RAKUSH AND HIS MASTER I4I 



cast your leopard-skin about you, and hasten by 

 the nearest route to the deliverance of Iran's 

 ruler." 



" It is well, my father," said Rustem. " My 

 sword is ready, and I will ride alone into Mazin- 

 deran. And if fortune favor me I will retrieve 

 the losses that have been suffered there." 



Then he mounted Rakush and set out by the 

 shortest road across the Great Salt Desert that 

 lies toward Mazinderan; and such was the speed 

 of the good horse that in twelve hours they ac- 

 complished a journey of more than two days. 

 Late in the evening Rustem dismounted, and hav- 

 ing taken the saddle from the horse's back, he 

 turned him loose to graze upon the scant herbage. 

 Then he built a fire of dry brush and lay down 

 beside it to rest for the night. 



A fierce lion, who had his lair in a cluster of 

 reeds close by, saw the tall man and the rose- 

 colored steed, and crept forward to attack them. 

 Rakush heard him coming and hastened to meet 

 him; and before the lion could make a spring, 

 the horse leaped upon him and beat him down 

 with his hoofs and stamped upon him till he 

 died. Rustem, awakened by the great noise, 

 sprang to his feet only in time to see the dead 



