“How many camels are we taking?” I asked.
“Well, we’ve roughly 2,000 lbs. of stuff. That will take six baggage camels. Four could do it for such a short journey, but the natives are sure to insist on our hiring six. Then there’ll be a riding camel for you and one for Jakoub.”
“By the way, what is this merchandise I am shepherding?” I asked.
“We’ll have to explain all that,” said Edmund, cutting in as Welfare rubbed his great chin thoughtfully. “We’ve got to give you a lot of rather elaborate directions. I suppose we might as well do it now as later.”
“Yes,” added Captain Welfare, “the whole thing is a rather delicate business. If it’s not worked right we’d spoil our own market, and you see we can’t let Jakoub know too much.”
“I’m very glad to hear that,” I said.
“You must not tell him anything,” said Welfare, “though he has to hand the stuff over to our agent, and even that has to be done quietly. The stuff is—well, it’s a kind of chemical. It’s one of the rare earths used in making incandescent gas-mantles. There’s hardly any of it in Egypt and there’s tremendous competition to get it. That’s why if it was known as we’d brought in such a big lot as 2,000 lbs. the price would go flop, and we’d lose a lot of money.”
“I see.” This really did seem to me an obvious and easily comprehensible proposition.
“And so,” said Edmund, taking up the argument, “we want you to take it into Alexandria as curios, and specimens and things you have collected in the desert. That is if you’re asked any questions, which you probably won’t be.”
I could feel their eyes upon me as I took in their suggestion that I should become a party to what certainly seemed to me a transaction very near akin to fraud. I was amused to feel that they both expected me to be much more shocked than in fact I was.