I let Dthemetri have his way in the negotiation, but I felt in
reality very indifferent about the sum to be paid, and for this
reason, namely, that the payment (except a very small present which
I might make or not, as I chose) was to be CONTINGENT ON SUCCESS.
At length the bargain was made, and it was arranged that after a
few days, to be allowed for preparation, the wizard should raise
the devil for two pounds ten, play or pay--no devil, no piastres.
The wizard failed to keep his appointment. I sent to know why the
deuce he had not come to raise the devil. The truth was, that my
Mahomet had gone to the mountain. The plague had seized him, and
he died.
Although the plague had now spread terrible havoc around me, I did
not see very plainly any corresponding change in the looks of the
streets until the seventh day after my arrival. I then first
observed that the city was SILENCED. There were no outward signs
of despair nor of violent terror, but many of the voices that had
swelled the busy hum of men were already hushed in death, and the
survivors, so used to scream and screech in their earnestness
whenever they bought or sold, now showed an unwonted indifference
about the affairs of this world: it was less worth while for men
to haggle and haggle, and crack the sky with noisy bargains, when
the great commander was there, who could "pay all their debts with
the roll of his drum.
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