All at once an idea came to me. I pulled up on one side the stakes that held the tent, and taking the canvas by the lower edge, I turned it half-way over, just as a strong wind might have done. There remained nothing between us, and I saw the Prince seated on the ground, his elbow on his knee, his head resting on his hand. He raised his head quickly, and saw my giant form outlined against the starry sky.
"Iravata! my friend, my companion in misfortune!" murmured he.
Tears came to my eyes; but there was no time for anything of that kind! I touched the chains of my Master, feeling them to judge of their weight. They were nothing for me. With one blow they were broken—first those on the feet, and finally the heavier one, which, attached to a belt of iron, chained the Prince to a gallows.
"What are you doing? How is it that you are free?" said Alemguir, who, by degrees, was recovering from his prostration.
All at once he understood; he sprang to his feet.
"Why! you are liberating me!—You are going to save me!"
I made a sign that it was so, but that we must be quick. Calm and resolute now, he cast off the remnants of his shackles. I showed him the tether on my foot, and the stake that dragged after it. He stooped down and unfastened the cord; then I helped him to mount up on my neck.... Oh! what joy to feel him there again! But we were far from being out of danger.
He spoke no more. He concentrated all his attention upon directing our flight through the darkness.
Coming out of the obscurity of the tent, he could see all the better, and from on high he could look about him, listen to the voices of the sentinels, and ascertain something of the arrangement of the camp, and of its extent, and its nearest limits.
He bent forward, darting his looks in every direction; but it was impossible to pierce the darkness for more than a hundred feet in advance.