Adventure Magazine Cover — page 19: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The King in Check “there’s a letter in Jerusalem that’s ‘sup- posed to be from Feisul. But when Feisul writes anything he signs his name to it, whereas a number is the signature on this. Now that fellow Sidi bin Tagim in the hospital is an honest old kite in his way. He’s a great rooter for Feisul. And the only easy way to ditch a man like Feisul, who’s as honest as the day is long, and no man’s fool, is to convince his fanatical admirers that for his own sake he ought to be forced along a certain course. The game’s as old as Adam. You fill up a man like Sidi bin Tagim with tales about Jews—convince him that Jews stand between Feisul and a king- dom—and he’!l lend a hand in any scheme ostensibly directed against Jews. Get me?” “So would I!’ swore Jeremy. “I’m I camped alongside the ) against ’em too! Jordan Highlanders one time when But we had had that story twice that evening with variations. He was balancing his chair on two legs, so I pushed him over backward, and before he could pick himself up again Grim resumed. ‘“Feisul is in Damascus, and the Synan Convention has proclaimed him king. That don’t suit the French, who detest him. The feeling’s mutual. When Feisul went to Paris for the Peace Conference, the French. imagined he was easy. They thought, here’s another of these Eastern princes who can be taken in the old trap. So they staged a spe- cial performance at the Opera for him, and invited him to supper afterward behind the scenes with the usual sort of ladies in full War-paint in attendance.”’ ‘Shall we cut that too?” suggested Mabel. “Sure. Feisul did! He’s not that kind of moth. Ever since then the French have declared he’s a hypocrite; and because he won't yield his rights they’ve been busy in- venting wrongs of their own and insisting on immediate adjustment. The French haven’t left one stone unturned that could irritate Feisul into making a false move.” “To with them!” suggested Jeremy, reaching for more tea. “But Feisul’s not easy to irritate,’’? Grim went on. ‘‘He’s one of those rare men, who get born once in an epoch, who force you to believe that virtue isn’t extinct. He’s al- most like a child in some things—like a good woman in others—and a man of iron cour- age all the time, who can fire Arabs in the same way Saladin did five centuries ago.” 13 . “He looks like a saint,’ said Jeremy. “T’ve seen him.”’ “But he’s no soft liver,” continued Grim. “He was brought up in the desert among Bedouins, and has their stoical endurance with a sort of religious patience added. Gets that maybe from being a descendant of the Prophet.” ‘“‘Awful sort to have to fight, that kind are,” said Jeremy. ‘They wear you down!’ ‘So the French decided some time ago to persuade Feisul’s intimates to make a bad break which he couldn’t repudiate.”’ “Why don’t he cut loose with forty or fifty thousand men and boot the French into the sea?” demanded Jeremy. “I’ll make one to help him! I knew a Frenchman once, who——”’ “We'll come to that presently,” said Grim. “I dare say you didn’t hear of Verdun.” “Objection sustained. Hand it to ’em. They’ve got guts,” grinned Jeremy. “Fire away, old top.” “Well, they ran foul of an awkward pre- dicament, which is that there are some darned decent fellows among the officers of their army of occupation.. There’s more than a scattering of decent gentlemen who don’t like dirt. I won’t say they tell Feisul secrets, or disobey orders; but if you want to give a man a square deal there are ways of doing it without sending him tele- grams.”’ Mabel put the tea back on the kerosene stove to stew, with an extra handful of black leaves in it. Grim continued: ‘“‘Another thing: The French are half-afraid that if they take the field against Feisul on some trumped-up pretext, he’ll get assist- ance from the British. They could send him things he needs more than money, and can’t get. Ninety-nine per cent. of the British are pro-Feisul. Some of them would risk their jobs to help him ina pinch. The French have got to stall those men before they can attack Feisul safely.” “How d’you mean, stall ’em?’”’ demanded Jeremy. ‘Not all the British are fools— only their statesmen, and generals, and sixty per cent. of the junior officers and rank and file. The rest don’t have to be fed pap from a bottle; they’re good men. Takes more than talk to stall that kind off a man they like.” ' “You’ve got the idea, Jeremy. You have to show them. Well: why not stir up COMmMICOoOoks C (C@