f the Faithful, this is not a game now; it is for your
Highness to condemn him to death and not for me."

Then the Caliph, convinced that the man was a thief, bade them take him
away and hang him, which was done, but not before he had confessed his
guilt and the place in which he had hidden Ali Cogia's money. The
Caliph ordered the Cadi to learn how to deal out justice from the mouth
of a child, and sent the boy home, with a purse containing a hundred
pieces of gold as a mark of his favour.

The Enchanted Horse

It was the Feast of the New Year, the oldest and most splendid of all
the feasts in the Kingdom of Persia, and the day had been spent by the
king in the city of Schiraz, taking part in the magnificent spectacles
prepared by his subjects to do honour to the festival. The sun was
setting, and the monarch was about to give his court the signal to
retire, when suddenly an Indian appeared before his throne, leading a
horse richly harnessed, and looking in every respect exactly like a
real one.

"Sire," said he, prostrating himself as he spoke, "although I make my
appearance so late before your Highness, I can confidently assure you
that none of the wonders you have seen during the day can be compared
to this horse, if you will deign to cast your eyes upon him."

"I see nothing in it," replied the king, "except a clever imitation of
a real one; and any skilled workman might do as much."

"Sire," returned the Indian, "it is not of his outward form that I
would speak, but of the use that I can make of him. I have only to
mount him, and to wish myself in some special place, and no matter how
distant it may be, in a very few moments I shall find myself there. It
is this, Sire, that makes the horse so marvellous, and if your Highness
will allow me, you can prove it for yourself."

The King of Persia, who was interested in every thing out of the
common, and had never before come across a horse with such qualities,
bade the Indian mount the animal, and show what he could do. In an
instant the man had vaulted on his back, and inquired where the monarch
wished to send him.

"Do you see that mountain?" asked the king, pointing to a huge mass
that towered into the sky about three leagues from Schiraz; "go and
bring me the leaf of a palm that grows at the foot."

The words were hardly out of the king's mouth when the Indian turned a
screw placed in the horse's neck, close to the saddle, and the animal
bounde