ENTITLED _AL-KANTARA_, OR THE BRIDGE
When the hour of public executions had arrived and the boys were
assembled once more at their uncle’s feet to hear the story of his
fortunes, (their minds full of his last success), the old man, still
occupied with that pleasing memory, began at once the continuation of
his life.
“I left the valley, as I told you, my dear nephews, nourished by the
memory of a whole people’s gratitude and giving thanks to God who had
made me the humble instrument of so great a good. They err who think
that great wealth is marked with oppression, or that the rich man
has despoiled the populace. Upon the contrary, the fortunes of the
wealthy are but an index of what excellent work they have done for
all; and I, for my part, equally joined in my heart the memory of all
the benefits I had conferred upon my kind in the matter of Pipkins,
and my overflowing satisfaction at the heavy bags of coin which
swayed upon the backs of my camels.
“Day after day we proceeded, my caravan and I, through the high
hills, pitching our camp each evening by some wooded torrent side
and nourishing ourselves with the provisions with which I had amply
stored my company at my departure.
“Such scenes were solemn and inclined the mind to reverence. Never
had my prayers been more sincere and deep than they were during the
long watches I passed in the cloudless nights of those mountains, in
the solemnity of their vast woods; and the holy thoughts of grateful
affluence harmonized with the ceaseless voices of the forest.
“I had during this long journey through the barrier range but little
opportunity to exercise those gifts in which I may humbly say I
excel. For these villages were few and poor and the opportunities
for talent were rare. It was indeed my duty to keep my hand in, as
the saying goes, and not to let my wealth diminish as I passed. Thus
I would, for mere practice, strike some little bargain from time to
time. I would purchase obsolete arms from some village less backward
than the rest and sell them at some further stage onward to rude
mountaineers who had not even heard of such ancient weapons. I was
not above offering to carry, as my caravan passed, sundry goods from
one farm to another at an agreed price, and these (after selecting
what from among them seemed to me best worth keeping) I would
punctually deliver to their consignees.
“I amused myself at my leisure, also, when I was in no haste, with
occasional experiments in engineering such as suit the more educated
man among his fellows. Thus I would let the water out from a dam as I
passed it and then, at a considerable price, repair the ravages the
escaping water might have made in the valley below. And I was even
agreeable to retrace my steps and repair the damage which the flood
had inevitably occasioned to the barrier itself: charging a suitable
sum for both operations.
“Sometimes--when the occasion offered--I did business on a somewhat
larger scale. I remember purchasing a whole train of wheat which was
on its way to one of the larger hamlets, and when I arrived there
keeping the people in some suspense (but not to the point of actual
famine) until their necessity very naturally produced an excellent
price for the grain. I also negotiated ransoms from time to time upon
commission when I found myself in a district of brigands--simple
folk--and I picked up some very curious carvings and pieces of metal
work at a price satisfying to their rude owners yet promising an
enormous profit when I should reach the plains.
“But all these were mere jests and pastimes, the occupation of
enforced idleness as my long journey through the hills continued. At
last I came to a place which had been described to me by a trusty
servant, where, from the height of a pass I saw some thousands of
feet below me the foothills descending rapidly on to an even plain
which stretched, brown and sun-burned, to the horizon. Not far from
the base of the mountains, at the edge of this plain, a noble river
wandered in many branches, separated by sandbanks; for I had been
seven weeks in the hills and it was now the height of summer, the
snows had long since melted away on the heights, and the stream was
low.
“I pitched my last camp a mile or two from the hither bank of this
great river, and sent forward certain of my servants to discover how
best it might be crossed. They returned the next morning and told me
that in several of its branches it was too deep to be forded, but
at the place where the shores seemed to approach each other (where
there was no interrupting islands, but one continuous sea of water
four furlongs wide), a ferry had been established from a road-end
and plied regularly for the passage of merchants, pilgrims and other
travellers who there went over from the hills to the Kingdom of the
Plain upon the further bank. I sent them back with an appointment for
the ferry to be prepared to take my numerous caravan from the first
hour after sunrise on the morrow. We packed all our gear, struck
camp in the first dusk of dawn and duly reached the ferry head where
a large flat boat manned with a dozen rowers captained by the old
ferryman of the place waited us on a sort of wharf.
