dday Suliman began to whimper for food. Yussuf
produced a mess of rice and mutton, of which the two Syrians ate
enormously before giving any to the boy; then they put what was
left in the dish on the floor in front of me, pretty much in the
way you feed a dog, and I hate to remember what I did to it.
It is enough that I did not overlook Grim's advice to eat
like a lunatic, and however suspicious of me Noureddin Ali
might otherwise have been he was satisfied at the end of
that performance.

Several people tried the door, and some of them made signals on
it but Yussuf had a peep-hole where one of the heavy iron nails
had been removed, and after a cautious squint through it at each
arrival he proceeded to ignore them. One man thundered on the
door for several minutes, but was allowed to go away without as
much as a word of explanation.

That was the first incident that made me feel quite sure
Nourreddin Ali was in fear of the police. All the time the
thundering was going on he glanced furtively about him like a rat
in a trap. I saw him feel for a weapon under his arm-pit. When
the noise ceased and the impatient visitor went away he sighed
with relief. The place was certainly a trap; there was no back
way out of it.

When Grim came at last he knocked quietly, and waited in silence
while Yussuf applied his eye to the nail-hole. When he entered,
the only surprising thing about him seemed to me the thinness of
his disguise. In the morning, when I had seen him change in ten
minutes from West to East, it had seemed perfect; but, having
looked for him so long with the Syrian disguise in mind, it
seemed impossible now that any one could be deceived by it. He
was at no pains to keep the kaffiyi thing close to his face,
and I held my breath, expecting to see Noureddin Ali denounce
him instantly.

But nothing of that sort happened. Grim sat down, thrust his
legs out in front of him, leaned back and called for coffee. It
was obvious at once that the alligator person had been lying when
he boasted of knowing Staff-Captain Ali Mirza, for he made no
effort to claim acquaintance or to denounce him as an impostor.
But he nodded to Suliman, and Suliman came over and nudged me.

I let the boy go through a lot of pantomimic argument before
admitting that I understood, but finally I crossed the room to
Grim and offered him the envelope. He looked surprised, examined
the outside curiously, spoke to me, shrugged his shoul