n out of the solid rock, and which, by the help of several engines,
was hung upon four pillars of gold, and covered the whole pavilion.
The rope which upheld this massy stone passed through one of the
golden pillars into the earth beneath, and, by a secret channel cut in
the rock, was carried onward through the side of the mountain, and was
fastened to a ring of iron in a cave hollowed out of the rock on the
opposite side.

"By the time the enchanters were arrived in the camp of Ahubal, the
pavilion was finished; and although I had secret advice that my
Sultan's troops were to be attacked on the morrow, yet I chose to
conceal that knowledge, and so to dispose of the army that the chief
part might fly with me behind the mountains which hung over the
pavilion, and that the rest, having no conductor, might be put to
flight with as little slaughter as possible. This I did, expecting
that Ahaback and Desra, puffed up with their good fortune, would take
possession of my Sultan's pavilion."

"Rise, faithful Horam," said the Sultan Misnar; "your plot is
sufficiently unravelled; but why did you hide your intentions from
your lord?"

"Lord of my life," answered the Vizier, "because I was resolved, in
case my plot did not succeed, to bear the burden myself, that my
Sultan's honour might not be lessened in the eyes of his troops."

This noble confession of the Vizier pleased the whole army, and they
waited with the utmost impatience to hear his pardon pronounced.

The Sultan then embraced his Vizier, and the shouts of the army
were,--"Long live Misnar the lord of our hearts, and Horam the first
and the most faithful of his slaves!"

The army of Ahubal still continued to fly after their Prince, whose
fear did not suffer him to direct those who came up to him.

And now, in a few days, the army would have been totally dispersed,
had not the giant Kifri, enraged at the death of his brethren, and
travelling in his fury, appeared before the eyes of the terrified
Prince and his troops, in a narrow pass among the rocks.

The presence of Kifri was not less terrifying than the noise of the
pursuers; and Ahubal, at the sight of the monster, fell with his face
to the ground.

"Who art thou," said Kifri, with the voice of thunder, "that fliest
like the roebuck, and tremblest like the heart-stricken antelope?"

"Prince of earth," said Ahubal, "I am the friend of Ulin, of Happuck,
of Ollomand, of Tasnar, of Ahaback, and of Desra. I am