be ashamed to send anything at all!' Then he ordered that, in
place of each of the ten horses, two mules laden with silver should be
returned by her.

Thus, in a few hours, the merchant found himself in charge of a
splendid caravan; and he had to hire a number of armed men to defend
it on the road against the robbers, and he was glad indeed to find
himself back again in Wali Dad's hut.

'Well, now,' cried Wali Dad, as he viewed all the wealth laid at his
door, 'I can well repay that kind prince for his magnificent present
of horses; but to be sure you have been put to great expense! Still,
if you will accept six mules and their loads, and will take the rest
straight to Nekabad, I shall thank you heartily.'

The merchant felt handsomely repaid for his trouble, and wondered
greatly how the matter would turn out. So he made no difficulty about
it; and as soon as he could get things ready, he set out for Nekabad
with this new and princely gift.

This time the prince, too, was embarrassed, and questioned the
merchant closely. The merchant felt that his credit was at stake, and
whilst inwardly determining that he would not carry the joke any
further, could not help describing Wali Dad in such glowing terms that
the old man would never have known himself had he heard them. The
prince, like the king of Khaistan, determined that he would send in
return a gift that would be truly royal, and which would perhaps
prevent the unknown giver sending him anything more. So he made up a
caravan of twenty splendid horses caparisoned in gold embroidered
cloths, with fine morocco saddles and silver bridles and stirrups,
also twenty camels of the best breed, which had the speed of
race-horses, and could swing along at a trot all day without getting
tired; and, lastly, twenty elephants, with magnificent silver howdahs
and coverings of silk embroidered with pearls. To take care of these
animals the merchant hired a little army of men; and the troop made a
great show as they travelled along.

When Wali Dad from a distance saw the cloud of dust which the caravan
made, and the glitter of its appointments, he said to himself: 'By
Allah! here's a grand crowd coming! Elephants, too! Grass will be
selling well to-day!' And with that he hurried off to the jungle and
cut grass as fast as he could. As soon as he got back he found the
caravan had stopped at his door, and the merchant was waiting, a
little anxiously, to tell him the news and to cong