sends for a medico when they're sick! Getting lax in his old age!
Sent for me a while ago to attend his favorite wife--sixty years old if
she's a day, and as proud of him as if he were the king of Jerusalem.
Well--I looked her over, judged she was likely to keep her bed, and did
some thinking."

"You know their religious law? A woman can't go to Paradise without
special intercession, mainly vicarious. I found a mullah--that's a
Muhammedan priest--who'd do anything for half of nothing. They most of
them will. I gave him fifty dibs, and promised him more if the trick
worked. Then I told the old woman she was going to die, but that if
she'd tell me the secret of Tippoo Tib's ivory I had a mullah handy who
would pass her into Paradise ahead of her old man. What did she do?
She called Tippoo Tib, and he turned me out of the house. So I'm fifty
out of pocket, and what's worse, the old girl didn't die--got right up
out of bed and stayed up! My rep's all smashed to pieces among the
Arabs!"

"D'you suppose the old woman knew the secret?" I asked.

"Not she! If she'd known it she'd have split! The one ambition she
has left is to be with Tippoo Tib in Paradise. But he can intercede
for her and get her in--provided he feels that way; so she rounded on
me in the hope of winning his special favor! But the old ruffian knows
better! He'll no more pray for her than tell me where the ivory is!
The Koran tells him there are much better houris in Paradise, so why
trouble to take along a toothless favorite from this world?"

"Has the government any official information?" asked Monty.