ok I gave him caused him almost to lose his
senses. He fell fainting forward, and I was unable to move till Tezila,
who had hastily put on a dress, ran to my assistance together with
Thelamis, the young noble of whom the Prince had spoken.

'As soon as we were all ourselves again we began to bewail our fate, and
the journey that we were to take that very day to Constantinople. But we
felt a little comforted when Thelamis assured us that he and the prince
would follow in our steps, and would somehow contrive to speak to us.
Then they kissed our hands, and left the house by a side-way.

'A few moments later our parents came to tell us that the escort had
arrived, and having taken farewell of them we mounted the camels, and
took our seats in a kind of box that was fixed to the side of the
animal. These boxes were large enough for us to sleep in comfortably,
and as there was a window in the upper part, we were able to see the
country through which we passed.

'For several days we journeyed on, feeling sad and anxious as to what
might become of us, when one day as I was looking out of the window of
our room, I heard my name called, and beheld a beautifully dressed girl
jumping out of the box on the other side of our camel. One glance told
me that it was the prince, and my heart bounded with joy. It was, he
said, Thelamis's idea to disguise him like this, and that he himself had
assumed the character of a slave-dealer who was taking this peerless
maiden as a present to the Sultan. Thelamis had also persuaded the
officer in charge of the caravan to let him hire the vacant box, so it
was easy for the prince to scramble out of his own window and approach
ours.

'This ingenious trick enchanted us, but our agreeable conversation was
soon interrupted by the attendants, who perceived that the camel was
walking in a crooked manner and came to find out what was wrong. Luckily
they were slow in their movements, and the prince had just time to get
back to his own box and restore the balance, before the trick was
discovered.

'But neither the prince nor his friend had any intention of allowing us
to enter the Sultan's palace, though it was difficult to know how we
were to escape, and what was to become of us when once we _had_ escaped.
At length, one day as we were drawing near Constantinople, we learned
from the prince that Thelamis had made acquaintance with a holy dervish
whom he had met on the road, and had informed him that we