They found that it was a sort of fair.
Here were sword-players and mountebanks, pedlars who vended their wares at
a lower price than those at which they were sold within the limits of the
city, booths at which wine and refreshments could be obtained. Here many
soldiers were sitting drinking, watching the passers-by, and exchanging
ribald jests with each other, and sometimes addressing observations to the
wives and daughters of the citizens, amid fits of laughter at the looks of
indignation on the part of their husbands or fathers.
"It is evidently a holiday of some sort," Guy remarked, as they found that
the fair extended for a considerable distance, and that the crowd was
everywhere large. They stopped for a minute or two in front of a booth of
more pretensions than the generality. In front of it a man was beating a
drum, and a negro walking up and down attired in showy garments. The drum
ceased and the latter shouted:
"Those of you who wish to see my master, the famous Elminestres, the most
learned doctor in Europe, who can read the stars, cast your horoscope,
foretell your future, and cure your ailments, should not lose this
opportunity."
The curtains opened behind, and a man dressed in dark garments with a long
black cloak spotted with silver stars came forward.
"You have heard, good people, what my slave has said. He speaks with
knowledge. I saved his life in the deserts of Africa when he was all but
dead with fever, by administering to him one of my wonderful potions; he
at once recovered and devoted himself to my service.
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