Part 23 (1/2)

You will be seized; and then !?

?But when I am there,? said I, ?what shall I do? how shall I live??

?Leave that to me,? said the dervish; ?I shall soon overtake you, and as I know the place and many of the people in it, _Inshallah_, please God, you will not fare so ill as you , for having been thepoison for one of the Shah?s women, who used it to destroy a rival Orders were sent to seize e seat) at Shahabdul Azim just five minutes before the executioner as to have apprehended ; I was supported by the charity of those who came to say their prayers at the shrine of the saint: and the women, who constantly travelled thus far to pray and take their pleasure, always contrived to comfort me in my confinement The only evil you have to fear is an order froive you food: if so, you will be starved into a surrender, and then the Prophet be your protector! But your case is not one of sufficient consequence to make you fear this

The Shah cannot care so much for one slave, when he has a hundred others to fill her place After all, ine Recollect what the Sheikh says, ?Clouds and wind, the ht have added dervishes), all are busied, that thou, O lect??

?I aet your kindness Perhaps ain be on the rise, and then I will put my beard into your hand You know Hajji Baba of old, and that he is not one of those who ?exposes his virtues on the palm of his hand, and hides his vices under his armpit? What I was at Meshed, the same I am now: the seller of adulterated smoke and the deputy lieutenant to the chief executioner, are one and the sao,? said the dervish, as he ehols and gins as you cross the Salt Desert; and again, I repeat, may Allah, peace, and safety attend you!?

As the day broke I could distinguish the gilt cupola of the tomb at a considerable distance before our in my solitary march over the dreary waste I had scarcely reached the outskirts of the town of Kom before I perceived the horse the best of his way in search of ht nor left until the ateway of the sanctuary was placed between myself and my pursuer I then exclaimed, ?_Ilha the threshold of the to escaped a teot safe into port

I had scarcely ti towards me He accosted me with a cold salutation of peace, and then said, ?that he had a royal order to conduct ht be found?

I told him that, with all reverence for his fired privilege of every true believer, to seek refuge at the shrine of the saint, and that, of course, he could not violate it by draggingof Kings,? said I, ?and he respects this shrine more than any other?

?What shall I do then, Hajji?? said he ?You know this is not written in the order If I go back without you, perhaps the Shah may cut off my ears instead of yours?

?_Inshallah!_ please God,? said I

?Please God, do you say?? said he in a fury: ?am I come all this way that men should call me ass? I am not a an to wrangle to such a degree that several of the priests, attached to the endowment, came from their rooms to inquire into the cause of the disturbance

?Here is one,? exclaimed I, ?who presue in it, and he talks of forcingmyself to the mollahs, ?speak, and say whether you will allow this??

They all took my part ?This is unheard of,? said they, ?in Persia

If you dare to take one froeance of the saint on your head, but the whole corps of the Ulles, or the king of de can screen you from their fury?

The nasakchi re his tone, he endeavoured to otiate with et if he went aithout furtherpaid for his trouble, for it is precisely what I should have expected myself had I been in his place; but I made him recollect how little I was able to requite hiht, and that I had brought nothing aith ive him what effects I had left behind ree, but recoo whence he came, and to leave the afflicted to their miseries

The fact is, as I afterwards found out, the rogue had already taken possession of , horse-furniture, pipes, etc, having hi me to the Shah He had watched the effect which the murderous death of the unhappy Curd had produced upon me, and immediately had laid his plan forintothat he could not exert the pohich had been vested in hi as I continued to hold fast to ht it best to return to Tehran; but in so doing he delivered his powers into the hands of the governor of the toith strict injunctions to keep watch over my actions, and in case I stirred from the sanctuary, to seize and send overne in a sanctuary, where his hts are diverted by a curious story

I had scarcely got rid of the nasakchi, when I heard the voice ofhis arrival in the holy city, by all the different invocations of the Alhty and his attributes, which are frequently hted to see hi towards me, and to hear hi-place before my pursuer had had time to come up with me

He proposed to keep me company for a short time, and we took possession of one of the cells situated in the square court fors in the centre of which the toht away old, besides some silver; and we expended some of this in articles of the first necessity, such as afor our water

But before we had got any further in our dobefore we proceed Do you ever say your prayers? do you keep your fasts? do you ularly? or do you continue to live in that fit state for eternal perdition which ont to do at Meshed??