doing? I would promise a few tough fellows ten pounds among them to
murder you. Thus I would get the letter and save forty pounds."

"Ah? But I am not that kind of man," said Yussuf Dakmar.

"Well, you will learn what kind of man you are in the next world when
you reach the Judgment Seat. What is most interesting now is the kind
of fellow I am. I will steal the letter from Ramsden, and keep it until
you pay me in Damascus. But I shan't sleep, and I shall watch you; and
if I suspect you of making plans to have me robbed or murdered I shall
make such a noise that everybody will come running, and then I shall be
a celebrity but they'll put you in jail."

"Very well; you steal the letter, and I'll keep close to you," said
Yussuf Dakmar. "But how are you going to do it, now that Ramsden has
dismissed you from his service?"

"Oh, that's easy. You get me some whisky and I'll take it to him for a
peace offering. He'll forgive anyone who brings him whisky."

"Tee-hee! That is quite an idea. Yes. Now--how can I get whisky on
the train? If only I could get some! I have a little soporific in a
paper packet that could be mixed with the whisky to make him sleep
soundly. Wait here while I walk down the train and see what I can
find."

Yussuf Dakmar was gone twenty minutes, and whether he begged, bought or
stole did not transpire, but he returned with a pint flask containing
stuff that looked and smelt enough like whisky to get by if there had
been a label on the bottle. He poured a powder into it in Jeremy's