eemed to hesitate, and for a moment his face
flushed red; but he soon recovered his _sang-froid_.

"You complained the other day that your ass-driver had run away, and
that you had all the trouble of looking after the beasts yourself.
Take me for your ass-driver. I will do all your work for you, and I
will ask nothing except that Milieva may come with me without doing
any hard work. I will work extra in her stead."

The merchant was quite overcome by these words.

"O children, what words must I hear! Thou art the pearl of youths, my
son. What a pity thou wast not born in Samos, the isle of heroes! Thou
shalt be no ass-driver of mine; no, thou shalt be my own son, and thy
sister shall be my own daughter, and ye shall both sit on my asses,
not follow after them. In the neighboring village I shall get
ass-drivers and to spare. I will share my last crumb with you, and ye
shall dwell at home within my palace as if ye were my own children."
And with that he embraced them both.

As for the children, they were overpowered by so much unexpected
goodness, and did not hesitate to accept the offer, although Milieva
said, somewhat tremulously:

"But you will take us back afterwards to our father, won't you?"

"Certainly; is he not my good friend? When we get to my house I will
let him know that you are with me, and he will be very glad. But first
we will go from here to splendid cities by the sea, where edifices
three stories high float on the surface of the water. There my great
palaces are--you could put the whole of your father's house inside the
hall of any one of them--and my gardens are full of those beautiful
fruits which I have so often brought for you in my sack. Thomar shall
have a beautiful steed. You would like to ride a horse, my son, eh?
Well, don't be afraid, and it shall fly away with you like the wind.
And it shall have a mane as white as a swan's--or perhaps you'd like a
black one? I have got both, and you shall sit on which you like, with
a sword dangling at your side. And when you draw that sword? Ah, ha!
It shall be a bright Damascus blade, and you will be able to make it
span your body right round without breaking. I will bet anything that
among five hundred Turkish youths you will carry off the wreath of
pearls in the sports. How nicely that wreath of pearls will become
Milieva's head! How beautifully the folds of the silken robe
embroidered with flowers will sweep around her slim figure! And then
the p