Tales of Secret Egypt

by Sax Rohmer

  III

  THE LADY OF THE LATTICE

  I

  The interior of the room was very dark, but with the aid of theelectric torch which I carried I was enabled to form a fairly goodimpression of its general character, and having now surveyed theentire house I had concluded that it might possibly serve my purpose.The real ownership of many native houses in Cairo is difficult toestablish, and the unveracious Egyptian from whom I had procured thekeys may or may not have been entitled to let the premises. However,he had the keys; and that in the Near East is a sufficient evidence ofownership. My viewing the place at night was dictated by motives ofprudence; for I did not propose unduly to impress my personality uponthe inhabitants of the Darb el-Ahmar.

  Curiosity respecting the outlook at the rear now led me to enter thedeep recess at one end of the room, which boasted an imperfect but notunpicturesque _mushrabiyeh_ window. Moonlight slanted down into thenarrow lane which the window overhung and cast a quaint fretworkshadow upon the dusty floor at my feet. Idly I opened one of thelittle square lattices and peered down into the shadowy gully beneath.The lane was silent and empty, and I next directed my attention to asimilar window which protruded from the adjoining house.

  A panel corresponding to mine stood open also in the neighboringwindow; and by means of a soft light in the room I detected the headand shoulders of a woman, who, her arm resting upon the ledge,surveyed the vacant night.

  By reason of her position, whilst her hand and arm lay fully in themoonlight, her face and figure were indistinct. I, on the contrary,was clearly visible to her, and although I knew that she must haveseen me she made no effort to withdraw. On the contrary, she leanedartlessly forward as if to gaze upon the stars, permitting me a sightof her unveiled face and of a portion of her shapely neck.

  Her eyes, as is usual with Egyptian women, were large and fine, andas is usual with all women, she was aware of the fact, casting glancesupward and to the right and left calculated to exhibit their beauty.

  The coquetry of her movements was unmistakable; and when, lifting apretty arm, she brushed aside a lock of hair which overhung her browand uttered a tremulous sigh, I perceived that I had found favor inher sight.

  And indeed the graceful gesture had inclined my heart towards her;for it had served to reveal not only the symmetry of her shape but thepresence upon her arm, immediately above the elbow, of a magnificentbangle in gold and lapis-lazuli which, if I might trust my judgment,was fashioned no later than the XIXth dynasty! Clearly the house nextdoor, and its occupant, were the property of some man of wealth andtaste.

  There is a maxim in the East--"Avoid the veil"; and to this hithertoI had paid the strictest attention. Soft glances from _harem_ windowsusually leave me cold. But the presence of an armlet finer thananything in the Treasure of Zagazig placed a new complexion upon thisaffair, and the connoisseur within me took the matter out of my hands.

  Across the intervening patch of darkness our glances met; the girl'sdark lashes were lowered demurely, then raised again, and the boldnessof my unfaltering gaze was rewarded by a smile. Thus encouraged:--

  "O daughter of the moon," I whispered fancifully in Arabic,"condescend to speak to one whom the sight of thy beauty hathenslaved."

  "I fear to be discovered, Inglisi," came the soft reply; "or willinglywould I converse with thee, for I am lonely and wretched."

  She sighed again and directed upon me a glance that was less wretchedthan roguish. Evidently the adventure was much to her liking.

  "Let me solace your loneliness," I replied; "for assuredly we canconceive some plan of meeting."

  She lowered her eyes at that, and seemed to hesitate; then--

  "In the roof of your house," she whispered, often glancing over hershoulder into the room beyond, "is a trap--which is bolted...."

  Footsteps sounded in the lane beneath--whereat the vision at thewindow vanished and the lattice was closed; but not before the girlhad intimated by a gesture that I was to remain.

  Discreetly withdrawing into my dusty apartment, I endeavored to makeout the form of the intruder who now was passing underneath thewindow; but the density of the shadows in the lane rendered itimpossible for me to do so. He seemed to pause for a time and Iimagined that I could see him staring upward; then he passed on andsilence again claimed that deserted quarter of Cairo.

  For fully half an hour I waited, and was preparing to depart when apart of the shadows overlying the projecting window seemed to growblacker, and I realized with joy that at last the lattice wasreopening, but that the room within was now in darkness. Whilst Iwatched, remaining scrupulously invisible, a small parcel deftlythrown dropped upon the floor at my feet--and my neighbor's window wasreclosed.

