"You talk like a madman!"
Grim changed the plan a little at the last minute. Mabel Ticknor left
Jerusalem by train, as agreed, but Narayan Singh was sent that way too,
to keep an eye on her. He being a Sikh, could sit in the corridor
without exciting comment, and being dressed for the part of a more or
less prosperous trader, he could travel first class without having to
answer questions or allay suspicion.
Grim, Jeremy and I drove to Ludd in a hired auto, Grim and Jeremy both
in Arab costume, and I trying to look like a tourist. Jeremy was
supposed to be a travelled Arab intent on guiding me about Damascus for
the usual consideration.
The platform was crowded, and we secured a compartment in the train
without calling much attention to ourselves. There were British
officers of all ranks, Egyptians, Jews, Greeks, refugee Armenians,
Maltese, Kurds, a Turk or two, Circassians, men from as far off as
Bokhara, Turkomans, Indians of all sorts, a sprinkling of Bedouins
looking not quite so at home as in their native desert, and local Arabs
by the score. About half of them were in a panic, encouraged to it by
their shrill women-folk, fighting in a swarm for tickets at one small
window, where an insolent Levantine demonstrated his capacity for
self-determination by making as many people as possible miss the train.
I caught sight of Mabel Ticknor in the front compartment of our car, and
Grim pointed out Yussuf Dakmar leaning through a window of the car
behind. His face was fat, unwholesome, with small, cold eyes, an
immoral nose, and a small mouth with pouting lips. The tarboosh he wore
tilted at an angle heightened the general effect of arrogant
self-esteem. He was an illustration of the ancient mystery--how is it
that a man with such a face, and such insolence written all over him,
can become a leader of other men and persuade them to hatch the eggs of
treachery that he lays like a cuckoo in their nests?
He smirked at Grim suggestively as we went by, and Grim, of course,
smirked back, with a sidewise inclination of the head in my direction,
whereat Yussuf Dakmar withdrew himself, apparently satisfied.
"Now he'll waste a lot of time investigating you," said Grim in an
undertone. "We'd better keep awake in turns, or he'll knife you."
"The toe of my boot to him!" I retorted. "One clean kick might solve
this international affair!"
"Steady!" Grim answered. "We need him until after leaving Haifa. The
French agent wired, and they'll have a gang at Haifa ready for us; but
Yussuf Dakmar will warn them off if we keep him hoping."
So we settled down into our compartment after a glance to make sure that
Mabel was all right, and for about two minutes I imagined we were in for
a lazy journey. Narayan Singh was on a camp-stool in the corridor,
snoozing with one eye open like a faithful sheep-dog. It didn't seem
possible for a creature like Yussuf Dakmar to make trouble for us, and I
proposed that we should match coins for the first turn to go to sleep.
We had just pulled our coins out, and the engineer was backing the train
in order to get her started, when Yussuf Dakmar arrived at our door,
carrying his belongings, and claimed a seat on the strength of a lie
about there being no room elsewhere.
There's something about a compartment on a train that makes whoever gets
in first regard the rest of the world as intruders. Nobody would have
been welcome, but we would have preferred a pig to Yussuf Dakmar.
Jeremy, democrat of democrats, who had slept without complaining between
the legs of a dead horse on a rain-swept battlefield, with a lousy
Turkish prisoner hugging him close to share the blanket, was up in arms
at once.
"Imshi!" he ordered bluntly.
But Yussuf Dakmar was delighted. The reception convinced him, if
anything were needed to do that, that one of us really was guarding the
secret letter; and he was one of those hogs, anyhow, who glory in
snouting in where they are plainly not wanted. He took the corner seat
opposite Jeremy, tucked his legs up under him, produced a cigarette and
smiled offensively. I'll concede this, though: I think the smile was
meant to be ingratiating.
He pulled out a package wrapped in newspaper and began to eat before the
train had run a mile. And, you know, more men get killed because of how
they eat than by the stuff they devour. If you don't believe that, try
living in camp for a week or two with a man who chews meat with his
mouth open. You'll feel the promptings of a murderer. I know a
scientist who swears that the real secret of the Cain and Abel story is
that Abel sucked his gums at mealtime.
"You ought to be buried up to the neck and fed with a shovel!" Jeremy
informed him in blunt English after listening to the solo for a while.
"Aha! That is the way they used to treat criminals in Persia," he
answered pleasantly, with his mouth full of goat's milk cheese. "Only
they put plaster of Paris in the hole, and when it rained the wretched
man was squeezed until the blood came out of his mouth and eyes, and he
died in agony. But how comes it that you speak to me in English? If we
are both Arabs, why not talk the mother tongue?"
