We are five to one, to be sure, but still there is
nothing like peace and quiet. I wish Abdallah were here with his stout
shoulders. Only think of his selling sherbet!'
The Square of the Grand Mosque, the same spot where Jabaster met Abidan
by appointment, was the destined scene of the pretended trial of Alroy.
Thither by break of day the sight-loving thousands of the capital had
repaired. In the centre of the square, a large circle was described by
a crimson cord, and guarded by Karasmian soldiers. Around this the
swelling multitude pressed like the gathering waves of ocean, but,
whenever the tide set in with too great an impulse, the savage
Karasmians appeased the ungovernable element by raising their
battle-axes, and brutally breaking the crowns and belabouring the
shoulders of their nearest victims. As the morning advanced, the
terraces of the surrounding houses, covered with awnings, were crowded
with spectators. All Bagdad was astir. Since the marriage of Alroy,
there had never been such a merry morn as the day of his impalement.
At one end of the circle was erected a magnificent throne. Half way
between the throne and the other end of the circle, but further back,
stood a company of negro eunuchs, hideous to behold, who, clothed in
white, and armed with various instruments of torture, surrounded the
enormous stakes, tall, thin, and sharp, that were prepared for the final
ceremony.
Pages:
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352