  Closing my own, I picked up the parcel. It proved to be a small ivorybox, which at some time had evidently contained _kohl_, wrapped in apiece of silk and containing a note. Returning to the lower floor Idirected the light of my electric torch upon this charmingly romanticbillet. It was conceived in English and characterized by the ratheralarming _naivete_ of the Oriental woman. I give it in its entirety.

  "To-morrow night, nine o'clock."

  II

  My cautious inquiries respecting the house in the Darb el-Ahmar ledonly to the discovery that it belonged to a mysterious personage whosereal identity was unknown even to his servants; but this did notparticularly intrigue me; for in the East the maintenance of twoentirely self-contained establishments is not more uncommon than incountries less generously provided in the matter of marriage laws.After all the taking of a second wife does not so much depend on aman's religious convictions as upon his first wife.

  Reflecting upon the probable history of the armlet of lapis-lazuli,I returned to Shepheard's in time to keep my appointment with JosephMalaglou--a professed Christian who claimed to be of Greek parentage.I may explain here that it was necessary to provide for the safeconduct through the customs and elsewhere of those cases of "Sheffieldcutlery" which actually contained the scarabs, necklaces, and other"antiques," the sale of which formed a part of the business of myfirm. Joseph Malaglou had hitherto successfully conducted this matterfor me, receiving the goods and storing them at his own warehouse; butfor various reasons I had decided in future to lease an establishmentof my own for this purpose.

  He was waiting in the lounge as I entered, and had he been less usefulto me I think I should have had him thrown out; for if ever a swarthyvillain stepped forth from the pages of an illustrated "pennydreadful," that swarthy villain was Joseph Malaglou. He approached mewith outstretched hand; he was perniciously polite; his ingratiatingsmile fired my soul with a lust of blood. Fortunately, our businesswas brief.

  "The latest consignment is in the hands of my agent at Alexandria,"he said, "and if you are still determined that the ten cases shallbe despatched to you direct, I will instruct him; but you cannotvery well have them sent _here_."

  He shrugged and smiled, glancing all about the lounge.

  "I have no intention of converting Shepheard's Hotel into a cutlerywarehouse," I replied. "I will advise you in the morning of theaddress to which the cases should be despatched."

  Joseph Malaglou was palpably disturbed--a mysterious circumstance,since, whilst I had made no mention of reducing his fees, under thenew arrangement he would be saved trouble and storage.

  "As delay in these matters is unwise," he urged, "why not have thegoods despatched immediately, and consigned to you at my address?"

  There was reason on the man's side, for I had not yet actually leasedthe house in the Darb el-Ahmar; therefore--

  "I will sleep on the problem," I said, "and communicate my decision inthe morning."

  I stood on the steps watching him depart, a man palpably disturbed inmind; indeed his behavior was altogether singular, and could onlyportend one thing--knavery. I think it highly probable that theOttoman Empire had a certain claim upon Joseph Malaglou. He was one ofthose nondescript brutes whose mere existence is a menace to our rulein the Near East. He openly appl
auded British methods, and was theworst possible advertisement for the cause he claimed to haveespoused. Altogether he left me in an uneasy mood; so that shortlyafter the third, or daybreak, call to prayer had sounded from Cairo'sminarets on the morrow, I had arranged to lease the house in the Darbel-Ahmar for a period of three months, in the name of one Ahmed BenTawwab, a mythical friend, and had instructed Joseph Malaglouaccordingly.

  Other affairs claimed my attention throughout the day; but duskdiscovered me at my newly acquired house in the quaint streetadjoining the Bab ez-Zuwela. I procured the keys from the venerableold thief who had leased me the premises and learned from him that arepresentative of Joseph Malaglou had been admitted to the houseearlier in the evening, in accordance with my instructions, and haddelivered a load of boxes there.

  Thus, on opening the door, I was not surprised to find the ten casesfrom Alexandria lying within, neatly labelled:

  To Ahmed Ben Tawwab, Darb el-Ahmar, Sukkariya, Cairo.

  Ascending to the top floor, I mounted the rickety ladder and unboltedand opened the trap. A cautious glance to the right revealed the factthat little difficulty existed in passing from roof to roof; for inEgyptian houses these are flat and are used for various domesticpurposes. I consulted my watch: the hour of the tryst was come.

