EMBARRAS DE RICHESSES
Ventimore had so thoroughly convinced himself that the released Jinnee
was purely a creature of his own imagination, that he rubbed his eyes
with a start, hoping that they had deceived him.
"Stroke thy head, O merciful and meritorious one," said his visitor,
"and recover thy faculties to receive good tidings. For it is indeed
I--Fakrash-el-Aamash--whom thou beholdest."
"I--I'm delighted to see you," said Horace, as cordially as he could.
"Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Nay, for hast thou not done me the greatest of all services by setting
me free? To escape out of a bottle is pleasant. And to thee I owe my
deliverance."
It was all true, then: he had really let an imprisoned Genius or Jinnee,
or whatever it was, out of that bottle! He knew he could not be dreaming
now--he only wished he were. However, since it was done, his best course
seemed to be to put a good face on it, and persuade this uncanny being
somehow to go away and leave him in peace for the future.
"Oh, that's all right, my dear sir," he said, "don't think any more
about it. I--I rather understood you to say that you were starting on a
journey in search of Solomon?"
"I have been, and returned. For I visited sundry cities in his
dominions, hoping that by chance I might hear news of him, but I
refrained from asking directly lest thereby I should engender suspicion,
and so Suleyman should learn of my escape before I could obtain an
audience of him and implore justice."
"Oh, I shouldn't think that was likely," said Horace. "If I were you, I
should go straight back and go on travelling till I _did_ find
Suleyman."
"Well was it said: 'Pass not any door without knocking, lest haply that
which thou seekest should be behind it.'"
"Exactly," said Horace. "Do each city thoroughly, house by house, and
don't neglect the smallest clue. 'If at first you don't succeed, try,
try, try, again!' as one of our own poets teaches."
"'Try, try, try again,'" echoed the Jinnee, with an admiration that was
almost fatuous. "Divinely gifted truly was he who composed such a
verse!"
"He has a great reputation as a sage," said Horace, "and the maxim is
considered one of his happiest efforts. Don't you think that, as the
East is rather thickly populated, the less time you lose in following
the poet's recommendation the better?"
"It may be as thou sayest. But know this, O my son, that wheresoever I
may wander, I shall never cease to study how I may most fitly reward
thee for thy kindness towards me. For nobly it was said: 'If I be
possessed of wealth and be not liberal, may my head never be extended!'"
"My good sir," said Horace, "do please understand that if you were to
offer me any reward for--for a very ordinary act of courtesy, I should
be obliged to decline it."
"But didst thou not say that thou wast sorely in need of a client?"
"That was so at the time," said Horace; "but since I last had the
pleasure of seeing you, I have met with one who is all I could possibly
wish for."
"I am indeed rejoiced to hear it," returned the Jinnee, "for thou
showest me that I have succeeded in performing the first service which
thou hast demanded of me."
Horace staggered under this severe blow to his pride; for the moment he
could only gasp: "You--_you_ sent him to me?"
"I, and no other," said the Jinnee, beaming with satisfaction; "for
while, unseen of men, I was circling in air, resolved to attend to thy
affair before beginning my search for Suleyman (on whom be peace!), it
chanced that I overheard a human being of prosperous appearance say
aloud upon a bridge that he desired to erect for himself a palace if he
could but find an architect. So, perceiving thee afar off seated at an
open casement, I immediately transported him to the place and delivered
him into thy hands."
"But he knew my name--he had my card in his pocket," said Horace.
"I furnished him with the paper containing thy names and abode, lest he
should be ignorant of them."
"Well, look here, Mr. Fakrash," said the unfortunate Horace, "I know you
meant well--but _never_ do a thing like that again! If my
brother-architects came to know of it I should be accused of most
unprofessional behaviour. I'd no idea you would take that way of
introducing a client to me, or I should have stopped it at once!"
"It was an error," said Fakrash. "No matter. I will undo this affair,
and devise some other and better means of serving thee."
"No, no," he said, "for Heaven's sake, leave things alone--you'll only
make them worse. Forgive me, my dear Mr. Fakrash, I'm afraid I must seem
most ungrateful; but--but I was so taken by surprise. And really, I am
extremely obliged to you. For, though the means you took were----were a
little irregular, you have done me a very great service."
"It is naught," said the Jinnee, "compared to those I hope to render so
great a benefactor."
