“I cast my eyes on the ground and delayed a while, the more to impress him. I then told him in grave and subdued tones that I had very bad news. I glanced up a moment to note the wildness in his eyes upon this blow, then cast them down at the ground and continued: ‘I have private advice—perhaps I should not have divulged it to you, for it was given in confidence, but my concern and affection for you have proved too strong—I have private advice that the council intend this very week to demand most formally the repayment of 100 pieces of gold which they say is due from you for advances long ago made, and failing payment to cast you into their dungeon.’
“The young man leapt suddenly to his feet, gave a loud shriek, and made to beat his head against the wall. It was with difficulty that I held his hands and restrained him.
“ ‘Oh! Curse my birth!’ he cried in a paroxysm of despair. ‘And curse my generation! My day has come!’ He raved. He incoherently demanded miracles and alternately denied the Justice of Allah! Grown more subdued but still distraught, he moaned of his affections. He told me—what I had hitherto not known and what interested me very little—that he had a little sister, orphaned as he was, who, if he were put away, would starve or become the prey of strangers. ‘What could be done? What refuge discovered? Curse the day when his fatal dream had struck him! Curse his works! Curse the river! Curse the marsh! Curse the city!’
“And so on—the usual reaction of enthusiasts. It was most distressing. I still held his writhing hands firmly till he was calm enough to hear me, and then said:
“ ‘Listen to me. I have considered your case. I think I can rescue you. I have myself saved a little from my trading operations of the last two months in this town. My credit also is somewhat extended. I will find what you need. For I respect genius and I do not judge by common standards—’
“I was proceeding when he burst out into extravagant gratitude; called me his benefactor, kissed my hand again and again, and irrelevantly alluded again to that little sister of his who really had nothing to do with the case. I checked him and continued:
“ ‘I will do more. You do not know your own value—I mean your own moral and intellectual worth—nor what admiration they excite in men who judge as I do that the rest is dross. Our enterprise is clearly lost’—he nodded his agreement. ‘My investment you may say is gone: or, at any rate, I must take it for what it is worth as a thing half-derelict and gravely threatened by the authorities. But you shall not go under. Your high talents shall not be wasted so long as I have credit for commerce. … Come. Our original agreement is useless now. It is waste paper. Well, we’ll tear it up.’
“ ‘Oh, sir!’ said he. ‘And what of you? All this trust in me and my work, all this fund of money laid out by you! All this kindness and support without which I⸺’
“ ‘Say no more,’ I interrupted, ‘my mind is made up. I have here a draft of my intention, which I hope will jump with yours.’ So saying I pulled out duplicate papers on which were written very simple terms. The original (and now worthless) agreement for an imaginary and unobtainable profit was cancelled. I promised in the new draft to take over the wretched unfinished works (they were worth nothing), to indemnify the poor fellow against any public claims, and to guarantee him an ample salary for one year from the date of signing. I now added more. I bound myself, in the event of his death or prolonged imprisonment within this year, to pay to his heirs the sum of 100 pieces of gold. This, I pointed out to him, would provide for his little sister (of whom I had now heard enough), while to myself I excused the extravagance by considering his really robust health and the power of my protection to save him from incarceration.
“I would not have believed that a human being could feel so strongly. He fell at my feet, calling me his providence, his all, his bulwark and refuge. He said he did not know there was such goodness among men. I bade him not exaggerate. I reminded him how noble minds had in all ages loved to support the arts, and cited Yussouf-abd-Arham, Sulim-ben-Achab, Muswuf, Wawoo, Mah and other worthies. At last our business was completed, the new deeds signed and attested by my servants, and the gallant fellow, for whose ingenuous character I still retain a profound respect, was put to sleep in happy exhaustion upon soft carpets in my guestroom. I there left him to dream of his little sister and his mud-heaps, while I betook myself to a short casting-up of accounts followed by nightly prayers to the All-Merciful who guides His servant into pleasant places.
“Next morning I sent the enthusiast back to his labours (with a little cash to carry on with) and very carefully thought out my plans.
“First, at the next dinner I gave, I told my guests (who were, as usual, among the chief men of the city) that I proposed a deal in corn with the factors of Tambulistan: the place did not, as a fact, exist, but the name was well chosen and attractive. They were distant (I said) but in correspondence with me; and as they