  And even as I learned the fact, from my neighbor's roof sounded thefaint creaking of hinges ... and out into the moonlight stepped an oddfigure--that of the lady of the lattice, dressed in a "European" blueserge costume which had obviously been purchased, ready made, in thebazaars! She wore high-heeled French shoes upon her pretty feet andher picturesque hair was concealed beneath a large Panama hat, fromthe brim of which floated one of those voluminous green veils dear tothe heart of touring woman and so arranged as to hide her face. Onlythe gleam of her eyes and teeth was visible through the gauze.

  I assisted her to step across, wondering since she was thus attired,to what crazy expedition I was committed.

  "Please do not kiss me," she whispered, speaking in moderately goodEnglish, "Fatimah is listening!"

  Such ingenuousness was rather alarming.

  "But," I replied, "you have left the trap open."

  "It is all right. Fatimah has locked the door of my room and willadmit no one, because I have a headache and am sleeping!"

  Resting her hand confidingly in mine, she descended the ladder intothe adjoining house, and, removing the veil from her face, looked upat me.

  "You will be kind to me, will you not?" she asked.

  I suppose a lengthy essay upon the mentality of Oriental womanhoodwould serve no purpose here, therefore I refrain from inserting it.Seated upon the chests in the room below, Mizmuna--for this was hername--confided her troubles with perturbing frankness. She hadconceived a characteristically Eastern and sudden infatuation for mysociety; nor am I prepared to maintain that she would have remainedobdurate to anyone else who had been in a position to unbolt the doorwhich offered the only chance of escape from her prison. The house ofmystery, she informed me, belonged to a person styling himself Yussufof Rosetta (a name that sounded factitious) and she hated him. For twomonths, I gathered, she had been in Cairo, during which time she hadnever passed beyond the walls of the neighboring courtyard. And theobject of her nocturnal adventure was innocent enough; she wanted tosee the European shops and the tourists passing in and out of the bighotels in the Sharia Kamel Pasha!

  III

  It was as we passed along the Sharia el-Maghribi, where I had pointedout the St. James's Restaurant, better known as "Jimmy's," I remember,that Mizmuna uttered a little, suppressed cry, and clutched my armsharply.

  "Oh!" she whispered fearfully, "it is Hanna! and he has seen me!"

  With frightened, fascinated eyes she was staring across the street,apparently at a group of curiously muffled natives--and her whole bodywas trembling.

  "Quick!" she said, pulling me urgently, "take me back! if they find methey will kill me!"

  "But if they have already seen you----"

  "Oh! take me back," she entreated piteously. "Hanna must not find outwhere I live."

  Here was mystery; but evidently my first dreadful theory that Hannawas Mizmuna's husband had been incorrect. Apparently he was not evenacquainted with Yussuf of Rosetta. But whoever or whatever he mightbe, I silently cursed the lapis armlet which had led me to involvemyself in his affairs, as I hurried my companion across the Place del'Opera and homeward....

  We were come indeed unmolested but breathless, as near our destinationas that nameless street beside the Mosque of Muayyad, when Mizmunasuddenly stopped, uttered a stifled shriek, and--

  "Oh, save me!" she panted, winding her arms about my neck. "Look!Look! in the shadow of the mosque door!"

  Panic threatened me for one fleeting moment; for this part of Cairo isutterly deserted at night and the mystery of the thing was taking tollof my nerves; then firmly unclasping the trembling arms, I pushedMizmuna behind me and snatched out my Colt automatic ... as a group ofmuffled figures became magically detached from the shadows that hadhidden them; and began silently to advance.

  I raised the pistol.

  "_Usbur!_" I cried "_auz eh?_" (Stop! what do you want?)

  They halted at once; but no answering voice broke the uncanny silencein which they regarded me. Mizmuna plucked at my arm.

  "Quick! Quick!" she whispered tremulously, "the keys! the keys!"

  I was swift to grasp her meaning.

  "My right pocket!" I whispered in answer.

  The girl's shaking hand groped for the keys, found them; and, utteringno parting word, Mizmuna darted off along the Sukkariya, which herebisects the Darb el-Ahmar. An angry muttering arose from the littleknot of oddly muffled figures, but not one of them had the courage toattempt a pursuit of the fugitive. Keeping my back to the wall of themosque and feeling along it with one hand outstretched, I began toback away from the attacking party; intending to take to my heelsalong the first lane I came to.

