ld woman, 'I will set off at once for
the bridge.' And wrapping her veil round her she went out.

Midnight was striking as she reached the spot where she had met the
head so many hours before.

'Ahmed! Ahmed! Ahmed!' cried she, and immediately a huge negro, as
tall as a giant, stood on the bridge before her.

'What do you want?' asked he.

'The head, your master, desires you to open the trunk, and to give me
the green purse which you will find in it.'

'I will be back in a moment, good mother,' said he. And three minutes
later he placed a purse full of sequins in the old woman's hand.

No one can imagine the joy of the whole family at the sight of all
this wealth. The tiny, tumble-down cottage was rebuilt, the girls had
new dresses, and their mother ceased selling veils. It was such a new
thing to them to have money to spend, that they were not as careful as
they might have been, and by-and-by there was not a single coin left
in the purse. When this happened their hearts sank within them, and
their faces fell.

'Have you spent your fortune?' asked the head from its corner, when it
saw how sad they looked. 'Well, then, go at midnight, good mother, to
the bridge, and call out "Mahomet!" three times, as loud as you can. A
negro will appear in answer, and you must tell him to open the trunk,
and to give you the red purse which he will find there.'

The old woman did not need twice telling, but set off at once for the
bridge.

'Mahomet! Mahomet! Mahomet!' cried she, with all her might; and in an
instant a negro, still larger than the last, stood before her.

'What do you want?' asked he.

'The head, your master, bids you open the trunk, and to give me the
red purse which you will find in it.'

'Very well, good mother, I will do so,' answered the negro, and, the
moment after he had vanished, he reappeared with the purse in his
hand.

This time the money seemed so endless that the old woman built herself
a new house, and filled it with the most beautiful things that were to
be found in the shops. Her daughters were always wrapped in veils that
looked as if they were woven out of sunbeams, and their dresses shone
with precious stones. The neighbours wondered where all this sudden
wealth had sprung from, but nobody knew about the head.

'Good mother,' said the head, one day, 'this morning you are to go to
the city and ask the sultan to give me his daughter for my bride.'

'Do what?' asked the old woman in amaz