"I bring the commands of His Highness the Sultan,--knowest thou not these august characters ?" And Hassan exhibited the brilliantly gilded frontispiece which decorated the firman.

"I know them and revere them." "Then bow before thy destiny; make thy ablutions; address thy prayer to Allah and to His Prophet; for thy, head is demanded...." Ali did not allow him to finish.

"My head," he cried with fury, "will not be surrendered like the head of a slave." These rapidly pronounced words were instantly followed by a pistol-shot which wounded Hassan in the thigh.

Swift as lightning, a second killed the keeper of the wardrobe, and the guards, firing at the same time, brought down several officers.

Terrified, the Osmanlis forsook the pavilion.