When Iskender rose next morning from the bed on the floor of the
entrance-hall which he had been permitted to share with the black
servant, he saw a woeful figure in the doorway. A man, wrapped in a
great cloak of camel's hair, sat staring out dejectedly at the
daylight, which was greenish grey, the whole air seeming turned to
falling water. A hood drawn low upon his brow concealed his face,
except the smouldering anguish of the eyes, when he turned at sound of
movements in the hall behind him.
Elias--for he it was--sprang up and made the bound required to bring
him within reach of his friend's hand, which he forthwith seized and
carried to his lips, cringing low and moaning:
"O my horror! O my bitter shame! For the love of Allah, speak for me
with his noble Highness! Thou knowest how I always loved thee, and
stood thy friend when others scoffed at thee. Persuade thy Emîr to
forgive me and keep silence, or I shall lose my employment, and my wife
and little ones will come to want!"
Iskender's heart leapt up in thanks to Allah for thus abasing one who
had conspired against him. He pressed the suppliant's hand in both his
own.
"Now Allah witness how I always loved thee!" he murmured with a gaze of
fond compassion. "It hurt my soul to see thee siding with my enemies,
scheming to supplant me in the favour of my dear lord."
"By Allah, thy thoughts wrong me!" cried Elias with wild earnestness.
"Ask Yuhanna, ask Khalîl! My efforts were against them all, on thy
behalf. How canst thou think such harm of one who loves thee?"
The speaker burst into a passion of tears.
"Weep not, O my dear!" Iskender murmured soothingly. "In sh' Allah,
all may yet be well, though I will not disguise from thee that my lord
is angry."
"Obtain but a hearing for me; that is all I ask. My tears shall wash
his feet; my groans, my heartfelt penitence will surely move him."
"Thou knowest that I will do all in my power to save thee. But, alas!
my influence is not boundless. By naming thy name in his presence, and
seeming anxious to excuse thy fault, I fear to draw a measure of his
Honour's wrath upon myself. Last evening he was full of rage against
thee, vowing to see thee a beggar in the gate of the town. And he has
sworn at the first opportunity to make complaint of thy behaviour to
the English consul."
At mention of the consul Elias collapsed utterly. He sank down on the
marble pavement, huddled up in his cloak, his chin upon his breast,
moaning like one insensible through stress of pain. Complaint to the
consul meant his life-long ruin as a dragoman, since he depended on the
English for his daily bread.
At length he cried:
"Thou must, thou shalt, befriend me! I adjure thee by Him who took our
flesh upon Him, by the Holy Cross! Allah will reward thee, and I
myself will be thy slave till death."
Pouncing once more upon Iskender's hand, he pressed two large coins
down upon the open palm.
"What is this, O my soul?" cried the youth in amazement, after looking
to make sure the coins were silver. "Are such things needed between me
and thee?"
He pulled out his silver watch--the gift of the wife of the missionary,
the excellent mother of George, which she had caused to be sent
expressly from the land of the English--and gazed long and pensively at
the face of it. Though he had risen later than his custom, deceived by
the darkness of the rain prolonging night, it wanted still an hour of
the Emîr's waking. He said:
"His Honour is still in his chamber; he objects to be disturbed while
dressing. Nevertheless, since thy cause is urgent, I will crave an
audience."
"Our Lord reward thee," sobbed Elias gratefully.
Iskender repaired to the hotel kitchen, and spent some minutes talking
to the cook, who was his friend, before he returned and said:
"His Highness will not hear me. At mention of thy name he shut his
ears." Then, when Elias burst into a fit of weeping that seemed like
to strangle him, he added: "But he was in the act of bathing his whole
body, which he does daily in cold water. It may be that the coldness
of the water made him angry. After a little, I will try again."
"May Allah prolong thy life! From this day forth Elias is thy servant.
I will give thee my gold ring with the large carbuncle, if thou bring
this business to a good result."
