Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1862-02-06

ever before experienced in that court! Will
impatient gesture and wrathful tone, the
monarch called on the Nazar to 'see to i
that the missing saber was forthcoming;
and added, which he intended as an alarm
ing threat, that fifteen days would be grant'
ed him to arrange his accounts, after the
lapse of which time the King himself would
institute search through every nook of the
treasure-house, and compare its contents
article by article, with the registry he now
held in his hand.
The Nazar. whose conscience spoke him
free of ever having wronged his royal mas
ter to the value of farthing, listened t.
those angry words with perfect composure
and then said in calmly respectful toAe.
Il have but one boon to implore from your
gracious Majesty and that is. that the ex.
animation Of the treasury and its comparison
with the registry may not be delayed fo'
fifteen days. but take place tomorrow morn
ing"
The Shah was startled. and a feeling o1
pity for an old servant impelled him to coun-
sci the Nazar to bethink himself we'll before
he rejected the time offered for the due ar
r,rg .ment of his charge. Moiamnedg Bey
however, remained firm in his request fol
an Immediate examination, and in accord
ance Herewith, it began on the following
morning.
Everything was found in the most perfect
order, and article after article produced, al
they stood on the register; not a title was
wanting. save the jeweled saber. But, or
the other hand, there wgs found in the trea-
sury most remarkable ornament. compoun-
ded of the purest gold, and blazing with the
largest and rarest jewels, of which no men.
ton whatever could be found in the regis
try; furthermore, richly damascened blade,
with plain, unpretending. soldier-like hilt;
of this, too, no note was taken in the regis
ter.
The richly jeweled ornament naturally
fixed the admiring attention of the Shah
and as no one present confessed to any know
ledge of its history, the court goldsmith was
summoned to the royal presence, and he de,
posed to having been employed by his late
Majesty Shah Abbas, to remove the jewels
and golden hilt from the sultan's present
and to form them into this ornament, ol
which the Shah himself gave him the draw
ing ; the damascened blade, however, he had
been desired to furnish with a plain useful
hilt, as the Shah valued the blade more than
the setting. It was the saber he now saw
on the table.
The calumniators changed color, but kept
silence, thankful that no human testimony
could be borne to their knowledge of the
fact now disclosed. Silently, too, did the
Shah lay down the registry and withdraw
from the treasure chamber. in order to pay
the visit to the Nazar's house, which he had
announced would take place Immediately
after the treasury scrutiny, not without an
ticipated confirmation there of all the pecu-
lations he had been led to expect in the
treasury.
The King and his suite entered the Ma
zar's dwelling; according to oriental custom
the exalted guest must receive present
from his host. That presented by the Ma.
zar was small in value, yet ''as COSTLY" he
remarked, on handing it to the monarch,
Gas poor private man could afford" and
poor indeed, compared with its tasteful and
elegant architecture, were the internal deco
rations of that so much vaunted mansion
No costly carpets: no rich hangings; nc
divans covered with gold-enwoven brocades,
such as were wont to adorn the houses o1
mobiles similar in rank. were there to be
found. All was clean, comfortable, well
kept. and in perfectly good taste, but all as
simple as might be looked for in the houses
of citizens of the middle class Instead Of
chandeliers of rich Venitian glass, or of rock
crystal. nothing but cheap Persian lamps
and in place of cups and bowls of gold. silver
or japanese porcelain, their humble repre-
sentatives in brass, copper, or common pot.
terry, alone met the eye.
In his progress through the various halls
and chambers, the Shah had traversed 8
corridor. on one side of which was doc,
secured by three iron chains and although
on his first passing along this corridor, the
Shah had given 10 heed to this carefully.
barricaded entrance. yet, on his return,
one of his attendants was on the alert to
draw the monach's attention to it, And
with reawakened, probably suspicious, GU.
riosity, the Shah asked Mohammed Bey
what was therein guarded with such pecu-
liar care.
High and mighty King" replied the
Nazar, "all that your Majesty hath hither.
to beheld, whether in the treasure-chamber,
or within these walls, is not mine, but mere.
ly possessions committed to my stewardship,
by the favor of my sovereign; but that which
is boarded up in this small carefully secured
chamber is tru y my own. and [ con6de in
vour Maiestv's instice and rectitude that II
will never be wrenched from me-"
The Shah's curiosity. still more highly
stimulated by this mysterious speech. i'm
PEELED him to express an ardent desire to
see the treasures of his treasury, and by
Mohammed Beys command the chains were
loosed and the chamber thrown open. The
Shah eagerly entered room, in which
neither carpet, divan, nor furniture of any
kind was to be seen. Into the naked white
washed wall some iron nails had been driven.
and across two of these rude supporters was
slung a shepherds crook; from another hung