rm through an exhibition of his smartness, is
sufficiently shown by what befel Abner, one afternoon, as he took his
way through the gates of Morocco for a walk.

He strode along with a pointed hat on his head, his form enveloped in a
plain and not excessively clean mantle, taking from time to time a
stolen pinch from a gold box that he took special pains to conceal. He
stroked his mustaches, and in spite of the restless eyes that expressed
fear, watchfulness, and the desire to discover something that could be
turned to account, a certain satisfaction was apparent in his shifting
countenance, which plainly denoted he must have recently concluded some
very good bargains. He was doctor, merchant, and every thing else that
brought in money. He had this day sold a slave with a secret defect,
had bought a camel-load of gum very cheap, and had prepared the last
dose for a wealthy patient--not the last before his recovery, but the
last before his death.

He had just emerged from a small thicket of palm and date trees, when
he heard the shouts of a number of people running after him. They were
a crowd of the emperor's grooms, headed by the master of the horse,
looking about them on all sides as they ran, as if in search of
something.

[Illustration]

"Philistine!" panted the master of the horse. "Have you not seen one of
the emperor's horses, with saddle and bridle on, run by?"

"The best racer to be seen anywhere--a small neat hoof, shoes of
fourteen carat silver, a golden mane, fifteen hands high, a tail three
and a half feet long, and the bit of his bridle of twenty-three carat
gold?"

"That's he!" cried the master of the horse. "That's he!" echoed the
grooms. "It is Emir," said an old riding-master. "I have warned the
Prince Abdallah not to ride Emir without a snaffle. I know Emir, and
said beforehand he would throw the prince, and though his bruises
should cost me my head, I warned him beforehand. But quick! which way
did he go?"

"I haven't seen a horse at all!" returned Abner, smiling. "How then can
I tell you where the emperor's horse ran?"

Astonished at this contradiction, the gentlemen of the royal stables
were about to press Abner further, when another event occurred, that
interfered with their purpose.

By one of those singular chances of which there are numerous examples,
the empress's lap-dog had turned up missing; and a number of black
slaves came running up, calling at the top of their voices: "Have