The Talbot Mundy Megapack. Talbot Mundy

far as impertinence goes, the lot of us are in one boat. Let’s call that account balanced, and draw a line under it.

      “Then there’s the personal side of it, and that’s not so easy to argue about. I never met any one of spirit who enjoyed to take a defeat sitting. You’ve got spirit, and so has that husband of yours, and I can figure how you both feel. I’m sure sorry to hurt anybody’s feelings. I know, when any of these brass hats in Jerusalem puts one over on me, I feel mad all through.

      “There’ve been occasions when I’ve watched my chance and got even, with a shade the advantage by way of compound interest. That’s human. And I’m pretty sure you’d like to knock the props from under me. Well, you’re going to get the chance tomorrow morning.”

      Her thin lips quivered into a smile. It was frank, too; there was nothing furtive about it. You couldn’t rightly call her treacherous, because she didn’t pretend to be other than an enemy, seeking her own advantage in every circumstance. But she was longer-sighted than the Lion of Petra, and, having lived in America, understood something of the theory, at any rate, of giving the under-dog a chance. She knew enough to know Grim wasn’t setting traps for her.

      “D’you mean you expect me to kiss and be friends?” she answered. “Bah! I gave you that chance once. I offered to put you into Ali Higg’s shoes, and you refused it.

      “Now you think my position is beginning to be stronger than it was, with a hundred and forty men almost within reach, and you plan to make terms. Thanks! I think I realize the strength of my position, too.”

      “I guess I’ll have to disillusion you,” said Grim. “You think your men will have captured Yussuf and that the order on the bank for fifty thousand pounds will be safely torn up or burned tomorrow morning. You’ll have to guess again.

      “I don’t care how much money you gave my man Ali Baba; it wasn’t enough. He had orders from me to accept any bribery you might give him, and to destroy in the desert whatever secret message you might send to Ibrahim ben Ah.

      “So, you see, the men in the oasis weren’t on the lookout for Yussuf after all, and it’s a safe bet that he got through. So we’re just where we left off, aren’t we? If you should turn on me—as you might, and scupper my outfit—as is just possible, you’d lose that fifty thousand, Jael, to say nothing of being bombed out of Petra by aeroplanes. Now—are we clear on that point?”

      “Well? What then?” she answered in a dry voice.

      Grim had played the hand well. He had finessed the trick. She hadn’t a trump left, or so she seemed to admit.

      “Why—hadn’t you better sit into the game and help me euchre this Avenger person, rather than spoil the game for every one, yourself included? I’m going to put you in charge of the hundred and forty men tomorrow morning.”

      “Whether I promise or not?”

      “Sure. What is your bare promise worth to me? You’re woman of the world enough to know I’m playing square; and you’ve got too much sense to suppose I’d trust you without some sort of guarantee. I’ve kind o’ proved that, haven’t I, by making you give that order on the bank?”

      “Well, what more guarantee d’you want?” she demanded tartly.

      “None, except—you keep on saying I don’t know on which side my bread’s buttered—I’ll feel safer when I’m sure you know where the grease collides with your piece. Once you understand thoroughly that I’m out to see you score off the Avenger person, and that if you put a stick in my wheel you’ll be stalling your own wagon, you and I are going to pull together right well.”

      At that Narayan Singh saw fit to lend his counsel.

      “All well and good, Jimgrim Sahib; but let me go with her. She knows you for a man of peace, who hates to inconvenience a woman; but me she knows for a Pathan, to whom it would be small inconvenience, and in certain circumstances quite amusing, to rid the earth of any enemy of yours.

      “Send me with her, sahib. I will be the guarantee. Then if she plays you a trick there will be one more head in the world without a pair of shoulders under it.”

      Jael Higg laughed outright at that, and I think she was really amused at the notion of anybody acting as a check on her if Grim should let her go. “Did you ever see a lamb act jailer to a she-wolf?” she asked; and at that it was the Sikh’s turn to roar with laughter.

      “Man, woman or child, you are the first who called me a lamb!” he answered. “Blood of Allah, but that is a good one!”

      Like most Sikhs, he thoroughly despises the Moslem creed, and made up for having to pretend to be a follower of the Prophet by using the most atrocious oaths. They set even Jael Higg’s teeth on edge, and she was no mealy-mouthed Puritan.

      “I’ll set no watch on you, Jael,” Grim went on. “It’s up to you whether you ride straight or not. My game must be pretty obvious. I’m going to pretend I’m Ali Higg. Ibrahim ben Ah, or any of those hundred and forty, would detect me in a second if they saw me by daylight, or even at close quarters in the dark.

      “So what I want you to do is to maneuver them according to orders that I’ll send you by messenger from time to time. They’re plenty used to obeying you, and there’ll be no trouble if you’re so minded. You’ll bear me out that first and last I’ve done nothing to discredit you with Ali Higg, or your men either. Now which is it to be?”

      “What’s your plan?” she asked.

      And I took that for a good sign. If she had intended treachery, she would almost certainly have agreed first and asked for particulars afterward.

      * * * *

      “We’ve got to make the Avenger person,” said Jimgrim, “believe we’re stronger than we are, and force a guarantee from him too. I guess you’ve never studied the Duke of Wellington? You’d better do it, Jael, if you hope to succeed at your business. He claimed that he beat Napoleon by not having cast-iron plans. He said, if I recall it right, that the plans of either side were like their mule-harness. Napoleon’s mules were all turned out perfectly with fine, strong leather harness; but when the leather busted they couldn’t fix it; and so with their plan of campaign.

      “But the Iron Duke’s mule-harness was all ropes and string; when any part gave out they tied a knot in it and went on. Same with his plan of campaign. Same with mine. I’ve got a good general idea of what to do, but it’s no part of my method to spoil prospects by being too darned definite in advance.

      “You see, if you’ve a tight-drawn plan the enemy can find it out and run a spike into it. I’ve got all this Abu Lissan country in my head, because one of my jobs during the war was to make a map of it. I’ll pass you the word from time to time where to go, where to hide, where to show yourselves, and what to do next; and if you keep your men in hand I think I can guarantee there won’t be one casualty.”

      “And you’ll leave me free to return to Petra afterward?” asked Jael.

      “Why not?”

      “With all my men?”

      “Sure, if they care to follow you.”

      “Very well,” she answered. “You’re a fool, James Grim, but I think you’re honest. There’s no such fool as an honest one! I’ll play your game this once. But I give you warning. If you lose it, I’ll leave you in the lurch; and if you win, that’s the end of it and we cry quits. Thereafter if I ever get you in my power don’t count on my forgiveness! You had your last chance of making a friend of me when you turned down my offer.”

      “Sure,” he answered, “I can sympathize with your personal feelings.”

      “A cent for your sympathy!” she snapped and I think she was on the verge of tears, although she was too proud and too much a termagant to let them fall.

      “Suppose you go and sleep, Jael,” he suggested. “We’ll all need our wits tomorrow morning.”