The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-03-01

In the posture which you see. with a n
immense pool of blood upon the ffoorI
In which these scissors were lying,F4
While the pasta was giving us thisI
explanation, l had withdrawn a iittleI
apart from the others. and was closely
examining this corpse. which Representa-
| ed the monarch of a vast empire As
| my eyes Travelled slowly over the obi
/ Ject on the divan, they were suddeniy}
arrested by an. extraordinary feat1
| ure. =
Il have said that the lower mart od
the body was covered by an embroid-I
\ cred cloth. You will easily picture toI
| yourself the folds which this draperyI
| would naturally have assumed i'm rest u
Ing on the body's upturned feet. What
1 now perceived was the dreadful andI
startling fact that the cloth in this|
place rested upon only one point, IN
stead of two. -
Il waited to make sure that no oneI
was observing me. Then / stepped
swiftly to the side of the divan and
pressed my hand upon the place. MyI
terrible suspicion proved to be correct. |
The corpse which lay before me had
been deprived of a foot! -fw
reJoined my companions, who were
now leaving the apartment and strove
to Danish from my face all signs of the
emotion caused to me by the discovery
which had just made Returning TO
various representatives of the powers .
expressed their satisfaction with the
explanations they had received and
prepared to depart to their various en-
bassies. I waited till the last had gone
out, and then requested the favor of a
few minutes private conversation with
the vizier. . r~-
:Mehemed readily yielded to INV re-
quest, thinking, no doubt, that 1 de-
sired to urge upon him some point lin
connection with the interest of Francs,
and little suspecting of what secret
knowledge I had become possessed.
AS soon as we were alone, / fixed
my eyes upon his and said: Z, bs.1gso
Before L make my report to my
ambassador there is a question which .
am compelled to ask your excellency
to clear up. Can you explain to me
how, If Abdul Aziz voluntarily took
his own life, he came to lose his left
foot?' zoo vie
But suppose I tell you that am in
reality as ignorant as yourself of the
cause or this strange mutilationT SOLO
returned a sarcastic smile. ali
And 1 produced the slipper. which
! had brought with me from the en-
bassy.
When found this slipper 1 added.
1t contained a human foot ~ an
A foot! he calculated. ~df
AND this foot, 1 continued, with q
stern glance, was rendered remarkable
by a certain deformity- fsc sBW
"'Ahr' ssEoor
He sprang to his feet and clutched
at his beard, while he paced the room
with irregular strides. I watched him
keenly. Presently he turned to me with
a searching gaze.
Feringhee, can 1 trust you? he de-
manded firmly. If I tell you every
thing. what security do you offer me
for my life? 0gFF
piled with superb gesture. 1sG
1T is enough rs'E- 5srdf
"Mehemed Rushdi gave me the story.
as nearly as / can recollect 1t, in these
49,
You cannot be ignorant Of the in
tense feeling which prevailed against
Abdul Aziz In this capital, feeling
which is sufficiently shown in the de-
meanor of the mob since his death has
been announced. But like most for
eigners you have perhaps attributed
his feeling to political motives. The
ruth OF the matter is. however, differ
ent. I'rr'I
During the last year of his reign.
he sultan was guilty of outraging his
subjects in the Mussulman's most sa-
red feelings. He had acquired the
custom of going out from his palace at
hight, dressed I'm some mean disguise
md wandering through the streets In
earch OF adventures. In % far he
nay have proposed to himself the mod
i of the Caliph OF Bagbhad, but un-
Ike Haroun the Just, his adventurers
we're all of a certain kind. 1sut
Although this was known to me.
nd l had frequently rendered TO him
ny respectful warnings on the subject,
had, nevertheless, done my best to
epress the seditions which his conduct
ontinually provoked. Ny colleagues In
he ministry will bear witness that I
ave, on all occasions, stood between
Abdul Aziz and the consequences of his
oily.
"A month or two ago made an ad-
ition to my harem in the person of a
Georgian lady, of distinguished birth
nd brilliant accomplishments and who
'as. besides, strikingly beautiful
moving the disposition of the sultan,