air. In one corner was spread a coarse sheet with a couple of pillows
against the wall, upon which the silent Mahomedan bade us by a sign
recline; in the opposite corner a 'panja', a species of altar smothered in
jasmine wreaths and surmounted by a bunch of peacock's feathers; and
immediately in front of this an earthen brazier of live charcoal. Behind
the brazier sat three persons, Fateh Muhammad, a Musalman youth with
curiously large and dreamy eyes, and two old Musalman beldames, either of
whom might have sat as a model for the witch of Endor. The three sat
unmoved, blinking into the live charcoal, save at rare intervals when the
elder of the two women cast a handful of fragrance upon the brazier and
wrapped us all in a fresh pall of smoke which billowed round the room and
lapped the interstices of the rotten tiles. Only the peacock's eyes in the
corner never lost their lustre, staring wickedly through the smoke-wreaths
like the head of Argus.

Then on a sudden the youth shivered, fell forward with his face over the
brazier, and rose again to a sitting posture with eyes closed and every
muscle in his body taut as though stricken by a sudden paralysis. "The
spirit has entered," whispered my friend, and even as he spoke I saw the
youth's throat working as if an unseen hand were kneading the muscles, and
forth from his lips echoed the words "La illaha illallah illahi laho." He
was deep in a trance, the curtains of his eyes half-dropped, looking as one
that is dead; and the voice with which he spoke was not the voice of Fateh
Muhammad, "La illaha illallah illahi laho"! and as the words died away one
that was present passed two green limes into his left hand and asked for a
sign. "I am fain to journey to Lahore, starting on Tuesday next. Will it be
well," he said; and after a pause came the answer "Set not forth on
Tuesday, for the stars be against thy journeying; but send thine agent on
Thursday and go thyself, if need be, two days later." As the message died
away, the trap-door in the floor was slowly tilted upwards and through the