"But, indeed, you mustn't think of trying to do any more for me," urged
Horace, who felt the absolute necessity of expelling any scheme of
further benevolence from the Jinnee's head once and for all. "You have
done enough. Why, thanks to you, I am engaged to build a palace that
will keep me hard at work and happy for ever so long."
"Are human beings, then, so enamoured of hard labour?" asked Fakrash, in
wonder. "It is not thus with the Jinn."
"I love my work for its own sake," said Horace, "and then, when I have
finished it, I shall have earned a very fair amount of money--which is
particularly important to me just now."
"And why, my son, art thou so desirous of obtaining riches?"
"Because," said Horace, "unless a man is tolerably well off in these
days he cannot hope to marry."
Fakrash smiled with indulgent compassion. "How excellent is the saying
of one of old: 'He that adventureth upon matrimony is like unto one who
thrusteth his hand into a sack containing many thousands of serpents and
one eel. Yet, if Fate so decree, he _may_ draw forth the eel.' And thou
art comely, and of an age when it is natural to desire the love of a
maiden. Therefore be of good heart and a cheerful eye, and it may be
that, when I am more at leisure, I shall find thee a helpmate who shall
rejoice thy soul."
"Please don't trouble to find me anything of the sort!" said Horace,
hastily, with a mental vision of some helpless and scandalised stranger
being shot into his dwelling like coals. "I assure you I would much
rather win a wife for myself in the ordinary way--as, thanks to your
kindness, I have every hope of doing before long."
"Is there already some damsel for whom thy heart pineth? If so, fear not
to tell me her names and dwelling place, and I will assuredly obtain her
for thee."
But Ventimore had seen enough of the Jinnee's Oriental methods to doubt
his tact and discretion where Sylvia was concerned. "No, no; of course
not. I spoke generally," he said. "It's exceedingly kind of you--but I
_do_ wish I could make you understand that I am overpaid as it is. You
have put me in the way to make a name and fortune for myself. If I fail,
it will be my own fault. And, at all events, I want nothing more from
you. If you mean to find Suleyman (on whom be peace!) you must go and
live in the East altogether--for he certainly isn't over here; you must
give up your whole time to it, keep as quiet as possible, and don't be
discouraged by any reports you may hear. Above all, never trouble your
head about me or my affairs again!"
"O thou of wisdom and eloquence," said Fakrash, "this is most excellent
advice. I will go, then; but may I drink the cup of perdition if I
become unmindful of thy benevolence!"
And, raising his joined hands above his head as he spoke, he sank, feet
foremost, through the carpet and was gone.
"Thank Heaven," thought Ventimore, "he's taken the hint at last. I don't
think I'm likely to see any more of him. I feel an ungrateful brute for
saying so, but I can't help it. I can _not_ stand being under any
obligation to a Jinnee who's been shut up in a beastly brass bottle ever
since the days of Solomon, who probably had very good reasons for
putting him there."
Horace next asked himself whether he was bound in honour to disclose the
facts to Mr. Wackerbath, and give him the opportunity of withdrawing
from the agreement if he thought fit.
On the whole, he saw no necessity for telling him anything; the only
possible result would be to make his client suspect his sanity; and who
would care to employ an insane architect? Then, if he retired from the
undertaking without any explanations, what could he say to Sylvia? What
would Sylvia's father say to _him_? There would certainly be an end to
his engagement.
After all, he had not been to blame; the Wackerbaths were quite
satisfied. He felt perfectly sure that he could justify their selection
of him; he would wrong nobody by accepting the commission, while he
would only offend them, injure himself irretrievably, and lose all hope
of gaining Sylvia if he made any attempt to undeceive them.
And Fakrash was gone, never to return. So, on all these considerations,
Horace decided that silence was his only possible policy, and, though
some moralists may condemn his conduct as disingenuous and wanting in
true moral courage, I venture to doubt whether any reader, however
independent, straightforward, and indifferent to notoriety and ridicule,
would have behaved otherwise in Ventimore's extremely delicate and
difficult position.
Some days passed, every working hour of which was spent by Horace in the
rapture of creation. To every man with the soul of an artist in him
there comes at times--only too seldom in most cases--a revelation of
latent power that he had not dared to hope for. And now with Ventimore
years of study and theorising which he had often been tempted to think
wasted began to bear golden fruit. He designed and drew with a rapidity
and originality, a sense of perfect mastery of the various problems to
be dealt with, and a delight in the working out of mass and detail, so
intoxicating that he almost dreaded lest he should be the victim of some
self-delusion.
