has run away from us!"

And now the merchant himself arose from his place, went out of the
cavern, and could scarce believe his eyes when he saw before him the
savage, rocky region, where not a drop of moisture could be seen, to
say nothing of the sea!

"God has worked wonders for us," sighed the merchant. "It is plain
that we are in quite a different place from that wherein we went to
sleep."

"No doubt the peris of the mountains of Kaf have conveyed us hither,"
said Milieva.

"Peris, no doubt," observed Leonidas, absently, groping for his long
reticule, and feeling whether his diamonds were still there. If it
were not peris, they would certainly have searched him for his
diamonds.

And now they had to find out where they were, and what was the best
way to get out of the wilderness. The greatest anxiety had
disappeared; they had no longer anything to fear from the sea. On dry
land it would be much easier to find a place of refuge.

After a little searching they came upon footprints in the sand, and
these footprints led them to the mouth of the valley. Whole forests of
the large cochineal cactus grew among the rocks, and here and there
they saw a light-footed kid grazing on the dry sward. Not very long
afterwards they fell in with the goatherd. Leonidas was rather alarmed
than delighted at the sight of the grim muscular figure, who, on
perceiving them, came straight towards them, and addressed them in a
gruff voice.

"Are ye those shipwrecked fugitives who slept at night in the Cavern
of the _dzhin_?"

"_Dzhin!_" said Leonidas to himself. "Methinks it must have been a
spirit of evil, then."

The children answered the goatherd boldly, and begged him to direct
them to some inhabited region.

"Go straight along this gorge," said he; "you cannot mistake the path.
On your right hand you will find a hut where dwells a fakir of the
Erdbuhar Order, who will direct you farther. Salam alek!" And with
that the goatherd quitted them, to the great amazement of Leonidas,
who had expected nothing less of him than highway robbery.

Towards evening they had arrived at the hut of the Erdbuhar hermit.

"I have been expecting you," said the dervish, when they came up to
him. "Have you not suffered shipwreck and slept all night with the
_dzhin_?"

Evidently one marvel after another was in store for them.

The dervish gave them meat and drink, and washed their feet, and after
they had enjoyed his hospitality he offered to