supper Morgiana made up her mind to do one of the
boldest deeds ever conceived. She dressed herself like a dancer,
girded her waist with a silver-gilt girdle, from which hung a poniard,
and put a handsome mask on her face. Then, when the supper was ended,
she said to Abdalla,--

"Take your tabor, and let us go and divert our master and his son's
friend, as we sometimes do when he is alone."

They presented themselves at the door with a low bow, and Morgiana was
bidden to enter and show Cogia Houssain how well she danced. This, he
knew, would interrupt him in carrying out his wicked purpose, but he
had to make the best of it, and to seem pleased with Morgiana's
dancing. She was indeed a good dancer, and on this occasion outdid
herself in graceful and surprising motions. At the last, she took the
tabor from Abdalla's hand, and held it out like those who dance for
money.

Ali Baba put a piece of gold into it, and so did his son. When Cogia
Houssain saw that she was coming to him he pulled out his purse from
his bosom to make her a present; but while he was putting his hand
into it, Morgiana, with courage worthy of herself, plunged the poniard
into his heart.

"Unhappy woman!" exclaimed Ali Baba, "what have you done to ruin me
and my family?"

"It was to preserve, not to ruin you," answered Morgiana. Then she
showed the dagger in Cogia Houssain's garment, and said, "Look well at
him, and you will see that he is both the pretended oil merchant and
the captain of the band of forty robbers. As soon as you told me that
he would eat no salt with you, I suspected who it was, and when I saw
him I knew."

Ali Baba embraced her, and said, "Morgiana, I gave you your liberty
before, and promised you more in time; now I would make you my
daughter-in-law. Consider," he said, turning to his son, "that by
marrying Morgiana, you marry the preserver of my family and yours."

The son was all the more ready to carry out his father's wishes,
because they were the same as his own, and within a few days he and
Morgiana were married, but before this, the captain of the robbers was
buried with his comrades, and so secretly was it done, that their
bones were not found till many years had passed, when no one had any
concern in making this strange story known.

For a whole year Ali Baba did not visit the robbers' cave. At the end
of that time, as nobody had tried to disturb him, he made another
journey to the forest, and, standing before