20
ALI BABA
shewed that he was not only the pretended oil-merchant, but the captain of the forty robbers who had slain his brother Cassim, nor could he doubt that his perfidious aim had been to destroy him, and probably his son with the concealed dagger.
Ali Baba, who felt the new obligation he owed to Morgiana for thus saving his life a second time, embraced her, and said, 'My dear Morgiana, I give you your liberty, but my gratitude must not stop there, I will also marry you to my son, who can esteem and admire you no less than does his father.'
Then turning to his son, he added, 'You, my son, will not refuse the wife I offer; for, in marrying Morgiana, you take to wife the preserver and benefactor of yourself and your family.'
The son, far from shewing any dislike, readily and joyfully accepted his proposed bride, having long entertained an affection for the good slave Morgiana.
Having rejoiced in their deliverance, they buried the captain that night with great privacy in the trench along with his troop of robbers; and a few days afterwards Ali Baba celebrated the marriage of his son and Morgiana with a sumptuous entertainment, and every one who knew Morgiana said, she was worthy of her good fortune, and highly commended her master's generosity towards her.
During a twelve month, Ali Baba forbore to go near the forest, but at length his curiosity
