So Haji Kas arose after nightfall, and went secretly to the house that the woman had appointed to him; and she opened to him, and set meat and drink before him; and while they made merry together, behold, there was a knocking at the door. And the woman went softly to hearken; and she said, “It is my husband. Lo! he is returned from his journey, and I wist not aught of his coming; and I fear that he will do us a mischief, if he find us together in the house.”

Then said Haji Kas, “I conjure thee, O my lady, that thou show me a way of escape.” But she answered, “There is no other door. Hide thee in this great chest; I only have the key thereof, and when my husband is departed then straightway I will set thee free.”

So Haji Kas entered the chest, and the woman turned the key upon him. And she opened the door to her husband, and said, “A greeting to thee! Behold, I have taken Haji Kas in the snare that I have laid.” And the man said, “Where is he?” And she answered, “He is in that chest.[{212}] Cord it tightly, and we will eat and be merry, and thereafter we will take counsel what we shall do with Haji Kas.”

And when the morning morrowed, the man arose, and said, “What shall we now do with Haji Kas? Come let us open the chest, and I will beat him and let him go.” But the woman said, “Not so. Call thou hither a porter, and lay the chest upon his shoulders, and bid him bear it to the bazaar; and let Achmet the salesman cry it for sale to the highest bidder; but charge him to sell it unopened; no man shall know what is in it, until that it is sold.” Then the man did as the woman had bidden him, and the porter departed to the bazaar.

And as he was going down he met a water-seller; and the water-seller said, “A greeting to thee. Whither goest thou?” And he answered, “I bear this chest to the bazaar.” Then said the water-seller, “What is in it?” And the porter said, “Nay that I know not, for no man may know what is in it till it is sold.”

Then the water-seller went near and hearkened; and he said, “There is some living thing within it. Beware lest it be a jinn. Peradventure it will do thee hurt.” And the porter dropped the chest, and sprang away from it, and cried, “I take refuge with Allah from Satan the stoned.”

Then the water-seller answered, “See now this pool of water. It is my counsel that thou sink the chest awhile therein.”

Now when Haji Kas heard that saying he cried aloud out of the chest, saying “See thou do it not, for I am the Seyyid, Haji Kas.” And the porter answered, “Nay, but this is a cunning jinn.” And Haji Kas cried, “By Allah, I am indeed the Seyyid, and if thou let me go I will give thee a great reward.”

But the porter said, “Not so; for I have been paid my hire and my charge is laid upon me. If then I deliver not the chest to Achmet, who will henceforth employ me in the bazaar?”

Then Haji Kas spake to the water-seller saying, “I pray thee then, friend, that thou will hie thee to the house of my son; and bid him haste to the bazaar, and buy the chest of[{213}] Achmet, how great soever may be the price thereof. And let him bear it away unopened, that I be not discovered therein.”