Nor will I tell!' And they answered all together, 'We will make you
tell!'

"But he said, 'All that ye five fools can do is to interfere. Easy to
kill me, is it? Well, perhaps. It has been tried. But, if so, then
though ye are jackals, kites and vultures all in one with the skill of
chemists added, ye can never extract secret knowledge from a dead man's
brain. Then that letter will reach Feisul tomorrow night; and the
French, who speak of you now as of animals, will call you what?
Princes? Noblemen?'

"I suppose they saw the point of that, sahib, for they changed their
tone without, however, becoming friendly to Yussuf Dakmar. Thieves of
that sort know one another, and trust none, and it is all a lie, sahib,
about there being any honor among them. Fear is the only tie that binds
thieves, and they proceeded to make Yussuf Dakmar afraid.

"There seems to be one among them, sahib, who is leader. He has a thin
voice like a eunuch's, and unlike the others swears seldom.

"This father of a thin voice accepted the situation. He said: "'Well
and good. Let Yussuf Dakmar do the hunting for us. It is sufficient
that we hunt Yussuf Dakmar. Two of us occupy the room next to
Ramsden's. If Yussuf Dakmar needs aid in the night, let him summon us
by scratching with his nails on the closet door. The rest will be
simple. There are four in this besides us five; so if we count Yussuf
Dakmar that makes ten who share the reward. Shall Yussuf Dakmar grow
fat, while nine of us starve? I think not! Let him get the letter, and
give it to me. We will hide it, and I will deal with the French. If he
fails tonight, let him try again tomorrow on the train. But we five