And as he was going down he met a water-seller; and the water-seller said, "A greeting to thee. Whither goest thou?" And he answered, "I bear this chest to the bazaar." Then said the water-seller, "What is in it?" And the porter said, "Nay that I know not, for no man may know what is in it till it is sold." Then the water-seller went near and hearkened; and he said, "There is some living thing within it. Beware lest it be a jinn. Peradventure it will do thee hurt." And the porter dropped the chest, and sprang away from it, and cried, "I take refuge with Allah from Satan the stoned." Then the water-seller answered, "See now this pool of water. It is my counsel that thou sink the chest awhile therein." Now when Haji Kas heard that saying he cried aloud out of the chest, saying "See thou do it not, for I am the _Seyyid_, Haji Kas." And the porter answered, "Nay, but this is a cunning jinn." And Haji Kas cried, "By Allah, I am indeed the _Seyyid_, and if thou let me go I will give thee a great reward." But the porter said, "Not so; for I have been paid my hire and my charge is laid upon me. If then I deliver not the chest to Achmet, who will henceforth employ me in the bazaar?" Then Haji Kas spake to the water-seller saying, "I pray thee then, friend, that thou will hie thee to the house of my son; and bid him haste to the bazaar, and buy the chest of Achmet, how great soever may be the price thereof. And let him bear it away unopened, that I be not discovered therein." So the water-seller ran to bear the message, and the porter took the chest and bore it to the bazaar. And Achmet the salesman took the chest and set it on the bench before him, and he cried aloud, "O Moslems, I have for sale a chest--a chest and all that is in it. What will ye give me for the chest, and for the contents of the chest?" And the merchants said, "What is in the chest?" And Achmet answered, "Nay that I know not, for none may know what is in it until that it is sold." Then the merchants came together; and one said, "It is a good chest. I will give a toman[114] for it." And another said, "I will give two tomans." Then came to them the son of Haji Kas, breathless with much running, and he cried aloud unto the salesman, saying, "Oh, Achmet, sell me the chest for five tomans." And a Jew merchant answered, "I will give six tomans"; and the Haji's son said, "I will give thee twelve!" Then the merchants spake one to another, saying, "Verily we know not what is in the chest; but behold the Haji's son knoweth, and it seemeth that it is a thing of price. Of a surety it is smuggled tobacco from the warehouse of the Sheikh; or maybe hashish, and worth much gold." And they that were aforetime backward were now eager to buy. But though many bid for the chest, yet the Haji's son bid higher, and Achmet the salesman sold him the chest for sixty tomans; and he wiped his brow, and paid the money and called a porter to bear the chest away.