“I very humbly bowed and thanked the court for its just decision. But a new complication arose.
“The chief officer of the court, the captain of those who had arrested the young man (he had by this time lost his head, so that there was no trouble to be feared from _that_ side), conferred with his colleagues and then prostrated himself upon the earth before the judge, begging to be allowed an explanation. The judge assumed a disturbed expression and bade him be brief. He arose and admitted with evident grief that the horse, in the excitement of the arrest, and in the darkness of the moment (for all this had passed in the night), had got loose and was lost.
“Seeing the rising anger of the judge I hastily intervened. I said that I yielded to no one in my admiration for the Mounted Police of the Anti-Date force, the renown of whose efficiency had reached me even in my own distant land. I said that I would be the last to cause the least injustice or even pain. I begged that his Importance (for such was the simple title of a judge in that country) would overlook the unfortunate accident whereby my horse had been lost. I concluded by saying that I would be perfectly content with what we merchants called ‘a minimum valuation,’ that is, a payment of the price the horse would have fetched from what we merchants also call ‘a willing seller.’ In a phrase of which I confess I was secretly proud, I hinted that the doing of justice in this matter would not only be of no charge to the court, but even of some profit to them, seeing that there were certain to be fees of transfer, registration, and what not. As a layman I was ignorant of their amount, but I knew them to be attached to such affairs--all out of the taxes.
“The judge, the officers of the court, and every lawyer present, the very sweepers were moved to action. Sundry papers were signed (to which I put the name of Ali--it was the first that occurred to me). I was paid the sum of thirty pieces of gold, and after profound obeisances to all present, and especially to my benefactor the judge, I left the court, yet richer than I had entered it.
“It is a universal rule in commerce to follow your profits and cut your losses, and men of my profession have a sort of instinct which tells them how long the tide will be flowing with them and when it will turn. I decided that there was yet one more step for me to take.