s ready, the jogi bade the king to bring the princess
by night; and they two thrust the poor little maiden into the chest and
fastened it down with long nails, and between them carried it to the
river and pushed it out into the stream.

As soon as the jogi got back from this deed he called two of his pupils,
and pretended that it had been revealed to him that there should be
found floating on the river a chest with something of great price within
it; and he bade them go and watch for it at such a place far down the
stream, and when the chest came slowly along, bobbing and turning in the
tide, they were to seize it and secretly and swiftly bring it to him,
for he was now determined to put the princess to death himself. The
pupils set off at once, wondering at the strangeness of their errand,
and still more at the holiness of the jogi to whom such secrets were
revealed.

It happened that, as the next morning was dawning, the gallant young
prince of Dilaram was hunting by the banks of the river, with a great
following of wazirs, attendants, and huntsmen, and as he rode he saw
floating on the river a large chest, which came slowly along, bobbing
and turning in the tide. Raising himself in his saddle, he gave an
order, and half a dozen men plunged into the water and drew the chest
out on to the river bank, where every one crowded around to see what
it could contain. The prince was certainly not the least curious among
them; but he was a cautious young man, and, as he prepared to open the
chest himself, he bade all but a few stand back, and these few to draw
their swords, so as to be prepared in case the chest should hold some
evil beast, or djinn, or giant. When all were ready and expectant, the
prince with his dagger forced open the lid and flung it back, and there
lay, living and breathing, the most lovely maiden he had ever seen in
his life.

Although she was half stifled from her confinement in the chest, the
princess speedily revived, and, when she was able to sit up, the prince
began to question her as to who she was and how she came to be shut
up in the chest and set afloat upon the water; and she, blushing and
trembling to find herself in the presence of so many strangers, told him
that she was the princess of Rahmatabad, and that she had been put into
the chest by her own father. When he on his part told her that he
was the prince of Dilaram, the astonishment of the young people was
unbounded to find that they, w