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At this the robber ran back as fast as he could to his comrades,

and told the captain how a horrid witch had got into the house,

and had spat at him and scratched his face with her long bony

fingers; how a man with a knife in his hand had hidden himself

behind the door, and stabbed him in the leg; how a black monster

stood in the yard and struck him with a club, and how the devil

had sat upon the top of the house and cried out, 'Throw the

rascal up here!' After this the robbers never dared to go back to

the house; but the musicians were so pleased with their quarters

that they took up their abode there; and there they are, I dare

say, at this very day.

OLD SULTAN