versation
with him.

The frankness with which treason is mooted, admitted and
discussed in the Near East is one of the first things that amaze
you. They are so open about it that nobody takes them seriously.
Apparently it is only when they don't talk treason openly that
the ruling authorities get curious and make arrests. To me, a
total stranger, with nothing to recommend me but that for an hour
or two that afternoon I was a guest of the American Colony,
Mustapha ben Nasir made no bones whatever about the fact that the
was being paid by the French to stir up feeling over Jordan
against the British.

"I receive a monthly salary," he boasted. "I am just from
Damascus, where the French Liaison-officer paid me and gave me
some instructions."

"Where is your home?" I asked him.

"At El-Kerak, in the mountains of Moab, across the Dead Sea. I
start this evening. Will you come with me?"

"Je m'en bien garderai!"

He smiled. "Myself, I am in favor of the British. The French
pay my expenses, that is all. What we all want is an independent
Arab government--some say kingdom, some say republic. If it is
not time for that yet, then we would choose an American mandate.
But America has deserted us. Failing America, we prefer the
English for the present. Anything except France! We do not want
to become a new Algeria."

"What is the condition now at El-Kerak?"

"Condition? There is none. There is chaos. You see, the
British say their authority ceases at the River Jordan and at a
line drawn down the middle of the Dead Sea. That leaves us with
a choice between two other governments--King Hussein's government
of Mecca, and Feisul's in Syria. But Hussein's arm is not long
enough to reach us from the South, and Feisul's is not nearly
strong enough to interfere from the North. So there is
no government, and each man is keeping the peace with his
own sword."

"You mean; each man on his own account?"

"Yes. So there is peace. Five--fifteen--thirty throats are cut
daily; and if you go down to the Jordan and listen, you will
hear the shots being fired from ambush any day."

"And you invite me to make the trip with you?"

"Oh, that is nothing. In the first place, you are American.
Nobody will interfere with an American. They are welcome. In
the second place, there is a good reason for bringing you; we
all want an American school at El-Kerak."

"But I am no teacher."

"But you will be returning to Ame