This seal Houman showed to the Treasurer whereon they produced the gold that was weighed in the scales against me, and to others when he ordered the boat to be prepared for you to lie in.

Moreover he forgot to return it, for when he himself was dragged off to the boat by direct command of the King, I caught sight of the chain beneath his robe.

Can you guess the rest ?" "Not quite," I answered, for I wished to hear the tale in his own words.
"Well, Master, when I was walking with Houman after he had put you in the boat, I asked him about this seal.

He showed it to me and said that he who bore it was for the time the king of all the Empire of the East.

It seems that there is but one such seal which has descended from ancient days from king to king, and that of it every officer, great or small, has an impress in all lands.