e just
pulled off their tails, and the cows have sunk to the bottom of the
sea.'

'See if you can do it any better,' said they; and Mohammed ran to the
cow which he had buried in the rough grass, and took hold of her tail
and dragged the animal out at once.

'There! that is the way to do it!' said he, 'I told you you knew nothing
about it!'

The men slunk away, much ashamed of themselves; but the master came up
to Mohammed. 'Get you gone!' he said, 'there is nothing more for you
to do! You have killed my mother, you have slain my children, you have
stolen my sheep, you have drowned my cows; I have now no work to give
you.'

'First give me the strip of your skin which belongs to me of right, as
you have broken your contract!'

'That a judge shall decide,' said the master; 'we will go before him.'

'Yes, we will,' replied Mohammed. And they went before the judge.

'What is your case?' asked the judge of the master.

'My lord,' said the man, bowing low, 'my shepherd here has robbed me of
everything. He has killed my children and my old mother; he has stolen
my sheep, he has drowned my cows in the sea.'

The shepherd answered: 'He must pay me what he owes me, and then I will
go.'

'Yes, that is the law,' said the judge.

'Very well,' returned the master, 'let him reckon up how long he has
been in my service.'

'That won't do,' replied Mohammed, 'I want my strip of skin, as we
agreed in the contract.'

Seeing there was no help for it, the master cut a bit of skin, and gave
it to Mohammed, who went off at once to his uncle.

'Now we are rich, dear uncle,' cried he; 'we will sell our cows and
sheep and go to a new country. This one is no longer the place for us.'

The sheep were soon sold, and the two comrades started on their travels.
That night they reached some Bedouin tents, where they had supper with
the Arabs. Before they lay down to sleep, Mohammed called the owner of
the tent aside. 'Your greyhound will eat my strip of leather,' he said
to the Arab.

'No; do not fear.'

'But supposing he does?'

'Well, then, I will give him to you in exchange,' replied the Arab.

Mohammed waited till everyone was fast asleep, then he rose softly, and
tearing the bit of skin in pieces, threw it down before the greyhound,
setting up wild shrieks as he did so.

'Oh, master, said I not well that your dog would eat my thong?'

'Be quiet, don't make such a noise, and you shall have the dog.'

So Mohammed put a l