fell upon the shrinking prince sitting
on his throne, and on the form of Giafer kneeling with part of the
severed cord still about his neck, the veins stood out upon his
forehead, and rage rendered him speechless. He beckoned to Mesrur, the
ever faithful, who instantly pulled Ibrahim from his seat, and, taking
him aside into an antechamber, forthwith struck off his head.

That Haroun reinstated Giafer as Grand Vizier, and took Zobeideh and
Prince Emin out of prison, needs hardly be said. That he received
Abdallah and Ahmed very graciously, and that he bought the fair captive
of them at a truly royal price, is not surprising. But it is perhaps
somewhat surprising that all the dangers and hardships he underwent, in
consequence of his capture by the pirates, did not suffice to wean him
altogether from such perilous adventures in the future.

He was of so daring and fearless a temper, however, that it made no
further difference than this, that ever afterwards when he wandered
about in disguise Mesrur accompanied him as well as the Grand Vizier.

The Caliph and the Blind Fisherman.

One evening Haroun Alraschid sat in a splendid apartment of his palace
in Bagdad. The evening meal was finished, and the slaves had carried
away the magnificent service of gold plate on which it had been served.
The Caliph was gloomy and ill-humoured, and the officers and attendants
in waiting silent, vigilant, and not unapprehensive; for when the brow
of the monarch was clouded none could tell when the storm might burst
forth, nor whom the lightning of his wrath might strike. Before long,
however, and much to their relief, Giafer was sent for, and the Caliph,
rising and signing his officers to leave him, wandered out alone into
the garden of his palace.

Here Giafer on his arrival found him. He was sitting moodily listening
to a concert of vocal music performed by some of the ladies of his
harem, who were posted out of sight and at some little distance in a
small grove. Just as Giafer entered the garden the Caliph clapped his
hands and said to a slave who ran to him, "Go, tell the singers to keep
silence, for I am in no humour to listen to them." Then, perceiving
the Grand Vizier, he said to him, "Giafer, I have sent for thee because
I am restless and pleased with nothing this evening; suggest,
therefore, what I shall do."

Then Giafer replied: "Prince of the Faithful, if you are tired of your
palace and of the gardens and t