  This plan was sound enough; its weakness lay in the fact that I couldmake no proper survey of that which lay immediately behind me. Theresult was that I backed into someone who must have been stealthilyapproaching from the rear.

  I knew nothing of his presence until he suddenly threw himself uponfrom behind, and I was down on my face in the dust! My pistol wasjerked out of my hand, and, still preserving that unbrokendisconcerting silence, the muffled group bore down upon me.

  I gave myself up for lost. My unseen assailant, who seeminglypossessed wrists of steel, jerked my right hand up into the region ofmy shoulder-blades and pinioned my left arm so as to render mehelpless as an infant. Then two of the muffled Nubians--for Nubiansthe moonlight now showed them to be--raised me to my feet, and thegrip from behind was removed.

  That I had unwittingly intruded upon the amours of some wealthy andunscrupulous pasha I no longer doubted; and knowing somewhat of theways of outraged lovers of the East, the mental vision which arosebefore me was unpleasing to contemplate. Yet even the extravagantpicture which my imagination had painted fell short of the ferociousreality. For even as I was lifted upright, in the grasp of my hugeguards, a door in the side of the neighboring mosque burst open, andthere sprang into view an excessively tall, excessively lean andhawk-faced old man carrying a naked scimitar in his hand.

  He possessed eyes like the eyes of an eagle, and a thin, hooked nosehaving dilated, quivering nostrils. In three huge strides he reachedme, towered over me like some evil _ginnee_ of Arabian lore, andraised his gleaming scimitar with the unmistakable intention ofsevering my head from my trunk at a single blow!

  I think I have never experienced an identical sensation in my life;my tongue clave to the roof of my mouth; my heart suspended itsfunctions; and I felt my eyes start forward in their sockets. I hadnot thought my constitution capable of such profound and helplessfear, nor had I hitherto paid proper respect to the memory of CharlesI. I would gladly have closed my eyes in order that I might notwitness the downward sweep of the fatal blade,
but the lids seemed tobe paralysed. Never whilst memory serves me can I forget one detail ofthe appearance of that frightful old devil; and never can I forget mygratitude to that unseen captor, the man who had seized me frombehind, and who now, alone, averted the blade from my neck.

  Over my head he lunged--with an ebony stick--and skilfully; so thatthe pointed ferrule came well and truly into contact with the knucklesof my would-be executioner. The weapon fell, jingling, at my feet ...and a slim, black-robed figure was suddenly interposed between myselfand the furious old Arab.

  It was Abu Tabah!

  Dignified, unruffled, his classically beautiful face composed andresembling, in the moonlight, beneath the snowy turban, that of someyoung prophet, he stood, one protective hand resting upon my shoulder,and confronted my assailant. His eyes were aglow with the eerie lightof fanaticism.

  "It is written that the wrath of fools is the joy of Iblees,"[A] hedeclared.

  [A] Satan.

  Their glances met in conflict, the eagle eyes of my aged butformidable enemy glaring insanely into the fine, dark eyes of AbuTabah. The Arab was by no means quelled; yet presently his glance fellbefore the hypnotic stare of the mysterious _imam_.

  "The Prophet (may God be kind to him) spared not the despoiler!" hesaid heavily. "With these, my two hands"--he extended the twitching,sinewy members before Abu Tabah--"will I choke the life from thethroat of the dog who wronged me."

  Abu Tabah raised his hand sternly.

  "This matter has been entrusted to _me_," he said, staring down theenraged old man. "If you would have me abandon it, say so; if youwould have me pursue it, be silent."

  For five seconds the other sustained the strange gaze of those big,mysterious eyes, then folded his arms upon his breast, audiblygnashing his large and strong-looking teeth and averting his head frommy direction in order that spleen might not consume him. Abu Tabahturned and confronted me.

  "Explain the cause of your presence here," he demanded, continuing tospeak in Arabic, "and unfold to me the whole truth respecting yourcase."

  "My friend," I replied, steadily regarding him, "I am eternally yourdebtor; but I decline to utter one word for explanation until thesefellows unhand me and until I am offered some suitable excuse for theoutrageous attack upon my person."

