"As soon as Yussef saw the cavalier she knew that he was the Caliph, and remembering that he was then seeking everywhere for beautiful women to wait upon his sick daughter, she formed on the moment the most spiteful scheme of mischief that ever you heard of.
"With two or three crazy leaps she alighted at the feet of the Caliph and began to miaou a tune of the most singular character.
"'By the beard of the Prophet!' said Haroun al Raschid, 'This is passing wonderful! Catch that cat!'
"But Yussef was too quick for that. She turned two somersaults, and miaoued again. The guards and the Caliph followed her in wonder, while she retreated until they came to the cobbler's door. Here she miaoued once more, and leaped into an open window.
"When the Caliph drew near as she had desired he would do, he looked into the window and saw the beautiful Lelie.
"'Bismillah!' cried he, as he thrust back the guards. 'Blessed be cats for evermore! Here is the maiden I have sought for my daughter.'
"So saying, he turned and gave brief orders to his attendants bidding them be careful and secret; and thus saying moved away quietly through the deserted streets.
"Very early next morning when the cobbler had gone to market Yussef heard a noise, and looking saw the shop full of black slaves who seized Lelie, muffled her in a shawl, and leaving a bag of gold on the counter hurried away swiftly.
"As soon as they left Yussef hastened after them, and when they entered a gilded caique on the Tigris, she also tried to leap into the boat. But to her dismay one of the guards seized her by the tail and threw her thirty feet away into the river.
"Yussef spluttered and spit as she came to the surface, and must surely have been drowned had she been a real cat.