His evenings were of course spent with the Futvoyes, in discovering
Sylvia in some new and yet more adorable aspect. Altogether, he was very
much in love, very happy, and very busy--three states not invariably
found in combination.
And, as he had foreseen, he had effectually got rid of Fakrash, who was
evidently too engrossed in the pursuit of Solomon to think of anything
else. And there seemed no reason why he should abandon his search for a
generation or two, for it would probably take all that time to convince
him that that mighty monarch was no longer on the throne.
"It would have been too brutal to tell him myself," thought Horace,
"when he was so keen on having his case reheard. And it gives him an
object, poor old buffer, and keeps him from interfering in my affairs,
so it's best for both of us."
Horace's little dinner-party had been twice postponed, till he had begun
to have a superstitious fear that it would never come off; but at length
the Professor had been induced to give an absolute promise for a certain
evening.
On the day before, after breakfast, Horace had summoned his landlady to
a consultation on the _menu_. "Nothing elaborate, you know, Mrs.
Rapkin," said Horace, who, though he would have liked to provide a feast
of all procurable delicacies for Sylvia's refection, was obliged to
respect her father's prejudices. "Just a simple dinner, thoroughly well
cooked, and nicely served--as you know so well how to do it."
"I suppose, sir, you would require Rapkin to wait?"
As the ex-butler was liable to trances on these occasions during which
he could do nothing but smile and bow with speechless politeness as he
dropped sauce-boats and plates, Horace replied that he thought of having
someone in to avoid troubling Mr. Rapkin; but his wife expressed such
confidence in her husband's proving equal to all emergencies, that
Ventimore waived the point, and left it to her to hire extra help if she
thought fit.
"Now, what soup can you give us?" he inquired, as Mrs. Rapkin stood at
attention and quite unmollified.
After protracted mental conflict, she grudgingly suggested gravy
soup--which Horace thought too unenterprising, and rejected in favour of
mock turtle. "Well then, fish?" he continued; "how about fish?"
Mrs. Rapkin dragged the depths of her culinary resources for several
seconds, and finally brought to the surface what she called "a nice
fried sole." Horace would not hear of it, and urged her to aspire to
salmon; she substituted smelts, which he opposed by a happy inspiration
of turbot and lobster sauce. The sauce, however, presented insuperable
difficulties to her mind, and she offered a compromise in the form of
cod--which he finally accepted as a fish which the Professor could
hardly censure for ostentation.
Next came the no less difficult questions of _entree_ or no _entree_, of
joint and bird. "What's in season just now?" said Horace; "let me
see"--and glanced out of the window as he spoke, as though in search of
some outside suggestion.... "Camels, by Jove!" he suddenly exclaimed.
"_Camels_, Mr. Ventimore, sir?" repeated Mrs. Rapkin, in some
bewilderment; and then, remembering that he was given to untimely
flippancy, she gave a tolerant little cough.
"I'll be shot if they _aren't_ camels!" said Horace. "What do _you_ make
of 'em, Mrs. Rapkin?"
Out of the faint mist which hung over the farther end of the square
advanced a procession of tall, dust-coloured animals, with long,
delicately poised necks and a mincing gait. Even Mrs. Rapkin could not
succeed in making anything of them except camels.
"What the deuce does a caravan of camels want in Vincent Square?" said
Horace, with a sudden qualm for which he could not account.
"Most likely they belong to the Barnum Show, sir," suggested his
landlady. "I did hear they were coming to Olympia again this year."
"Why, of course," cried Horace, intensely relieved. "It's on their way
from the Docks--at least, it isn't _out_ of their way. Or probably the
main road's up for repairs. That's it--they'll turn off to the left at
the corner. See, they've got Arab drivers with them. Wonderful how the
fellows manage them."
"It seems to me, sir," said Mrs. Rapkin, "that they're coming _our_
way--they seem to be stopping outside."
"Don't talk such infernal---- I beg your pardon, Mrs. Rapkin; but why
on earth should Barnum and Bailey's camels come out of their way to call
on _me_? It's ridiculous, you know!" said Horace, irritably.
"Ridicklous it _may_ be, sir," she retorted, "but they're all layin'
down on the road opposite our door, as you can see--and them niggers is
making signs to you to come out and speak to 'em."