  Abu Tabah performed his curiously Gallic shrug of the shoulders--andpointed, with his ebony cane, to my pinioned arms. In a trice theNubians fell back, and I was free. The infuriated old man directedupon me a glance that was bloodily ferocious, but--

  "O persons of little piety," I said, "is it thus that a true Moslemrewards the generous impulse and the meritorious deed? To-night adamsel in distress, flying from a brutal captor, solicited my aid.I was treacherously assaulted ere I could escort her to a place ofsafety, and all but murdered by the man who would appear to be thatdamsel's natural protector. Alas, I fear to contemplate what may havebefallen her as a result of such vile and foolish conduct."

  Abu Tabah slightly inclined his body resting his slim, ivory handsupon his cane; his face remained perfectly tranquil as he listened tothis correct, though misleading statement; but--

  "Ah!" cried the old man of the scimitar, adopting an unpleasant,crouching attitude, "perjured liar that thou art! Did I not see withmine own eyes how she embraced thee? O, son of a mange, that I shouldhave lived to have witnessed so obscene a spectacle. Not content withdespoiling me of this jewel of my _harem_, thou dost parade herabandonment and my shame in the public highways of Cairo!..."

  In vain Abu Tabah strove to check this tirade. Step by step the Sheikhapproached closer; syllable by syllable his voice rose higher.

  "What!" he shrieked, "is it for this that I have offered five thousandEnglish pounds to whomsoever shall restore her to me! Faugh! I spitupon her memory!--and though I pursue thee to the Mountains of theMoon, across the Bridge Es-Sirat, and through the valley of Gahennam,lo! my hour will come to slay thee, noisome offal!"

  He ceased from lack of breath, and stood quivering before me. But atlast I had grasped the clue to this imbroglio into which fate hadthrust me.

  "O misguided man," I replied, "grief hath upset thine intelligence.Again I tell thee that I sought to deliver the damsel from herpersecutor, and, perceiving an ambush, she clung to me as her onlyprotector. Thou are demented. Let another earn the paltry reward;I will have none of it."

  I turned to Abu Tabah, addressing him in English.

  "Relieve me of the society of this infatuated old ruffian," I said,"and accompany me to some place where I can quietly explain what Iknow of the matter."

  "Assuredly I will accompany you to such a spot," he answered suavely;"for whilst, knowing your character, I do not believe you to be theabductor of the damsel Mizmuna, a warrant to search your house wasissued an hour ago, on a charge of _hashish_ smuggling!"

  IV

  There are certain shocks that numb the brain. This was one of them.My recollection of the period immediately following those words of AbuTabah is hazy and indistinct. My narrow escape from decapitation atthe hands of the ferocious Arab assassin and the tangled love-affairsof that aged Othello became insignificant memories. (I seem torecollect that we left him in tears.)

  My next clear-cut memory is that of walking beside the mysterious_imam_ along the Darb el-Ahmar and of stopping before the closed doorof my newly acquired premises!

  The street was quite deserted again. Those muffled Nubians who seemedto constitute a bodyguard for my inscrutable companion had disappearedin company with the bereaved Sheikh.

  "This is your house?" said Abu Tabah sweetly.

  My habit of thinking before I speak or act asserted itselfautomatically.

  "I recently leased it on another's behalf," I replied.

  "In that event," continued the _imam_, "unless the information lodgedwith me to-night prove to be inaccurate, that other must speedilyproclaim himself."

  He tested the cumbersome lock, and, as I knew would be the case, sinceMizmuna had recently entered, found it to be unfastened, opened thedoor and stepped in.

  "Have you a pocket lamp?" he asked.

  I pressed the button of my electric torch and directed its rays fullyupon the stack of boxes. It was the great sage, Apollonius of Tyana,who said "loquacity has many pitfalls, but silence none"; therefore Isilently watched Abu Tabah consulting the label on the topmost chest.Presently--

  "Ahmed Ben Tawwab," he read aloud; "is that the name of the friend onwhose behalf you secured a lease of this house?"

  "It is," I answered.

  "If you will rest the light upon this box and assist me to open one ofthe others, I shall be obliged to you," said Abu Tabah.

  Knowing, as I did, that this strange man was in some way connectedwith the native police and with the guardianship of Egyptian morals,I recognized refusal to be impolitic if not impossible. But, as we setto work to raise the lid of the chest, my mind was more feverishlybusy than my fingers.

