"I don't really know what to say. There is so much mystery about it."
"Unfortunately, that is necessary."
I paced the room in anxious thought, hardly knowing what answer to give. Should I accept or should I decline the offer? The thousand pounds was a temptation, and yet, supposing there were some treachery lurking behind it, that, in my innocence of the East, I could not fathom—what then? Moreover, the adventurous side of the affair, I must own, appealed to me strongly. I was young, and there was something supremely fascinating about the compliment and the mystery that enshrouded it.
"Look here," I said at length. "Pay me half the money down before I start, as a guarantee of good faith, and I'm your man!"
"Very good. I will even meet you there!"
He put his hand inside his coat and drew out a pocket-book. From this he took five one hundred pound Bank of England notes, and gave them to me.
"There, you have half the money."
"Thank you. Really, I must beg your pardon for almost doubting you, but——"
"Pray say no more. You understand the conditions thoroughly. You are not to divulge a detail of the errand to any living soul now or when you return."
"I will give you my word I will not."