He bowed, but did not speak. We sat for a little time in silence, he toying again with his pencil, I endeavouring to look unconcerned, and smiling. It was easy to smile, for the heart within me was leaping with joy.
“I am afraid,” he said at last, “that if our War Office learned that I had entered into a compact with one of my prisoners, it would go ill with me.”
“There will be no compact, Commandant,” I said; “I have no need of money. You mustn’t judge by this” (I touched my ragged coat and laughed). “What I seek from the Spirits is not money. It is knowledge and power. But I feel I owe you something. You have had me in your power, as your prisoner, and have shown me no discourtesy. I am grateful to you for what you have done for us, for the privileges you have granted, and the kindnesses you have shown. And in return any small skill I possess as a medium is wholly at your service. I shall do my best to find this treasure for you, if you wish it.”
“You are very kind,” said Kiazim Bey, and bowed. He was obviously waiting for my parole.
“As to secrecy,” I went on, “it is as essential for myself as for you. If I find this money for you, the British War Office may quite well shoot me on my release for giving funds to the enemy. And there is much more danger of me being discovered than of you. It is very hard to keep what happens at séances secret from the camp. For my own sake, of course, I must do my best to keep it dark. I cannot promise more than that.”
“The camp does not matter much,” said the Commandant, “it is Constantinople that is important.”
“I cannot see, Commandant, that you are doing them any harm by seeking to find this money by any means in your power. But that is neither here nor there. Before this game is played out I shall require helpers—and at least one other medium, and perhaps recorders, must get to know. I promise that if you play the game with us, Constantinople will remain in the dark so far as I am concerned. But I cannot promise that the camp may not find out.”
“The great danger will be if we find the treasure. Then you must be silent as the grave,” he said.
“That I can promise—it is to my interest as well as yours,” I replied.
“Silent as the grave, then,” he said, holding out his hand.