Thereupon he returned to the forest and told the thieves he had made sure of the house and had made a plan such that at last he was certain he could not mistake it. And first he ordered them to divide into small parties, and to go into the neighboring towns and villages and buy nineteen mules and thirty-eight large leather jars to carry oil, one of which must be full, and all the others empty.

In the course of two or three days the thieves returned， and the Captain made one of his men enter each jar, armed as he thought necessary. Then he closed the jars as if each were full of oil, leaving, however, a small slit open to admit air. The mules were then laden with the thirty-seven thieves, each concealed in a jar, and the jar that was filled with oil. The Captain took the road to the city at the hour that had been agreed, and arrived about an hour after sunset. He went straight to the house of Ali Baba, where he found Ali Baba at the door, enjoying the fresh air after supper. "Sir," said he,“I have brought oil from a great distance to sell tomorrow at the market, and I do not know where to go to pass the night; if it would not give you much trouble, do me the favor to take me in."