“Don’t doubt it!” from John.
“Having made up my mind to sacrifice my own interests to those of suffering humanity, I set to work eavesdropping. Now, my education as a detective has been woefully scant, but in my peregrinations before condescending to settle down in Denver I have had some rough experiences, and they taught me how this thing must be accomplished.
“Gentlemen, with me it was veni, vidi, vici! for I came and saw and conquered. Near the group lay an old blanket used on one of the camels during the wedding procession. Under this dirty cloth of gold I hid myself, and then edged along until I was close behind the conspirators. I happen to have remarkable ears—you notice they stick out like a rabbit’s—they give me the power of catching a whisper, and these chaps were so earnest in discussing their sweet plot that they talked right out in meeting.
“Fortune blessed the brave—their delightful conversation was carried on in English, pigeon English as we men of the border would call it. It happened that two of those present were not Turks, but Americans, and that is what saved me from listening to a jargon of heathen talk that would have been a blank to me.
“Piece by piece I put their sentences together; at first, sir, it was a puzzle, but as each section filled a gap I finally found I was handling as masterly and bold a scheme as was ever hatched on American soil.”
CHAPTER XXIII.
WHAT THE OLD CAMEL BLANKET CONCEALED.
“Happy Jack” knows enough of dramatic rules of rhetoric to pause after this climax. He changes his posture, thrusts one hand into the breast of his coat, à la Napoleon, while the other emphasizes his words with pointed and quivering finger. Taken in all, he makes a fine study. Those present, realizing that the fellow really has something of importance to tell, listen with attention, and this gives him courage to pose as might a Cicero addressing the Roman courts of old.
“I have not had the pleasure of being introduced, sir, but I take it that you are the lordly host of the manor, Samson Cereal. Glad to see you—happy to have been of service to your daughter last night—delighted to meet you now, for it is against the king of the wheat pit the Turk’s arrows are directed.
“He’s a good hater, I knew that as soon as I set eyes on him; and it would make your flesh creep to hear him tell the many things he would do to wipe out the past, if ever he caught one Samson Cereal on Turkish soil. That is not to the point, however. They settled down to business after a while, and we had it all.