moment, to
assure me, in a loud stage-whisper, that the said tailor was a man
whom I could trust to do the best for me, and that I might think
myself extremely fortunate to have secured his services, as, being
much sought after by the fashionables, he generally had more work than
he could really do; but that, having taken, as he said, a fancy to me,
he would certainly turn out a set of garments to enslave the heart.
Having said this in the finest classic phraseology, he went out to
rejoin the tailor in the passage; nor did I see him any more until the
very day of my departure, when, at the English Consul-General's
hospitable house, I was waiting for the carriage which would take me
to the quay.

I was told that someone wished to see me upon urgent business, and,
going to the great Liwan or entrance-hall, I found my friend, his
silver-headed cane leaned carefully against the wall as usual. He
carried underneath his arm a number of large books. These he presented
to me with a solemn bow.

'It occurred to me,' he said, 'that as your Honour has a predilection
for all those curious and often foolish tales which circulate among
the common people, you might not perhaps disdain these four poor
volumes which I chance to have in my possession. Deign to accept them
as a parting gift from me.'

I thanked him kindly, though in truth I was embarrassed, not knowing
where to stow the books, since all my things were packed. And then he
handed me the tailor's bill, which, with the clothes which I had
ordered, had escaped my memory.

'Where are the clothes?' I asked, 'I had forgotten them.'

He pointed to a bundle pinned up honourably in a silken wrapper,
reposing on the floor hard by the silver-handled cane. I tore the
envelope and opened out the bill. It came to twenty pounds.

And I had got my money ready for my journey. I was going to visit
some of the Greek Islands, Smyrna, and Constantinople, on my way to
England, and had hoped, besides, to see a little of the Balkan States.
To pay out twenty pounds was to reduce that journey by at least a
fortnight. And, as I said, I had forgotten all about the clothes,
regarding all my Syrian debts as fully paid.

The hall was empty; we were quite alone. I fear I stormed at the
Mu'allim Costantin, reminding him that he had promised that the
clothes should not be dear.

'But,' he persisted, 'they are very cheap for the materials. If your
Honour's wish was to pay less, you ought not to h