by their beauty, our
own were not any harder, so that our departure for the palace, which had
been arranged for the next day, suddenly became intolerable to us.

'Night came, and I awoke from my sleep to find the younger of the two
strangers sitting at my bedside and felt him take my hand.

'"Fear nothing, lovely Dely," he whispered, "from one who never knew
love till he saw you. My name," he went on, "is Prince Delicate, and
I am the son of the king of the Isle of Black Marble. My friend, who
travels with me, is one of the richest nobles of my country, and the
secrets which he knows are the envy of the Sultan himself. And we left
our native country because my father wished me to marry a lady of great
beauty, but with one eye a trifle smaller than the other."

'My vanity was flattered at so speedy a conquest, and I was charmed with
the way the young man had declared his passion. I turned my eyes slowly
on him, and the look I gave him caused him almost to lose his senses.
He fell fainting forward, and I was unable to move till Tezila, who had
hastily put on a dress, ran to my assistance together with Thelamis, the
young noble of whom the Prince had spoken.

'As soon as we were all ourselves again we began to bewail our fate, and
the journey that we were to take that very day to Constantinople. But we
felt a little comforted when Thelamis assured us that he and the prince
would follow in our steps, and would somehow contrive to speak to us.
Then they kissed our hands, and left the house by a side-way.

'A few moments later our parents came to tell us that the escort had
arrived, and having taken farewell of them we mounted the camels,
and took our seats in a kind of box that was fixed to the side of the
animal. These boxes were large enough for us to sleep in comfortably,
and as there was a window in the upper part, we were able to see the
country through which we passed.

'For several days we journeyed on, feeling sad and anxious as to what
might become of us, when one day as I was looking out of the window of
our room, I heard my name called, and beheld a beautifully dressed girl
jumping out of the box on the other side of our camel. One glance told
me that it was the prince, and my heart bounded with joy. It was, he
said, Thelamis's idea to disguise him like this, and that he himself
had assumed the character of a slave-dealer who was taking this peerless
maiden as a present to the Sultan. Thelamis had also persu