shrine. But the evil spirit was terribly violent; and it required regular
treatment of this nature for fully twenty days ere it could be dislodged.
Evening after evening Afiza was taken into the presence of Syed, who
summoned forth the spirit with a drink of the sacrosanct water; and at home
Abdulla and his mother who had been supplied with water and ashes by the
Syed, were wont likewise to summon the spirit at any hour which they felt
would cause it inconvenience. Thus the struggle between the powers of light
and darkness for the soul of Afiza continued, until at length the evil
spirit deemed it wise to depart; and on the twenty-first day, when it was
racking Afiza for the last time, it demanded as the final price of its
departure the liver of a black-goat. So Abdulla hearkened to the spirit's
will and buried the pledge of his wife's recovery in a new earthen pot just
at the spot where the four roads meet near his house And Afiza was at
peace.

[Illustration: Possession of Afiza.]

Since that date nought has occurred to disturb Abdulla's peace of mind. The
Syed of Goghari street has earned well-merited fame among the poorer
Musulman inhabitants of that quarter; Abdulla has cast off his ill temper
as it were a garment; Afiza the possessed has become Afiza the
self-possessed, helping Abdulla to earn his livelihood and obtain the
approval of his masters; and the child, unharmed by the Evil Eye and
beloved of his parents, is daily waxing in favour with God and man.
According to Abdulla the only spirit which occasionally attacks him is a
spirit of mischief not unknown to the parents of healthy little boys.