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closet, and ordering every one but Khodadad from before him, he addressed him thus:

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Khodadad, my son, for I look upon you as such, I have nothing to conceal from you; all I have is yours; you once assisted me in adversity, when shunned by every one else: owing to your care, probably, my life was saved. By the decrees of destiny from being a mechanic I am become a King, by means as strange as they were irresistible. instrument producing my elevation is in my possession; with it I can command a power which renders me the most powerful potentate in the world, No throne, however guarded. could withstand the armies I might pour forth. But ambition has no charms for me; this power will lie dormant as long as I live, I exist but for peace, and in the hope of doing some little good. I would that others were exalted before me; to me the trappings and circumstance of royalty are oppressive. I have determined to prove the extent of my friendship, by confiding to you the secret of my power; but to you alone must it be confided; were others acquainted with it my peace would be endangered, and I should become a prey to the intrigues of designing men. I can confide in you, Khodadad; the same fidelity you have hitherto shown, you will I am sure continue to exercise, and then, if aught should happen to me, if death were to take me away suddenly, I feel my secret will be in safe hands, and in the possession of one who, I am certain, will not abuse the power he will be able to command. »

So saying, he drew from the secret place the mysterious key.

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This key, said he, possesses the astonishing quality of dragging a person forward, whether he will or not, until it discloses wonders which cannot be believed until seen: it has made a King of me, and that is saying enough; here, take it in your hand, and you will judge whether what I say be

true or not. »

Upon which he desired Khodadad to take up the key, when, in so doing, the colour of the youth changed, and his features assumed a new expression. Feeling the communicated pres

sure, he fain would have immediately walked away in the direction which it seemed to persuade him to go, and, indeed, made some hasty steps towards the door of the apartment, to the astonishment and even alarm of the King.

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Stay! stay, for heaven's sake!» said he; this is no child's play, if it once gets you clear of the city, you will never stop until you become King yourself. »

Khodadad had sufficient command over himself to let the key drop from his hand, which having done, he bent forward and inspected it with open mouth and outstretched hands, looking like one demented, when, at length, he exclaimed, "wonderful! wonderful! wonderful!! »

"You may, indeed, exclaim wonderful!» said Azbeaz; «I said not half enough of its surprising qualities. »

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"No, indeed," said the youth; I am become mad with astonishment; wherefore, oh my master, have you disclosed to me this secret? This is the wonder of wonders; let me depart ere the temptation be too strong, and I take it up again. »

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Go, my child,» said Azbeaz; «you are now possessed of my great secret, but as you love me, as you fear Allah, disclose it to no one.-Go. »

Khodadad retired from the King's presence, whilst he, the King, replaced the key whence he had taken it, not without some misgiving concerning the wisdom of the step he had just taken.

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The youth is trust-worthy, he thought within himself; « I would stake my head on that; he loves me, and is gratefulof that too I am sure. He never can wish to be a King: at least not yet; he is too young, and by the time I am old, he may become King and welcome."

But Khodadad's whole nature had been strongly affected by what he had seen and undergone; he left Azbeaz wrapt in deep meditation, and would willingly have given half his existence for permission to follow the fortunes of the key, whithersoever it might have led him.

After his marriage with Gulchin, the King had bestowed upon him one of the courts of the palace, as a habitation,

and there he was now established. His beautiful wife entirely sympathised in his feelings of gratitude to the Shah for all his kindnesses, and, considering the favour with which he beheld Khodadad, there was every prospect of the happy couple enjoying a continuance of increasing prosperity.

When she saw her husband return with a clouded brow and a face expressive of care and abstraction, she became alarmed, and quickly ceding to apprehension, she felt that he might have lost the King's favour.

"What has happened, in the name of Allah?» said she, with affectionate concern in her looks; «say-say, for I am afraid. "

«Nothing, my soul," said Khodadad; as you live there is nothing."

