“‘As you will,’ ses the Shah. ‘Anything at all to please you.’
“So the cards were dealt once more and they played a game of Twenty-Five, and the Shah scored.
“Shauno lost his temper and commenced to swear and break up the furniture, but the Shah only looked on and smiled. Then Shauno flung a chair at him, and ses: ‘You bleddy foreign rascal, sure ’tis myself that’s the fool for having anything to do with the likes of you. I’ll never be able to face home now, after all the misfortune I have had.’
“‘Oh,’ ses the Shah, ‘I wouldn’t behave like that if I were you. ’Tis undignified to appear natural in the presence of strangers. We should always reserve ingratitude and bad treatment for our friends. You are a little upset, of course, for losing what didn’t belong to you, but you will feel all right again as soon as you will begin to acquire what you don’t deserve.’
“‘If I had my own way,—’ ses Shauno.
“‘If we all had our own way, the little glimmer of democracy and decency that we see struggling for existence occasionally would disappear for ever,’ ses the Shah. ‘Howsomever, don’t be downhearted, but take a good drop of poteen, and ‘twill give you all the false courage that any man wants.’
“And then he produced a small keg of the best poteen, and they drank glass after glass, and sang all the songs they could remember, from ‘The Croppy Boy’ to the ‘Bard of Armagh,’ until they fell on the floor and had to be taken to bed.
“And there they slept for two days and three nights, and on the morning of the third day, Shauno woke up with a bursting headache, and asked the Shah if he was still alive and in the land of the living. And the Shah was surprised that a real aristocrat should be so upset and affected by a night’s innocent amusement. Well, they had breakfast together, and after the repast, the Shah took Shauno to see the sights, and when they arrived at the Royal Harem, Shauno fainted when he saw all the wives the poor Shah had to look after. It took him two weeks to count them all, and at the end of that time the Shah ses: ‘Well,’ ses he, ‘how many would you like to take for a present? You can have all you want, because I am expecting another shipload next week as a Christmas box.’
“‘Thanks for your kind offer,’ ses Shauno. ‘But I am cured now. I have made up my mind to go home and live in peace, and remain a bachelor for the remainder of my days.’
“‘Oh,’ ses the Shah, ‘I think you should at least take one, and she will help to remind you of your visit to the Shah of Sperrispazuka.’