Part 4 (1/2)
I put a few personal belongings into a little suit-case and had my friend give it to one of the refugees who was to sail on the Tennessee.
If I succeeded, I was to recover it when we reached Egypt. The only thing I took with me was the paper which declared my ”intention of becoming an American citizen,” the ”first paper.” From this doc.u.ment I was determined not to part. I shall not tell how I kept it on me, as the means I used may still be used by others in concealing such papers and a disclosure of the secret might bring disaster to them. Suffice it to say that I had the paper with me and that no search would have brought it to light.
Arrived next morning at the appointed place, I gave the signal agreed upon, the whine of a jackal, and, after repeating it again and again, I heard a very low and m.u.f.fled answer. My boatman was there! I had some fear that he might have betrayed me and that I should presently see a soldier or policeman leap out of the little boat, but my fears proved groundless, the man was faithful.
[ILl.u.s.tRATION: STORMY SEA BREAKING OVER ROCKS OFF JAFFA]
We rowed out quietly, our boat a little nutsh.e.l.l on the tossing waves.
But I was relieved; the elements did not frighten me; on the contrary, I felt secure and refreshed in the midst of the sea. When morning began to dawn, scores of little boats came out of the harbor and circled about waiting for the cruiser. This was our chance. I crouched in the bottom of our boat and to all appearances my boatman was engaged merely in fis.h.i.+ng. After I had lain there over an hour with my heart beating like a drum and with small hopes for the success of my undertaking, I heard at last the whistle of the approaching cruiser followed by a Babel of mad shouting and cursing among the boatmen. In the confusion I felt it safe to sit up. No one paid the slightest attention to me. All were engaged in a wild race to reach and mount the Tennessee's ladder. I scrambled up with the rest, and when, on the deck, an officer demanded my pa.s.sport, I put on a bold front and asked him to tell Captain Decker that Mr. Aaronsohn wished to see him.
Ten minutes later I stood in the captain's cabin. There I unfolded my story, and wound up by asking him if, under the circ.u.mstances, my ”first papers” might not ent.i.tle me to protection. As I spoke I could see the struggle that was going on within him. When he answered it was to explain, with the utmost kindness, that if he took me aboard his s.h.i.+p it would be to forfeit his word of honor to the Turkish Government, his pledge to take only citizens of neutral countries; that he could not consider me an American on the strength of my first papers; and that any such evasion might lead to serious complications for him and for his Government. Well, there was nothing for me to do but to withdraw and go back to Jaffa to face trial for an attempt to escape.
When I reached the deck again I found it swarming with refugees, many of whom knew me and came up to congratulate me on getting away. I could only shake my head and with death in my heart descend the Tennessee's ladder. It did not matter now what boat I took. Any boatman was eager enough to take me for a few cents. As I sat in the boat, every stroke of the oars bringing me nearer to the sh.o.r.e and to what I felt was inevitable captivity, a great bitterness swelled my heart. I was tired, utterly tired of all the dangers and trials I had been going through for the last months. From depression I sank into despair and out of despair came, strange to say, a great serenity, the serenity of despair.
On the quay I ran into Ha.s.san Bey, commandant of the police, who was superintending the embarkation of refugees. I knew him and he knew me.
Half an hour later I was in police headquarters under examination by Ha.s.san Bey. I was desperate, and answered him recklessly. A seasick man is indifferent to s.h.i.+pwreck. This was the substance of our conversation:--
”How did you get aboard the s.h.i.+p?”
”In a boat with some refugees. A woman hid me with her skirts.”
”So you were trying to escape, were you?”
”If I had been, I shouldn't have come back.”
”Then what did you do on the cruiser?”
”I went to talk to the captain, who is a friend of mine. My life is in danger. Fewzi Bey is after me, and I wanted _my friends in America_ to know how justice is done in Palestine.”
”Who are your friends in America?”
”Men who could break you in a minute.”
”Do you know to whom you are speaking?”
”Yes, Ha.s.san Bey. I am sick of persecution. I wish you would hang me with your own hands as you hanged the young Christian; my friends would have your life for mine.”
I wonder now how I dared to speak to him in this manner. But the bluff carried. Ha.s.san Bey looked at me curiously for a moment--then smiled and offered me a cigarette, a.s.suring me that he believed me a loyal citizen, and declaring he felt deeply hurt that I had not come to him for permission to visit the cruiser. We parted with a profusion of Eastern compliments, and that evening I started back to Zicron-Jacob.
[ILl.u.s.tRATION: THE AUTHOR'S SISTER ON HER HORSE TAYAR]
CHAPTER XI