So I acted the part of an habitually heavy drinker in a fit of sudden
rage, and dismissed Jeremy from my service on the spot.

"Very well," he answered blandly. "Allah makes all things easy. Let us
hope that other fellow finds it easy to put you to bed tonight! Allah
is likewise good, for I have my ticket to Damascus, and all I need to
beg for is a bed and food at Haifa."

I muttered something in reply about his impudence, and the conversation
ceased abruptly. But at the end of ten minutes or so Yussuf Dakmar went
out into the corridor, signaling to Jeremy to follow him.




CHAPTER VIII

"He'll forgive anyone who brings him whiskey."


You remember, of course, that line that Shakespeare put into the mouth
of Puck? "What fools these mortals be!" The biggest fools are the
extra smart ones, whose pride and peculiar joy it is to "beat the game."

Yussuf Dakmar assessed all other humans as grist for his mill. Character
to him was expressed in degrees of folly and sheer badness. Virtue
existed only as a weakness to be exploited. The question that always
exercised him was, wherein does the other fellow's weakness lie? It's a