"I knew, of course, that it was only a dry powder that this high-born Hindu lady could take from my dispensary, for to have swallowed a liquid drug would have been a violation of her caste. I took pains to let the chuprassi see that my hands did not touch the powder, which, after due weighing, I bestowed in a paper carefully sealed, instructing him to deliver it to no one but his highness the maharajah. It was only finely ground sugar that the man carried away. But perhaps this is a harmless little trick of my profession which even now I should not disclose."
But a general smile among the company showed the hakeem that his calling was held in no undue reverence, at least by those without present need of his ministrations.
"When I was alone with my mortars and my drugs," resumed the narrator, "I lost no time in examining the mysterious packet. I unwound the silk threads that tightly tied it, both to restrict its bulk and to render it secure. Soon, to my amazement, I uncovered a string of ten pearls, of a size and lustrous purity that bespoke a high value even to my untutored eyes. Also there was a little seal of red chalcedony, with the antlered head of a deer and some scroll of lettering engraved upon it; but there was not one scrap of writing to explain to me the reason of these gifts.
"Had the lady, as often happens, imagined herself to be seriously sick, and devised this plan of invoking my interest and most skilful services on her behalf? But why, then, the seal, the value of which was quite insignificant?
"Even as I was pondering these questions, there came a clapping of hands at the gateway of my home that announced the arrival of a visitor. Hastily concealing the pearls and the seal in my girdle, I stepped forth into the outer court and took my seat upon the divan.
"Straightway there was ushered into my presence a big man clothed in rich garments. His sable complexion and thick lips declared him to be a moorman from across the seas, and his beardless chin further told at a glance that he was an attendant at the seraglio of some rich noble.
"He salaamed me with the cool confidence of his kind, and, without waiting for an invitation, seated himself on the carpet at my feet.
"'My name, O learned hakeem, is Malik Kafur,' he began in the shrill treble voice I had anticipated, 'and you know why I come here.'
"As my knowledge had been taken for granted, I bowed in acquiescence.
"'But her highness said that you would first of all show me her signet so as to prove that you are acting with her authority.'