Page:The Count of Monte-Cristo (1887 Volume 2).djvu/81

Rh Ali approached his master, took his hand, and kissed it. "Would it be impertinent, Signor Sindbad," said Franz, "to ask you the particulars of this kindness?" "Oh! they are simple enough," replied the host. "It seems the fellow had been caught wandering nearer to the harem of the Bey of Tunis

than etiquette permits to one of his color, and he was condemned by the Bey to have his tongue cut out and his hand and head cut off,—the tongue the first day, the hand the second, and the head the third. I always had a desire to have a mute in my service; so, learning the day his tongue was cut out, I went to the Bey, and proposed to give him for