FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146  
147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   >>   >|  
o end of worry by heaping riches and honours upon him in the most embarrassing manner. It happened that on the night Miss Morrison got this book, and read it aloud for the amusement of her father and lover, Carboys had persuaded Van Nant to spend the evening with them. Apparently he enjoyed himself, too, for he laughed as boisterously as any of them over the farcical tale, and would not go home until he had heard the end of it. When it was finished, Miss Morrison tells me, Carboys, after laughing fit to split his sides over the predicament of the hero of the book, cried out: 'By George! I wish some old genie would take it into his head to hunt _me_ up, and try the same sort of a dodge with _me_. He wouldn't find this chicken shying his gold and his gems back at his head, I can tell you. I'd accept all the Arab slaves and all the palaces he wanted to thrust on me; and then I'd make 'em all over to you, Mary, dear, so you'd never have to do another day's worrying or pinching in all your life. But never you nor anybody else depend upon an Arab's gratitude or an Arab's generosity. He'll promise you the moon, and then wriggle out of giving you so much as a star--just as Abdul ben Meerza did with me.' And upon Miss Morrison asking what he meant by that, he replied, laughingly: 'Ask Van; he knew the old codger better than I--knew his whole blessed family, blow him!--and was able to talk to the old skinflint in his own outlandish tongue.' "Upon Miss Morrison's acting on this suggestion, Van Nant told of an adventure Carboys had had in Persia some years previously. It appears that he saved the life of a miserly old Arab called Abdul ben Meerza at the risk of his own; that the old man was profuse in his expressions of gratitude, and, on their parting, had said: 'By the Prophet, thou shalt yet find the tree of this day's planting bear rich fruit for thee and thy feet walk upon golden stones.' But, in spite of this promise, he had walked away, and Carboys had never heard another word from nor of him from that hour until three nights ago." "Oho!" said Cleek, with a strong, rising inflection. "And he did hear of him, then?" "Yes," replied Narkom. "Quite unexpectedly, and while he was preparing to spend a dull evening at home with Van Nant--for the night was, as you must recollect, my dear fellow, a horribly wet and stormy one--a message came to him from Miss Morrison, asking him to come over to Wandsworth without delay, as a mo
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146  
147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Morrison
 

Carboys

 

replied

 

Meerza

 

gratitude

 
promise
 
evening
 

called

 
miserly
 

previously


appears

 

profuse

 
Wandsworth
 

Prophet

 
Persia
 

parting

 
expressions
 
family
 

blessed

 

codger


skinflint

 

suggestion

 

adventure

 

acting

 

outlandish

 

tongue

 

planting

 

Narkom

 

unexpectedly

 

strong


rising

 
inflection
 

preparing

 

message

 

stormy

 
horribly
 

fellow

 
recollect
 

golden

 
stones

nights
 

walked

 
riches
 
boisterously
 

wouldn

 

laughed

 
chicken
 

shying

 
enjoyed
 

accept