  Ere long our task was successful, and the contents of the chest layexposed. These were: two hundred Osiris statuettes, twelve one-poundtins of mummy heads ... _and fifty packets of hashish_.

  Silence was no effort to me now; I was dumbfounded. The musical voiceof my companion broke in upon my painful reverie.

  "The information upon which I now am acting," he said, "reached meto-night in the form of a letter, bearing no address and nosignature. The suppression of this vile _hashish_ traffic is so nearto my heart that I immediately secured the necessary powers to searchthe premises named, and was on my way hither when I observed you(although I did not at once recognize you) in the act of escaping froma group of my servants who had been detailed, some weeks ago, to tracea missing damsel known to be in Cairo. Concerning your share in thataffair I await a full statement from your own lips; concerning yourshare in this I can only say that unless Ahmed Ben Tawwab comesforward by to-morrow and admits his guilt, I must apply to the Britishagent for a formal inquiry. Is there anything that you would wish tosay, or any action you desire that I should take?"<
br />
  I turned to him in the dim light. Habitually I am undemonstrative,especially with natives. But there was a nobility and an implacablesense of justice about this singular _religieux_ which conquered mecompletely.

  "Abu Tabah," I said, "I thank you for your friendship. I havecommitted a grave folly; but I am neither an abductor nor a _hashish_dealer. This is the work of an unknown enemy, and already I have atheory respecting his identity."

  "Can I aid you--or do you prefer that I leave you to pursue this cluein your own way?" he asked tactfully.

  "I prefer to work alone."

  "The affair is truly mysterious," he admitted, "and I purpose tospend the night in meditation respecting it. After the hour of morningprayer, therefore, I will visit you. _Liltak sa'ida_, Kernaby Pasha."

  "_Liltak sa'ida_, Abu Tabah," I said, as he stepped out of the door.

  Slowly and stately the _imam_ passed down the street; and the _ginnee_of solitude reclaimed that deserted spot. A night watchman, _nebbut_on shoulder, passed along the distant Sukkariya. A dog howled.

  I re-entered the doorway conscious of a sudden mental excitement; foran explanation of the anonymous letter had just presented itself tomy mind. The owner of the neighboring house must have detected myrendezvous with his lady-love, have investigated the contents of thecases, and denounced me from motives of revenge! That the villainousJoseph Malaglou had been in the habit of smuggling _hashish_ intoEgypt in my cases of "cutlery" was evident enough and accounted forhis reluctance to fall in with the new arrangement; but my bemusedbrain utterly failed to grapple with the problem of why, knowing theirdamning contents, he had permitted these ten cases to be deliveredat _my_ address. Moreover, how my worthy neighbor--who had evidentlyabducted Mizmuna from the old man of the scimitar--had learned myreal name was another mystery which I found no leisure to examine.For I had but just set foot again within the ill-omened place whenthere came a patter of swift, light footsteps--and out from behindthe fatal stack of boxes ran Mizmuna, and threw herself into my arms!

  "Oh, my friend, my protector!" she cried distractedly, "what shall Ido? Yussuf has discovered our plot! Fatimah, that mother ofcalamities, has betrayed me, and I dare not return! I am an outcast;for although I was stolen from the Sheikh Ismail without my consent,how can I hope for his forgiveness?"

  Such a flood of sorrows and confidences overwhelmed me, and I placed asilent but deathless curse upon the lapis armlet which had brought meto this pass. Mizmuna sobbed upon my shoulder.

  "Yussuf has planned your ruin as well as mine," she said brokenly."For it was he who denounced you to the Magician." (As "the Magician"Abu Tabah was known and feared throughout Lower Egypt.) "Oh that Imight return to the house of Ismail where I lived in luxury in amarble pavilion, guarded by Hanna and a hundred negroes, where Ipossessed the robes of a princess and was laden with costly jewels!"

  So very human and natural an ambition met with my hearty approval,and, upon consideration of the word-picture of his domestic state, theold man of the scimitar rose immensely in my esteem. How my malevolentneighbor had succeeded in abducting Mizmuna from such a fortress Ifailed to imagine. But I began to see my way more clearly and hope wasreborn in my bosom.

  "Fear nothing, child," I said to the weeping girl. "You shall returnto your marble pavilion and to the care of that worthy, if somewhathasty man, from whose arms you were torn. And now inform me--where isYussuf?"

