Usul was at first surprised, then amused, then so delighted at the antics of the mouse that be laughed so hard he had to sit down. When the mouse made an end to its frolics, it said, "My gift to you is laughter; use it well." Then it scampered away, and just as it did, Usul started, for a drop of water had fallen on his face. All round him from the gray air he heard the sounds of moans and wailing. He felt still another drop, and in the air above him hung a dark cloud, and out of the cloud came a sorrowful voiee, which said, "Usul, I am Abiad, the White Djinni. Though thou an not much, thou wilt do for an evening's sup." And at once Usul saw his mother in their sietch, worrying for him, and he saw his young sister with no playfellow. He heard sobbing and he saw his bed, and the pot of dates on the shelf, and with each thing he saw, his heart grew heavier until it seemed it would fait from his chest and break into pieces on the gray floor. And he heard mom wails and sobs and keening, and as if in a dream, he saw himself, small and helpless, far from friends and home, lost to his people forever. He bowed his head and, putting his face in his hands, he said, "Death can be no worse." But as he cast his eyes down, he saw in die dust .the swirls and whirls and twirls left by Basbasiyah, and a smile blossomed on his lips. As he bethought himself of the hopping and the prancing of the mouse, the smile bloomed into a laugh, and before he knew it, the gray land was alive with his mirth and the echoes answered his laugh with giggles and chuckles, crows and snickers and peals.