It was true enough. One by one the camels, which were apparently of the
purest breed, folded themselves up in a row like campstools at a sign
from their attendants, who were now making profound salaams towards the
window where Ventimore was standing.
"I suppose I'd better go down and see what they want," he said, with
rather a sickly smile. "They may have lost the way to Olympia.... I only
hope Fakrash isn't at the bottom of this," he thought, as he went
downstairs. "But he'd come himself--at all events, he wouldn't send me a
message on such a lot of camels!" As he appeared on the doorstep, all
the drivers flopped down and rubbed their flat, black noses on the
curbstone.
"For Heaven's sake get up!" said Horace angrily. "This isn't
Hammersmith. Turn to the left, into the Vauxhall Bridge Road, and ask a
policeman the nearest way to Olympia."
"Be not angry with thy slaves!" said the head driver, in excellent
English. "We are here by command of Fakrash-el-Aamash, our lord, whom we
are bound to obey. And we have brought thee these as gifts."
"My compliments to your master," said Horace, between his teeth, "and
tell him that a London architect has no sort of occasion for camels. Say
that I am extremely obliged--but am compelled to decline them."
"O highly born one," explained the driver, "the camels are not a
gift--but the loads which are upon the camels. Suffer us, therefore,
since we dare not disobey our lord's commands, to carry these trifling
tokens of his good will into thy dwelling and depart in peace."
Horace had not noticed till then that every camel bore a heavy burden,
which the attendants were now unloading. "Oh, if you _must_!" he said,
not too graciously; "only do look sharp about it--there's a crowd
collecting already, and I don't want to have a constable here."
He returned to his rooms, where he found Mrs. Rapkin paralysed with
amazement. "It's--it's all right," he said; "I'd forgotten--it's only a
few Oriental things from the place where that brass bottle came from,
you know. They've left them here--on approval."
"Seems funny their sending their goods 'ome on camels, sir, doesn't it?"
said Mrs. Rapkin.
"Not at all funny!" said Horace; "they--they're an enterprising
firm--their way of advertising."
One after another, a train of dusky attendants entered, each of whom
deposited his load on the floor with a guttural grunt and returned
backward, until the sitting-room was blocked with piles of sacks, and
bales, and chests, whereupon the head driver appeared and intimated that
the tale of gifts was complete.
"I wonder what sort of tip this fellow expects," thought Horace; "a
sovereign seems shabby--but it's all I can run to. I'll try him with
that."
But the overseer repudiated all idea of a gratuity with stately dignity,
and as Horace saw him to the gate, he found a stolid constable by the
railings.
"This won't _do_, you know," said the constable; "these 'ere camels must
move on--or I shall 'ave to interfere."
"It's all right, constable," said Horace, pressing into his hand the
sovereign the head driver had rejected; "they're going to move on now.
They've brought me a few presents from--from a friend of mine in the
East."
By this time the attendants had mounted the kneeling camels, which rose
with them, and swung off round the square in a long, swaying trot that
soon left the crowd far behind, staring blankly after the caravan as
camel after camel disappeared into the haze.
"I shouldn't mind knowin' that friend o' yours, sir," said the
constable; "open-hearted sort o' gentleman, I should think?"
"Very!" said Horace, savagely, and returned to his room, which Mrs.
Rapkin had now left.
His hands shook, though not with joy, as he untied some of the sacks and
bales and forced open the outlandish-looking chests, the contents of
which almost took away his breath.
For in the bales were carpets and tissues which he saw at a glance must
be of fabulous antiquity and beyond all price; the sacks held golden
ewers and vessels of strange workmanship and pantomimic proportions; the
chests were full of jewels--ropes of creamy-pink pearls as large as
average onions, strings of uncut rubies and emeralds, the smallest of
which would have been a tight fit in an ordinary collar-box, and
diamonds, roughly facetted and polished, each the size of a coconut, in
whose hearts quivered a liquid and prismatic radiance.
On the most moderate computation, the total value of these gifts could
hardly be less than several hundred millions; never probably in the
world's history had any treasury contained so rich a store.
It would have been difficult for anybody, on suddenly finding himself
the possessor of this immense incalculable wealth, to make any comment
quite worthy of the situation, but, surely, none could have been more
inadequate and indeed inappropriate than Horace's--which, heartfelt as
it was, was couched in the simple monosyllable--"Damn!"