Jimgrim and Allah's Peace by Talbot Mundy
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page 6 of 325 (01%)
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acquaintance of some gentlemen with gold-rimmed spectacles, and
the things they said about the Arabs set me to sympathizing with the sons of Ishmael again. In the midst of that predicament I met Jimgrim--Major James Schuyler Grim, to give him his full title, although hardly any one ever called him by it. After that, bewilderment began to cease as, under his amused, painstaking fingers, thread after thread of the involved gnarl of plots and politics betrayed its course. However, first I must tell how I met him. There is an American Colony in Jerusalem--a community concern that runs a one-price store, and is even more savagely criticized than the British Administration, as is only natural. The story of what they did in the war is a three-year epic. You can't be "epic" and not make enemies. A Chicago Jew assured me they were swine and horse-thieves. But I learned that the Yemen Jews prayed for them--first prayer-- every Sabbath of the year, calling down blessings on their heads for charitable service rendered. One hardly goes all the way to Palestine to meet Americans; but a journalist can't afford to be wilfully ignorant. A British official assured me they were "good blokes" and an Armenian told me they could skin fleas for their hides and tallow; but the Armenian was wearing a good suit, and eating good food, which he admitted had been given to him by the American Colony. He was bitter with them because they had refused to cash a draft on |
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