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 drinking, she perceived he had a dagger laid under his coat. When supper was ended, and the desert and wine on the table, Morgiana went away and dressed herself in the habit of a dancing girl: she next called Abdalla, a fellow slave, to play on his taber while she danced.

As soon as she appeared at the parlour door, her master, who was very fond of seeing her dance, ordered her to come in to entertain his guest with some of her best dancing. Cogia Hassan was not very well satisfied with this entertainment, yet was compelled, for fear of discovering himself, to seem pleased with the dancing, while in fact he wished Morgiana a great way off, and was quite alarmed, lest he should lose his opportunity of murdering Ali Baba and his son.

Morgiana danced several dances with the utmost grace and agility; and then drawing a poinard from her girdle, she performed many surprising things with it, sometimes presenting the point to one and sometimes to another and then seemed to strike it into her own bosom. Suddenly she paused and holding the poinard in the right hand, presented her left to her master as if beg-