they had
none, and every one's suggestion for improvement was sneered at
by all the rest. They were not even agreed about the Zionists,
except hating them; they quarreled about what would be the
best way to take advantage of them before wiping them out
of existence.

But they all saw exquisite humour in the item of news that
Eisernstein had taken so to heart.

"That was Noureddin Ali's idea! He is a genius! To accuse the
Zionists of offering two million pounds for the Dome of the
Rock--ah! who else could have thought of it! The story has spread
all through Jerusalem, and is on its way to the villages. In two
days it will be common gossip from Damascus to Beersheba. In a
week it will be known from end to end of Egypt; then Arabia;
then India! Ho! When the Indian Moslems get the news--the
Indian troops in Palestine will send it by mail--then what a
furor! Then what anger! That was finesse! That was true
statesmanship! Never was a shrewder genius than Noureddin Ali!"

"Don't shout his name too loud," said somebody. "The
Administration suspects him already."

"Bah! Who in this room is a friend of the Administration? The
Administrator is a broken shard; the British will summon him
home for inefficiency. Besides, there is only one man in
Jerusalem of whom Noureddin is in the least afraid--that Major
Grim, the American. And whoever would give the price of a cup of
coffee for a lease of the life of Major Grim in the circumstances
would do better to toss the money to the first beggar he meets!"

"Hssh!"

"Hah! All the same, I would not choose to be Noureddin's enemy."

"There is another one who will share that opinion--or so I have
heard. I was told that Bedreddin Shah, a recent recruit in the
police, stumbled by accident on certain evidence and demanded a
huge sum for silence. Hee-hee! How much will anybody give
Bedreddin Shah for his prospect?"

"Hssh!"

"What did Bedreddin Shah discover?"

"Nobody knows."

"You mean nobody will tell."

"The same thing."

"How long could a secret be kept in Jerusalem, if you people were
informed of what is going on? You are good for propaganda, that
is all! You can talk--Allah! how you all talk! But as for doing
anything, or keeping a secret until a thing is done, you are no
better than magpies."

The last speaker was a rather fat man, over in the corner by the
scullery door. He had a nose like Sultan Abdul Hamid's and
large, elongated eyes th