My office bell rang. Through empire which extended from the speaking-tube the manager told me that he had sold some bales of cotton prints to an Arab of Mecca. He added the Danube to the Indian Ocean, from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea. We had to know the race and the religion of each district, its national peculiarities and characteristics, the requirements of each market, even the niceties of greeting, for the manner and form of salutation differed according to belief. A mistake would in all likelihood be met with the remark— or orthodox. It needed con- led to his downfall. Not only stant watching and experience to enable us to identify each race at a glance. Language, features, style of dress, and head-gear helped us. Our staff were experts, but even they were at times mistaken. My story concerns one such error. The manager's advice to be cautious needs some explanation. were his own subjects watched in Turkey, but his spies in Paris, Geneva, and other places in Europe reported the movements of any who were associated in any way with Turkey or the politics of the country. Even his own Ambassadors in Europe were watched and their daily doings reported. The Consulates and Embassies in Constantinople were under continual observance, and it became dangerous for any native to visit them. Thousands of innocent people were imprisoned, and many met with an untimely end. Officials who showed any Liberal tendencies were transferred to some remote spot of the Empire. It meant exile. Conversation on any political question was reported, and one had to be extremely careful, for his spies were drawn from all ranks of society, Turkish or European. The reform party, who had been instrumental in placing Abdul Hamid on the throne, soon discovered that he did not intend to govern the country constitutionally. Their leaders were exiled, the Cabinet dismissed, Parliamentary control abolished. Abdul appointed his own Cabinet Ministers, and retained them just so long as it pleased him. Gradually his control extended to every department of State. Governor-Generals and staff were dismissed on the slightest pretext; new officials appointed by him were as speedily removed if they did not submit to his will. The appointments were usually made on the recommendation of what was called the palace clique, and were often made to the highest bidder. Insecurity of life and discontent led to the formation I greeted him in the orthodox of secret societies everywhere; way. He salaamed with his they were not only formed by hand over his heart, and took the Moslem, but by Greeks, the seat I offered him. In Kurds, Arabs, and Armenians. reply to the customary second Abdul Hamid's method to greeting, he bowed and recheck them was a system of turned my salute from the spying and counter - spying, ground upward to the head. which became the curse of I was surprised by this comthe country, and eventually pliment; it was one which in I realised that the manager's advice to be cautious referred to the probability of my Arab guest being a spy. With this in mind I called down the tube "Tell him I shall be glad to see him." those days was paid only to a as precise as his dress, yet superior, and quite unusually there was something in his to an unbeliever. features which showed traces of another race. He was a man of over thirty, well groomed, with clear-cut features. I recollect comparing him mentally with a black marble statue of Apollo which we had at home, though why I should have thought of black I could not say at first, for, though dark, he was no negro. And then I realised why it was his eyes-they were the blackest that I had ever seen. : With the exception of a soft collarless white linen shirt, buttoned closely at the neck and wrist, all his garments were loose. His trousers, of many folds, were of a light fawncoloured cloth. His "shilté " or inner coat was made of a white cashmere shawl. His sash was of the same material. Its fringed end was arranged to cover a fold in which there was a suspicion of something bulkier and heavier than a watch or purse. A long cloak of yellow and white striped Damascus silk covered him to his ankles. The finishing touch to this immaculate costume was turban of spotless white muslin, pleated in many regular folds, its end trimmed with a narrow fringe, which fell coquettishly over his left ear. This, too, was a surprise, for I had always understood that the fringed edge was worn only by descendants of the Prophet. He wore a single emerald ring on his little finger. The pitch of his voice and his accent were those of an Arab, his speech "Yes, for nearly forty years." ,, "The Lord be merciful," he answered. This exhortation I thought well deserved. It was pleasing to hear his appreciation of the excellence of English goods, which he confirmed by showing me his London - made gold watch. "This," he said, "has not needed the doctor' since I purchased it eight years ago." It was my turn now to show a polite interest in the health and welfare of his family. "Are you married?" I inquired. "Yes," he replied. "May the Lord give you abundance. Have you any children? " And