ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 7

 

xo

and had very nearly finished cutting as
-much wood as his asses could carry, when
he saw a thick cloud of dust, rising very
high in the air, which seemed to be com-
ing towards him. He looked at it long,
until he saw a great company of men on
horseback, who came riding fast, raising
the dust.

Although that part of the country was
not often infested by robbers, Ali Baba
still thought that these horsemen looked
like them. Without, therefore, at all
thinking what might become of his asses,
his first and only care was to save him-
-self.. So he climbed up quickly into a
large tree, the branches of which spread
out so close and thick, that from the