THE TALISMAN OF SOLOMON

“And to think,” said the young man, as he came up
out of the vault—and to think that all this I should
never have found if I had obeyed the Talisman.”

Such riches were never seen in that land as the young
man now possessed. There was no end to the treasure
that poured in upon him. He lived like an emperor.
He built a palace more splendid than the palace of the
king. He laid out vast gardens of the most exquisite
beauty, in which there were fountains as white as snow,
trees of rare fruit and flowers that filled all the air
with their perfume, summer-houses of alabaster and
ebony.

Every one who visited him was received like a prince,
entertained like a king, given a present fit for an emperor,
and sent away happy. The fame of all these things went
out through all the land, and every one talked of him and
the magnificence that surrounded him.

It came at last to the ears of the king himself, and one
day he said to his minister, “ Let us go and see with our
own eyes if all the things reported of this merchant’s son
are true.”

So the king and his minister disguised themselves as
foreign merchants, and went that evening to the palace
where the young man lived. A servant dressed in
clothes of gold and silver cloth stood at the door, and
called to them to come in and be made welcome. . He
led them in, and to a chamber lit with perfumed lamps of
gold. Then six black slaves took them in charge and led
them to a bath of white marble. They were bathed in
perfumed water and dried with towels of fine linen.
When they came forth they were clad in clothes of cloth
of silver, stiff with gold and jewels. Then twelve hand-

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