Part 19 (2/2)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I Move in Good Society

I walked out of that house nextfrom the friendless creature who had looked vainly the day before for sanctuary To begin with, I was splendidly dressed I had a navy-blue suit with square padded shoulders, a neat black bow-tie, shoes with a hureatcoat lined olf fur I had a sars in my mouth Peter had beenpepper-and-salt, looked with his docile eyes and quiet voice a very respectable servant Old Blenkiron had done the job in style, for, if you'll believe it, he had brought the clothes all the way fro in , and it was not the fit of ht up in the colonies can get his tongue round American, and I flattered o of the Middle West

The wind had gone to the south and the snoasfast There was a blue sky above Asia, and away to the northover the Black Sea What had seee beauty, the beauty of unexpected horizons and tongues of grey water winding below cypress-studded shores A man's temper has a lot to do with his appreciation of scenery I felt a free man once more, and could use my eyes

That street was a juulars in their queer conical khaki hel levies who had no kin with Europe There were squads of Gerhts, and quick to salute any officer on the side-walk Turks in closed carriages passed, and Turks on good Arab horses, and Turks who looked as if they had coht the eye-very wild, pinched, ars, and you walked down that street to the accoues of the Tower of Babel Blenkiron and I behaved as if ere interested tourists We would stop and laugh at one fellow and give a penny to a second, passing coh-pitched Western voices

We went into a cafe and had a cup of coffee A beggar came in and asked alms Hitherto Blenkiron's purse had been closed, but now he took out some small nickels and planked five down on the table The s and picked up three Blenkiron very swiftly swept the other two into his pocket

That seemed to ar who gave change Blenkiron said nothing, and presently we moved on and cas er craft-fruit boats, I judged, which used to ply in the Aegean They looked pretty well moth-eaten from disuse We stopped at one of the ropes He raised his eyes once and looked at us, and then kept on with his business

Blenkiron asked hi the tongue A Turkish policeman came up and stared at us suspiciously, till Blenkiron opened his coat, as if by accident, and displayed a tiny square of ribbon, at which he saluted

Failing tohiuess you can smoke, friend, if you can't talk,' he said

The ht the three neatly in the air Then to arded it quizzically as it lay on the pavement

'That boy's a connoisseur of tobacco,' he said As we moved away I saw the Turkish policeman pick it up and put it inside his cap

We returned by the long street on the crest of the hill There was a es on a tray, and Blenkiron stopped to look at them I noticed that the man shuffled fifteen into a cluster Blenkiron felt the oranges, as if to see that they were sound, and pushed two aside Thehis eyes

'This ain't the time of year to buy fruit,' said Blenkiron as we passed on 'Those oranges are rotten as uessed the 's work finished?' I said

'Our 's walk?' he asked innocently

'I said ”work”'

He smiled blandly 'I reckoned you'd tu still to do Give me half an hour and I'll be at your service, Major'

That afternoon, after Peter had cooked a wonderfully good luncheon, I had a heart-to-heart talk with Blenkiron

'My business is to get noos,' he said; 'and before I start on a stunt I make considerable preparations All the ti at the British Governs ahead We used to ht I fixed up a lot of connections in this city before I arrived, and especially a noos service with your Foreign Office by way of Ruuess our friends will know all about our discoveries'

At that I opened my eyes very wide

'Why, yes You Britishers haven't any notion hoide-awake your Intelligence Service is I reckon it's easy the best of all the belligerents You never talked about it in peace time, and you shunned the theatrical ways of the Teuton But you had the wires laid good and sure I calculate there isn't much that happens in any corner of the earth that you don't knoithin twenty-four hours I don't say your highbrows use the noos well I don't take much stock in your political push They're a lot of silver-tongues, no doubt, but it ain't oratory that is wanted in this racket The Williauishes in war-tiet to behave as if their little run were all the world But if the politicians uide their steps If I had a big proposition to handle and could have ence Department of the British Admiralty Yes, Sir, I take off my hat to your Government sleuths'