“The passage was tedious, and would take the whole day; for the
stream was swift and no more than one camel could cross at a time.
“I was in some little hesitation how to act. If I remained upon the
hither bank until all had passed over I could not be certain that my
servants who had gone ahead would not play me a trick. If I crossed
first I could not overlook the doings of my servants who had yet to
cross; and though I had no reason to doubt their perfect honesty,
neither had I any reason to doubt their vile thievish character. At
last I made the following plan: I discharged all the camels of their
packs, putting the packs on board in one heap, being very careful
to put on board all the food as well as the coin. With this and
one camel which I attended myself and hobbled, I crossed alone. I
then went back again with the ferryman and his crew, still keeping
my provisions and my coin, and brought over another camel and his
driver, and so on until the whole of my company was transferred. Not
till all the camels and their drivers were assembled, clamouring with
hunger, upon the further bank, did I allow the coin and food to be
landed under my very eye.
“The time which all this took made my retinue ravenously hungry, as I
have said, and as the day wore on I was indeed touched by the earnest
prayers they made for a little food, but I was too wise to yield, and
it was not until the whole of my company was gathered together on the
further bank, and I with it, that I permitted the cases to be landed
and gave them all a hearty meal.
“It was by that time near sunset. We pitched our camp and waited till
the morning to find a more regular habitation, for I had noticed a
very little way off from the further bank, and somewhat upstream, not
a few scattered houses standing in gardens and shaded in a grove of
trees.
“I had as yet no plan how I might use the sums of which I was
possessed. I was rather waiting for a venture to come to me than
going out myself to seek it, when a chance word from the old
ferryman, as I paid him the fares (which I had already contracted for
at a great reduction, seeing how numerous we were), started me upon a
train of thought.
“And here, my nephews, I will beg you to observe that any hint of
opportunity must be seized at once. It is thus that great things are
done.
“What the ferryman said was, ‘A curse on those who come so loaded’
(for he grumbled and contended that his old crazy craft might have
sprung a leak under such a pressure of traffic).
“‘Yet,’ said I in reply, ‘you have no lack of custom. As it is this
day’s business has left many disappointed, and I see upon the further
bank the fires of those who have been kept waiting the whole day.
They will be a hundred or more to claim your services by morning.’
“‘That is true,’ he answered, ‘but luckily few come as loaded as
you or with so many beasts. This is none the less a good place of
traffic, for it is the only passage across the water for many miles
up and down stream, and serves the main road through the kingdom.’
“I asked him why had he not thought to meet the pressure by
purchasing larger boats, or more of them, and hiring more men; since
it was clear there was profit in the place, and a greater demand of
travellers than he could accommodate.
“He answered again in the surly tone which people use when they boast
of changeless custom, that the old boat had been good enough for his
father and had served him all his own life, and was good enough for
him. By this reply I saw that he was without the funds for replacing
his old boat by more and better craft. This my discovery was the
beginning of all that followed.
“Before striking my camp the next day I first put the old ferryman in
a reasonable humour by giving him good food and drink and treating
him honestly in my conversation. When I saw that he was in a mood to
be approached I suggested that we should enter a kind of partnership.
“‘I am,’ said I, ‘quite at my leisure. I am under no need to go
forward until I choose. I have thought of hiring some one of these
habitations which I see in yonder grove, and of making a long sojourn
here, for the perpetual spectacle of all this traffic crossing and
re-crossing a great river under the mountains is a delight.’
“The old ferryman answered that he needed no partner, that he earned
all that he needed by his trade and that he preferred to be alone. He
also said that my foreign face was distasteful to him, and that grand
people were often less trustworthy than they seemed.
