4:18 THE IRON NAIL. 



longed to it was their own. Ildiz congratulated her husband, and 

 inquired the condition that Mohammed had required to the contract. 

 " A mere childish whim," returned Ali ; " I can hardly call it 

 more ; he says, that every man has his foolish fancy, and that this is 

 his. He has such an affection for the place he has built, and the 

 trees he has planted, that he cannot consent to think himself entirely 

 dispossessed, and therefore he has reserved for himself the right of 

 fixing and keeping here a single nail. It is a silly whim, but he 

 would consent on no other terms." 



" God grant," said Ildiz, " that it may mean nothing ; but, dear 

 Ali, I am sorry you consented to so strange a clause." As they re- 

 turned towards the palace, they beheld four slaves with difficulty 

 carrying a long box of lead to place upon the back of a dromedary. 

 Mohammed, mounted upon a splendid Arabian steed, richly capari- 

 soned, watched and directed their work with the greatest care. Ali 

 approached him. 



" In taking possession of this palace," said he, " I feel curious to 

 know some particulars of it. The people of these parts inform me 

 there were wells hereabouts celebrated for their antiquity. Can 

 you point me out the spot where they formerly were?" A sort of 

 savage joy passed over the features of Zahab at these words. 

 " I ordered them to be filled up," he replied. 



" Did your curiosity never tempt you to examine them before they 

 were filled?" enquired Ali. 



" To what purpose should I have taken that trouble ?" returned 

 the other ; " perhaps for my pains I might have found the body of 

 some murdered man some nameless corse thrown there to hide a 

 crime and escape the law." 



" Murdered man ! corse !" repeated Ali, and the colour left his 

 cheek. 



" What ails you, Effendi?" asked Mohammed, " you ought indeed 

 to be an exemplary man when the bare mention of crime causes such 

 emotion. However, re-assure yourself; on such points I know no- 

 thing ; I have filled the pit with stones, and whatever they cover 

 there remains ; what God has concealed man has no right to dis- 

 turb." As they parted, Mohammed rallied the other; but in his 

 laugh there was a sort of bitter sneer full of secret and sinister mean- 

 ing. He made the dromedary with its load precede him, and, with 

 his slaves, he took the road towards Dheli. 



" Ali !" said Ildiz, tenderly, to her husband, as Mohammed de- 

 parted, " the mirth of that man makes me sad. His eyes seem to 

 me to possess almost a supernatural meaning : they freeze me." 



" I confess," said he thoughtfully, " that his eyes have a most 

 extraordinary expression. I cannot but fancy that I have seen them 

 before." 



" Dear Ali !" she replied, " you have doubtless encountered some 

 such in your former wanderings, before the death of my poor father ; 

 for he must have died on that fatal Indian journey, when he com- 

 manded me to receive you as my husband." 



" Do not, dear Ildiz, I pray you, revive such sad recollections; 



