Should the beggar arrive first, the prince is left out in the cold, and _vice versa_.

Everybody, however, is satisfied as a rule, for there is nearly as much accommodation for guests as in a large London or Paris hotel.

Behind the sleeping-rooms is stabling for five or six hundred horses, and, in the centre of the courtyard, a huge marble tank of pure running water for drinking and washing purposes.

This, and fodder for the horses, is all that there was to be got in the way of refreshment.

But Gerome, with considerable forethought, had purchased bread, a fowl, and some eggs on the road, and, our room swept out and candles lit, we were soon sitting down to a comfortable meal, with a hissing samovar, the property of the caravanserai-keeper, between us.
One need sleep soundly to sleep well in a caravanserai.