"I don't know yet."
"That man Ahmed, for instance? I have been told he is one of your party. Ahmed would do very well."
"No, not Ahmed."
"Who then?"
"I will find a man."
He hesitated. If ever a man was reviewing all the possible contingencies, murder of me included, behind a mask of superficial courtesy, that man was he.
"He should be a man acceptable to the notables," he said at last.
"I ought to know his name in advance."
"I must have unfettered choice, or I won't attend the mejlis." [Council]
"Oh, very well. Only the interpreter, too, will have to remain afterward in El-Kerak."
I looked at that curtain again, for it was moving in a way that no draft from the open window could account for. But at last the movement was explained. Before Abdul Ali could speak again a man stepped out from behind it, crossed the room, and went out through the door, closing it silently behind him. He was a man I knew, and the last man I had expected to see in that place. I suppose Abdul Ali noticed my look of surprise.