Not long after, Morgiana, whose eyes nothing could escape, went out,
and seeing the red chalk, and arguing with herself as she had done
before, marked the other neighbors' houses in the same place and
manner.
The robber, on his return to his company, valued himself much on the
precaution he had taken, which he looked upon as an infallible way of
distinguishing Ali Baba's house from the others; and the captain and
all of them thought it must succeed. They conveyed themselves into the
town with the same precaution as before; but when the robber and his
captain came to the street, they found the same difficulty; at which
the captain was enraged, and the robber in as great confusion as his
predecessor.
Thus the captain and his troop were forced to retire a second time,
and much more dissatisfied; while the robber who had been the author
of the mistake underwent the same punishment, which he willingly
submitted to.
The captain, having lost two brave fellows of his troop, was afraid of
diminishing it too much by pursuing this plan to get information of
the residence of their plunderer. He found by their example that their
heads were not so good as their hands on such occasions; and therefore
resolved to take upon himself the important commission.
Accordingly, he went and addressed himself to Baba Mustapha, who did
him the same service he had done to the other robbers. He did not set
any particular mark on the house, but examined and observed it so
carefully, by passing often by it, that it was impossible for him to
mistake it.
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