. Stories from the Arabian nights . the back of the magicsteed. For a time, confident of his skill as a riderand undismayed either by the speed or altitudeof his flight, the prince had no wish to returnto the palace ; but presently the thought ofhis fathers anxiety occurred to him, and being of atender and considerate disposition he immediatelyendeavoured to divert his steed from its forwardcourse. This he sought to do by turning in thecontrary direction the peg which he had handledwhen mounting, but to his astonishment thehorse responded by rising still higher in the airand flying forward wit
. Stories from the Arabian nights . the back of the magicsteed. For a time, confident of his skill as a riderand undismayed either by the speed or altitudeof his flight, the prince had no wish to returnto the palace ; but presently the thought ofhis fathers anxiety occurred to him, and being of atender and considerate disposition he immediatelyendeavoured to divert his steed from its forwardcourse. This he sought to do by turning in thecontrary direction the peg which he had handledwhen mounting, but to his astonishment thehorse responded by rising still higher in the airand flying forward with redoubled courage then deserted him, his situationmight have become perilous ; but preserving hisaccustomed coolness he began carefully to searchfor the means by which the speed of the machinemight be abated, and before long he perceivedunder the horses mane a smaller peg, which hehad no sooner touched than he felt himself de-scending rapidly toward the earth, with a speedthat lessened the nearer he came to THE MAGIC HORSE As he descended, the daylight in which hither-to he had been travelling faded from view, andhe passed within a few minutes from sunsetinto an obscurity so dense that he could nolonger distinguish the nature of his environment,till, as the horse alighted, he perceived beneathhim a smooth expanse ending abruptly on allsides at an apparent elevation among the objectssurrounding it. Dismounting he found himself on the roof ofa large palace, with marble balustrades dividingit in terraces, and at one side a staircase whichled down to the interior. With a spirit everready for adventure Prince Firouz Schah imme-diately descended, groping his way through thedarkness till he came to a landing on the furtherside of which an open door led into a room wherea dim light was burning. The prince paused at the doorway to listen,but all he could hear was the sound of men breath-ing heavily in their sleep. He pushed the doorand entered ; and there across
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