smelly,’ he muttered. ‘Thanks, Batty. I’ve got him covered. Lead on as silently as you can.’
‘Wot about this ’ere bloke?’ questioned the ex-sailor in a hoarse whisper. ‘’E’s beginning to come round, sir.’
‘Tie him up and gag him; then put him inside and shut the gate.’
With naval thoroughness it was done, after which Batty andthe sailors led the way back to the launch. No alarm was raised behind them, and nothing untoward happened during the hour it took them to reach the boat. Every now and then Wallace prodded his prisoner in the back, as a warning that he was still there, but El Arish had accepted his fate apparently, and made no more protests.
Once in the cave, Sir Leonard set two men to keep watch on him, and drew the Prince aside.
‘I don’t think any good purpose will be served by taking El Arish with us, your Highness,’ he observed. ‘This, I believe to be a matter for settlement between your country and another. El Arish has been merely the tool.’
He proceeded in a whisper to enlarge on his suspicions to the astonished Prince.
‘If you agree,’ he concluded, ‘I’ll tell him he can go if he confesses.’
The Prince nodded, and Wallace confronted the Moor.
‘You can go,’ he declared, ‘if, to use an Americanism, you come clean.’
‘How do you mean?’ queried the Moor.
Sir Leonard explained and, once he understood how much the Englishman knew or suspected, El Arish gave away the whole plot. It had, as Wallace had guessed, been engineered by a nation jealous of Great Britain and antagonistic to Italy. By the light of a lamp brought from the launch, he agreed to write down his part in the affair, and sign it. When that was done he was told he could depart.
‘If I were you,’ advised Sir Leonard, ‘I should take a long holiday in the interior of Morocco until this affair blows over.’
The Moor who, at the prospect of release, had recovered his insouciance, bowed mockingly.
‘Your anxiety on my behalf,’ he observed, ‘touches me deeply.’
He watched his late prisoners climb aboard the launch; then bowed again, and walked away. With three additional passengers the boat was somewhat crowded, but nobody minded the crush. The Prince was in high good humour, and repeated again and again the great debt of gratitude he owed to Wallace, until the latter became rather embarrassed and sought the company of Cousins. To the latter he handed the morocco-bound notebook, and the little man’s wrinkled face creased in its extraordinary way into a smile.
‘So you saw through my design, sir,’ he chuckled. ‘I thought you’d be sooner or later on the trail, and nobody else but you would have guessed what I wanted to inform you. It was very clever of you, if I may say so, sir.’
‘Not so clever as your idea to leave such a clue.’
‘It was a lucky thing I had the book with me, and in my hip pocket. I wouldn’t have been able to get at it, if it had been elsewhere. My hands were tied behind me, you see.’
‘But you always carry the book in your hip pocket, don’t you?’
‘Generally. How did you know, sir?’
‘Just observation, that’s all. You can get at it more surreptitiously there, when you can’t think of an appropriate quotation, can’t you?’
Cousins actually blushed, but it was too dark for his smiling chief to see his face distinctly.
‘How did you trace us, sir?’ he asked hastily. ‘The book only told you we were in Morocco, but it’s a biggish country in which to search for anybody.’
Wallace told him the whole story; then inquired how they had been kidnapped. It appeared that after they had been walking up and down the lawn of Government House for ten minutes or thereabouts, and at the moment were at the far end close to theshrubs and trees, they were suddenly pounced upon by several men, who threw some sort of thick material over their heads, and tied their arms and legs. Then they were thrown on the ground, while a whispered
‘Wot about this ’ere bloke?’ questioned the ex-sailor in a hoarse whisper. ‘’E’s beginning to come round, sir.’
‘Tie him up and gag him; then put him inside and shut the gate.’
With naval thoroughness it was done, after which Batty andthe sailors led the way back to the launch. No alarm was raised behind them, and nothing untoward happened during the hour it took them to reach the boat. Every now and then Wallace prodded his prisoner in the back, as a warning that he was still there, but El Arish had accepted his fate apparently, and made no more protests.
Once in the cave, Sir Leonard set two men to keep watch on him, and drew the Prince aside.
‘I don’t think any good purpose will be served by taking El Arish with us, your Highness,’ he observed. ‘This, I believe to be a matter for settlement between your country and another. El Arish has been merely the tool.’
He proceeded in a whisper to enlarge on his suspicions to the astonished Prince.
‘If you agree,’ he concluded, ‘I’ll tell him he can go if he confesses.’
The Prince nodded, and Wallace confronted the Moor.
‘You can go,’ he declared, ‘if, to use an Americanism, you come clean.’
‘How do you mean?’ queried the Moor.
Sir Leonard explained and, once he understood how much the Englishman knew or suspected, El Arish gave away the whole plot. It had, as Wallace had guessed, been engineered by a nation jealous of Great Britain and antagonistic to Italy. By the light of a lamp brought from the launch, he agreed to write down his part in the affair, and sign it. When that was done he was told he could depart.
‘If I were you,’ advised Sir Leonard, ‘I should take a long holiday in the interior of Morocco until this affair blows over.’
The Moor who, at the prospect of release, had recovered his insouciance, bowed mockingly.
‘Your anxiety on my behalf,’ he observed, ‘touches me deeply.’
He watched his late prisoners climb aboard the launch; then bowed again, and walked away. With three additional passengers the boat was somewhat crowded, but nobody minded the crush. The Prince was in high good humour, and repeated again and again the great debt of gratitude he owed to Wallace, until the latter became rather embarrassed and sought the company of Cousins. To the latter he handed the morocco-bound notebook, and the little man’s wrinkled face creased in its extraordinary way into a smile.
‘So you saw through my design, sir,’ he chuckled. ‘I thought you’d be sooner or later on the trail, and nobody else but you would have guessed what I wanted to inform you. It was very clever of you, if I may say so, sir.’
‘Not so clever as your idea to leave such a clue.’
‘It was a lucky thing I had the book with me, and in my hip pocket. I wouldn’t have been able to get at it, if it had been elsewhere. My hands were tied behind me, you see.’
‘But you always carry the book in your hip pocket, don’t you?’
‘Generally. How did you know, sir?’
‘Just observation, that’s all. You can get at it more surreptitiously there, when you can’t think of an appropriate quotation, can’t you?’
Cousins actually blushed, but it was too dark for his smiling chief to see his face distinctly.
‘How did you trace us, sir?’ he asked hastily. ‘The book only told you we were in Morocco, but it’s a biggish country in which to search for anybody.’
Wallace told him the whole story; then inquired how they had been kidnapped. It appeared that after they had been walking up and down the lawn of Government House for ten minutes or thereabouts, and at the moment were at the far end close to theshrubs and trees, they were suddenly pounced upon by several men, who threw some sort of thick material over their heads, and tied their arms and legs. Then they were thrown on the ground, while a whispered
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