"I do not mean that," I said quietly. "Will you swear to me, solemnly, before God, that you are telling the truth?"
Marchetto looked at me in surprise, for no people in the world are so averse to making a solemn oath as the Hebrews, as, perhaps, no people are more exact in regard to the truth when so made to bind themselves. The man looked at me for a moment.
"You seem very curious about that watch," he said at last, turning away and busying himself with his stuffs.
"Then you will not swear?" I asked, putting the watch back in its place.
"I cannot swear to what I do not know. But I know the man who sold it to me. He is the Lala of a harem, that is certain. I will not tell you his name, nor the name of the Effendi to whose harem he belongs. Will you buy my watch?—birindjí—first quality—it is a beautiful thing. On my honor, I have never seen a finer one, though it is of silver."
"Not unless you will tell me where it came from," I said firmly. "Besides, I must show it to Vartan in Pera before I buy it. Perhaps the works are not good."
"It is yours," said Marchetto. "Take it. When you have had it two days you will buy it."
"How much?"
"Twenty liras,—twenty Turkish pounds," answered the Jew promptly.
"You mean five," I said. The watch was worth ten, I thought, about two hundred and thirty francs.