ng only in the hottest part of the day, he
found himself, by noon on the third day, approaching the town which
was his final destination.

Not a soul was to be seen anywhere; and Nur Mahomed, stiff, dry,
thirsty, and tired, looked longingly over the wall into the gardens,
and marked the fountains, the green grass, the shady apricot orchards,
and giant mulberry trees, and wished he were there.

At length he reached the castle gates, and was at once admitted, as he
was in the uniform of the king's bodyguard. The governor was resting,
the soldier said, and could not see him until the evening. So Nur
Mahomed handed over his horse to an attendant, and wandered down into
the lovely gardens he had seen from the road, and sat down in the
shade to rest himself. He flung himself on his back and watched the
birds twittering and chattering in the trees above him. Through the
branches he could see great patches of sky where the kites wheeled and
circled incessantly, with shrill whistling cries. Bees buzzed over the
flowers with a soothing sound, and in a few minutes Nur Mahomed was
fast asleep.

Every day, through the heat of the afternoon, the governor, and his
wife also, used to lie down for two or three hours in their own rooms,
and so, for the matter of that, did most people in the palace. But the
princess, like many other girls, was restless, and preferred to wander
about the garden, rather than rest on a pile of soft cushions. What a
torment her stout old attendants and servants sometimes thought her
when she insisted on staying awake, and making them chatter or do
something, when they could hardly keep their eyes open! Sometimes,
however, the princess would pretend to go to sleep, and then, after
all her women had gladly followed her example, she would get up and go
out by herself, her veil hanging loosely about her. If she was
discovered her old hostess scolded her severely; but the princess only
laughed, and did the same thing next time.

[Illustration: THE PRINCESS STEALS THE KING'S LETTER]

This very afternoon the princess had left all her women asleep, and,
after trying in vain to amuse herself indoors, she had slipped out
into the great garden, and rambled about in all her favourite nooks
and corners, feeling quite safe as there was not a creature to be
seen. Suddenly, on turning a corner, she stopped in surprise, for
before her lay a man fast asleep! In her hurry she had almost tripped
over him. But there he wa