TWILIGHT LAND

“Now,” said Zadok, ‘‘ what is thy bidding ? 2

“Tell me,” said Aben Hassen the Fool, “ whence
comes all the wealth that you have brought me? The
king has commanded me to tell him and I could not, and
so he has had me beaten with fifty lashes.”

“T bring the treasure,” said Zadok, ‘from the treasure-
house of the ancient kings of Egypt. That treasure I
at one time discovered to your father, and he, not desir-
ing it himself, hid it in the earth so that no one might
find it.”

‘And where is this treasure-house, O Zadok ?” said
the young man.

“Tt is in the city of the queen of the Black Isles,” said
the King of the Demons; “there thy father lived in a
palace of such magnificence as thou hast never dreamed
of. It was I that brought him thence to this place
with one vessel of gold money and one vessel of silver
money.”

‘Tt was you who brought him here, did you say,
Zadok? Then, tell me, can you take me from here to
the city of the queen of the Black Isles, whence you
brought him?”

“Yes,” said Zadok, “ with ease.”

‘‘ Then,” said the young man, ‘I command you to take
me thither instantly, and to show me the treasure.”

‘T obey,” said Zadok.

He stamped his foot upon the ground. In an instant
the walls of the prison split asunder, and the sky was

‘above them. The Demon leaped from the earth, carrying

the young man by the girdle, and flew through the air so:

swiftly that the stars appeared to slide away behind

them. In a moment he set the young man again upon
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