“That is sufficient.  I shall know how to take essential precautions.  Now—­you think I am a man of words, not deeds?  You were near the Jaffa Gate this morning, for I saw you there.  You saw a man killed—­a policeman, name Bedreddin.  That was an unwise underling, who stumbled by accident on a clue to what I shall tell you presently.  He had the impudence to try to blackmail me—­me, of all people!  You saw him killed.  But did you see who killed him?  I—­I killed him, with this right hand!  You do not believe?  You think, perhaps, I lack the strength for such a blow?  Look here, where the force of it broke my skin on the handle of the knife!  Now, am I a man of words, not deeds?”

“You want me to report to Mustapha Kemal that all the accomplishment in Jerusalem amounts to one policeman killed?”

“No, no!  You mistake my meaning.  My point is that having proved to you I am a ruthless man of action, I am entitled to be believed when I tell you what next I intend to do.”

“Well—­I listen.”

“There is going to be—­hee-hee!—­an explosion!”

“Where?  When?  Of what?”

“In Jerusalem, within a day or two, and of what?  Why, of high explosive, what else?”

“Much good an explosion in this city will do Mustapha Kemal!” Grim grumbled.  “You may kill a few beggars and break some windows.  The British will double the guards afterward at all the city gates, and that will be the end of it; except that some of you, who perhaps may escape being thrown into jail, will apply to Mustapha Kemal for high commissions in his army on the strength of it!  Great doings!  Mustapha Kemal will have no bastinadoed.”

“Hee-hee!  You are going to be surprised.  What would you say to an explosion, for instance, that destroyed the Dome of the Rock?”

“That might accomplish results.”

“Hee-hee!  You admit it!  An explosion to be blamed on the Zionists, who must afterward be protected by the British from the mob!  Would that not set India on fire?”

“It might help.  But who is to do it?”

“You see the doer before you!  I will do it.”

“If I thought such a thing was really going to take place—­”

“You would think that news worth carrying, eh?  You would hurry to Damascus, wouldn’t you?  And let me assure you, my dear captain, speed is essential.  There are reasons why the explosion has not yet occurred—­reasons of detail and difficulties to be overcome.  But now there is little further prospect of delay.  Everything is nearly ready.  The explosive is not yet in place, but is at hand.  The authorities suspect nothing.  There remains only a little excavation work, and then—­hee-hee!—­nothing to do but choose the hour when hundreds are in the mosque.  Houp-la!  Up she goes.  Does not the idea appeal to you?”

“Sensational—­very,” Grim admitted.

“Ah!  But the utmost must be made of the sensation.  Men must be ready in Damascus to stir public feeling on the strength of it.  Word must go to Mustapha Kemal to strike hard while the iron is hot.  There must be reprisals everywhere.  Blood must flow.