Part 16 (1/2)

The guilt on the poor man's face was answer enough. Emerson, chuckling, would have pursued the subject had I not intervened. ”It would be more to the point, Emerson, were we to ask Father Todorus for a more detailed description of the place in which he was imprisoned. He may have heard or seen something that would give us a hint as to its location.” Emerson, were we to ask Father Todorus for a more detailed description of the place in which he was imprisoned. He may have heard or seen something that would give us a hint as to its location.”

I spoke in English, and Emerson answered in the same language. ”If that swine Sethos is as clever as you seem to think he is, he will have abandoned that place long ago. Oh, very well, it will do no harm to ask.”

Father Todorus was visibly relieved when, instead of returning to the awkward subject of his temptations, Emerson asked about his prison. Like so many people, the priest was a poor observer; specific questions brought out facts he had suppressed, not intentionally but because he had never thought about them. He had not been able to see out the windows, but he had heard sounds, though m.u.f.fled and faraway. When added one to another, the noises he mentioned made it evident that he had been, not in a village or isolated villa, but in the heart of a city.

”Cairo, Emerson,” I cried.

”I a.s.sumed that from the first,” said Emerson repressively. ”But where in that teeming hive of humanity?”

Further questioning failed to answer that important question. When we rose to take our leave, we were hardly wiser than when we had come. Father Todorus, who had consumed two cups of brandy, accompanied us to the door, reiterating his thanks and a.s.suring us he would mention us in his prayers-a compliment Emerson received with a grimace and a growl.

As we walked toward the donkeys I said, ”Father Todorus is certainly generous with his cognac. I suppose Sethos left in such haste, he could not carry away the comforts with which he had provided himself, but to judge from the rate at which it is being consumed he must have left a considerable quant.i.ty.” judge from the rate at which it is being consumed he must have left a considerable quant.i.ty.”

Emerson came to a stop. ”Ha!” he cried. ”I knew some detail was nagging at my mind, but I could not imagine what it was. Good thinking, Peabody.”

Whereupon he ran back to the priest's house, with, I hardly need say, me following. When Father Todorus responded to his peremptory knock, he was still holding his cup. Seeing Emerson, he smiled beatifically. ”You have returned, O Father of Curses. Come in, with the honored sitt your wife, and have-hic!-more brandy.”

”I would not deprive you, Father,” said Emerson with a grin. ”For surely your supply must be limited.”

The little man's face lengthened. One might have thought Emerson had accused him of robbery and worse, and Emerson said aside, in English, ”Really, Peabody, it is too easy to confound this fellow; he has no more talent for dissimulation than a child.”

”Less,” I said meaningfully, ”than some children.”

”Humph,” said Emerson. Returning to Arabic, he addressed the priest. ”Your supply has been replenished, Father-is that not true? How often and in what manner?”

The priest groaned. He started to wring his hands; remembering that he still held the cup, he quickly drained it. With a glance at the curious onlookers, he muttered, ”It was the devils, O Father of Curses. I beg you will not let these people know; they might appeal to the patriarch for help against the powers of evil, and I a.s.sure you, I swear to you, that I can conquer the devils, I am constantly at prayer-”

Emerson rea.s.sured him and the little man found courage to speak. There had been two deliveries of cognac by the demons since his miraculous return from imprisonment. On both occasions he had found the boxes at his bedside when he woke in the morning. He had not bothered to look for signs of intrusion, since it was well known that devils, being bodiless, do not leave footprints. by the demons since his miraculous return from imprisonment. On both occasions he had found the boxes at his bedside when he woke in the morning. He had not bothered to look for signs of intrusion, since it was well known that devils, being bodiless, do not leave footprints.

With further a.s.surances of our good will, we took our leave. The priest disappeared into his house, no doubt in order to rid himself of the demonic gift in the most appropriate manner.

”What a curious thing,” I exclaimed, as we trotted out of the village. ”This man, this unknown genius of crime, is a strange mixture of cruelty and compa.s.sion. Cases of fine French cognac would not be my notion of apology and compensation for such rude handling, but-”

”Oh, do use your head, Peabody,” Emerson shouted, his face reddening. ”Apology and compensation indeed! I never heard such balderdash.”

”Why else would he-”

”To complete the corruption of the priest, of course. A bizarre and evil sense of humor, not compa.s.sion, is the motive for these gifts.”

”Oh,” I said. ”I had not thought of that, Emerson. Good Gad, it is no wonder, such consummate depths of depravity are beyond the comprehension of any normal person.”

”They are not beyond my comprehension,” said Emerson, with a vicious snap of his teeth. ”Ordinary a.s.sault, abduction, and attempted murder I can put up with; but this villain has gone too far.”

”I quite agree, Emerson. To play such a trick on poor Father Todorus-”

”Grrr,” said Emerson. ”Peabody, you astonish me.”

”I don't know what you mean, Emerson. Do you think there is any hope of waylaying the deliverers of the cognac?”

' 'No, I do not. Sethos may tire of his joke and stop delivery, and if he continues, we have no idea when the next visit will take place. It would be a waste of time to keep the priest's house under observation, if that is what you were about to propose.”

”I was not. I had reached the same conclusion.”

”I am happy to hear it, Peabody.”

