open, but the lattice shutter was closed tight, so that I could stand up
on the flat roof of the kitchen and listen without being seen. And,
sahib, I could recognize the snarl of Yussuf Dakmar's voice even before
my ear was laid to the open lattice. He was like a dog at bay. The
other five were angry with him. They were accusing him of playing
false. They swore that a great sum could be had for that letter, which
they should share between them. Said a voice I did not recognize: 'If
the French will pay one price they will pay another; what does money
matter to them, if they can make out a case against Feisul? Will they
not have Syria? The thing is simple as twice two,' said he. 'The
huntsman urges on the hounds, but unless he is cleverer than they, who
eats the meat? The French regard us as animals, I tell you! Very well;
let us live up to the part and hunt like animals, since he who has the
name should have the game as well; and when we have done the work and
they want booty let them be made aware that animals must eat! We will
set our own price on that document.'

"'And as for this Yussuf Dakmar,' said another man, 'let him take a back
seat unless he is willing to share and share alike with us. He is not
difficult to kill!'

"And at that, sahib, Yussuf Dakmar flew into a great rage and called
them fools of complicated kinds.

"'Like hounds without a huntsman, ye will overrun the scent!' said he;
and he spoke more like a man than any of them, although not as a man to
be liked or trusted. 'Who are ye to clap your fat noses on the scent I
found and tell me the how and whither of it? It may be that I can get
that letter tonight. Surely I can get it between this place and
Damascus; and no one can do that, for I, and I only, know where it is.