"Impossible. I would rather let you take it as a gift. It is birindjí—first quality—upon my honor. I never saw"——
"Rubbish, Marchetto!" I exclaimed. "Let me take it to Vartan to be examined. Then we will bargain."
"Take it," he answered. "Keep it as long as you like. I know you very well, and I thank Heaven I have profited a little with you. But the price of the watch is twenty pounds. You will pay it, and all your life you will look at it and say, 'What an honest man Marchetto is!' By my head—it is birindjí—first quality—I never"——
"I have no doubt," I answered, cutting him short. I motioned to Paul that we had better go: he rose without a word.
"Good-by, Marchetto," I said. "I will come back in a day or two and bargain with you."
"It is birindjí—by my head—first quality"—were the last words we heard as we left the Jew amongst his stuffs. Then we threaded the subterranean passages of the bazaar, and soon afterwards were walking in the direction of Galata bridge, on our way back to Pera. At last Paul spoke.
"We are on the scent," he said. "That fellow was speaking the truth when he said the watch came from a harem. I could see it in his face. I begin to think that Alexander did some absurdly rash thing,—followed some veiled Turkish woman, as he would have done before if I had not stopped him,—was seized, imprisoned in some cellar or other, and ultimately murdered."
"It looks like it," I answered. "Of course I would not buy the watch outright, because as long as it is not paid for I have a hold upon Marchetto. I will talk to Balsamides to-night. He is very clever about those things, and he will find out the name of the black man who sold it."
We separated, and I went to find my friend; but he was on duty and would not return until evening. I spent the rest of the day in making visits, trying to get rid of the time. On returning to the house of Gregorios I found a letter from John Carvel, the first I had received from him since I had left England. It ran as follows:—
My dear Griggs: Since you left us something very extraordinary and unexpected has taken place, and considering the part you took in our household affairs, you should not be kept in the dark. I have suffered more annoyance in connection with my unfortunate sister-in-law than I can ever tell you; and the thing has culminated in a sort of transformation scene, such as you certainly never expected any more than I did. What will you say when I tell you that Madame Patoff has suddenly emerged from her rooms in all respects a sane woman? You will not be any less surprised—unless Paul has confided in you—to hear that he asked Hermione to marry him before leaving us, and that Hermione did not refuse him! I am so nervous that I have cut three meets in the last month.