“‘Your sentiments,’ I answered, ‘are a proof of your wisdom, and
also do you honour. But has it not occurred to you that if in the
place of this one old craft half a dozen good new boats, much larger
and properly manned, were provided, more comers would be tempted to
pass here, there would be less delay, both the volume of traffic
and the pace would be increased? I cannot but think it an excellent
proposition.’
“I have found, my dear nephews, that obstinate old men are easier to
shepherd into financial schemes than any other sort: nor was I here
disappointed.
“The old mule made the admission which all such men make after the
first conventional delays. He said: ‘That is all very well, but who
is to pay for them?’
“I replied quietly that I would. ‘I shall be delighted,’ said I, ‘to
furnish half a dozen new boats and to pay for the men to row them
until the new turnover begins. All I ask is that you shall still keep
your present earnings, but share with me in equal amounts the new and
extra earnings which my plan will almost certainly produce.’
“It took me some time to rub into his rusty head the terms of my
very favourable proposal. He kept on mixing up the division of any
future profits and the division of his present income. Never did I
appreciate more than during my conversations with this stupid granfer
the necessity for patience in spreading a commercial snare. I was at
fearful pains to get the thing into his obtuse brain. He _could_ be
no poorer, for I asked nothing of his present earnings: he _might_
be much richer, for he would have half any future additions. I would
guarantee him the income he was already earning on condition that the
much larger income to be earned by my methods should, over and above
that guaranteed revenue of his, be equally divided between us.
“He still seemed to think that there was some flaw or catch
somewhere. He wanted the thing, simple as it was, explained to him
over and over again. At last he got it clear; he got by heart and
repeated the refrain: ‘Cannot be poorer, may be richer.’ Nor did it
occur to him to wonder why I was so oddly generous.
“I had our contract drawn up in due form, witnessed and sealed.
I then caused to be constructed by the local shipwrights four
first-class flat boats, some ten _diram_ long by five wide. I saw to
it that they should be painted in gay colours and in general have
that vulgar violence so attractive to the masses. On their completion
I added them to the existing capital of the ferry line.
“At the same time I pointed out to him who was now my partner
something which that same stupidity of his had made him miss,
to wit, that as he had a monopoly his charges were far too low.
‘Moreover,’ said I, ‘when you consider what fine new boats I have
put into service and how, as a consequence, the stream of traffic is
increasing, to neglect the opportunity of profit is a great sin for
which you will be answerable on the Day of Resurrection. Why, it was
but yesterday that you passed over twice as many people, you assured
me, as ever you did in any other one day in your life!’
“So wedded to custom was the old gentleman that he still hesitated,
but remembering how right I had been in my innovation and unable to
contest the evidence of his own eyes how from day to day the volume
of traffic increased, he at last somewhat reluctantly consented.
The fares were doubled, yet the applications of people desiring to
cross the river grew no less. There arose a substantial profit,
over and above the old ferryman’s original income, to be divided
between us, and judged by the cost of the new boats I was making
some ten per cent. upon my money, a very reasonable profit under the
circumstances....”
Here Mahmoud the great merchant, paused, shut his eyes for a few
moments, and continued in a murmur. “A very reasonable profit. Ten
per cent., a very reasonable profit.” Then, suddenly opening his eyes
fiercely, he fixed them upon his alarmed nephews and cried.
“Was it not strange for a man of my temperament to remain thus
pottering with a few boats and leaving sacks full of coin unused? You
have only heard the beginning of the scheme upon which I was engaged!
“I had already purchased a very nice little property with a
convenient house upon it, standing some yards back from the bank of
the river and perhaps one hundred yards above the ferry.
“I next purchased a field upon the further bank, exactly opposite
this house and its garden. I amused myself sometimes by rowing across
the river from the steps at the foot of my ground to the field
which I had purchased upon the other side. I sowed that field with
beans of a particular kind with which (so I assured my neighbours),
I was experimenting after an agricultural fashion. They were much
interested, for agriculture is highly developed in that part, with
the result that the highest arts, especially those of finance, are
shamefully neglected.
