St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-05-12

ing OIutI WIS given Only W StJ tHtHi
out of the city, and they would be
''shOt if they would go" 1t was no
avail to argue with them that to be
shot was what they were hired for.
They refused ; and there he still was,
surrounded by a pack of Cerberuses
unpacitiable with sOps.
! Consequently the ruler, Muley only
in name, resolved to abdicate while
his head was on his shoulders, and
summoned his bravOes around him.
He objected that his age was burden
some, cOughed from down in his slip
pers, thanked them all with tears for
their love and devotion, and alleged
the cares of government for his desire
to glide away into some holy refuge
where he might prepare himself for the
last.
"There is II quantity of brave war
riOrs among you from which the choice
of another Dey can he made. give
up my place and my palace to him be-
fOrehand."
With that he vanished as if by mag
ic, prOtiting by the general surprise to
gallOp off to the mosque on the heights
of Bab-al-Oued, where is enshrined a
marabOut, whose body, complete, is
also preserved in two other mosques
| by IA special miracle of Allah, whose
prophet is Mahomet.
When the guards had recovered from
their surprise they began to look
around for the successor, and found as
many candidates as electors. Each
was ready to whip out his scimetar for
his rights, and the debate would have
ended in an Arabian representation of
the Kilkenny cats, when the barber,
unconscious of the abdicatiOn came in
with his basin, scissors, raZors and
strap. At the view of this now i'm
pOrtant parsonage the Outcry was that
| Heaven had sent him to cut the Cor
dian knot with his Sheffield blade and
decide on the 9I4th Dey.
Dyer knew most of the troopers as
boon companions, and took the pro-
ceeding for IA practical joke. So he
gravely squatted down on the Bashaw's
ottoman, and assumed the position of
King Solomon in a print i'll the London
and County Magazine, which he had
framed and hung up i'll his Queen street
shop, never forgotten and ever regret
ted.
"But one at time, my valiant whis-
| kerandos, he remarked" ''fOr this is too
much like Dover COurt-all speakers
and no hearers Let every gentleman
come singly before me and decline his
claims to the office Then will | de-
eide according to my wits and the light
from above-which," he pursued, with
that touch of irreverence delighted in
by the vulgar, and alluding to the per-
| fumed lamp, (which even now requires
| Il, 1,
Light me pipe and clear the decks for
action ~
The captains took this all seriously,
and came to him one by one. He in
terrupted their self-eulOgies, gaily chal-
lenged their pretensiOns, pointed out
their defects, and set their rivals laugh
ing. Not one could be accounted wor-
thy of the post he held, still less of the
Deyship.
"Will you harken to my notion
now p asked he, in the same butfoOn's
strain. ''You say Master Muley has
abdicated, and the divan is begging
Well, give it to Il beggar like me!
can read, write, shave, bleed, curl a
beard, rhyme rat to death, sing and
fiddle, sail anything from IA yawl to a
frigate! Are any of you my peer
Why, | can cope with your strongest
with cutlass against crooked sword
hurl II dierrid as far, shoot off a blum
derbuss on horseback with as much
certainty to hit the side of house
So whoop out, as if We meant, Long
life to his Honor the Dey HALIFAX ="
He sprang up from the cushions, and
was about to enter the inner room,
where he imagined the monarch to be
awaiting him for the gossip of the day
and the shave, when all the cOurties
and soldiers and cOurtierS fell at his
feet.
"Pekke! it is well' they chOrused
"ThOu art our lord and master, and we
thy servants and slaves; speak, and
be Obeyed nod, and our necks ar,
bowed to thy foot or thy bowstringw
"HalloO ~ muttered the barber tC
: himself; "thOugh this is us good us 4;
: play 30 far it may turn out unhand
somely for me, and the big Bashaw vii
not reckon my personation joke. Lei
me make haste to tell him my version
: of the adventure, or my feet may pay
for my tongue"
. But, in spite of all his troubles, they
clothed him richly and set him on
. brilliantly y-caparisOned horse and form
: ing train around him led him through
the town, roaring:
} "Down with your noses in the dust
l for he who comes by in all his glory i
f the Bashaw of Algiers, by the help o
Allah to be honOred and preserved fo
ever and everm
After rubbing his eyes to be sure i
: was no dream, the new monarch began
to grow accustomed to the dignity
! The Orientals have a pretty habi
. of accounting for everything as being
"written" on the forehead of the ACTIVE
agent, and resign themselves at once $
as to lose no time in useless delay.
One good thing for the pOtentate, h
!, had the Koran by heart, and pleased
b, the priests to the core by his learnin.
/ and devotion. His air was worthy til,
= Padishah himself, as he returned to th'
= palace from the mosque in quite "A re
1 gal attitude.
5 A Jew family was at the gates wait
ing to be ransOmed. 1t appeared tina
Y the father had ridden in at the cit
portals witEOut alighting, an act O
= sore disrespect to the tOwnsfOlk in gen
o eral, and their Dey in particular. Th'
: ianissaries had offered the Jew hi
b choice between paying five hundre
o douros, or being paid as many blows Ol
= the sole with the stick. The Dey shOOl
# his finger at the executioner.
d "Don't hurry, Hopkins" cried he
e ''we must punish these rogues NOR
: subtly. have it. You were in hast
t to greet your family, were you, yOr
= aged rascal Then next time the.
= shall all be at the gate, little and great
a to receive you, or woe to you all b
off, Is it not written i'll the book tina