“It is well. We have spoken of many things. He consents.”
“When?” asked Babalatchi, eagerly.
“On the second day from this. I have promised every thing. I mean to keep much.”
“Your hand is always open, O Most Generous amongst Believers! You will not forget your servant who called you here. Have I not spoken the truth? She has made roast meat of his heart.”
With a horizontal sweep of his arm Abdulla seemed to push away that last statement, and said slowly, with much meaning—
“He must be perfectly safe; do you understand? Perfectly safe—as if he was amongst his own people—till . . .”
“Till when?” whispered Babalatchi.
“Till I speak,” said Abdulla. “As to Omar.” He hesitated for a moment, then went on very low: “He is very old.”
“Hai-ya! Old and sick,” murmured Babalatchi, with sudden melancholy.
“He wanted me to kill that white man. He begged me to have him killed at once,” said Abdulla, contemptuously, moving again towards the gate.