"They want Syria. They've got the coast towns now. They mean to have
Damascus; and if they can catch Feisul and jail him to keep him out of
mischief they will."

"But damn it! Didn't they promise the Arabs that Feisul should be King
of Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and all that?"

"They did. The Allies all promised, France included. But since the
Armistice the British have made a present of Palestine to the Jews, and
the French have demanded Syria for themselves. The British are
pro-Feisul, but the French don't want him anywhere except dead or in
jail. They know they've given him and the Arabs a raw deal; and they
seem to think the simplest way out is to blacken Feisul's character and
ditch him. If the French once catch him in Damascus he's done for and
the Arab cause is lost."

"Why lost?" demanded Jeremy. "There are plenty more Arabs."

"But only one Feisul. He's the only man who can unite them all."

"I know a chance for him," said Jeremy. "Let him come with us three to
Australia. There are thousands of fellers there who fought alongside
him and don't care a damn for the French. They'll raise all the hell
there is before they'll see him ditched."

"Uh-huh! London's the place for him," Grim answered. "The British like
him, and they're ashamed of the way he's been treated. They'll give him
Mesopotamia. Baghdad's the old Arab capital, and that'll do for a
beginning; after that it's up to the Arabs themselves."