Page:Fairy tales from the Arabian nights.djvu/348

 When the troop was all together, the captain told them the reason of their returning; and presently the conductor was declared by all to be worthy of death. He condemned himself, acknowledging that he ought to have taken better precautions, and knelt down to receive the stroke from him that was appointed to cut off his head.

But as it was for the safety of the troop that an injury should not go unpunished, another of the gang, who promised that he would succeed better, presented himself; and his offer being accepted, he went and corrupted Baba Mustapha, as the other had done, and being shown the house, marked it, in a place more remote from sight, with red chalk.

Not long after, Morgiana, whose eyes nothing could escape, went out. She saw the red chalk, and, arguing after the same manner with herself, marked the neighbours' houses in the same place and manner.

The robber, on his return to his company, prided himself very much upon the precaution he had taken, which he looked upon as an infallible way of distinguishing Ali Baba's house from those of his neighbours, and the captain and all of them thought it must succeed. They conveyed themselves into the town in the same manner as before, and when the robber and his captain came to the street, they found the same difficulty, at which the captain was enraged, and the robber in as great confusion as his predecessor.

Thus the captain and his troop were forced to retire a second time, still more dissatisfied; and the robber, as the author of the mistake, underwent the same punishment, to which he willingly submitted.

The captain, having lost two brave fellows of his troop, was afraid of diminishing it too much by pursuing this plan to get information about Ali Baba's house. He found, by their example, that their heads were not so good as their hands on such occasions, and therefore resolved to take upon himself this important commission.

Accordingly, he went and addressed himself to Baba Mustapha who did him the same service as he had done to the former men. He did not amuse himself with setting any particular mark on the