“The judge now smiled upon me with evident approval, and was further confirmed in his decision by remembering that even if I claimed any compensation it would not come out of his pocket but the public’s; and I have no doubt that this argument, though not explicitly put forward, was present in the minds of all the officers of the court as well. The judge therefore ordered that the animal should be restored to me, and was pleased to use the following words. They are not my own. I am not responsible for them. But I am glad that he used them.
“ ‘This honest merchant,’ said he, ‘who has given a very clear account of his movements, we are in some fashion beholden to, on account of the temporary loss which he has suffered in the filching of his mount by the criminal with whom we have just dealt. He was indirectly the cause of that criminal’s arrest. The least we can do, therefore, is to give him his property back with the least possible delay. I order that the animal with all his accoutrements, having first been properly fed and groomed, shall be restored to him.’
“I very humbly bowed and thanked the court for its just decision. But a new complication arose.
“The chief officer of the court, the captain of those who had arrested the young man (he had by this time lost his head, so that there was no trouble to be feared from that side), conferred with his colleagues and then prostrated himself upon the earth before the judge, begging to be allowed an explanation. The judge assumed a disturbed expression and bade him be brief. He arose and admitted with evident grief that the horse, in the excitement of the arrest, and in the darkness of the moment (for all this had passed in the night), had got loose and was lost.
“Seeing the rising anger of the judge I hastily intervened. I said that I yielded to no one in my admiration for the Mounted Police of the Anti-Date force, the renown of whose efficiency had reached me even in my own distant land. I said that I would be the last to cause the least injustice or even pain. I begged that His Importance (for such was the simple title of a judge in that country) would overlook the unfortunate accident whereby my horse had been lost. I concluded by saying that I would be perfectly content with what we merchants called ‘a minimum valuation,’ that is, a payment of the price the horse would have fetched from what we merchants also call ‘a willing seller.’ In a phrase of which I confess I was secretly proud, I hinted that the doing of justice in this matter would not only be of no charge to the court, but even of some profit to them, seeing that there were certain to be fees of transfer, registration, and whatnot. As a layman I was ignorant of their amount, but I knew them to be attached to such affairs—all out of the taxes.
“The judge, the officers of the court, and every lawyer present, the very sweepers were moved to action. Sundry papers were signed (to which I put the name of Ali—it was the first that occurred to me). I was paid the sum of thirty pieces of gold, and after profound obeisances to all present, and especially to my benefactor the judge, I left the court, yet richer than I had entered it.
“My children, what next?
“It is a universal rule in commerce to follow your profits and cut your losses, and men of my profession have a sort of instinct which tells them how long the tide will be flowing with them and when it will turn. I decided that there was yet one more step for me to take.
“The arrest had taken place not far from the edge of the wood whence I had first perceived the city. There my horse, the evening before, had found good pasture. There had I loosened his saddle. There had he known an excellent place of repose. Thither did I wisely suppose my lost friend to have repaired. I sauntered therefore out of the city as though engaged upon no more than a stroll, and sure enough, a league away, under the trees which afforded a grateful shade, the noble beast was reclining, hampered only by his saddle.
“I loosened the girths. He was grateful, and our friendship was renewed. But though my affection was increased by such a recovery, I steeled my heart for what I purposed next to do.
“It is a maxim of all sound business that a thing should be sold as often as possible, and it was clear that I now had an opportunity of selling this charming creature for the third time. It was equally clear that, if I delayed, the opportunity would pass; for the story of my appearance in court would spread through the city, the officers would talk with their friends about the saddle and the description of the animal; I might even get into a difficult tangle with the authorities.
“But the whole of this propitious day was in the hand of Heaven. For, while yet the sun was high, there came upon
