On their catching up with the squadron the captain gave the order to halt, the trooper let Burnet down, and led him to his officer, explaining that he seemed to be an idiot, not knowing a horse from a mule nor a tail from a stirrup iron.
"Your name?" demanded the captain.
"Yusuf, may you live for ever," replied Burnet.
"What are you? Why are you wandering here alone?"
"Ahi! I am an ass-head; that giant there says so, and so did my master, Firouz Ali."
"The barber of Bagdad!"
"Truly he is a barber, and of Bagdad; and he has brushes and sharp knives and soap, and he pours water on the soap——"
"This must be that witless apprentice of the barber's," the captain interrupted, "of whom they tell that he filled the mouth of Bukkad Bey with soap."
"Mashallah! was it not well done?" cried Burnet, with a foolish smile. "It was like cream in a cup of raspberries."
"The boy is a fool," said the captain. "You left Firouz Ali: what are you doing here?"