f his usual
nocturnal rambles, had temporarily disappeared, and suggested, in the
interest of herself and her son, that she should give out that, being
indisposed, the Caliph had retired for a short time to one of his
palaces in the provinces, and had confided the government meanwhile
into the hands of his old and trusty Vizier. In this way, and with the
connivance of Zobeideh, the astute Giafer managed to retain without
question the government of the country during the absence of the Caliph.

To return to the Caliph. For three days the pirate ship pursued her
course in fair weather, and without incident. On the fourth day she
sighted a merchantman, to whom she gave chase. But the captain of the
merchantman, seeing his danger, crowded on every stitch of canvas he
possessed, and having a fair wind, and an uncommonly fast ship, he kept
so far ahead that, the sun going down, the pirate lost sight of him,
and he escaped.

This chase had carried the pirates far out of their course, and on the
next day a great storm arose, and they were obliged to shorten sail and
run before the wind. At length one huge wave which broke over the
ship, having swept no less than eight of the crew overboard, the
captain, who found himself short-handed, gave orders that the prisoner
should be released, that he might do his part in the endeavour to save
the ship and all their lives. The ship having sprung a leak--or,
indeed, more probably several, for the water poured in upon them
apace--the crew, including the Caliph himself, became exhausted with
continuous pumping, and the captain, therefore, descrying a coast-line,
determined to run the ship boldly ashore, in the hope that some of them
at least might be saved. And in fact, although the ship when she
touched the beach was stove in and broken up by the force of the waves,
yet the Caliph, the captain, and three of his men were washed ashore,
and lay on the beach in a very faint and exhausted condition.

Here they were found by certain natives of that region, who gave them
food and drink to revive them. Then, without either binding or in any
way ill-treating them, they conducted them along a broad and level road
which ran inland towards the capital of the country.

In about an hour's time, being all wearied and thirsty, the sun being
now very fierce, they descried with great pleasure a village at no
great distance, which was very pleasantly situated at the foot of a
steep hill, in th