s daughter in marriage; but I hoped now, that the sight
of his child whom he mourned as lost, and of his grandchild--towards whom
a grandfather's heart is always especially open--would soften him, and
cause him to relent. In this I was not disappointed.

"He sent for me, forgave me, welcomed me as his son-in-law, and appointed
us a house near to his own.

"And not long afterwards he obtained for me an official post at the
Persian Court, where I remained happy and contented for the space of
twenty years.

"By that time, both my father-in-law and my lovely Perizadeh had died,
and my son Diraz, now grown a fine young man, was entered as a gholam,
that is, one of the royal body-guard.

"Ten years more passed by uneventfully, and I looked forward confidently
hoping to see my son appointed to the government of a province, or some
other position of dignity and emolument. But, alas! just when this
seemed most certain, an indiscretion, an act of madness on the part of my
unhappy son, brought ruin on us both.

"Among the women at that time in the harem of his Majesty the Shah, was a
very beautiful slave, who had been captured during a war which had been
waged against an infidel nation, whose territory extends beyond the
northern frontier of the Shah's dominions.

"This slave, beautiful as the full moon, Diraz, rash and presumptuous
youth that he was, managed to catch sight of, and immediately he became
desperately, recklessly enamoured of her.

"Forgetting the duty we owed to our master the Shah, and taking advantage
of his official position as gholam shahee, which enabled and authorized
him to travel by post at speed, pressing horses as he went, he managed to
steal the beautiful slave, and got such a start before her loss and his
absence were discovered, that he was not overtaken, but escaped with her
out of the kingdom.

"When the Shah heard of the matter, he very naturally was furious----"

"Very naturally, indeed," said the Caliph, with a grim smile.

"Well, very naturally also," continued Abdurrahman, "his Majesty sent for
me, upbraided me for having such a son, and ordering all that I had to be
confiscated, commanded me to leave his kingdom forthwith, and find and
bring back my son and his slave.

"In great grief I retraced my steps mechanically to my house, but a
gholam, bearing the royal edict, had arrived there before me, and my own
slave repulsed me from my own door.

"I set out, therefore, at once on my