"Is there a majority in the council who would like to
be searched by unbelievers?"
"Then bind them, and take them to their ship, and tell a tale of much
drunkenness and wrong-doing. Ask an indemnity, and show the proofs,
which will be easy to arrange."
"They, too, will tell their tale!" said Hassan Ah in perfect Arabic.
Unlike the more enlightened peoples of the West, Arabs do not encourage
the mutilation of their mother-tongue; they teach it as carefully
as they talk it, and this negro spoke like an Arab of the blood.
"There are certain damages they have received--some bruises on the
face and tears in the clothing that does not belong to them but their
government," he continued. "They would lay all the blame on us,
and would breathe in the face of an appointed man, in proof that
they were not drunk. And who could get other drink than coffee or
water here? And who would believe the rest of our story, having
found that part to be a lie? There would be a landing, and a search
for proof, and much unpleasantness. Besides--"
If he had intended to add further arguments, the sheik saw fit to
nip them in the bud; for there were some men in the council-room
who did not know as much as Hassan Ah.
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