ge. D'you suppose he'd
entertain a _hakim?"_

She nodded again.

"Well, we'll fix it so a _hakim_ can relieve his boils and
indigestion. But let you and me understand each other first,
Jael. I can be a mean man when I must, but I'll always take a
heap of trouble to find a white man's way of accomplishing the
same purpose. I can act mean toward you--sheer plug-ugly if you
force my hand--but I'd sooner not; and I'd just as lief help
you as hinder you, provided you don't upset what I'm seeking
to build."

She laughed again, and not so bitterly.

"You're on the wrong side of the wall to build much," she
answered. "You should come over into our camp. You're so like Ali
Higg in certain lights and in some of your gestures, and so
unlike him in other things, that if you came across the Jordan
for good I think you could show us something."

Her eyes said far more than her lips did. She was studying him
from a new angle--a thoughtful, speculative angle that vaguely
excited her.

"What I mean is just this," he said; "that you and I had better
decide to be real friends, and not half-open enemies, each
looking for a chance to spoil the other's game. There are men in
this camp who'll tell you that I keep my word. I'm willing to
pledge it not to hurt you or Ali Higg, provided you pledge yours
to be equally friendly and to help me in taming Ali Higg so's
he'll be useful and not just an ordinary trouble-maker."

"Would you accept my word?" she asked him--ready to consider him
fool or liar, according to how he answered.

"I'll accept it, Jael. Sure. For you'll have to give it, and it's
all you've got to trade with. And I'll watch you just about
twice as carefully as examiners watch the bank directors of
New York State.

"Knowing you're watched, like them you're going to be too proud
to cheat; and after you've found how it pays to play straight
with me you're going almost to enjoy being watched for the sake
of the advertisement."

Her face did not soften in the least; but it changed expression,
like a woman buyer's who has decided to make a purchase but has
not done bargaining.

"I think I'm going to like you," she said. "Of course, you're a
liar, like all men, but you've a finer touch than most."

At that point Ali Baba made his first contribution to the
argument. The old man did not know much English, but there are
certain words--such as liar, cheat, swine, thief, and the list of
oaths--that find their way like water