for us.

He found a crony of his, who had occupied for several days a room
containing two beds. With unheard-of generosity, accompanied, however,
by a peculiar display of yellow teeth and more of the jaundiced whites
of his eyes than I cared to see, this individual offered to go elsewhere
for the night and to place the room at my disposal.

"But there is this about it," he explained. "Where I am going there is
no room for my friend Yussuf Dakmar Bey, so I must ask you to let him
share this with you. You and he could each have a bed, of course, but
it seems to me that your servants look wearier than you do. I suggest
then that you take one bed, effendi, and share it with my friend Yussuf
Dakmar Bey, leaving the other to your servants, who I hope will be
suitably grateful for the consideration shown them."

Grim nodded to me from behind the Syrians' backs, and I jumped at the
offer. Payment was refused. The man explained that he had the room by
the week and the loan of it to me for one night would cost him nothing.
In fact, he acted courteously and with considerable evidence of
breeding, merely requesting my permission to lock the big closet where
he kept his personal belongings and to take the key away with him. Even
if we had been in a mood to cavil it would have been difficult to find
fault, for it was a spacious, clean and airy room--three characteristics
each of which is as scarce as the other in that part of the world.

The beds stood foot to foot along the right wall as you entered. Against
the opposite wall was a cheap wooden wash-stand and an enormous closet
built of olive wood sunk into a deep recess. The thing was about eight
feet wide and reached to the ceiling; you couldn't tell the depth