whoever destroyed them would be
protected afterwards by us."

"Gosh! Who'd be an Englishman!" laughed Davey.

"I don't see that it's proved yet that the idea of an explosion
wasn't Sharnhoff's in the first place," Goodenough objected.

"For one thing, he wouldn't want to destroy antiquities," said
Grim. "They're his obsession. He worships ancient history and
all its monuments. No, Noureddin Ali thought of the explosion.
He knew that Scharnhoff needed money, so he gave him French
money, knowing that would put old Scharnhoff completely in his
power. Then he tipped off some one down at Ludd to watch for a
chance to steal some TNT. He had better luck than he expected.
He got two tons of it. He didn't have all the luck, though.
His plan, I believe, was to time the fireworks simultaneously
with a French-instigated raid from El-Kerak. But the raid
didn't come off."

"Scharnhoff will hang!" said Goodenough.

"I think not, sir. He'll prove as meek as an old sheep when we
land on him."

"There, will the bags do?" asked Mrs. Davey.

"What are they for?" Goodenough asked.

"We're supposed to have a slush fund in this room of a hundred
thousand dollars," Davey answered dourly. "My Oil Company is
supposed to be buying up Mustapha Kemal! I see my finish, if
news of this ever reaches the States--or unless my version of it
gets there first!"

Grim turned to me.

"We've got to find two people to take your place and mine in the
car tomorrow morning. Perhaps you'd better go in any case;
you'll enjoy the ride as far as Haifa--stay there a day or two,
and come back when you feel like it. We'll find some officer to
masquerade as me."

But there I rebelled--flat, downright mutiny.

"If I haven't made good so far," I said, "I'll consider myself
fired, and hold my tongue. Otherwise, I see this thing through!
Send some one else on the joy-ride."

"Good for you!" said Davey.

"Dammit, man!" said Goodenough, staring at me through his
monocle. "The rest of us get paid for taking chances. The only
tangible reward you can possibly get will be a knife in your
back. Better be sensible and take the ride to Haifa."

"My bet is down," said I.

"Good," Grim nodded. "It goes. All the same, you get a joy-
ride. Can't take too many chances. Tell you about that later.
Meanwhile, will you detail an officer to come and spend the night
in this hotel and masquerade as me at dawn, sir? He can wear
this uniform that I've