as it were, till they entered upon the holy men and carried them
from their cell together with the boy and set all four[FN#194]
before the Sultan. The King exclaimed, "Verily these Darwayshes
must be spies and their object was to carry off my boy;" so he
took up his child and clasped him to his bosom and kissed him
again and again of his yearning fondness to him, and presently he
sent him to his mother who was well-nigh frantic. Then he
committed the two Fakirs (with commands to decapitate them) to
the Linkman who took them and bound their hands and bared their
heads and fell to crying, "This be his reward and the least of
awards who turneth traitor and kidnappeth the sons of the Kings;"
and as he cried all the citizens great and small flocked to the
spectacle. But when the boy heard the proclamation, he went forth
in haste till he stood before the elder Darwaysh who was still
kneeling upon the rug of blood and threw himself upon him at full
length till the Grandees of his father forcibly removed him. Then
the executioner stepped forward purposing to strike the necks of
the two old men and he raised his sword hand till the dark hue of
his arm-pit showed[FN#195] and he would have dealt the blow when
the boy again made for the elder Fakir and threw himself upon him
not only once but twice and thrice, preventing the Sworder's
stroke and abode clinging to the old man. The Sultan cried, "This
Darwaysh is a Sorcerer:" but when the tidings reached the
Sultanah, the boy's mother, she exclaimed, "O King, needs must
this Darwaysh have a strange tale to tell, for the boy is wholly
absorbed in him. So it is not possible to slay him on this wise
till thou summon him to the presence and question him: I also
will listen to him behind the curtain and thus none shall hear
him save our two selves." The King did her bidding and commanded
the old man to be brought: so they took him from under the sword