from pique, prejudice,
passion or whatever other emotion is in charge. I know I did.
It was resentment. It was so immensely disagreeable to be
patronized by this puffy-eyed sensualist that I could not resist
the impulse to argue with him.

"I don't see the force of that," said I. "My plans are made to
return to Jerusalem tomorrow."

I could not have done better as it happened. I suppose there is
some theory that has been written down in books to explain how
these things work, at any rate to the satisfaction of the fellow
who wrote the book. But Grim, referring to it afterward, called
it naked luck. I would rather agree with Grim than argue with
any inky theorist on earth, having seen too many theories upset.
Luck looks to me like a sweeter lady, and more worshipful than
any of the goddesses they rename nowadays and then dissect in
clinics. At any rate, by naked luck I prodded Abdul Ali where he
kept his supply of mistakes. Instead of calling my bluff, as he
doubtless should have done, he set out to win me over to his
point of view. Whichever way you analyze it in the light of
subsequent events, the only possible conclusion is that it was my
turn to be lucky and Abdul Ali's to make a fool of himself.
Nobody could have made a fool of him better than he did.

"I must dissuade you," he said, trying to hide wilfulness under
an unpleasant smile. "I will offer inducements."

"They'll have to be heavy," I said, "to weigh against what I have
in mind."

He had kept ben Nazir and me standing all this time. Now he
offered me one of the chairs, took the other himself, and
motioned ben Nazir to a cushion near the window. A servant
brought in the inevitable coffee and cigarettes. Then he laid a
hand on my knee for special emphasis--a fat, pale, unprincipled
hand, with that great sapphire gleaming on the middle finger.

"It happens that this idea of a school comes just at the right
moment. I have been searching my mind for just some such idea to
lay before the notables. As we are talking a language that none
else here understands, I can safely take you into confidence. A
raid is being planned into British territory."

He paused to let that sink in, and tapped my knee with his
disgusting fingers until I could have struck him from irritation.

"There is, however, an element of disagreement. There is
uncertainty as to the outcome, in the minds of some of the chiefs
who live nearest to the border. The feeling