Omar laughed heartily at this, and Hadji Baba, much relieved, retired to have his case tried before the cadi, taking his daughter with him, for she had assured him that she had seen the old servant take it.
The old servant pleaded not guilty with earnest solemnity.
“Are you quite sure you saw him take the ring?” demanded the cadi of Ziffa.
“Quite sure,” replied the girl.
“And you are sure you did not take it?” he asked of the negro.
“Absolutely certain,” answered the old man.
“And you are convinced that you once had the ring, and now have it not?” he said, turning to Hadji Baba.
“Quite.”
“The case is very perplexing,” said the cadi, turning to the administrators of the law who stood at his elbow; “give the master and the servant each one hundred strokes of the bastinado, twenty at a time, beginning with the servant.”
The officers at once seized on the old negro, threw him down and gave him twenty blows. They then advanced to Hadji Baba, and were about to seize him, when he cried out—