"My rump is my rump and the land is its rulers," Jeremy answered in
Arabic, quoting the rudest proverb he could think of on the spur of the
moment.
"Ah! And who is its ruler? Who is to be its ruler?"
Yussuf Dakmar made a surreptitious face at Grim, and his little cold
eyes shone like a hungry pariah dog's. It began to be interesting to
watch his opening gambit.
"I have heard tales," he went on, "of a new ruler for this country.
What do you think of Feisul's chance?"
As he said that he eyed me sideways swiftly and keenly. Grim sat back
in his own corner and folded up his legs, watching the game contentedly.
Jeremy, intercepting Yussuf Dakmar's glance, put his own construction on
it. He is a long, lean man, but like the Fat Boy in Pickwick Papers he
likes to make your flesh creep, and humor, to have full zest for him,
has to be mischievous.
So he commenced by pulling out his weapons one by one. The first was a
razor, which he sharpened, tested with his thumb suggestively, and then
placed in his sock, studying Yussuf Dakmar's throat for a minute or so
after that, as if expecting to have to use the razor on it presently.
As the effect of that wore off he pulled out a pistol. It was one of
the kind that won't go off unless you pull the Hammer back, but Yussuf
Dakmar didn't know that, and if he had flesh and blood capable of
creeping it's a safe assertion that they crept. Jeremy acted as if he
didn't understand the weapon, and for fifteen minutes did more stunts
with it than a puppy can do with a ball of twine. One of them that
interested Yussuf Dakmar awfully was to point the pistol straight ahead,
half-cocked, and try to get the hammer down by slapping it with the palm
of his hand.
Most of our baggage was on the floor, but one fairly heavy valise was in
the rack over Yussuf Dakmar's head. Jeremy got up to examine it when
the pistol had ceased to amuse him, and taking advantage of a jerk as
the train slowed down, contrived to drop it into the Syrian's lap; who
rather naturally swore; whereat Jeremy took offence, and accused him of
being a descendant of Hanna, son of Manna, who lived for a thousand and
one years and never enjoyed himself.
It was our turn to eat sandwiches after that, while Yussuf Dakmar
recovered from his disgruntlement. But just before the meal was
finished Jeremy revived the game by asking suddenly in an awestruck
whisper where "it" was. He slapped himself all over in a hurry, feeling
for hidden pockets, and then came over and pretended to search me.
There wasn't anything to do but fall in with his mood, so I resisted,
searched my own pockets reluctantly, and said that we might as well take
the next train back, since we had lost the important document.
Before we started we had put into a wallet the fake envelope that Grim
had carried in his hand the previous night, and had entrusted the wallet
to Jeremy in order to have an alibi ready for Mabel in case of need.
Grim took up the cudgels now and reminded me respectfully, as a servant
should when speaking to his master, that I had taken all proper
precautions and could not be blamed in any event.
"But I think it will be found," he said hopefully. "Inshallah, it is
not lost, but in the wallet in the pocket of that hare-brained friend of
yours."
So Jeremy went back to his corner, searched for the wallet, found it
after pretty nearly, standing on his head to shake his clothes, examined
it excitedly, and produced the fake envelope, flourishing it so
violently that nobody, even with eyes like a hawk's, could have
identified it with certainty.
Then he dropped it in among the baggage on the floor, and went down on
his knees to pick it up again. There is no more finished expert at
sleight of hand than he, so it vanished, and he swore he couldn't find
it. In a well-simulated agony of nervousness he called on Yussuf Dakmar
to get down and help him search, and the Syrian hadn't enough
self-command left to pretend to hesitate; his cold eyes were nearly
popping from his head as he knelt and groped. The chief subject of
interest to me just then was how he proposed to retain the letter in the
unlikely event of his finding it first.
It was a ridiculous search, because there wasn't really anywhere to
look. After three bags had been lifted and their bottoms scrutinized
the whole floor of the compartment lay naked to the eye, except where my
feet rested. Jeremy insisted on my raising them, to the accompaniment
of what he considered suitable comment on their size, turning his
"behind end" meanwhile toward Yussuf Dakmar.
Grim chuckled and caught my eye. Yussuf Dakmar had walked straight into
temptation, and was trying to search Jeremy's pockets from the rear--no
easy matter, for he had to discover them first in the loose folds of the
Arab costume.
Suddenly Jeremy's mood changed. He became suspicious, stood up, resumed
his seat--and glared at Yussuf Dakmar, who retired into his corner and
tried to seem unconscious of the game.
