Page:Arabian Nights Entertainments (1728)-Vol. 5.djvu/93

thought, he pray’d his Neighbour to lend him a Scimiter; and being thus armed went on till he came to the Gate of his own Houſe: He enter’d the Court full of Fear, and perceived a Man Who asked him who he was, he knew by his Voice that it was his own Slave: How didſt thou do, ſays he, to avoid being taken by the Watch? Sir, anſwer’d the Slave, I hid my ſelf in a Corner of the Court, and I went out ſo ſoon as I heard the Noiſe: But it was not the Watch who broke your Houſe; they were Highway-men, who within theſe few Days robb’d another in this Neighbour-hood: They have doubtleſs had Notice of the rich Furniture you brought hither, and had that in their View.

The Jeweler thought his Slave’s Conjecture probable enough: He viſited the Houſe, and ſaw that the Highway-men had taken all the Furniture out of the Chamber where he received Schemſelnihar and her Lover; that they had alſo carried off the Veſſels of Gold and Silver, and, in a Word, had left nothing. Being in this Condition, O Heaven! cries he, I am irrecoverably undone! What will my Friends ſay, and what excuſe can I make, when I ſhall tell them that the Highway-men have broke my Houſe, and robb’d me of all that they generouſly lent me? I ſhall never be able to makeup their Loſs: Beſides, what’s become of Schemſelnihar and the Prince of Perſia? This Buſineſs will be ſo Publick, that it’s impoſſible but it muſt reach the Califf’s Ears. He will get Notice of this Meeting, and I ſhail fall a Sacrifice to his Fury. The Slave, who lov’d him, endeavour’d to comfort him thus: As to Schemſelnihar, ſays he, the Highway-men probably would content themſelves to ſtrip her, and you have reaſon to think that ſhe is retired to her Palace with her Slaves: The Prince of Perſia is probably in the ſame Condition, ſo that you have reaſon to hope that the Califf will never know this Adventure. As for the Loſs your Friends have ſuſtain’d, that’s a Misfortune that you could not avoid. They know very well the Highway-men to be ſo numerous that they have not only pillaged the Houſe I have already ſpoken of, but many other Houſes of the principal Noblemen of the Court: And they are not ignorant that notwithſtanding the Orders given to apprehend them, no-body has yet been able to ſeize any of them, You will be acquitted by reſtoring your Friends