He was instantly obeyed, and the taleb
carried off his wife.

Then came forward the oil-merchant and
the butcher.

"Here," said the Cadi to the butcher, "is
thy money; it is truly thine, and not his."
Then pointing to the oil-merchant, he said to
his chinaux, "Give this man fifty blows."

It was done, and the butcher went away in
triumph with his money.

The third cause was called, and Bou-Akas
and the cripple came forward.

"Would'st thou recognise thy horse amongst
twenty others?" said the judge to Bou-Akas.

"Yes, my lord."

"And thou?"

"Certainly, my lord," replied the cripple.

"Follow me," said the Cadi to Bou-Akas.

They entered a large stable, and Bou-Akas
pointed out his horse amongst twenty which
were standing side by side.

"'Tis well," said the judge. "Return now
to the tribunal, and send me thine adversary
hither."

The disguised Scheik obeyed, delivered his
message, and the cripple hastened to the
stable, as quickly as his distorted limbs
allowed. He possessed quick eyes and a good
memory, so that he was able, without the
slightest hesitation, to place his hand on the
right animal.

"'Tis well," said the Cadi; "return to the
tribunal."

His worship resumed his place, and when
the cripple arrived, judgment was pronounced.

"The horse is thine;" said the Cadi to
Bou-Akas. "Go to the stable, and take him."
Then to the chinaux, "Give this cripple fifty
blows."

It was done; and Bou-Akas went to take
his horse.

When the Cadi, after concluding the business
of the day, was retiring to his house, he
found Bou-Akas waiting for him.

"Art thou discontented with my award?"
asked the judge.

"No, quite the contrary," replied the
Scheik. But I want to ask by what inspiration
thou hast rendered justice; for I doubt
not that the other two cases were decided as
equitably as mine. I am not a merchant; I am
Bou-Akas, Scheik of Ferdj' Onah,and I wanted
to judge for myself of thy reputed wisdom."

The Cadi bowed to the ground, and kissed
his master's hand.

"I am anxious," said Bou-Akas, "to know
the reasons which determined your three
decisions."

"Nothing, my lord, can be more simple.
Your highness saw that I detained for a
night the three things in dispute?"

"I did."

"Well, early in the morning I caused the
woman to be called, and I said to her
suddenly—'Put fresh ink in my inkstand.' Like
a person who had done the same thing a
hundred times before, she took the bottle,
removed the cotton, washed them both, put
in the cotton again, and poured in fresh ink,
doing it all with the utmost neatness and
dexterity. So I said to myself, 'A peasant's
wife would know nothing about inkstands—
she must belong to the taleb."

"Good," said Bou-Akas, nodding his head.
"And the money?"

"Did your highness remark that the
merchant had his clothes and hands covered
with oil?"

"Certainly, I did."

"Well; I took the money, and placed it in
a vessel filled with water. This morning I
looked at it, and not a particle of oil was to
be seen on the surface of the water. So I
said to myself, 'If this money belonged to the
oil-merchant it would be greasy, from the
touch of his hands; as it is not so, the
butcher's story must be true.'"

Bou-Akas nodded in token of approval.

"Good," said he. "And my horse?"

"Ah! that was a different business; and,
until this morning, I was greatly puzzled."

"The cripple, I suppose, did not recognise
the animal?"

"On the contrary, he pointed him out
immediately."

"How then did you discover that he was
not the owner?"

"My object in bringing you separately to
the stable, was not to see whether you would
know the horse, but whether the horse would
acknowledge you. Now, when you approached
him, the creature turned towards you, laid
back his ears, and neighed with delight; but
when the cripple touched him, he kicked.
Then I knew that you were truly his master."

Bou-Akas thought for a moment, and then
said:—

"Allah has given thee great wisdom. Thou
oughtest to be in my place, and I in thine.
And yet, I know not; thou art certainly
worthy to be Scheik, but I fear that I should
but badly fill thy place as Cadi!"