The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-04-06
THE FORTY THIEVES.
BY Girls, THE FAT cONTRIBUroR

The forty thieves lived great many
years ago, when thieves were scarce, hence
they are embalmed in story. Had they
lived in our day, when thieves are 30 nu-
merous they would have been totally dis
regarded on account of the insignifcance
of their number
The story is simple. Cassim and Ali
Baba were brothers CasSim is rich and
Ali is poor While the former leads a life
Of luxury and ease. the latter hauls wood
for living. and often bemoans his fate,
forgetful OF the fact that Grant once fol-
lowed that honorable occupation. Wood
haulers should not despair, for they may
become President for what they know, or
for what they don't know; it's hard to tell
which now -a-Slays.
One dav when Ali Raba went to the for
est to get jag of wood, he saw horsemen
approaching Fearing evil he climbed into
a tree and concealed himself. The troop
halted under that identical tree, dismount-
ed and took from their horses several heav-
! ily-loaded carlDet-bags, which led him to
infer that they were carpet baggers return
ed from the south, gorged with the spoils
| Of office. He found. however, they were
] regular HTtncS8itIlal tulcNco, anu lHcu Hc
had more respect for them.
The captain of the band-there were
! Just forty of fthem-approached rock hard
I by and uttered these words, ''Open Sc
I same - when, as Ali afterward expressed
/ it to his wife, you'd Orter see Sammy
open. Instantly IN the word, door con-
+ cealed in the rock opened az if by magic,
and the captain entered, followed by his
! band, who marched in open order by the
left flank double rat-tail file, centering on
the left wing, the extreme right resting on
the doOr-sill. at q shoulder-arms, muskets
reversed. Military readers may under
stand this, don't.-F. G.
When they were all in the captain shout
ed, ''Shut, Sesame - when Sammy imme-
dat tsly shut, that being apparently what
Sammy was for. Shortly after the robbers,
having stored away their plunder, reap
peared the door closed after them at the
word Of command, and mounting their
horses rode away When they were gone,
Ali Baba, getting down from the tree, tried
the magic word himself, when open flew
the door, and after a little hesitation he en-
tered the robbers cave.
Great was his astonishment at what he
beheld. He found splendid apartments,
suitable for married or single gentlemen,
handsomely furnished, and lighted with
gas, with or without board, and within five
m nutss' walk Of the post-Ofice. On every
hand were heaps of diamonds, bags Of
gold and dead loads Of greenbacks. Here,
ther, was where the robl ers hvel when they
were at home, and stored their plunder
He determined to have his whack at it. So
l. III Al
carry, he started for home.
Imagine the delight of Mrs. Baba when
her husband arrived. (She had been very
much concerned over his prolonged ab-
sence, because he was Ali Bsba she had.
She helped him unload the gold and store
it away in the cellar with an alacrity she
seldom displayed in doing her housework.
She was anxious TO know Just how much
there was of it, 80 IS to make out a correct
income return to the government. Accord
ingIy, while her husband was gone to put
up the mule, she tried to count it. Nat
urally wearying of this employment after
she had got up among the millions, she con-
cluded to measure it, and for that purpose
ran across the street to her sister-in-law's
Mrs. Cassims, and borrowed her half-bush-
ell measure, pretending that she wanted to
measure some potatoes. As 1t was 30 un-
usual a thing for Ali Babas family to have
half half bushel Of potatoes at one time,
Mrs Cassim's curiosity was excited, 20 she
put Spaulding's glue on the bottom of the
measure to see what kind OF potatoes they
were, which was mighty small potatoes on
the part of Mrs. Cassim.
When the measure was returned Mrs. G.
! found five cent nickle adhering to the
bottom. This was . very suspicious cir
cumstance. indeed. ''When," said she to
Cassim, in relating the c rcumstance and
showing the nickle, when did your broth
| er ever have five cents IN the house all ut
! once Z OF q sudden he seems TO have bush
| els of money" Cassim walked over TO his
brothers house and questioned him on the
subject, when Ali, being generous-hearted
fellow, told him all about the cavern. Next
day Cassim went up there to get some Of it
himself, but after loading himself down
with wealth he forgot the magic words
which opened the door, and 80 couldn't get
out. He tried various words cried, ''Open
See-Tommy r ''Open See-Billy" and
'tOpen See-Polly- Ann r. but all to no pur-
pose, because his memory couldn't come
and see Sammy. The result was the rob
bers came and killed him, and being always
ready to make . quarter when they could,
they quartsrsd him-he was the only gen.
tleman who had ever been quartered there
before except themselves-and hung up in
side the door a. warning to any other
rash intruder who might seek TO enter with
out suitable recommendation from his
last place.
The result was m might have been antic-
ipated. Mrs. Cassim alarmed ct her hus-
bands absence, sent Ali 10 look for him.
He went to the cavern, and ON finding his
murdered brother, felt almost q badly cut
a. his brother was. He packed the lost
four sod remains Of his brother in one Of
the sacks which were on the mule he
brought along, and then, 20 balance IL,
make accounts square with his brother, q
it.wege, tho0ghtfully stafBed the Other saeh
I with cold and khimnm m that N m mfhers