"I believe you are a thief--one of those light-fingered devils from
El-Kalil!" said Jeremy suddenly, after about three minutes' silence.
"I believe you have stolen my letter! Like the saint's ass, you are a
clever devil, aren't you? Nevertheless, you are like a man without
fingernails, whose scratching does him no good! Your labour was in
vain. Give me back the letter, or by Allah I will turn you upside
down!"
Yussuf Dakmar denied the accusation with all the fervour that a
blackguard generally does use when, for once, he is consciously
innocent.
"By the Beard of the Prophet and on my honor I swear to you that I
haven't touched your letter! I don't know where it is."
"Show me the Prophet's beard!" commanded Jeremy. "Show me your honor!"
"You talk like a madman! How can I show either?"
"Then how can you swear by them? Father of easy words and evil deeds,
give me the letter back!"
Yussuf Dakmar appealed to me as presumably responsible for Jeremy.
"You saw, effendi, didn't you? I tried to help him. But he who plays
with the cat must suffer her claws, so now he accuses me of stealing. I
call you to witness that I took nothing."
"You must excuse him," I answered. "That is a highly important letter.
If it isn't found the consequences may be disastrous."
"By Allah, it shall be found!" exploded Jeremy, glaring harder than ever
at Yussuf Dakmar. "Look at his face! Look at his evil eyes! He came
in here on purpose to spy on us and steal that letter! It is time to
use my razor on him! I swear not by the Prophet's beard or anybody's
honor, but by the razor in my sock that he has the letter and that I
will have it back!" Well, that was a challenge there was no
side-stepping. Sure of being able to prove innocence, Yussuf Dakmar
decided that a bold course was the best. He proceeded to empty his own
pocket, laying the contents on the seat before Jeremy's eyes. And
Jeremy watched like a puzzled puppy with his brow wrinkled. The process
took time, because he was wearing one of those imitation Western suits,
of prehistoric cut but up-to-date with every imaginable pocket that a
tailor could invent. Their contents included a dagger and a clasp-knife
with a long blade sharpened on both edges, but no pistol.
"Now are you satisfied?" he demanded, after turning inside-out the two
"secret" pockets in the lining of his vest.
"Less than ever!" Jeremy retorted. "Until I see you naked I will not
believe you!"
Yussuf Dakmar turned to me again. He was a patient spy, if ever there
was one.
"Do you think I should be put to that indignity?" he asked. "Shall I
undress myself?"
"By Allah, unless you do it I will cut your clothes off with my razor!"
Jeremy announced.
We drew up at a station then, and had to wait until the train went on
again. By that time Yussuf Dakmar had made up his mind. He slipped off
his jacket and vest and began to unfasten his collar-button as the train
gained speed.
Everything went smoothly until he stood up to remove his pants. He had
the top of them in both hands when Jeremy seized him suddenly by the
elbows and spun him face about. And there the letter lay, face downward
on the seat he had just left, bent and a little crinkled in proof that
he had been sitting on it for some minutes past.
Now it doesn't make any difference whether a man meant to take off his
trousers or not. In a crisis, if they are unfastened, he will hold them
up. It's like catching a monkey; you put corn into a narrow-necked
basket. The monkey inserts his arm, fills his hand with corn, and tries
to pull it out, but can't unless he lets go of the corn, which he won't
do. So you catch him. Yussuf Dakmar held up his pants with one hand,
and tried to free himself from Jeremy with the other. If he had let go
his pants he might have seized the envelope and discovered what a fake
it was; but he wouldn't do that. It was I who pounced on it and stowed
it away carefully in my inner pocket.
Yussuf Dakmar's emotions were poignant and mixed, but he was no quitter.
He thought he knew definitely where the letter was now, and the wolf
glance with which he favoured me changed swiftly to a smile of
ingratiating politeness.
"I am glad you have recovered what you lost," he said, smiling, as he
fastened up his pants and resumed his coat. "This friend of yours--or
is he your servant?--made me nervous with his threats, or I should
certainly have found it for you sooner."
And now Grim resumed a hand. The last thing he wished was that Yussuf
Dakmar should consider his quest too difficult, for then he would
probably summon assistance at Haifa. Encouragement was the proper cue,
now that Jeremy had tantalized him with a glimpse of the bait. We had
nothing to fear from him unless he should lose heart.
"The value of a sum lies in the answer," he said, quoting one of those
copybook proverbs with which all Syrians love to clinch an argument.
"The letter is in its owner's pocket. The accuser should now apologize,
and we can spend the rest of the journey pleasantly."
Jeremy proceeded to apologize:
"So you're not such a thief as you looks."
