Thou, O
Chamberlain, shall fill my place in council and command, and
thou, O Rustem, shalt be my brother's deputy in battle. Let none
know that we are not with you, and after three days we will
rejoin you." Then he chose out a hundred of the stoutest
cavaliers, and he and Sherkan and Dendan set out for the
hermitage, with mules and chests for the transport of the
treasure. As soon as it was morning, the Chamberlain gave the
signal for departure, and the troops set out, thinking that the
two Kings and the Vizier were with them. Now the Syrians that
were with Dhat ed Dewahi had taken their departure privily, after
they had gone in to her and kissed her hands and feet and gotten
her leave and taken her orders. Then she waited till it was dark
night and going in to Zoulmekan and his companions, said to them,
"Come, let us set out for the mountain, and take with you a few
men." They obeyed her and left five horsemen at the foot of the
mountain, whilst the rest rode on before Dhat ed Dewahi, to whom
new strength seemed given for excess of joy, so that Zoulmekan
said to his companions, "Glory be to God who sustains this holy
man, whose like we never saw!" Now she had written a letter to
the King of Constantinople and despatched it by a carrier-pigeon,
acquainting him with what had passed and adding, "Do thou send me
ten thousand horsemen of the stoutest of the Greeks and let them
come stealthily along the foot of the mountains, lest the Muslim
host get sight of them, to the hermitage and hide themselves
there, till I come to them with the Muslim King and his brother,
for I have inveigled them and will bring them thither, together
with the Vizier Dendan and a hundred horse, no more, that I may
deliver to them the crosses that are in the hermitage.
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