“I allowed a few months to pass, during which the use of the ferry
under my improved methods had more than trebled. It attracted to
itself, now that the passage was so much easier, forms of traffic
which it had hitherto not known. I even added to the fleet one huge
pontoon for the special service of an elephant which we had warning
was to pass, and when this was known, those great animals, which had
previously used a ford several days upstream, were attracted to the
shorter mountain road by the ferry.
“When all this was so prosperously established, I informed a few of
the friends I had made in the neighbourhood that I must indulge in
the fancy of a rich man and amuse myself by throwing a bridge between
my house and the field I had bought upon the other shore. ‘It will
save me,’ said I, ‘the perpetual trouble of rowing across in my
little skiff and also occupy my leisure; for I am something of an
engineer.’
“In truth very little engineering was required. All I had to do was
to drive strong piles at intervals into the stream, lay trestles upon
them, stay them with large baulks upon either side, and so make a
good working bridge. It was no more than fit for foot traffic, but
for this it was very convenient.
“Having now this communication I bought more land upon the further
bank and developed there a very nice little model farm. I will not
deny that foot passengers would occasionally ask my leave to cross by
the bridge in order to save them the tedious passage by water. These
I always refused lest it should prejudice the interests of my friend
the ferryman; I made an exception only for one or two neighbours whom
I desired to favour, and occasionally for really important people
with whom the ferryman would not desire to quarrel. But I have a good
heart, and at last I began to wink at the use of the bridge by more
than these. Children especially (for I am very fond of young people)
I could not bear to condemn to the troublesome passage by ferry, and
I gave orders to my people to allow their trespass.
“At last a regular path got established through my farm, and whether
from slackness or generosity I know not, but I allowed the crossing
of the river by my bridge to increase in volume and to become a daily
practice. When it had reached a certain volume my detestation of
disorder compelled me to make certain regulations. I put up a gate at
either end and charged a purely nominal sum which went, as I pointed
out, to the upkeep of the bridge; though, of course, it did not
nearly meet that expenditure.
“To avoid the length and inconvenience of the passage by water this
toll was cheerfully paid, and as the season advanced my bridge was
more and more used.
“My partner, the old ferryman, saw all this with a confused eye.
He had the sense to see that I would not hurt my own investment by
competition, yet he could not but perceive that there was here an
increasing rivalry to his own long-established route.
“At last he approached me and asked me if we could not come to some
pact; I said that I saw no occasion for that. There was plenty of
room for both. I was a wealthy man, and an act of generosity was a
kind of luxury for me; I could hardly ask people who had now grown
used to so easy a passage to go back to the monopoly of the boats
with their primitive, slow and clumsy business of embarking and
disembarking, and their necessary delays and crowding. I pointed
out to my revered partner that the boats were still necessary for
all heavy merchandise and for animals, and I also pointed out very
strongly to the ferryman what he could not deny, that I would hardly
do anything to prejudice him since that would be also to prejudice
myself, as I was his partner. I even ridiculed him for not perceiving
the force of such an argument before coming to me, and for troubling
me with what was obviously nonsense.
“He still grumbled, however. He said that he was no scholar, that it
sounded all right, but that he did not feel comfortable. I answered
that I could not help his feelings, but it was a plain matter of
common sense, and so dismissed him.
“I then announced my intention of strengthening the bridge
considerably and making it sufficient to support any kind of traffic.
And so I did, at a very considerable expense. When I had completed
the task it was a fine structure which would take every kind of beast
of burden and vehicle, and a constant stream of foot-passengers. The
only exception I made was for elephants, which animal (I said) I
might allow later, but not until I had had the whole thing thoroughly
tested. These beasts, therefore, still had to use the ferry: but as
they were few in number and difficult to handle they only increased
my partner’s troubles.