so the conversation went on. To each of his replies I repeated the usual formula. I knew them all : "Allah Bashlashin!' Allah bereket versin! ""El hamdullah!" &c. When at length he asked me if I could ship goods direct from England to Hodeida or Djeddah, and when he mentioned the important commercial interests of his firm in Mecca, Maan, Djeddah, and Medina, I thought he was coming to business. They exported goods, he said, from India and from Arabia, and he wanted an agent. "Will you act for us?" I replied, "It will be considered." His easy elegance and attractive friendliness created a decidedly favourable impression, but we got no further on that day. He called again. We went through the same formalitiescigarettes, coffee, and compliments. Then the conversation took another turn. "Is there an English hospital here?" he inquired. "Do they admit Indians or only English? Why do they not admit Indians? I was unable to reply to all his questions. I did not see the object of them, and I felt that he was fencing. I told him where the British hospital was, adding that he could get all the information there. She is dying, and wants to see a countryman. Will you please come and see her?" I replied that I would be glad to visit her, but he must see the Consul, who would probably send the doctor of the hospital to examine her and make arrangements for her removal. He seemed to be annoyed, and with a gesture of impatience said "It is quite impossible. The Sahb, my father, would never agree to her removal to an English hospital. We cannot go to the Consulate. All who go there are marked men ; they are watched by the police and suspected of intrigue. No, it cannot be." I questioned him about his nurse. "Where is she living? How long has she been with you? What is her ailment ? My nurse is very old. She lives with us. She has lived with us and been as a mother to me since I was a boy. She came from India. She is very old, and she cannot live long. Please come and see her." He was also pleased to add that his father hated the English, but he did not reply to any questions I put to him on that matter. One reply stood out above the rest : "She is English. She came from India." Did this story of over thirty years of Mecca life mean the life of the harem? Who was At his next visit he came to the Sahb? Why should he the point. "We have an old English servant. She was my nurse. hate the English? Why should she want to see a countryman ? I did not know the man, did not know where they lived, but some impulse-partly curiosity, partly sympathy-moved and spurred me on. I agreed to go. Next morning Aboud called, and together we went to his rooms. We had not far to go. He was living in one of those huge caravanserais, built when merchants came from all parts with caravans, and quarters had to be provided for pack animal as well as for merchandise and merchant. I knew the building well. I had often inspected carpets in its courtyard, and closed the transaction in one of its vaulted rooms. It stood on the slope of the hill leading to the War Office, and its high windowless walls of solid stone made it look like a fortress. The walls enclosed an open quadrangular courtyard, surrounded by rooms used as stables. Stone stairways led to galleries above, around which were some threescore rooms. All these had stone floors, all were vaulted, and their windows were heavily barred. All had double iron doors, for the building was erected in stirring times when protection was needed. The khan, as it is called, has inner and outer gates, which were closed in times of riot or disorder. In the early days of last century the building was the headquarters of the Greek merchants. Some of these were accused of corresponding with the leaders of the Greek revolution, and a dozen of them were taken as hostages. On the following day they were beheaded. Later the gates were battered in by the Janissaries, and every Greek found on the premises was killed. It has since become the headquarters of the Persians, Turcomans, and other Moslem traders from Central Asia. But the bustle of former days has gone. Its galleries and courtyard are often empty. The present-day occupants of the rooms are merchants who remain there for short periods; they live and trade there until they have disposed of their goods; they prepare their own food or buy it from one of the cook-shops in the neighbourhood. A roll of bedding, a couple of saddle-bags, some pots and pans, a prayerrug, and the never-failing samovar completes both outfit and furniture. The public bath, the fountain or tap at the mosque, and their Ibrik " or water-can for their ablutions, is all they require to keep themselves clean. The comfort and luxury of the West is not known. Up the well-worn slippery stone steps we climbed, and continued along the stonepaved corridor. Aboud stopped at last before one of the doors, unlocked it, and welcomed me in. I followed him down a passage some six feet wide to an inner room. I thought, as I examined the massive walls, the vaulted roof, the barred windows, the flagged floor, "If this Arab means mischief, what chance have I of escape? |