, it was needless to make myself any longer a dependant upon a
caravan. Dervish Sefer, who was anxious to get to the wine and pleasures
of the capital, continued his journey.

I took up my abode in a tomb on the skirts of the town; and having
spread my goat's skin in a corner of it, I proclaimed my arrival,
according to the custom adopted by travelling dervishes, blowing my
horn, and making my exclamations of _Hak! Hu! Allah Akbar!_ in a most
sonorous and audible manner. I had allowed my person to acquire a wild
and extravagant appearance, and flattered myself that I did credit to
the instructions which had been given me in the arts of deception.

[Illustration: Hajji is cauterised for his sprain. 12.jpg]

I was visited by several women, for whom I wrote talismans, and they
repaid me by small presents of fruit, milk,