The little man's face turned green.
"The cellar? Noble patron, how should I find such a thing there?"
"Lead the way and I will try to show you," said I; and despite his agonised protests, the trembling wretch was made to lead us to the very spot where the jewel was hidden.
I took up the stone and showed the Magistrate the box in which the diamond was concealed, while Mustapha grovelled on the ground, pleading for mercy.
What followed was a matter of course. The merchant Mustapha was arrested, I was released and commissioned to let Shin Shira know that if he applied in person for his jewel it would be returned to him, and an apology offered for his unwarranted arrest.
And so I was set free—a stranger and alone in Baghdad.