to do?"

"It will be impossible," he answered, "for me to live here if I marry
her without her father's consent; I propose, therefore, to leave the
town with her this very night."

"A clever man," I replied, "is at home in any place. Wherever he goes
he may say this is my country. But, in travelling, many hardships must
be endured--hunger, thirst, fatigue, and dangers from men and wild
beasts;--how will this tender girl be able to bear them?

"You seem to be wanting in wisdom and forethought in thus abandoning
home and country. Take courage! be guided by me, and you shall marry
her and live comfortably here. But first we must take her back to her
father's house."

To this he consented without hesitation, and we set out at once.
Guided by her, we entered through the secret passage, carried off
everything of value, and got away without exciting alarm.

Having hidden our booty in some old ruins, we were going home, when we
fell in with some of the city guard. Fortunately, there chanced to be
an elephant tied up at the side of the road. We quickly, therefore,
unfastened the rope, mounted him, and urged him at full speed; and
before the watchmen could recover from their confusion, were out of
sight. Halting the elephant close to the wall of a deserted garden, we
got over it with the help of the trees growing there, escaped on the
other side, and reached home undetected, where we bathed and went to
bed.