THE GREAT MOLEY MOLE PASHA.
Such an important event as the arrival of a new governor naturally caused a great deal of excitement among the worthy inhabitants of the remote town.
They came out in crowds to greet him, headed by all the inferior functionaries, and a military guard of honour conducted him to the old castle, which had been fitted up as a sumptuous official residence.
Two things puzzled his new subjects; the fact of his arrival being two days before the appointed time, and the circumstance of the new pasha, who was apparently a Turk, returning their greetings through an interpreter.
However, none had any doubt of the reality of his appointment, and the production of the sultan's firman at once made the old cadi, or magistrate, who had been temporarily put in command, give way to his superior.
Briefly let us explain these circumstances.
It was another hoax, and a most daring and gigantic one, on the part of Jack and his friends, upon their long-suffering tutor.
Having ascertained that the town of Alla-hissar was actually waiting for its new governor, the real pasha, who was to arrive from Constantinople in two days' time, Jack and the others hit upon the idea of making the situation the basis of a grand practical joke.
The firman was of course a forged document, written by the old interpreter, who was in the plot, and the Turkish officer who had presented it to Mole was no other than our friend the diver.
The waiter, the orphan, and the two nigger boys had also effectually disguised themselves, and became members of Mole's escort.