A God-fearing man, on whom be peace! Would I might lead a squadron behind Feisul again!”
“Then in that we are agreed,” said Grim. “Feisul is the rightful king of all this land.”
“Yes—if it is my last word on earth!”
“I worked for Feisul in the war. I’m working for him now,” said Grim.
“Then why do you make a prisoner of me, a friend of his?”
“My old friend Ali Baba told me that you contemplated going over to Saoud the Avenger with most of Ali Higg’s men,” Grim replied evasively.
“I never told him that!”
“Possibly. But a fox can guess which way a rooster means to run.”
“Well, he guessed shrewdly,” Ibrahim answered after a moment’s pause.
He seemed to be making up his mind that nothing could be gained by not humoring his interrogator. “I am sick of Ali Higg, the Lion of Petra. The Avenger has eight hundred men already; a hundred and forty more would make him a power in the land.”
“And a general of you, eh? But Saoud the Avenger is out for himself, not for Feisul.”
“So is Ali Higg out for himself and not for Feisul. And Feisul is a puppet ruler in Damascus, waiting to be turned out by the French and sent begging.”
“But you are for Feisul,” said Grim.
“Surely. But what can I do?”
“You could have done a lot of harm to Feisul’s cause by strengthening Saoud the Avenger,” Grim answered.
“It is true that the French will turn Feisul out of Damascus; they are determined, he already suspects it, and I know it.”
“Mashallah! What a wise one! How do you know it?”
“It is my business to know things,” Grim answered. “Some men know about religion, others about the sea and tides; some study machinery; others know when camels will have young, and whether the price of wheat will rise or fall.
“I know about the intrigues of certain Governments. And as a trader looks for safety in a falling market, anticipating the day when it will rise again, so I foresee the outcome of intrigue and look beyond it and make ready. It is true that Feisul will be turned out of Damascus.”
“Then why work any more for him? The hide of a dying camel isn’t worth much. Why not look elsewhere—for instance, toward Saoud the Avenger?”
“Because Feisul has a host of friends, of whom I am one; and a loyal one,” Grim answered. “Feisul will return, and the wise ones will make ready for him. There is all Mesopotamia and most of Arabia waiting to be welded into one. Who can do that except Feisul?”
“But the Avenger—”
“If he were strong enough, would set himself up against Feisul when the time comes. And of the two, which is the better man?”
“Wallahi, Feisul!”
“Then, why strengthen the Avenger? If, when Feisul comes, there should be two chiefs in these parts, neither of them strong enough to defeat the other, Feisul may make peace between them and secure the loyalty of both.”
Ibrahim ben Ah’s glittering, calculating eyes opened wider again, and his lips showed traces of a smile.
“And those,” Grim went on slowly, “who have worked for Feisul will be reckoned Feisul’s friends when his star rises. Which would you rather be reckoned—a friend of the Avenger, or of Feisul?”
“Wallahi, of Feisul!”
“I also. So we are agreed again. Now which is a man’s friend—he who forgets and deserts him for the stronger side when foreign Governments break promises and betray him; or he who remembers, and watches, biding the time when the star that set in the West shall rise in the East again?”
“But you have separated me from my men. Mashallah! What use am I now to Feisul or any one?”
“Well,” Grim answered, “I’ll be frank with you. I didn’t separate you from your men. My intention was to let Ayisha make good her boast that she can lead you by the nose.”
Ibrahim ben Ah laughed scornfully at that.
“The woman Ayisha lied!” he retorted. “Now and then she has brought me messages from Ali Higg, and I have obeyed the messages, but not the woman. If she were Jael, that might be different. But Jael sent me word saying that the Lion has divorced Ayisha. If she had tried to lead me by the nose, I would have made a present of her to the first man who cared to feed the bint!”
“Yet, you see,” said Grim, smiling pleasantly, “how Allah makes all things easy! I had in mind, as well, to rescue my two friends from your possibly dangerous society. They had no instructions from me to bring you away with them; yet Allah is all-knowing, and it seems it was not written that you should tell your men about the woman Ayisha’s divorce.
“But it was written that my friends should so admire you as to crave your further company and cause you to be my guest for a while. I didn’t expect it; but who am I that I should refuse hospitality to a friend of Feisul’s?”
“Shu hashsharaf!” Ibrahim ben Ah exclaimed sarcastically. “You are possibly a worthy host, but I have called you hard names. Do you mean to swallow them?”
“I shall give you a chance to withdraw them before I speak of swallowing. What a man says in anger, being ignorant of all the facts, should form no part of the reckoning between host and guest, or between two friends of Feisul.”
“And if I will not withdraw them?”
“We shall see.”
Ibrahim ben Ah looked slowly around at the faces of our Arabs, who were listening as breathlessly as children at a play. Unseen by Grim, old Ali Baba tapped the bolt of his rifle with a threatening forefinger. Ibrahim ben Ah decided to consider matters further before definitely turning down Grim’s offer of friendship; he judged the alternative might be swift, and far from sweet.
“But if you are Jimgrim,” he said, “where is Ali Higg? And who can the Jimgrim be who sent me a warning at dawn? There must be two of you, for you came from the north, whereas the other disappeared toward the south.”
“That other,” Grim answered, “is Ali Higg himself pretending to be me.”
“Mashallah! Why?”
“Presumably to draw off some of the Avenger’s men.”
Ibrahim ben Ah nodded. The virtue of that piece of intrigue appealed to him at once.
“A shrewd plan!” he commented. “I see how that could be done. There was a day when Jimgrim, having Government remounts in charge, disobeyed an order and sent five hundred camels to Saoud the Avenger. So if Jimgrim, pretending to be in distress, sends to the Avenger now for a loan of five hundred men for a few days—yes—I see the merit of that plan. With only three or four hundred left to him the Avenger might be taken unaware and defeated easily. I see.”
Grim smiled broadly.
“Let us hope he does succeed in decoying five hundred men,” he answered. “I hardly think the Avenger will prove quite so generous as that. But even so, do you think one hundred and forty or so could defeat the number the Avenger would still have?”
“Inshallah, if Jimgrim had a hand in it.”
“I’m afraid you’re a flatterer,” said Grim, “or else you think better of Ali Higg’s ruffians than I do. No, there’s going to be no battle with the Avenger.”
“You will be a clever one if you can prevent it,” Ibrahim ben Ah retorted. “The Avenger is already on the move.”
“So is Ayisha,” answered Grim. “And so shall we be in twenty minutes.”