“The man leaned his head on his hand and thought a while, and then he rose and put on the best clothes he had, which were poor enough, and tied a rope girdle around his waist.
“‘I shall go to court as a pilgrim,’ he said to his wife. ‘When you see me, do you go around among the other servants and tell them that a great conjurer has arrived from the East. In this way it will come quickly to the King’s ears. Nothing will come of that, but the next morning something valuable will be missing from the palace. When you hear of it, do you tell the rest that you know a man who can find whatever is missing.’
“‘But how will you do this?’ asked the woman.
“‘Leave that to me,’ he replied.
“The man carried out his plan, and his wife followed his directions. She pointed him out to her fellow-servants as a great conjurer from the East. Ragged as he was, the man stalked majestically about the palace-yard, and after a while sat on the ground with his face to the wall, and shook his head from side to side, and made many queer motions with his hands.
“Now, while the man sat there going through his queer motions, he heard voices on the other side of the wall. He judged that two men were resting in the shade on that side, and he knew by the way they talked that they had come with the young Prince who was to marry the Princess Myla.
“‘You have left the blanket on the horse, I hope,’ said one.
“‘Yes, everything is attended to,’ replied the other.
“‘That is well,’ remarked the first. ‘The Prince, our master, desires the Princess Myla to be the first to look on this beautiful horse, which has just come out of Arabia. I will go myself to see that the animal is properly cared for.’
“Presently two strangers came through the gate, laughing and talking, and the man who was playing the conjurer knew they were the keepers of the horse. He rose when they went by, and watched them until he saw what part of the palace stables they entered. Then he slowly made his way out of the palace grounds.