"But Your Honor knows I am in great haste. My own small affairs at Jaffa, God knows, have been neglected. How shall I spare time to return to Petra?"
"And there you shall reverse your story."
"Allah!"
"You shall tell the very numbers and equipment of the army that makes ready."
"May He who never sleeps preserve me! Am I mad, or dreaming? In Petra I have told Your Honor a true tale; shall I return to Petra in order to tell you a lie? O Lord of the limits of the desert, listen to me! I have property in Jaffa; I must attend to it."
"I know you have. By the wharf where the Greeks land melons from Egypt, isn't it? Three godowns and a cafe on the corner? A nice property."
He paused, and I think he was turning over in his mind just how far it would be wise to go with all those others listening; for every word he let fall was sure to be discussed and discussed again at the next halting-place.
"Which is better—to return to Petra and obey, or to lose that property?"
"How shall I lose it? Hah! Your Honor is pleased to joke. You will invade Palestine as far as Jaffa?"
"For those who live under British protection and yet spy against the British are not so well treated by them as those who spy on their behalf."