ALL BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES. 35

him to return to his shop, took the road
to the forest.

Very soon after this Morgiana had
Occasion to go out, and saw the mark
which the thief had made on the door of
Ali Baba’s house. “ What can this mark
mean?” thought she; “has any one a
spite against my master, or has it been
done only for fun? In any case, it will be
well to guard against the worst that may
happen.” She therefore took some chalk,
and as several of the doors both above
and below her master’s were alike, she
marked them in the same manner, and
then went in without saying anything of
what she had done either to her master
oY mistress,

The thief in the meantime atrived at
the forest, and related the success of his
journey. They all listened to him with
great delight, and the Captain, after prais-
ing him, said, ‘Comrades, we have no
time-to lose; let us arm ourselves and
depart, and when we have entered the
city, which we had best do separately,
let us all meet in the great square, and
I will go and find out the house with
the chalk mark.”

Thus the thieves went in small parties
of two or three to the city without caus-