VI. THE BURSTING FORTH OF THE STORM 123

VII. TULIP-BULBS AND HUMAN HEADS 134

VIII. A TOPSY-TURVY WORLD 153

IX. THE SETTING AND THE RISING SUN 179

X. THE FEAST OF HALWET 203

XI. GLIMPSES INTO THE FUTURE 216

XII. HUMAN HOPES 240

XIII. THE EMPTY PLACE 270




INTRODUCTION.


On September 28th, 1730, a rebellion burst forth in Stambul against
Sultan Achmed III., whose cowardly hesitation to take the field against
the advancing hosts of the victorious Persians had revolted both the
army and the people. The rebellion began in the camp of the Janissaries,
and the ringleader was one Halil Patrona, a poor Albanian sailor-man,
who after plying for a time the trade of a petty huckster had been
compelled, by crime or accident, to seek a refuge among the mercenary
soldiery of the Empire. The rebellion was unexpectedly, amazingly