NOT A PIN TO CHOOSE

and his back was sore with the beating that he had
suffered. All that night he continued to weep and wail,
and when the morning had come he was weeping and
wailing still.

Now it chanced that a wise man passed that way, and, -
hearing his lamentation, stopped to inquire the cause of
his trouble. Abdallah toid the other of his sorrow, and
the wise man listened, smiling, till he was done, and then
he laughed outright. ‘My son,” said he, ‘if every one
in your case should shed tears as abundantly as you have
done, the world would have been drowned in salt water
by this time. As for your friend, think not ill of him;
no man loveth another who is always giving.”

“Nay,” said the young fagot-maker, ‘‘I believe not a
word of what you say. Had I been in his place I would
have been grateful for the benefits, and not have hated
the giver.”

But the wise man only laughed louder than ever.
‘Maybe you will have the chance to prove what you say
some day,” said he, and went his way, still shaking with

his merriment.

“ All this,” said Ali Baba, “is only the beginning of my
story, and now if the damsel will fill up my pot of ale, I
will begin in earnest and tell about the cave of the Gente.”

He watched Little Brown Betty until she had filled his
mug, and the froth ran over the top. Then he took a deep

draught, and began again.

Though Abdallah had affirmed that he did not believe
what the wise man had said, nevertheless the words of the
other were a comfort, for it makes one feel easier in

225 P