in the desert to the care of Providence, and her husband
reduced by her father to the necessity of asking succour from a
foreign King, were the only objects which engrossed her thoughts.

In the meantime, the army which Bohetzad was to command was assembled.
He took leave of Kassera to put himself at the head of this formidable
body, and soon penetrated into the heart of Syria. Asphand, the
usurper, being informed of the danger which threatened him,
communicated it to his associates, assembled them as quickly as
possible, and met his enemy at the head of two hundred thousand men.

The armies were now in sight of one another. The centre of Bohetzad's
army was commanded by an experienced Vizier of the Persian King.
Bohetzad himself, at the head of a chosen body of knights, was
everywhere to give orders. He suddenly began the combat on the right
by attacking the opposite wing of the enemy with such fury that they
were obliged to fall back upon the centre, and were thrown into
confusion and disorder. The King of Dineroux lost not a moment: he
advanced his main body towards that of the enemy as if he meant to
attack it; but, frugal of the blood of his subjects, whose lives he
wished to spare, he made them halt, and ordered his left wing to
attack the right wing of the enemy: they gave way and fell back in
disorder, so that three-fourths of Asphand's army remained surrounded.
The usurper endeavoured in vain to rally his troops, whom an attack
equally prudent and vigorous had thrown into disorder. Fear, and above
all remorse, disarmed them. A pardon being offered, they accepted it;
and, that they might appear less unworthy of it, they unanimously
delivered up the ringleaders of the revolt. Asphand, his family, and
his principal associates, were put to death on the field of battle.

This victory decided anew the fate of the kingdom of Dineroux, which
again submitted to the laws of its rightful Sovereign. The monarch
returned to his capital, re-established order throughout his empire,
and contrived proper means for testifying his gratitude to the
Sovereign who had given him such powerful assistance.

He determined that the most intelligent of his Viziers should go into
Persia, at the head of twelve thousand men. Twenty elephants, loaded
with magnificent presents, were to follow in his train. At the same
time, he was charged with a more delicate commission. He was to pass
through the desert in which the son of Baherjoa had be