o. But before
he started back for the forest himself, well pleased with what he had
learned, he marked the door with a piece of chalk which he had ready
in his hand.

Soon after this Morgiana came out upon some errand, and when she
returned she saw the mark the robber had made, and stopped to look at
it.

"What can this mean?" she said to herself. "Somebody intends my master
harm, and in any case it is best to guard against the worst." Then she
fetched a piece of chalk, and marked two or three doors on each side
in the same manner, saying nothing to her master or mistress.

When the robber rejoined his troop in the forest, and told of his good
fortune in meeting the one man that could have helped him, they were
all delighted.

"Comrades," said the captain, "we have no time to lose. Let us set off
at once, well armed and disguised, enter the town by twos, and join at
the great square. Meanwhile our comrade who has brought us the good
news and I will go and find out the house, and decide what had best be
done."

Two by two they entered the town. Last of all went the captain and the
spy. When they came to the first of the houses which Morgiana had
marked, the spy pointed it out. But the captain noticed that the next
door was chalked in the same manner, and asked his guide which house
it was, that or the first. The guide knew not what answer to make, and
was still more puzzled when he and the captain saw five or six houses
marked after this same fashion. He assured the captain, with an oath,
that he had marked but one, and could not tell who had chalked the
rest, nor could he say at which house the cobbler had stopped.

There was nothing to do but to join the other robbers, and tell them
to go back to the cave. Here they were told why they had all returned,
and the guide was declared by all to be worthy of death. Indeed, he
condemned himself, owning that he ought to have been more careful, and
prepared to receive the stroke which was to cut off his head.

The safety of the troop still demanded that the second comer to the
cave should be found, and another of the gang offered to try it, with
the same penalty if he should fail. Like the other robber, he found
out Baba Mustapha, and, through him, the house, which he marked, in a
place remote from sight, with red chalk.

But nothing could escape Morgiana's eyes, and when she went out, not
long after, and saw the red chalk, she argued with herself as before,
and marke