ut to all and sundry to make way for
the "Amerikani," and way was made forthwith, although several
times the bodyguard was stopped and questioned after I had
passed, to make sure I was really American and not English.
Ahmed assured me that if I had been English they would have
"massacred" me. In view of what transpired he may have been
right, though I doubt it. They might have held me as hostage.

Not that they were in any kind of over-tolerant mood. There was
a man's dead body hanging by one foot from a great hook on a high
wall, and the wall was splattered with blood and chipped by
bullets. I asked Ahmed what kind of criminal he might be.

"He did not agree with them. They are for war. He was in favor
of peace, and he made a speech two hours ago. So they accused
him of being a traitor, and he was tried and condemned."

"Who tried him?"

"Everybody did."

"War with whom?" I asked.

"The British."

"Why?"

"Because they favor the Zionists."

"And that is what the conference is all about?"

"Yes. There is a man here from Damascus, who urges them to raid
across the Jordan into Palestine. He says that the Palestinian
Arabs will rise then, and cut the throats of all the Zionists.
He says that Emir Feisul is going to attack the French in Syria,
and that the British will have to go and help the French, so now
is the time for a raid."

"Is my host, ben Nazir, the man who is talking that way? He has
been to Damascus."

"No. Another, named Abdul Ali--a very rich sheikh, who comes
here often with caravans of merchandise, and gives rich presents
to notables."

"Has ben Nazir anything to do with it?"

"Who knows? Mashallah! The world is full of mysteries. That
Nazir is a knowing one. They say of him: whichever option is
uppermost, that is always his opinion. He is a safe man to
follow for that reason. Yet it is easier to follow water through
a channel underground."

We made our way toward the castle at the south side of the town,
but were prevented from entering by a guard of feudal retainers,
who looked as if they had been well drilled. They were as solemn
as the vultures that sat perched along the rampart overlooking a
great artificial moat dividing the town from the high hill just
beyond it.

Nobody interfered when I climbed on the broken town wall and
looked over. The castle wall sloped down steeply into the moat,
suggesting ample space within for dungeons and underground
passages;