"Very pretty. But you will have nothing to do with this."
Then, as he noted the four horses tethered to a column: "Ah! ... now that, with certain variations, has real possibilities. You are quite substantial, Maksoud ... but those horses are sturdy little beasts...."
Ismeddin stroked the neck of a savage Barbary stallion, and continued, "But then, that also is swift. At the best, it lasts but a little over a day, even with the nicest of workmanship," mused the old man.
Ismeddin deftly removed the gag from the prisoner's mouth.
"He can no more than banish me!" sputtered Maksoud. "The Resident would depose him were I not to return. Old ape ... son of many pork-eating fathers ... do you think all this parade of curious torments will kill me of fright? That is an old story. I myself once helped him——"
And Maksoud's laugh rang true.
"So?" Ismeddin smiled suavely. "Well, and I said that you would meet none of these commonplace things. But supposing ... just supposing, as food for thought, that we were to let you down into that black pit. You have seen those who have played about these ruins——"
Ismeddin nodded to the black slaves, who advanced to remove the prisoner from his horse.
"Not that, saidi," implored Maksoud.
"That, and more than that. You have seen those who lost their way in these ruins. And you once laughed at what was left of one who finally did find his way out."