and exerted themselves to rescue Baba Mustapha, and quieted the rage that
was prevailing, and bore Baba Mustapha with them to the great palace of
the King, which was in the centre of that City. Now, when the King heard
of the attempt on Shagpat, and the affair of the Pomegranate Grain, he
gave orders for the admission of the people, as many of them as could be
contained in the Hall of Justice: and he set a guard over Baba Mustapha,
and commanded that Shagpat should be brought to the palace even as he
then was, and with the lather on him. So the regal mandate went forth,
and Shagpat was brought in state on cushions, and the potency of the drug
preserved his sedateness through all this, and he remained motionless in
sleep, folded in the centre of calm and satisfaction, while this tumult
was rageing and the City shook with uproar. But the people, when they
saw him whitened behind a lather, wrath at Baba Mustapha's polluting
touch and the audacity of barbercraft wrestled in them with the
outpouring of reverence for Shagpat, and a clamour arose for the instant
sacrifice of Baba Mustapha at the foot of their idol Shagpat. And the
whole of the City of Shagpat, men, women, and children, and the sheikhs
and the dervishes and crafts of the City besieged the King's palace in
that middle hour of the noon, clamouring for the sacrifice of Baba
Mustapha at the feet of their idol Shagpat.






THE BURNING OF THE IDENTICAL


Now, the Great Hall for the dispensing of justice in the palace of the