  Mizmuna raised her face and looked up at me, her long lashes wet withtears, but the slow, childish smile of the Eastern woman alreadycurving her red lips.

  "He is in his own room destroying papers," she said.

  "Who told you this?"

  "Ali, the _bowwab_, who is faithful to me--and who hates Fatimah."

  "Is the trap rebolted?"

  "I know not."

  "Remain here until I return," I said, seating her upon one of theboxes. "Where are my keys?"

  "I hid them upon the ledge of the window, beside the door yonder."

  Taking them from this simple "hiding-place," I locked the door togive Mizmuna courage, and, taking the lamp with me, began to mountthe stairs, first assuring myself of the presence in my pocket ofmy Colt automatic, which Abu Tabah had restored to me.

  The ray of my lamp shining out ahead, I came to the crazy laddergiving access to the trap. I climbed up, raising the trap, and gazedupon the jeweled dome of midnight Egypt. Dire necessity spurred me,and I walked across to the adjoining trap, carefully inserted twofingers in the iron ring and pulled.

  It was not fastened below! Inch by inch I raised it, and, finding theroom beneath it to be in darkness, opened the trap fully and descendedthe ladder.

  I flashed the light quickly about the place; then stood staring atwhat it revealed. My heart began to beat rapidly, for in that dirtyattic I had found salvation ... and a further clue to the mystery ofall my misfortunes.

  It was a _hashish_ warehouse!

  Taking off my shoes, I thrust one into either pocket of my jacket,and, perceiving that the house was constructed on a plan identicalwith that adjoining it, I crept downstairs to the apartment of the_mushrabiyeh_ window. A heavy curtain was draped in the doorway, butI could see that the room within was illuminated.

  I drew the curtains slowly aside and peeped in. I saw an apartmentthat had evidently been furnished very luxuriantly, but which now waspartially dismantled. In the recess formed by the window a low tablewas placed, bearing a shaded lamp. The table was littered with papers,account books and ledgers; and, seated thereat, his back towards thedoor, was a man who figured feverishly. I stepped into the room.

  "Good evening, Yussuf of Rosetta," I said; "you do well to set youraffairs in order."

  V

  Swiftly as though a serpent had touched him, the man in the recessleaped to his feet and twisted about to confront me.

  I found myself looking into a hideous, swarthy face--blanched now tothe lips, so that the cunning black eyes glared out as from amask--into the hideous swarthy face of _Joseph Malaglou_!

  The store of _hashish_ in the upper room had somewhat prepared me forthis discovery; yet, momentarily, the consummate villainy of the Greekhad me bereft of speech. As I stood there glaring at him, he beganfurtively to grope with one hand along the edge of the _diwan_ behindhim. Then, suddenly, he became aware of the pistol which Icarried--and abandoned the quest of whatever weapon he had sought,swallowing audibly.

  "So, my good Malaglou," I said, "you sought to make me responsible foryour sins, my friend? I perceive now how the Fates have played withme. My very first conversation with your charming protegee----"

  He bit savagely at his black moustache, advanced upon me; then, hisgaze set upon the Colt, he stood still again.

  "... was reported to you by the traitorous Fatimah," I continuedevenly; "and, when, on the morrow, I advised you of my new address,the identity of the hitherto unknown Romeo who had raised his eyes toyour Juliet became apparent. You doubtless had designed to unpack myboxes for me as you have been in the habit of doing; but green-eyedjealousy suggested how, by the sacrifice of only one consignment of_hashish_, you might wreak my ruin. I disapprove of your morals,Malaglou. My own code may be peculiar, but it does not embrace_hashish_ dealing; therefore, Malaglou, you are about to take a sheetof note-paper--bearing your office heading--and write from mydictation...."

  "And suppose I refuse? You dare not shoot me!"

  "You little know my true character, Malaglou. But I should not shootyou, as you say; I should introduce you to a gentleman who is veryanxious to make your acquaintance--the venerable Sheikh Ismail."

  The effect of this remark greatly exceeded my most sanguineexpectations. I think I have never seen a man so pitiably frightened.

  "The Sheikh ... Ismail!" gasped Joseph Malaglou. "He is in Cairo?"

  "He has generously offered me five thousand pounds for your name andaddress."

  "Ah, my God!" whispered Malaglou. "Kernaby, you will not betray meto that fiend? You are an Englishman and you will not soil your hand
swith such a deed!"

