on as the Indian turned the peg and the horse flew
through the air, she found she was being carried off, far away from
Persia and her beloved Prince.

All her prayers and entreaties were in vain. The Indian only mocked at
her, and told her he meant to marry her himself.

Meanwhile the Prince and his attendants had arrived at the palace
outside the gates, only to find that the Indian had been there before
them and had carried off the Princess.

The Prince was nearly beside himself with grief, but he still hoped
to find his bride. He disguised himself as a dervish and set off to
seek for her, vowing that he would find her, or perish in the attempt.

By this time the Enchanted Horse had traveled many hundreds of miles.
Then, as the Indian was hungry, it was made to descend into a wood
close to a town of Cashmere.

Here the Indian went in search of food, and when he returned with some
fruit he shared it with the Princess, who was faint and weary.

As soon as the Princess had eaten a little she felt stronger and
braver, and as she heard horses galloping past, she called out loudly
for help.

The men on horseback came riding at once to her aid, and she quickly
told them who she was, and how the Indian had carried her off against
her will. Then the leader of the horsemen, who was the Sultan of
Cashmere, ordered his men to cut off the Indian's head. But he placed
the Princess upon his horse and led her to his palace.

Now the Princess thought that her troubles were all at an end, but she
was much mistaken. The Sultan had no sooner seen her than he made up
his mind to marry her, and he ordered the wedding preparations to be
begun without loss of time.

In vain the Princess begged to be sent back to Persia. The Sultan only
smiled and fixed the wedding-day. Then when she saw that nothing would
turn him from his purpose, she thought of a plan to save herself. She
began talking all the nonsense she could think of and behaving as if
she were mad, and so well did she pretend, that the wedding was put
off, and all the doctors were called in to see if they could cure her.

But whenever a doctor came near the Princess she became so wild and
violent that he dared not even feel her pulse, so none of them
discovered that she was only pretending.

The Sultan was in great distress, and sent far and near for the
cleverest doctors. But none of them seemed to be able to cure the
Princess of her madness.

All this time the Prince o