“Meanwhile the fame of my bridge spread throughout all the
neighbouring countries, it gathered upon itself the whole volume of
commerce.
“The old ferryman came to me in a mixed mood of anger, panic and
delirious complaint. He said that his revenue was falling with
alarming rapidity, added (a little spitefully I thought) that my
share of that revenue would be not a quarter of what it had been
in the past year, and said very plainly that if I did not make some
change in my regulations my own profit would disappear altogether:
that nothing would be left but his original revenue and that even
this was now in doubt. As I answered nothing to all this long plea
but let him talk himself out he ended up by asking, with some irony,
whether I was one of those rich fools who liked to throw away their
money.
“Then it was that I answered him as he deserved to be answered, for
I do not easily brook insult. I told him that I had mortgaged my
share in the enterprise of the boats sometime before to a neighbour
at a very good price before ever the bridge had appeared, that I was
sufficiently pestered by this man who ascribed to me the continued
decline in the revenue which I received and handed over to him, and
that I would not have added to this perpetual annoyance the further
complaint of my inept partner. I drove him from my presence and told
him I desired never to see him again.
“I have no doubt that if I had been approached properly I would
have made some sort of compensation to the neighbour to whom I had
mortgaged at a fine figure my original share in the profits of the
ferry. I had enjoyed a large sum which he could now never recover,
and I might have let him have a fifth or a quarter of it back, merely
as a piece of generosity. But when I discovered that he had himself
resold his interest to an ignoramus who was at that moment trying
to find a purchaser for his rapidly shrinking property I lost all
patience with the combination of them and put every thought of the
ferry out of my mind. The new purchaser foreclosed on his mortgage
and got for the ferry one-third of what he had lent on it.
“It was shortly after this transaction that the old ferryman went
mad. It began by his coming to my house daily and making scenes
outside the doors. Then he took to breaking the windows, and at last
to gathering crowds and haranguing them on his imaginary persecution
at my hands. I was compelled to have him locked up in his own
defence, and I am glad to say that a merciful fever soon relieved
him of what had become incurable delusions. He did not recover his
sanity, however, as is so often the case, even in the last few hours
before death. He continued to call me the most dreadful names, and to
rave, in his mania of persecution, shouting that he had been robbed
and ruined. It was a pitiful ending to what had long been a useful if
obscure life.
“As I could not bear to see the men whom he had employed starve I
took them into my own employ for the making of a roadway to the
bridge, for the further strengthening of it, the painting of it and
so on, and sent all the ferry-boats down the river where they would
be of more use than at this part where by my enterprise and public
spirit the bridge had come into existence. I purchased them as old
timber from the owners and made an insignificant profit of some few
thousand dinars.
“It is a pretty example of the way in which names cling to places
that the point on the bank where the ferry used to ply is still
called ‘The Madman’s Grave.’ For, indeed, the old fellow was buried,
I heard, by his own request, close to where his boat used to ply.
“It was now high time to consider the whole question of the bridge
and its finances. Through my goodness of heart and generous
carelessness--defects or amiable frailties against which I have
always to be upon my guard--the whole thing had got into a very
unbusiness-like condition. The tolls were not more than customary
payments, though I had raised them from time to time. There was no
careful distinction between the different kinds of traffic. There
were no regulations for the hours at which the bridge should be used,
nor ready means of checking the accounts.
“The new Bridge had caused the town to increase largely. Its
governors and those of the adjoining districts were rightly concerned
in its proper ordering.
“The authorities of the neighbourhood fully agreed with me that
it was necessary to put the thing upon a more regular footing. I
suggested to them that before going further it would be but a kindly
and reasonable act to consult those who made regular use of the
bridge upon a large scale, and especially the merchants of the place
and of the more distant towns upon the farther bank who crossed
and recrossed at stated intervals and with considerable trains of
traffic. These, therefore, were courteously convened. They were
regarded as representing the mass of humbler footfolk and between us
all we drew up an excellent arrangement.
