d at sea.

HUSSEIN

If he be buried by any river I go to the god
of rivers.

JOHN BEAL

He is buried on land near no river.

HUSSEIN

Therefore I will go to a bronze god of
earth, very holy, having the soil in his care
and the things of earth. I will take unto him
the greater pieces of gold due up to the year
when the white traveller died, and will melt
them in fire at his feet by night on the
mountains, saying, "O, Lruru-onn (this is his
name) take this by the way of earth to the
grave of Hinnard." And so I shall be free
of my debt before all gods.

JOHN BEAL

But not before me. I am English. And
we are greater than gods.

ARCHIE BEAL

What's that, Johnny?

JOHN BEAL

He won't pay, but I told him we're English
and that they're greater than all his bronze
gods.

ARCHIE BEAL

That's right, Johnny.

[HUSSEIN looks fiercely at ARCHIE.
He sees ARCHIE's hat lying before a big
idol. He points at the hat and looks in
the face of the idol.]

HUSSEIN [to the idol]
Drink! Drink!

[He bows. Exit.]

ARCHIE BEAL

What's that he's saying?

JOHN BEAL [meditatively]
O, nothing--nothing.

ARCHIE BEAL

He won't pay, oh?

JOHN BEAL

No, not to Miss Miralda.

ARCHIE BEAL

Who to?

JOHN BEAL

To one of his gods.

ARCHIE BEAL

That won't do.

JOHN BEAL

No.

ARCHIE BEAL

What'll we do?

JOHN BEAL

I don't quite know. It isn't as if we were in
England.

ARCHIE BEAL

No, it isn't.

JOHN BEAL

If we were in England...

ARCHIE BEAL

I know; if we were in England you could
call a policeman. I tell you what it is,
Johnny.

JOHN BEAL

Yes?

ARCHIE BEAL

I tell you what; you want to see more of
Miss Clement.

JOHN BEAL

Why?

ARCHIE BEAL

Why, because at the present moment our
friend Hussein is a craftier fellow than you,
and looks like getting the best of it.

JOHN BEAL

How will seeing more of Miss Miralda help
us?

ARCHIE BEAL

Why, because you want to be a bit craftier
than Hussein, and I fancy she might make
you.

JOHN BEAL

She? How?

ARCHIE BEAL

We're mostly made what we are by some
woman or other. We think it's our own
cleverness, but we're wrong. As things are
you're no match for Hussein, but if you
altered...

JOHN BEAL

Why, ARCHIE; where did you get all those
ideas from?

ARCHIE BEAL

O, I don't know.

JOHN BEAL

You never used to talk like that.

ARCHIE BEAL

O, well.

JOHN BEAL

You haven't been getting in