Hassan, the dupe of these plaudits, was returning in great satisfaction from his morning round, when he saw from a distance a man beckoning to him beside the doorway of the khan. Drawing near, he recognized the Bimbashi Muhammed. “Ma sh’ Allah!” he exclaimed in his soul; for he had thought never again to behold that particular rascal.
“Deign to step apart with me,” said the soldier, with lowly reverence; and, when Hassan had complied, he touched his uniform piteously, calling attention to a change in it. “See, I have been degraded. I have suffered much for thy sake. Thou wilt not give up the undertaking, surely—thou, a great one—for the fee is like owing to me for all I have endured. I come to tell thee that vigilance is relaxed, that all is now favorable to our business—but to learn from the lord of the khan that your honors depart in the morning. Go not far away, O my dear! Return by night to the city. I will warn the guards at the city gate; I myself will admit thee to the tower. I cannot bring you the things because of a sacred oath which was wrung from me. But I can open the door of the armory. Fear not, O my master. There is no danger, Allah witness. At the fourth hour of the night. And the fee—we agreed upon that. Forget not the fee, O my eyes, for I have suffered much.”
Once more he touched his mutilated uniform in the manner of a beggar showing sores. Hassan pulled his white mustache, and eyed the man grimly askance.
“It is not good to deceive Hassan Agha.”
The poor soldier flung up his hands. “Allah witness,” he cried, in tones of real horror. “O my great lord, trust Muhammed. I am a poor honest man whose one aim is to serve thee and obtain the reward.”
“Agreed then,” said Hassan, well content. “To-morrow, at the fourth hour of the night, be ready. With my peace, go.”
Muhammed blessed him and went. His tone throughout, though cringing, had been straightforward, without a trace of that conscious subtlety which had disfigured his behavior upon former occasions. It was the manner of a merchant who, seeing his customer in act to depart, through fear of losing him, speaks truth for the first time.