e rebel army may not be so near. I ought to have stayed
in the tent, and endeavoured to pacify the officers of the army.'

"And now I was in doubt whether to return, or, as I had penetrated
thus far, whether it would not be most prudent to take a near survey
of the rebel army. I resolved upon the last, and cautiously travelled
towards the place where the spies said they were encamped.

"I arrived at the spot described, but saw neither sentinels nor
encampment. Amazed at this, I proceeded onwards during that and the
next day, but no army was to be seen, nor anything indicating their
approach.

"'Alas!' said I to myself, 'how little worthy wert thou of the
confidence of thy lord! And yet, better is this mistake than the
certainty of the rebels' approach, which could not have been effected
without the power of enchantment.'

"Ere it was too late, I resolved to return, hoping that I should
pacify the troops by assuring them that I had in person been a witness
to the untruth of the last alarm.

"But, alas! when I essayed to return, I found my feet fixed to the
ground: in a moment the earth trembled, and Ulin the enchantress arose
on the back of an enormous reptile.

"'Wise and gracious Vizier,' said she, in an insulting tone, 'I admire
your prudence and discretion! and although Mahomet and his faithful
crew of genii may not permit us to overpower you or your prudent
master while you resist our temptation, yet there is little to be
feared from their interposition while you become such easy dupes to
our artifices. The army which I led against thy wretched Sultan is not
less than forty days' march hence, and is embarrassed by the mountains
and the forests; and yet the credulous Vizier abandoned his charge on
the most improbable alarm, and fled into the arms of one who well
knows how to reward his prudence and address. Become, therefore, O
silly Vizier, a loathsome toad; and I shall in a moment transport thee
into the forest of Tarapajan, whither several of thy wise brethren are
gone before thee.'

"As she spake thus, the enchantress breathed on me with her
pestiferous breath, and, falling to the ground, I crawled like a toad
before her. Ulin then waved her hand, and sleep overpowered me. When I
awoke I found myself between the merchant of Delhi and the Princess of
Cassimir, who, like me, had felt the vengeance of Ulin the
enchantress.

"It was some consolation to us that our speech was not taken from us,
but that we