bey," said the Genie, and instantly he was gone.

All night there was from the sand hills a ceaseless sound as of
thunder--a sound of banging and clapping and hammering and sawing and
calling and shouting. All that night the sounds continued unceasingly,
but at daybreak all was still, and when the sun arose there stood the
most splendid palace it ever looked down upon; shining as white as
snow, and blazing with gold and silver. All around it were gardens and
fountains and orchards. A great highway had been built between it and
the king's palace, and all along the highway a carpet of cloth of gold
had been spread for the princess to walk upon.

Dear! Dear! How all the town stared with wonder when they saw such a
splendid palace standing where the day before had been nothing but naked
sand hills! The folk flocked in crowds to see it, and all the country
about was alive with people coming and going. As for the king, he could
not believe his eyes when he saw it. He stood with the princess and
looked and looked. Then came Jacob Stuck. "And now," said he, "am I to
marry the princess?"

"Yes," cried the king in admiration, "you are!"

So Jacob Stuck married the princess, and a splendid wedding it was. That
was what a little bit of good luck did for him.

After the wedding was over, it was time to go home to the grand new
palace. Then there came a great troop of horsemen with shining armor and
with music, sent by the Genie to escort Jacob Stuck and the princess and
the king and the prime-minister to Jacob Stuck's new palace. They rode
along over the carpet of gold, and such a fine sight was never seen
in that land before. As they drew near to the palace a great crowd of
servants, clad in silks and satins and jewels, came out to meet them,
singing and dancing and playing on harps and lutes. The king and the
princess thought that they must be dreaming.

"All this is yours," said Jacob Stuck to the princess; and he was that
fond of her, he would have given her still more if he could have thought
of anything else.

Jacob Stuck and the princess, and the king and the prime-minister, all
went into the palace, and there was a splendid feast spread in plates of
pure gold and silver, and they all four sat down together.

But the prime-minister was as sour about it all as a crab-apple. All the
time they were feasting he kept whispering and whispering in the king's
ear. "It is all stuff and nonsense," said he, "for such a man as Ja