Tales of the Caliph | Page 3

next heir according
to Moslim usage, was the Vizier's declared enemy. His accession to the
throne would therefore mean infallibly the destruction of the Vizier and
his whole family.
He resolved, after much consideration, to take the boldest course as
being really the safest, as indeed it frequently is.
Taking with him a small escort, he left Bussora at daybreak, and
proceeded as fast as the horses would carry them to Bagdad. On his
arrival he wrote immediately a note to Zobeideh, Haroun's favourite
wife; told her that the Caliph, while engaged in one of his usual
nocturnal rambles, had temporarily disappeared, and suggested, in the
interest of herself and her son, that she should give out that, being

indisposed, the Caliph had retired for a short time to one of his palaces
in the provinces, and had confided the government meanwhile into the
hands of his old and trusty Vizier. In this way, and with the connivance
of Zobeideh, the astute Giafer managed to retain without question the
government of the country during the absence of the Caliph.
To return to the Caliph. For three days the pirate ship pursued her
course in fair weather, and without incident. On the fourth day she
sighted a merchantman, to whom she gave chase. But the captain of the
merchantman, seeing his danger, crowded on every stitch of canvas he
possessed, and having a fair wind, and an uncommonly fast ship, he
kept so far ahead that, the sun going down, the pirate lost sight of him,
and he escaped.
This chase had carried the pirates far out of their course, and on the
next day a great storm arose, and they were obliged to shorten sail and
run before the wind. At length one huge wave which broke over the
ship, having swept no less than eight of the crew overboard, the captain,
who found himself short-handed, gave orders that the prisoner should
be released, that he might do his part in the endeavour to save the ship
and all their lives. The ship having sprung a leak--or, indeed, more
probably several, for the water poured in upon them apace--the crew,
including the Caliph himself, became exhausted with continuous
pumping, and the captain, therefore, descrying a coast-line, determined
to run the ship boldly ashore, in the hope that some of them at least
might be saved. And in fact, although the ship when she touched the
beach was stove in and broken up by the force of the waves, yet the
Caliph, the captain, and three of his men were washed ashore, and lay
on the beach in a very faint and exhausted condition.
Here they were found by certain natives of that region, who gave them
food and drink to revive them. Then, without either binding or in any
way ill-treating them, they conducted them along a broad and level
road which ran inland towards the capital of the country.
In about an hour's time, being all wearied and thirsty, the sun being
now very fierce, they descried with great pleasure a village at no great
distance, which was very pleasantly situated at the foot of a steep hill,

in the shadow of which it lay, embowered in a profusion of palms and
date-trees. Here the villagers were scattered in groups, feasting and
merry-making, it being a festival held in honour of some local magnate,
whose daughter had that day been married. The villagers received their
fellow-countrymen, as also the Caliph and the pirates, with every
demonstration of good-will, bringing them fresh milk to drink, and
bread, made of a mixture of rye and oats, with plenty of dates, to eat.
Here the whole party rested for some hours, but when their conductors
wished again to resume their journey, the three pirates flatly refused to
depart, saying that they were well off where they were, and would go
no further--at least for that day. It was intimated to them that the king
of that country would suffer no stranger to dwell there unless he had
first seen him and granted his permission. However, all was in vain;
they no longer regarded the authority of their captain, and, being three
men to one, he could not compel them to obey. Leaving them, therefore,
the Caliph and the captain set out again, hoping before nightfall to
reach the town where the king, who had already been informed of their
arrival, was expecting them.
For some distance their road lay through a pleasant and well-cultivated
country, dotted at intervals by hamlets and scattered cottages, which
were surrounded by groves of orange-trees or clumps of dates and
palms. At length, as they advanced, the ground became broken and
hilly, the road was steep, and far in the distance they saw, on a great
plateau or table-land,