So far from attempting to allay the panic which ensued, Ahmed frankly
admitted the worst.

With cries of despair and a confident appeal to the justice of Heaven
against such intrigues, the honest fellow permitted the whole of the
vast business to be wound up in favour of newcomers, who had not
forgotten to reward him, and soothing as best he could the ruined crowds
of small investors who thronged round him for help and advice, he
retired under an assumed name to his highly profitable estates, which
were situated in the most distant provinces of the known world.

As for Mahmoud's-Nephew, three theories arose about him which are still
disputed to this day:

The first was that his magnificent brain with its equitable judgment and
its power of strict secrecy, had designed plans too far advanced for his
time, and that his bankruptcy was due to excess of wisdom.

The second theory would have it that by "going into politics" (as the
phrase runs in Bagdad) he had dissipated his energies, neglected his
business, and that the inevitable consequences had followed.

The third theory was far more reasonable. Mahmoud's-Nephew, according to
this, had towards the end of his life lost judgment; his garrulous
indecision within the last few days before his death was notorious: in
the Caliph's council, as those who should best know were sure, one could
hardly get a word in edgewise for his bombastic self-assurance; while in
matters of business, to conduct a bargain with him was more like
attending a public meeting than the prosecution of negotiations with a