After a decent interval, Iskender paid another visit to the kitchen
and, returning, said:
"He gave no answer to my knock, and I feared to enrage him by repeated
knocking. I will return presently."
Elias promised him a dagger of rare workmanship.
"He bade me go away, though not in anger," was the next report.
Elias promised him a pistol with jewelled mountings; and after that a
saddle with rich tassels, a holy book, some silver buttons, and a young
mare of the noblest desert breed. Thus time passed pleasantly, till
the sons of Mûsa emerged from their sleeping apartment. Iskender dare
not pursue the game with them about; but humbly presented Elias,
explaining the reason of his presence. They at once offered themselves
to plead the cause of the sufferer, who was a friend of theirs.
But the son of Yâcûb was beforehand with them. He sped straight to the
bedroom of the Frank, who by good luck was up and dressed, and informed
him of the penitence of Elias, begging forgiveness for that broken man.
The Emîr consented with a laugh. Together they went down into the
hall, where Iskender presented the suppliant to his Emîr, in the face
of the sons of Mûsa, and of all the servants who came crowding to the
sight.
Elias fell down flat before the great one and embraced his feet. He
seemed unconscious when the Frank addressed him. It was by the
exertions of the sons of Mûsa and the group of servants that the
despairing wretch at length received assurance of forgiveness. With
tears of joy he kissed the hand of his preserver; then, suddenly
flinging open the vast cloak, which he had till now kept close around
him, he revealed a splendid whip of rhinoceros-hide, mounted and ringed
with silver. Iskender felt cruelly defrauded; it was with difficulty
that he suppressed a cry of rage; for had he so much as guessed that
such a thing was hid beneath the cloak of the blubberer, he would long
ago have had it for his own. Elias thrust that whip upon the Frank,
who would fain have refused it; but, the sons of Mûsa and the servants
joining the donor in entreaties, he at last gave way.
When his patron went to breakfast, Iskender received many compliments.
His manifest ascendency over the mind of the Englishman had made a
favourable impression even on the sons of Mûsa. This was as it should
be. But it did not please him, as the day wore on, to find that Elias,
out of gratitude for his forgiveness, intended to remain in close
attendance on the Emîr.
Divested of his cloak, his slim but manly figure cased in showy
garments, his moustache curled ferociously up to the eyes, his fez
tilted jauntily to one side, Elias appeared to Iskender's jealousy the
most attractive of men. And as he recovered spirits, his talk showed
the lively sparkle which enchanted travellers.
It being impossible to get out, the Emîr brought down a book, and read
to them in the entrance-hall. The tale was one of wild adventures in
the search for treasure. It fascinated Iskender. But Elias was
reminded by one of the incidents of a lion he had slain upon Mount
Sinai; and the Frank shut up the book to hear his story. Elias
described all the fortunes of the fight with singular realism, opening
his mouth very wide and roaring when momentarily impersonating the
lion. The Frank showed great amusement; Iskender was vexed with him
for encouraging the silly liar. He gave praise to Allah when Elias
departed for the night.
But his bugbear returned next morning, as the Frank emerged from
breakfast, claiming praise for his devotion in coming through such
weather. The wady to the north of the town was now a raging torrent,
he informed them. With his own eyes he had seen ten righteous men torn
off their feet and carried clean away. More than a hundred camels had
been swept far out to sea.
"He is a big liar, sir," Iskender whispered in the ear of his lord, who
appeared unduly stricken by these tidings; and in proof of the
assertion, he referred the matter to the sons of Mûsa, who said that a
donkey laden with vegetables had been washed away. Elias, in no wise
disconcerted, thanked God that things were no worse. But Iskender
triumphed, informed by the Frank's sneer that he had struck a
death-blow at his rival's influence. That done, he felt all kindness
for the handsome dragoman, now his manifest inferior, and encouraged
him to show off for the Emîr's amusement. He even, in the course of
the day, assured his patron that Elias was not a bad man.
That evening the rain diminished sensibly; in the course of the night
it ceased. The dawn next day was cloudless when Iskender set out early
for his mother's house.