“Could you manage to lay your hand on him?” asked Mr Hicks.
“You want him seized—put out of the way? Oh yes, it can be done, of course, but it will be rather expensive, on account of the English ladies. These wretched missionaries fly to their consuls on the slightest pretext.”
“I guess I don’t just want him wiped out,” said Mr Hicks meditatively. “A little quiet talk with him is all I ask. And if your soldiers could be brought to understand, sir, that a small extra present would pass between us if they carried the business through without fuss and without hurting the gentleman’s feelings, it might obviate any difficulty with the consul.”
Mahmud Fadil acquiesced in the proposal with some disappointment. He had anticipated the handling of a considerable sum of money, a certain proportion of which would naturally stick to his own fingers in the process, but he gave the necessary orders, keenly conscious that half a loaf is better than no bread. Accordingly, Cyril’s quarters were invaded, shortly after darkness had fallen, by several file of soldiers, dragging with them the blind man, who offered no resistance beyond protesting against the illegality of his arrest. Mr Hicks was on the look-out, and after reassuring the owners of the house, and dismissing the soldiers with the reward agreed upon, led the prisoner into Cyril’s room.
“Fear not, O father of a book,” he said in Arabic; “no harm shall befall thee. Tell the Prince of the Jews who thou art.”
“My lord’s servant is Yeshua the son of Ishak,” answered the blind man, turning his sightless eyes in the direction of the divan on which Cyril was lying, “and he goes hither and thither among the tents of his brethren to tell them the words of Life.”
“Was it you who brought me the letter from the Princess of the Beni Ismail?” asked Cyril. Mr Hicks translated the question.
“My lord’s servant was sojourning a week ago in the tents of the Beni Ismail, and their sheikh asked him to carry a message to the Prince of the Jews. The tribe fear to enter the town, lest the Roumis should seize and imprison them.”
“Then you did not see the Princess—I mean, she did not give you the letter?”
“Nay, my lord, how should such a one as Yeshua ibn Ishak be admitted to the presence of the Great Princess? One of her women had given the paper to the sheikh.”