Said begged for mercy, promising them a handsome sum as ransom: but they laughed mockingly and rode away. He listened to the sound of their horses’ hoofs for a few moments and then gave himself up for lost. He thought of the grief of his father when his only son did not return to him, and he thought of his own misery, in being left to die such a terrible death in the flower of his youth. The sun rose higher and higher and scorched his head and face. With great difficulty he succeeded in rising to his feet. But this gave him little relief. The little whistle had fallen from his girdle and hung loosely from his neck. He succeeded at length, after great trouble, in taking it between his lips; but again it failed him. Overcome with despair he sank down upon the sand once more and speedily became unconscious. Several hours later he awoke, hearing a voice close to him and feeling himself seized by the shoulder. He uttered a cry of horror, for he thought it was a jackal that was about to devour him. Next he felt a touch upon his legs, and became aware that it was not the claws of a wild beast that were mauling him--but the hands of a human being tending him carefully, and then he heard a voice say, “He is alive, but evidently takes us for enemies.” At length Said opened his eyes and saw a little man bending over him. He was very fat and had small eyes and a very long beard. He spoke to the young man in friendly tones, helped him to rise, gave him food and drink, and told him as he refreshed himself that he was a merchant from Bagdad, named Kalum-Bek, and that he dealt in shawls and veils for women. He had been on a business journey and was on his way home when he found Said lying half dead upon the sand. The young man’s brilliant apparel and the glittering jewels in his dagger had attracted his attention, and he had used every effort to revive him, and at length he had succeeded. The young man thanked him for saving his life, for he saw that without this man’s intervention he must have perished miserably, and as he had no means of helping himself and did not take kindly to the idea of trudging afoot through the desert, he thankfully accepted a seat on one of the heavily-laden camels and determined to go to Bagdad first, and then see if he could join himself to a party travelling to Balsora. [Illustration: _THE ADVENTURES OF SAID_ _“He saw a little man bending over him”_ _p. 292_]