XVII. "Poor old Scharnhoff's in the soup."
XVIII. "But we're ready for them."
XIX. "Dead or Alive, Sahib."
XX. "All men are equal in the dark."
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Chapter One

"Look for a man named Grim."


There is a beautiful belief that journalists may do exactly as
they please, and whenever they please. Pleasure with violet
eyes was in Chicago. My passport describes me as a journalist.
My employer said: "Go to Jerusalem." I went, that was in 1920.

I had been there a couple of times before the World War, when the
Turks were in full control. So I knew about the bedbugs and the
stench of the citadel moat; the pre-war price of camels; enough
Arabic to misunderstand it when spoken fluently, and enough of
the Old Testament and the Koran to guess at Arabian motives,
which are important, whereas words are usually such stuff as lies
are made of.

El Kudz, as Arabs call Jerusalem, is, from a certain distance, as
they also call it, shellabi kabir. Extremely beautiful.
Beautiful upon a mountain. El Kudz means The City, and in a