"One moment," he said. "Of course, if you've set your heart on pitching me over, you must. Only—I may be quite mistaken—but I don't quite see how you are going to manage the rest of your programme without me, that's all."
"O deficient in intelligence!" cried the Jinnee. "What assistance canst thou render me?"
"Well," said Horace, "of course, you can get into the bottle alone—that's simple enough. But the difficulty I see is this: Are you quite sure you can put the cap on yourself—from the inside, you know?" If he can, he thought, "I'm done for!"
"That," began the Jinnee, with his usual confidence "will be the easiest of—nay," he corrected himself, "there be things that not even the Jinn themselves can accomplish, and one of them is to seal a vessel while remaining in it. I am indebted to thee for reminding me thereof."
"Not at all," said Ventimore. "I shall be delighted to come and seal you up comfortably myself."
"Again thou speakest folly," exclaimed the Jinnee. "How canst thou seal me up after I have dashed thee into a thousand pieces?"
"That," said Horace, with all the urbanity he could command, "is precisely the difficulty I was trying to convey."
"There will be no difficulty, for as soon as I am in the bottle I shall summon certain inferior Efreets, and they will replace the seal."
"When you are once in the bottle," said Horace, at a venture, "you probably won't be in a position to summon anybody."
"Before I get into the bottle, then!" said the Jinnee, impatiently. "Thou dost but juggle with words!"