t on the deck and partook of their last
repast from the provisions they found in the ship, then the storm began
to rage again, the ship was torn from the ledge on which it had been
held, and broken up.

Said had climbed the mast, and held fast to it when the ship went to
pieces. The waves tossed him about, but he kept his head up by paddling
with his feet. Thus he floated about, in ever-increasing danger, for
half an hour, when the chain with whistle attached once again fell out
of his bosom, and once more he tried to make it sound. With one hand he
held fast to the mast, and with the other put the whistle to his lips,
blew, and a clear musical tone was the result. Instantly the storm
ceased, and the waves became as smooth as if oil had been poured on
them. He had hardly looked about him, with an easier breath, to see
whether he could discern land, when the mast beneath him began to
expand in a very singular manner, and to move as well; and, not a
little to his terror, he perceived that he was no longer riding on a
wooden mast, but upon the back of an enormous dolphin. But after a few
moments his courage returned; and as he saw that the dolphin swam along
on his course quietly and easily, although swiftly, he ascribed his
wonderful rescue to the silver whistle and to the kind fairy, and
shouted his most earnest thanks into the air.

[Illustration]

His wonderful horse carried him through the waves with the speed of an
arrow; and before night he saw land, and also a broad river, into which
the dolphin turned. Up stream it went more slowly, and, that he might
not starve, Said, who remembered from old stories of enchantment how
one should work a charm, took out the whistle again, blew it loudly and
heartily, and wished that he had a good meal. The dolphin stopped
instantly, and out of the water rose a table, as little wet as if it
had stood in the sun for eight days, and richly furnished with the
finest dishes. Said attacked the food like a famished person, for his
rations during his imprisonment were scant and of miserable quality;
and when he had eaten to his fill, he expressed his thanks; the table
sank down again, while he jogged the dolphin in the side, and the fish
at once responded by continuing on its course up stream.

The sun was setting when Said perceived in the dim distance a large
city, whose minarets seemed to bear a resemblance to those of Bagdad.
This discovery was not a pleasant one; but his confidenc