“First we made ourselves into a Council. Next we voted ourselves
full powers to do what we liked in managing the Bridge.
“The merchants who were regular users of the bridge and who passed
and repassed with their trains upon an average once a month, were
to be free of toll on condition that they should pay an annual
subscription to the upkeep of the structure. It came to an average,
for each of their beasts of burden, to about one-quarter of the
public toll, and for each of their servants to less than one-half.
“The common folk of the town and the villages, the herdsmen and all
the humbler multitude which used the bridge in less lucrative fashion
were to pay a toll double the original, which, after all, was only
fair when one considered that they were compelled to use the bridge
as there was now no other passage across the stream. I should add
that the local authorities which sat with us upon this Council, after
drawing up the Ordinances, passed a local By-law full of common sense
and the spirit of order. In this By-law they forbade the use of any
boats whatsoever for the crossing of the water, under the excellent
plea that men had in the past occasionally been drowned from these
and that, anyhow, there was now a good bridge and no necessity for
this old-fashioned and backward kind of travel.
“People were also forbidden to swim the river between sunset and
sunrise upon the grounds of security and police control, and between
sunrise and sunset upon the grounds of decency.
“After the new regulations had been passed the gates were
strengthened, regular officers were appointed to take the toll and I
was public-spirited enough to permit my own servants to be withdrawn
and these officials to be named (and paid) by the new Council,
retaining to myself no more than the right of receiving the tolls and
taking on of course the burden of upkeep as against the sums which
I received from the regular merchants. I also reserved to myself
the right, whenever the Council or the local authorities thought it
necessary to have the bridge strengthened or repaired or painted,
or ornamented, or decorated upon feast days, or covered with an
awning during the great heats, to take up the contract for all these
services at a price to be agreed upon between myself and the Council
and the local authorities, at the head of whom was my dear old friend
the Sheik.
“When all these arrangements had been made, the thing was on a
proper basis and formed, I am glad to say, for many other similar
arrangements a precedent, in which the advantages of the public and a
proper return on capital were both considered. My ‘Bridge Council’ as
it was called was copied in many another enterprise in those parts,
to not a few of which I was admitted as a director.
“But one must march with the times. It could not be denied that this
conservative and established way of recouping expenses and interest
by tolls, excellent in its time, no doubt, had its drawbacks. There
was something rather absurd in these progressive days (such was the
phrase used to me by my friend the Sheik of the place--which was
now growing under the influence of my bridge to be a very large
town), there was something rather absurd in the spectacle of gates
put up to block that very passage which had only been erected for
the convenience of the community! What would not posterity think of
us if they heard that we built a bridge and then put up gates to
interfere with its constant and easy use? It was a burden also upon
the community that officials should have to be employed at either end
checking payments, keeping books and all the rest of it.
“What was worse, there seemed to be some leakage. Officials could not
always be trusted to make an exact return (for they were of the baser
sort at a small salary). It was suspected that their relatives and
friends had been allowed to cross free of toll, for we could not keep
a big watch at night and there was I fear a good deal of illicit use
of the bridge.
“All of this, quite apart from the bad example it gave and the
feeling of disorder it created, was also a source of anxiety to those
who were concerned with the finance of the enterprise. The feeling
grew rapidly--at least it grew very strongly in me and I made every
effort to spread it in others--that Progress and sundry other virtues
with which the Plain prided itself (as against the half-barbaric
people of the mountains) demanded that all these anomalies should
cease, and that the simple policy of ‘THE FREE BRIDGE’ should
triumph.”
As the aged merchant described the last stage of his adventure his
face took on an animated look; he spoke with decision; there was a
freedom in his gesture which recalled his old oratorical triumphs
when he had occasion as a younger man to combine the practice of
commerce, investment and finance with the public speeches which
had rendered him famous. He seemed, for the moment, not so much the
Merchant as the Senator, the Free Bridgeite of the great old days,
and his nephews could not but admire the lofty air, the direct
glance, the eloquent vibration of voice which accompanied this mood.