We reached the house at teatime, and I at once set about preparing that repast, a.s.sisted by Enid. Ramses and Donald had not returned; I caught myself listening for sounds of riot and furious pursuit, such as often accompanied Ramses' departure from home. Aside from the normal noises of awakening village life, however, the only untoward sounds were those of distant gunshots. Even these were not unusual, for shooting was a favorite amus.e.m.e.nt of the more ignorant tourists, and the swampy areas between the ca.n.a.l and the river harbored great flocks of unfortunate birds whom these ”sportsmen” liked to ma.s.sacre.

The shadows lengthened, and still the wanderers had not returned. Emerson was pacing up and down the courtyard glancing alternately at his watch and at the closed gates, when at last a shout announced the long-awaited event. Abdullah opened the gates and they rode into the compound, Donald close behind Ramses.

Ramses immediately slid off his donkey and started for the back of the house, trying, I suppose, to appear as if he were anxious to wash. Donald's hand shot out and caught him by the collar. Holding him by that uncomfortable but convenient handle, he marched the boy toward us.

”Professor and Mrs. Emerson, I deliver to you your son. He has achieved a degree of dirtiness I once thought impossible, even after my own youthful experiments along that line, but he is intact, as I received him. I a.s.sure you that to keep him in that condition was no small feat.”

It was evident that they had been near the river, for the substance that covered Ramses was dried mud. Parts of it had flaked off, giving him a peculiarly antique appearance, like a rotted mummy.

”I will wash immediately, Mama,” he wheezed. ”If you will be so good as to direct this-this person to unhand me.”

But by that time I had observed the little detail Ramses was so intent on concealing from me. It was little indeed-a hole a half inch in diameter drilled neatly into the side of his pith helmet. Moving a step to the side, I observed a second hole, slightly larger, opposite the first.

Emerson observed these unusual features at the same time, and, with a shout of consternation, he s.n.a.t.c.hed the hat off Ramses' head. He threw it to the ground and began running his fingers through the boy's hair, completing the total dishevelment of that area.

”It is the mark of a bullet, Peabody,” he cried. ”A bullet has gone completely through Ramses' hat! Ramses, dear boy, where are you wounded?”

”Oh, do stop it, Emerson,” I said. ”If Ramses had been wearing the hat when the shot was fired, the bullet would have gone straight through his cranium and you would have no difficulty in noticing the result.”

”He was not wearing the hat,” Donald said. ”He was holding it in his hand. That may relieve your apprehension, Professor, but in my opinion it still calls for punishment. If this young man were my son, I would turn him over my knee and give him a good hiding.”

Ramses slowly turned his head and gave Donald a look that would have made a wiser man retract his threat. The boy's raven curls stood up in a bush like that of a Masai warrior, and his expression was no more affable.

Emerson ignored Donald's remark-it was not the first time he had heard suggestions of that nature-but Enid gave an indignant cry. ”I am not surprised at hearing so cruel a sentiment from that that source,” she exclaimed, putting a protective arm around Ramses. ”Poor child! After such a frightening experience, to be manhandled and cursed-” source,” she exclaimed, putting a protective arm around Ramses. ”Poor child! After such a frightening experience, to be manhandled and cursed-”

”Confound it, Enid, I didn't swear,” Donald protested. ”I was tempted to, but I didn't.”

Enid turned her back on him and pulled Ramses close to her. ”Come with Enid, poor lad; she will tidy you and protect you from this bully.”

Ramses' face was pressed against her impeccable s.h.i.+rtwaist-impeccable, I mean to say, until that moment-but I could see his cheek and one corner of his mouth. The latter feature was curved in an insufferable smirk. He allowed himself to be led away, with every appearance of enjoying the sort of embrace he would ordinarily have protested.

Displaying hands almost as filthy as those of Ramses, Donald also went to wash. If he hoped to plead his case with Enid, he was given no opportunity, for she came back almost at once, clasping Ramses' hand. His face and hands at least were clean, and realizing that only total immersion would restore him to a semblance of decency, I allowed him to take his tea with us, providing he sat some distance from the table. Owing to the nutrients contained in it, Nile mud has a particularly pungent and pervasive smell.

Nor did Donald linger over his toilette. He had been wearing Arab dress over his s.h.i.+rt and trousers; the removal of the robe removed the worst of the mud and he had taken time to pa.s.s a brush over his waving locks. After he had joined us I invited him to tell us what had happened and to provide us with the name of the person who had attempted to a.s.sa.s.sinate Ramses.

”As you must know, from your calm tone, Mrs. Emerson, it was an accident,” he replied. ”Brought on in large part by Master Ramses himself. We had gone down to the ca.n.a.l and were talking with the women who were was.h.i.+ng clothes-at least Ramses was. By the way, your son has an appalling familiarity with certain Arabic idioms-----While we were there, we heard gunfire some little distance off. Before I could stop him, Ramses had mounted his donkey and was going h.e.l.lbent for leather-I beg your pardon-riding rapidly in the direction from which the shots had come. I caught up with him after a while and explained that it was ill-advised to blunder into a shooting blind. We had a little discussion. He persuaded me-fool that I am!-to go closer, in order to observe the shooting. We-er-we had made quite a lot of noise, and I did not doubt the hunters knew we were there, but in order to be perfectly safe I called out again. A great flock of pigeons were wheeling and preparing to settle; it was clear that the rifles would be aimed in that direction, and since we were approaching from the west, I thought I had taken every possible precaution-”

”It sounds as if you had,” I observed, pouring him another cup of tea. ”I presume Ramses ran out into the line of fire.”

Donald nodded. ”Shouting at the top of his lungs and waving his hat. Naturally the birds took alarm and flew off-” waving his hat. Naturally the birds took alarm and flew off-”