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124 Chit-Chat by Puck.
friendship unto death,—all, except an old beggar,
who every day was seated at the gate of the palace,
and received alms every time the king went out.
The old beggar had not given any promise, for he
said, “Of what use to a king is the friendship of so
humble a man as I am ?”
It seemed to the courtiers that the old man was in
the right, but still they wanted to turn him away, so
that the king might not every day behold the ragged
beggar ; but the king took his part, and the old man
was allowed to remain in peace in his seat on the
granite steps, and every time Osman passed the old
beggar used to fall down and kiss the hem of his
robe.
One day a message came to Osman telling him
that his enemies had made a descent upon the coasts
of his kingdom, and that all the best merchant vessels
had been seized by a prince who reigned on the other
side of the sea.
Enraged at this, Osman gathered together his
warriors, and gave orders that the great fleet, which
lay in readiness on the river, should be instantly pre-
pared to put to sea.
Maltos, the prime minister, a man whom the king
had raised from obscurity to the highest functions in
the realm, was invested with the government in the
king’s absence.
Osman had condescended even so far as to elect
his favourite’s only child, the beauteous Zirma, to
become his future queen; and to this man, “the
king’s faithful and best friend,” as he styled himself,
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