“Well, twenty-five pounds ought to be enough.  I will pay you twenty-five.”

“Nothing less than fifty!” Jeremy retorted.  “I always get fifty of everything.  Fifty lashes in the jail—­fifty beans at meal-time—­fifty pairs of boots to clean for Ramsden—­fifty is my lucky number.  I have made forty-nine attempts to get married, and the next time I shall succeed.  If it isn’t the woman’s lucky number too, that’s her affair.  Show me the fifty pounds.”

“I haven’t that much with me,” answered Yussuf Dakmar.  “I will pay you in Damascus.”

“All right.  Then I will give you the letter in Damascus.”

“No, no!  Get it as soon as possible.”

“I will.”

“And give it to me immediately.  Then if you like you can stay close to me until I pay you in Damascus.”

“’The ass is invited to a wedding to carry wood and water, and they beat him with one of the sticks he carried,’” Jeremy quoted.  “No, no, no!  I will get the letter, for I know how.  After I have it you may keep close to me until we reach Damascus.  I will show it to you, but I won’t give it to you until after I get the fifty pounds.”

“Very well, since you are so untrustful.”

“Untrustful?  I am possessed by a demon of mistrust!  Why?  Because I know I am not the worst person in the world, and what I can think of, another might do.  Now, if you were I and I were you, which God forbid, because I am a happy fellow and you look bilious, and you stole the letter for me because I promised to pay you in Damascus, but wouldn’t give me the letter until I paid you, do you know what I would think of doing?  I would promise a few tough fellows ten pounds among them to murder you.  Thus I would get the letter and save forty pounds.”

“Ah?  But I am not that kind of man,” said Yussuf Dakmar.

“Well, you will learn what kind of man you are in the next world when you reach the Judgment Seat.  What is most interesting now is the kind of fellow I am.  I will steal the letter from Ramsden, and keep it until you pay me in Damascus.  But I shan’t sleep, and I shall watch you; and if I suspect you of making plans to have me robbed or murdered I shall make such a noise that everybody will come running, and then I shall be a celebrity but they’ll put you in jail.”

“Very well; you steal the letter, and I’ll keep close to you,” said Yussuf Dakmar.  “But how are you going to do it, now that Ramsden has dismissed you from his service?”

“Oh, that’s easy.  You get me some whisky and I’ll take it to him for a peace offering.  He’ll forgive anyone who brings him whisky.”

“Tee-hee!  That is quite an idea.  Yes.  Now—­how can I get whisky on the train?  If only I could get some!  I have a little soporific in a paper packet that could be mixed with the whisky to make him sleep soundly.  Wait here while I walk down the train and see what I can find.”