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THE ORIENTA

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and do not allow anybody to torture. them !" and turning to the Ferashes and Shatirs he continued : "Drive away away the accursed everybody, drive away crowd !" Again the whips of the Ferashes and Shatirs hissed in the air, and again the crowd was showered with blows. Shatir Selim ordered the Jews to follow him . The trumpet sounded once more . It was a signal that the Light-bestowing Shah, coming out of his palace, had put his holy foot in the stirrup. The Police Commissioner cast a last glance upon the crowd. His heart throbbed with fear, while he muttered : "Merciful God, let this moment pass without evil !”

WORLD

He knew very well that the persecuted, who were deprived of justice, had often before seized upon such occasions to bring their grievances before the Shah. Woe to the Police Commissioner if the Shah was in a bad humor ! Then he would face either the alternative of being bastinadoed or of spending hundreds , nay thousands, of toumans in peshkesh. The Police Commissioner hoped for the best. He had taken all precautions ; yet he had dreamt bad dreams, and had not had time to have them interpreted. He thought to himself, "Well, it is destiny ; whatever is written shall be fulfilled .' The trumpet sounded for the third time, and from the Pearl Door proceeded the royal retinue.

(To be continued .)

  Alice Stone Blackwell