should suffer in this way? Is it fair? Now, Ali, I know you. You’re a just man. I’ve done a lot for you in the past. Get me my eighty rupees and I will take you to stay with my brother in Malindi. Then when the troubles are over, we can come back or stay or go somewhere else, just as you like. You don’t want your throat cut by the Arabs. I’ll look after you.”
“Well I appreciate your offer, Mr. Youkoumian, and I’ll do what I can. I can’t say more than that.”
“I know you, Ali. I trust you as I’d trust my own father. Not a word to any one about the launch, eh?”
“Not a word, Mr. Youkoumian, and I’ll see you later this evening.”
“That’s a good fellow. Au revoir and remember, not a word to any one about the launch.”
When Ali had left the Amurath Cafe, Youkoumian’s wife emerged from the curtain behind which she had been listening to the conversation.
“What’s all this you’ve been arranging? We can’t take that Indian to Malindi.”
“I want my eighty rupees. My dear, you must leave these business matters to me.”
“But there isn’t room for any one else in the launch. We’re overloaded already. You know that.”
“I know that.”
“Are you mad, Krikor. Do you want to drown us all?”
“You must leave these things to me, my flower. There is no need to worry. Ali is not coming with us. All I want is my eighty rupees for Mr. Marx’s petrol. Have you finished your packing? We start as soon as Ali returns with the money.”
“Krikor, you wouldn’t… you aren’t going to leave me behind, are you?”
“I should not hesitate to do so if I thought it necessary. Finish your packing, girl. Don’t cry. Fin-ish your packing. You are coming to Malindi. I have said it. Finish your packing. I am a just man and a peaceful man. You know that. But in time of war one must look after oneself and one’s own fam-ily. Yes, one’s family, do you hear me? Ali will bring us the money. We shall not take him to Malindi. Do you understand? If he is a trouble, I shall hit him with my stick. Don’t stand there like a fool. Finish your packing.”
The sun had now set. As Ali walked back to the fort through the dark lane he was aware of new excitement in the people around him. Groups were hurrying to the water-front, others stood in their doorways chattering eagerly. He heard the words ‘Seyid,’
‘Victory’ and ‘Army.’ In the open space be-fore the harbour he found a large crowd collected with their backs to the water, gazing inland over the town. He joined them and in the brief twilight saw the whole dark face of the hills alight with little points of fire. Then he left the crowd and went to the old fort. Major Joab, the officer of the guard. stood in the court studying the hills through field glasses.
“You have seen the fires inland, secretary?”
“I have seen them.”
“I think there is an army encamped there.”
“It is the victorious army, major.”
“Praise God. It is what we have waited to see.”
“Certainly. We should praise God whether in prosperity or adversity,” said Ali, piously; he had accepted Christianity on entering Seth’s service. “But I bring orders from the Emperor. You are to take a picket and go with them to the Amurath Bar. There you will find the Armenian Youkoumian, a little fat man wearing a black skull cap. You know him? Very well. He is to be put under arrest and taken a little outside the town. It does not matter where, but take him some distance from the people. There you are to hang him. Those are the Em peror’s orders. When it is done, report to me personally. There is no need to mention the matter directly to his majesty. You understand?”
“I understand, secretary.”
Upstairs Seth was deep in a catalogue of wireless apparatus.
“Oh, Ali, I have decided on the Tudor model in fumed oak. Remind me tomorrow to write for it. Is there still no news?”
Ali busied himself in arranging the papers on the table and fitting the typewriter into its case.
“Is there no news?”
‘There is news of a kind, Majesty. I opine that there is an army bivouacked in the hills. Their fires are visible. If your majesty will come outside, you will see them. No doubt they will march into the city tomorrow.”
Seth sprang gaily from his chair and ran to the window.
“But this is magnificent news. The best you could have brought. Ali, I will make you a Viscount tomorrow. The army back again. It is what we have been longing for the last six weeks, eh, Viscount?”
“Your majesty is very kind. I said an army. There is no means of knowing which one it may be. If, as you surmise, it is General Connolly, is it not curious that no runner has come to salute your majesty with news of the victory?”
“Yes, he should have sent word.”
“Majesty, you are defeated and betrayed. Every one in Matodi knows it except yourself.”
For the first time since the beginning of the campaign, Ali saw that there was uncertainty in his master’s mind. “If I am defeated,” said Seth, “the barbarians will know where to find me.”
“Majesty, it is not too late to escape. Only this evening I heard of a man in the town who has a launch hidden outside the harbour. He means to leave in it himself, for the mainland, but he would sell it at a price. There are ways for a small man to escape where a great man like your majesty would be trapped. For two thousand rupees he will sell this boat. He told me so, in so many words. He named the price. It is not much for the life of an