  To my dismay--for it was a disgusting sight--Malaglou fell tremblingupon his knees before me. The threat of shooting had had no sucheffect as the mere name of the Sheikh Ismail. My respect for thatreally remarkable old ruffian rose by leaps and bounds.

  "Get up," I said harshly, "and, if you can, write."

  He obeyed me; the man was almost hysterical. And, very shakily, thisis what he wrote:

  "I, Joseph Malaglou, also known as _Ahmed Ben Tawwab_, confess that I am a dealer in _hashish_ and spurious antiques, which I have been in the habit of storing at my warehouse in Cairo, and also in my private residence in the Darb el Ahmar. Finding it desirable to enlarge the facilities of the latter, I induced the Hon. Neville Kernaby, who is ignorant of my real business, to lease for me a house which adjoins my own, as I did not desire it to be known that I was the lessee. Subsequently, learning that the suspicions of the authorities had been aroused, I anonymously denounced Kernaby, thus hoping to avert suspicion from myself and cause his arrest as the consignee of the cases which had been delivered at the new premises."

  "Very good," I said, when this precious document had been completed."You understand that you will now accompany me to the central policestation in the Place Bab el-Khalk and sign this confession in thepresence of suitable witnesses? You will doubtless be detained;therefore in the interests of your safety, we must arrange thatMizmuna be hidden securely until the case is settled. Oh! set yourevil mind at rest! I shall not betray you to the Sheikh; unless--"I looked him squarely in the eyes--"any whisper of my name appearsin this matter!"

  "But where is she?" he said hoarsely.

  "She is hiding in the adjoining house."

  "I have a small place at Shubra where I can conceal her."

  "Very well. I will bring her here and permit you to make suitablearrangements, but let them be complete; for if Ismail should find thegirl and thus discover your identity, nothing could save you--and youwill be unable to leave Cairo (I shall see to that) until the case issettled."

  VI

  It was on the following evening, as I sat smoking upon the terrace ofthe hotel and reflecting upon the execrably bad luck which pursued me,that I observed Abu Tabah mounting the carpeted steps with slow andstately carriage. He saluted me gravely and accepted the seat which Ioffered him.

  My plan had run smoothly; Malaglou had given himself up to theauthorities, but had been released upon payment of a substantial bail.Mizmuna was concealed at Shubra, and I was flogging my brain in a vainendeavor to conjure up a plan whereby, without betraying thevillainous Greek and thus causing him to betray _me_, I might securethe Sheikh's reward--or, at least, the lapis armlet.

  "Alas," said Abu Tabah, "that the wicked should prosper."

  "To whose prosperity," I inquired, "do you more especially refer?"

  He regarded me with his fine melancholy eyes.

  "You have an English adage," he continued, "which says, 'set a thiefto catch a thief.'"

  "Quite so. But might I inquire what bearing this crystallized wisdomhas upon our present conversation?"

  "The man, Joseph Malaglou," he replied, "learning of the hue-and-cryafter a certain missing damsel----"

  I remember I was about to light a cigar as he uttered those words, buta dawning perception of the iniquitous truth crept poisonously into mymind, and I threw both cigar and matches over the rail into the SharaKamel and clutched fiercely at the little table between us.

  "And of the reward offered for her recovery," pursued the _imam_,"denounced to us, one Yussuf of Rosetta, a man owning a small house atShubra. Yussuf had fled, and the only occupant of the place was themissing damsel Mizmuna. Alas that fortune should so favor the sinful.The abductor, the despoiler, escapes retribution; and the traitor, theinformer, the dealer in _hashish_ is rewarded."

  The Turk has signally failed to rule Egypt; but there are certainOttoman institutions which are not without claims, as I realized atthat moment in regard to Joseph Malaglou: I was thinking,particularly, of the bow-string.

  "Already," said Abu Tabah, with his sweet but melancholy smile, "theheart of the Sheikh Ismail inclined toward the damsel, for whom hissoul yearned; and has not it been written that he who heals the breachbetwixt man and wife shall himself be blessed? Behold the reward ofthe peace-maker--which I design as a gift to my sister."

  I was unable to speak, but I became aware of a bitter taste upon mypalate as, from beneath his robe, the smiling _imam_ took out thearmlet of gold and lapis-lazuli!