“I for my part,” continued the old gentleman, now transformed by
the recollection of his part in public life, “did not fear to speak
openly in the Council and (such was my love for my fellow-citizens)
even in the market-place. I was untiring in explaining the simple
economic principles underlying the policy of The Free Bridge. I
was delighted to observe, as my efforts proceeded, two parties
forming--the Free Bridgeites, who had the tide with them and were
in the spirit of their day, and another party which, for lack of a
better name, I will call the Recalcitrants, who were but a hotchpotch
of evil-minded malcontents, dolts, public enemies, and in general a
body who had no argument save that things were very well as they were
and it was a pity to change.
“I need scarcely tell you which of these competing interests won.
Intelligence, business enterprise, public spirit, common sense,
justice and eighteen or nineteen other things which for the moment
escape me supported the glorious triumph of The Free Bridge. At
last, when the moment was ripe for it to be voted upon, we swept our
opponents out of existence at the polls, securing out of every 100
votes no less than fifty-three for our project.
“The Sheik who, in the growing importance of the community was
now confirmed in his office by his Sovereign under the title of
Excellent, delivered an unforgettable harangue, saying that the Day
when the tolls should be taken off the Bridge and the gates thrown
down would stand in the annals of his country next to its historic
Charter and its acceptance of the Truth Faith. Amid the deafening
shouts of a vast concourse, composed, as I was amused to discover,
of both parties indifferently, but all out for the occasion, this
great official proceeded in state to the entrance of the bridge,
cut symbolically the silken thread with which the gates upon either
end had been tied and in loud tones declared the bridge open in the
name of Allah and his Prophet. Women wept profusely and even strong
men had difficulty in hiding their emotion; only the younger of
the children and the animals accompanying the procession appeared
indifferent. Of the four officials deputed for the watching of the
tolls two were thrown into jail on the charge of malversation; the
other two were, on my making an appeal for them, allowed to leave the
country.
“The head of the opposing party who had done his best to defeat this
great and necessary reform now, upon payment, openly admitted that he
was converted; whatever sentimental attachment he might still cherish
for his old views, he now clearly saw that they were no longer
practical politics.
“The gardens of the city were illuminated for three successive
nights, cannon were fired and in view of the quite exceptional
character of the occasion many criminals were pardoned, including
the young brother of the head of the opposition who, under an assumed
name, had languished in jail for several months.
“In all this enthusiasm it was easier to get through the practical
details of the change, as the obstacle of petty detailed criticism
proceeding from an ignorant public was removed.
“A new Constitution was happily agreed upon in place of the old
revenue from tolls. This old revenue had fluctuated between the
annual amounts of 15,000 and 25,000 dinars. To replace it and to
allow for all contingencies a fixed sum of 30,000 dinars was put
aside as an annual charge upon the public rates to be allocated to
the Service of the Bridge. This sum would, of course, in the natural
course of things have been paid annually to myself. But I had other
plans.
“After this decision to allocate 30,000 dinars had been arrived at by
a unanimous vote I created a very favourable impression when I rose
in my place and said that I would never occupy the privileged and,
in my view, corrupt position of a citizen drawing a regular pension
from my fellows. However great my services had been in the past, I
was glad that they should be at the disposal of my country--for so I
called the place, having lived in it now two years and more. I could
not bear to think that I was, as it were, sucking the very life-blood
of the community and drawing into my private coffers pence which
had been contributed, for the most part, by the humblest of my dear
countrymen.
“Agreement had already been shown with this announcement--which
came from the depth of my heart--when the Council was overjoyed to
hear my conclusion. It was, if anything, even more sincere. ‘I will
accept,’ said I, ‘_if you really insist upon it_, a sum of money down
which might represent the capitalized value of the revenue, but I
absolutely refuse upon any terms whatsoever to remain a mere drone
supported by this active commercial community, skimming the cream off
the taxes and feeling myself a burden where I should be an aid.’