Then he provided entertainment. He drew out the razor and did stunts
with it, juggling it with open blade from hand to hand--pretending to
drop it and always catching it again within a fraction of an inch of
Yussuf Dakmar's person. By and by he juggled with coins, match-box,
cigars, razor and anything he could lay his hands on.
"Mashallah!" exclaimed the Syrian at last, his face all sweaty with
excitement as he shrank back to avoid the spinning razor. "Where did you
learn such accomplishments?"
"Learn them?" answered Jeremy, still juggling. "I am a dervaish. I was
born, not taught. I can ride through the air on cannon-balls, and
whatever I wish for is mine the next minute. Look, I have one piastre.
I wish for twenty. What do I do? I spin it in the air--catch it--d'you
hear them? There you are--twenty! Count 'em if you like."
"A dervaish? A holy person? You? Where do you come from?"
"I was born in the belly of the South Wind," answered Jeremy. "Where I
come from, every shell-fish has a pearl in it and gold is so common that
the cattle wear it in their teeth. I can talk three languages at once
and swear in six, use sulphur for tobacco, eat sardines without opening
the can, and flavour my food for choice with gun-powder.
"I've been everywhere, seen everything, heard all the lies, and I found
that big effendi in Jerusalem. I saw him first. He calls himself
Ramsden, which is derived from the name of a creature bearing wool,
which in turn is a synonym for money. He's on his way to supply Feisul
with money, and I'm going to show him the streets of Damascus. Anything
else you want to know?"
"Supply Feisul with money? That is interesting. American money
perhaps? An American banker by any chance?"
"Nothing to do with chance. He's a father of certainties. Didn't he
give me that letter to keep, and didn't I find a safe place for it
between you and the cushions? Yes, I put it there. I'm an honest man,
but I have my reasonable doubts about this other fellow. Ramsden
effendi found him somewhere, and engaged him as a servant without asking
me. Perhaps he's honest. Only Allah knows men's hearts. But he hasn't
got an honest face like yours, and when pay-day comes I shall hide my
money."
"So you know Damascus?" answered Yussuf Dakmar. "I hope you will come
and see me in Damascus. I will give you my address. If Ramsden effendi
has only engaged you temporarily, perhaps I can show you a way to make
money with those accomplishments of yours."
"Make money?" answered Jeremy, prattling away like a madman. "I am
weary of the stuff. I'm hunting the world over, in search of a friend.
Nobody loves me. I want to find someone who'll believe the lies I tell
him without expecting me to believe the truth he tries to foist on me.
I want to find a man as tricky with his brains as I am with my hands.
He must be a politician and a spy, because I love excitement. That's
why I called you a spy. If you were one, you might have admitted it,
and then we could have been friends, like two yolks in one eggshell.
But I see you're only a shell without a yolk in it. Who cleaned you?"
"How long have you been in the service of Ramsden effendi?" Yussuf
Dakmar asked him.
"Not long, and I am tired of it. He is strong, and his fist is heavy.
When he gets drunk he is difficult to carry upstairs to bed, and if I am
also drunk the feat is still more difficult. It is a mystery how such a
man as he should be entrusted with a secret mission, for he drinks with
anyone. Aha! He scowls at me because I tell the truth about him, but
if I had a bottle of whisky to offer him he would soon look pleasant
again, and would give me a drink too, when he had swallowed all he could
hold."
If he had really been my servant I would naturally have kicked him off
the train for a fraction of such impudence. I didn't exactly know what
to do. There is a thoughtful motive behind every apparently random
absurdity that Jeremy gets off, but I was uncomfortably conscious of the
fact that my wits don't work fast enough to follow such volatile
manoeuvres. Perhaps it's the Scotian blood in me. I can follow a
practical argument fast enough, when the axioms' are all laid down and
we're agreed on the subject.
However, Grim came to my rescue. He had his pencil out, and contrived
to flick a piece of paper into my lap unseen by Yussuf Dakmar.
Jeremy's cue is good [the note ran]. Dismiss him for talking about you
to a stranger. Trust him to do the rest.
So I acted the part of an habitually heavy drinker in a fit of sudden
rage, and dismissed Jeremy from my service on the spot.
"Very well," he answered blandly. "Allah makes all things easy. Let us
hope that other fellow finds it easy to put you to bed tonight! Allah
is likewise good, for I have my ticket to Damascus, and all I need to
beg for is a bed and food at Haifa."
I muttered something in reply about his impudence, and the conversation
ceased abruptly. But at the end of ten minutes or so Yussuf Dakmar went
out into the corridor, signaling to Jeremy to follow him.