'Make way,' said the diviner to the women who stood in his path, as he took his direction towards a corner of the court, upon which the windows of the room opened—'Make way; nothing can stop my guide.'
A woman, whom I recognized to be my mother, stopped his progress several times, until he was obliged to admonish her, with some bitterness, to keep clear of him.
'Do not you see,' said he, 'we are on the Lord's business? Justice will be done, in spite of the wickedness of man.'
At length he reached a distant corner, where it was plain that the earth had been recently disturbed, and there he stopped.
'Bismillah, in the name of Allah,' said he, 'let all present stand around me, and mark what I do.' He dug into the ground with his dagger, clawed the soil away with his hands, and discovered a place in which were the remains of an earthen vessel, and the marks near it of there having been another.
'Here,' said he, 'here the money was, but is no more.' Then taking up his cup, he appeared to caress it, and make much of it, calling it his little uncle and his little soul.
Every one stared. All cried out, 'ajaib, wonderful'; and the little humpback was looked upon as a supernatural being.
The capiji, who was accustomed to such discoveries, was the only one who had the readiness to say, 'But where is the thief? You have shown us where the game lay, but we want you to catch it for us:—the thief and the money, or the money without the thief—that is what we want.'
'Softly, my friend,' said the dervish to the capiji, 'don't jump so soon from the crime to the criminal, We have a medicine for every disorder, although it may take some time to work.'
He then cast his eyes upon the company present, twinkling them all the while in quick flashes, and said, 'I am sure every one here will be happy to be clear of suspicion, and will agree to what I shall propose. The operation is simple, and soon over.'