“Applause was almost unknown in the dignified debates of our
assembly, but upon this occasion it could not be restrained;
for some minutes together the grave but voluminous cheers of my
colleagues assured me that I had done right and amply compensated me
for any loss that I might suffer, supposing (which was, after all,
improbable) the revenue from the bridge in the future would largely
rise.
“Such is the frailty of human nature that perhaps the recognition
of my good deed would have been less frank, or less simple, had the
Council themselves been compelled to find the money out of their own
pockets. But there was no question of this. The burden must fall,
as was only just, upon the whole body of citizens, since all used
the bridge. My proposal met therefore with enthusiastic assent from
every side, and one speaker in the ensuing debate (a friend who, in
his humble way, was associated with other of my lesser enterprises)
pointed out what I could not in decency have alluded to, that I also
was a taxpayer, and a large one; so that any public payment was borne
partly by myself. The Sheik, in closing the discussion, after a few
compliments which my natural modesty forbids me to repeat, said that
clearly nothing was now left but to make a computation--a mere matter
of book-keeping--and that this detail might safely be left to a small
committee of three, which was nominated upon the spot; their work was
of course honorary, for they were men of high standing; but I saw to
it that all their expenses and other disbursements should be met and
I gave them much hospitality. The Committee met at intervals during
the ensuing three weeks. I appeared frequently before this Committee
in the capacity of witness, I produced all my books and had, I am
glad to say, the restraint and good feeling to let things take their
course and not to haggle as though this great public settlement had
been a private commercial deal. It is enough to say that at the end
of this proceeding the sum of 1,400,000 dinars was awarded to me by
the arbitrators and that I, after protesting against what I called
the excessive generosity of the State, then added to my popularity
by erecting at my own charges a fine gate of entry at the city end
of the bridge which absorbed half the odd 400,000; the other half I
gave in a burst of generosity to the members of the committee: not of
course in their public capacity but privately, as being my personal
friends, and in reward for their untiring public spirit.
“I was left with a million.
“I was fully content.
“I desired no more.”
“But, uncle,” timidly interrupted the eldest of the nephews, “I am
puzzled by one thing. Will you allow me to ask you a question upon
it?”
“Certainly, my dear lad,” said the old man, stroking his beard and
awaiting the query.
“Why, uncle,” said the boy, still hesitating somewhat, “it is this. I
do not quite see how it came that you should have a million dinars.
You came to this place with _half_ a million, how then did it become
_one_ million?”
The folly of the question raised a titter from his brothers, who had
always regarded their senior as the least brilliant of their clan.
But their uncle was more lenient and checked their mirth (which was
especially loud in the youngest), and said:
“My dear boy, do you see anything extraordinary in an accretion of
fortune to a man who served the community so well?”
“No, not exactly that,” said the elder nephew, still hesitating, “far
from it, dear uncle; but what I do not quite clearly see is where the
other half-million came from.”
“Foolish lad!” answered his relative, now touched with annoyance.
“It came from my untiring devotion to the public service, from my
foresight in providing a magnificent bridge which for all those
years no one had attempted; from the freely expressed desire of my
fellow-citizens through their honoured representatives. It was,
indeed, but a small recompense for all the good I had done and all
the immeasurable advantage to this town which my energy had created.”
“Yes, dear uncle, but ...” went on the blushing lad.
“Oh, don’t listen to him,” cried his brothers in chorus. “You will
never make him understand! Our father has always said that he could
not even do his arithmetic,” and the shrill laugh of the youngest was
heard at the end of his protest.
“Well, well,” said Mahmoud good-naturedly, “we will not quarrel about
it.”
At that moment the intolerable shriek of the Muezzin calling the
Faithful to prayer was heard from the neighbouring minaret and the
somewhat strained situation was relieved.
المِلْح
MILH
That is:
SALT