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Then why these looks? I am sure something has happened; you must tell me,» said the affectionate Gulchin; « Women are not easily mistaken. »

Again Khodadad repeated," Bir chey yok, there is nothing! » Again she pressed him, and again he repeated his answer. But in vain did he assure his wife that his wits were undisturbed, and that his brain was in a healthy state, still the miraculous key so entirely occupied his mind, that he walked about like one in his sleep. At length his wife's importunities became so great, that, in his own defence, he was obliged to own that there was a mystery-a strange occurrence had taken place, which he was not at liberty to disclose-in short, he asserted that he possessed a state secret, which he was bound, by an oath, to the Shah, his benefactor, never to disclose.

Gulchin was a woman to the very extremity of her longest tress of hair, and she became determined to know the secret. She first met her husband's disclosure by a long silence, the only words she occasionally uttered were, a secret!-so, there is a secret!» and this she said with a look so sad and reproachful, that Khodadad was much disturbed by it. The 'confidence which, to this their existence, was lost. of them knew and was circumstance became sufficient to endanger their happiness, and

moment, had been the charm of There existed something which one unknown to the other. That little

their once joyous and unrestrained intercourse was now destroyed. Khodadad loved his wife with rapture and devotedness; but he also loved his master, and felt bound to obey him under any circumstances however perplexing.

When the secret was fresh in his mind, he was sternly determined to allow nothing, not even the well-being of his wife, to make him disclose it. But when its first effects had passed away, and when, day after day, he was afflicted by the reproachful looks of his Gulchin, and by her evident misery at his apparent want of confidence, he gradually began to argue with himself, whether it might not be possible to disclose it to her, and still preserve his integrity.

Gulchin's depression of spirits at length began to exhibit its effects upon her person. She became thin and pale; she fretted, was peevish, and, in truth, her conduct so caused Khodadad to feel how much his happiness depended upon hers, that the sturdiness of his integrity was step by step undermined, until, at length, it broke down altogether.

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"I will tell her," said he to himself; if she really loves me, the secret will be as safe in her custody as in mine. » Accordingly he called her to him, and said, "O my soul, Gulchin, you have seen to what extent my heart has been burnt up, and how greatly my liver has drooped. I too have remarked that your countenance has turned from me, and that we have become two. This is not as it should be. It has pleased Allah to send us misfortune. We have been visited by a great secret. It has destroyed our confidence in each other, and we who ought to be like two kernels in one almond, are separated like the shells thereof. I can no longer bear this state. If you love me as you ought, my secret will be your secret, as my heart is your heart. Therefore, Gulchin, O my soul! I will divulge it. »

At these words the drooping wife cheered up, and assumed all the smiles and blandishments of the devoted mistress. She ran to her husband, and kissing his hands, his shoulders, and his kness, said:

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power to keep a secret? Are not man and wife one? Then what one knows, the other should know; what one likes, the other should like; what one hates, the other should hate. Thanks be to Allah and the Prophet! the days of Gulchin's trials are over, and again, Mashallah! we shall see prosperity."

Upon which the affectionate pair embracing, Khodadad from beginning to end, related the history of the key. Gulchin, as he proceeded, could not discover why the facts which he related should be so much a matter of secrecy. Every one, in general terms, was acquainted with the miracle which had placed Azbeaz upon the throne, although, perhaps, it was not known by what particular agency it had been effected. She, however, continued to give the utmost attention to her husband's words, and when he said, « Now hear! » she redoubled that attention.

«Now hear!» said he. «This key, this extraordinary key, is in the Shah's possession-he showed it me-he placed it in my hand-I felt its influence-I almost became mad with excitement-I would have run with it to the end of the world-it invited me to elope by its most significant pres

sure-»

« And suppose you had!» exclaimed Gulchin. «What would have happened?»

I should have returned the King-»

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The King she exclaimed, in a voice denoting profound astonishment. The King! again she said, pausing with all the inward thought which accompanies the knowledge of a great secret.

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«Ay,» said Khodadad, «I should be the King. »

And where is the key now?» said Gulchin, with faltering lips, and an excited expression of countenance.

"Where?" said Khodadad, as if afraid of allowing the surrounding air to hear where it was concealed. Am I to tell you where? »>

«And wherefore not?» said Gulchin.

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What have we to do

with the key? But I should greatly like to see it."

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I should be afraid to feel it again, said Khodadad, for

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