he horse and call it pet names. It was
a huge brute, over seventeen hands high, and Aladdin, aided only by a
rickety fence, and a pair of legs that would hardly support him, was
appalled by the idea of having to climb to that lofty eminence, its
back. Without doubt he was dreadfully tired.

"The fence will help, old man" he said. "Here, you, pay attention and
get over." He tried to insinuate himself between the horse and the
fence, but the horse did not seem inclined to move.

"Get over, you!" he said, and gave a shove. The horse moved a little,
very unwillingly. "Farther yet," said Aladdin: "Get over, you, get
over." Again he shoved; this time harder. He slapped the great shoulder
with his open hand. And again the horse moved, but very slowly. "You're
an unwilling brute, aren't you?" he said angrily.

For answer the thing tottered, and, to his horror, began to fall, at
first slowly, but ever with accelerating speed, until, in the exact
attitude in which it had stood by the fence,--the great Roman-nosed head
thrown up and out, as if to neigh,--he beheld the horse stretched before
him on the ground, and noted for the first time the awful death-like
glint of the yellow teeth through the parting of the lips.

He went very gravely from that place, for he had been looking upon death
by freezing, and he himself was terribly cold, terribly tired, and--he
admitted it now--completely lost.

But he went on for a long time--four or five hundred years. And it grew
darker and colder.

He began to talk to himself, to try and steady himself, as he had done
ever since childhood at forsaken times.

"Troubles," he said, "You're full of troubles, aren't you, old man? You
always were. But this is the worst. You can't walk very much farther,
can you? I can't. And if you don't get helped by some one pretty soon,
you're going to come to the end of your troubles. And, Troubles, do you
know, I think that's what's going to happen to you and me, and I want
you to stand up to it if it comes [gulp] and face it like a man. Now
let's rest a little, Troubles, will we?"

Troubles and Aladdin rested a little. When the rest was over they could
hardly move, and they began to see the end of a young man that they had
hoped would live a long time and be very happy. They went on.

"Troubles," said Aladdin, "do you suppose she knows that we are out
here, perhaps dying? We would know if she were, wouldn't we? And do you
think she cares? Liar, you know