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Bidding him remain with the two horses, I went back on foot to the castle, where I stayed only the time necessary to pay my respects. As I was returning towards the valley, a litter borne between two mules was leaving the meydân. Beside it walked the stern Sheykh Mustafa, and in it, I had little doubt, reclined the beautiful Abdul Hamid.
To this arrangement the Prince, whether moved by the arguments or the tumāns of the Sa'idu'l-'Ulama, eventually consented, and Jenāb-i-Ḳuddus was delivered over to his inveterate enemy. 'The execution took place in the meydan, or public square, of Barfurush.
'Be sure that if good wishes can ensure success, all mine are with thee in to-day's event. 'Allah increase thy wealth! he cried in joy, as if I had bestowed on him a gift of price. There was a crowd of many colours on the well-made road which wanders up through orchards to the village and ends on the meydân before the castle gate.
I know little of horses in general, but I knew that particular horse, and he knew me. I went up quietly and talked to him, then loosed the rope and led Sheytân away without much difficulty, Rashîd meanwhile explaining to the servant of the house that no one else could possibly have done it. We tied him at the further end of the meydân.
The village, when we reached it, was in great commotion, all its people crowding to the wide meydân, or levelled ground for horsemanship, spread out before the house which might be mine. In the midst of this meydân there was a fine old carob tree, with a stone bench all round the foot of its enormous trunk.
'Pray do not give yourself the trouble! he exclaimed, distressed. The servant went along with me, and, when we got to the meydân, Rashîd came running. Sheytân was then indeed a terrifying sight, with streaming tail, mane bristling, and a wicked bloodshot eye, tearing at his head-rope, one minute pawing at the wall as if to climb it, the next kicking wildly with his head down.
The screaming of a stallion came persistently from the meydân a naughty screaming which foreboded mischief. I recognised the voice. The culprit was my own Sheytân. The screams were so disturbing, so indecent, that several of the great ones round me frowned and asked: 'Whose horse is that? in accents of displeasure. I was ashamed to own him.
We waited half an hour in silence, as it seemed; and then we heard the noise of their return, the shouts, the firing. I swear I saw a horse and man surmount a housetop in the village and then leap down upon the other side. At last, with yells and reckless gunshots and a whirl of dust, the crowd of horsemen came full tilt on the meydân.
That rush of water was the greatest luxury in such a land, and the lord of the castle took much pride in its contrivance. I went up to a door where soldiers and domestics lounged, but was informed: 'Our lord is out of doors. A soldier pointed to a bunch of trees above the waterfall and overlooking the meydân, where many notables in black frock coat and fez sat out on chairs.
Très bon marché' from which I guessed that they had occupied the house rent-free till they had come to look upon it as their own. Leaving aside the land, which we should visit presently, the owner of the house, I was informed, had jurisdiction over the meydân, which was in times of peace the village square, and owned one-fifth part of the great tree in its midst.
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