Part 32 (1/2)

Horace lowered himself carefully to a sitting position, so that his legs dangled in s.p.a.ce, and Fakrash took a seat by his side. ”O, most indiscreet of mankind!” he began, in an aggrieved tone; ”thou hast been near the committal of a great blunder, and doing ill to thyself and to me!”

”Well, I _do_ like that!” retorted Horace; ”when you let me in for all that freedom of the City business, and then sneaked off, leaving me to get out of it the best way I could, and only came back just as I was about to explain matters, and carried me up through the roof like a sack of flour. Do you consider that tactful on your part?”

”Thou hadst drunk wine and permitted it to creep as far as the place of secrets.”

”Only one gla.s.s,” said Horace; ”and I wanted it, I can a.s.sure you. I was obliged to make a speech to them, and, thanks to you, I was in such a hole that I saw nothing for it but to tell the truth.”

”Veracity, as thou wilt learn,” answered the Jinnee, ”is not invariably the s.h.i.+p of Safety. Thou wert about to betray the benefactor who procured for thee such glory and honour as might well cause the gall-bladder of lions to burst with envy!”

”If any lion with the least sense of humour could have witnessed the proceedings,” said Ventimore, ”he might have burst with laughter--certainly not envy. Good Lord! Fakrash,” he cried, in his indignation, ”I've never felt such an absolute a.s.s in my whole life! If nothing would satisfy you but my receiving the freedom of the City, you might at least have contrived some decent excuse for it! But you left out the only point there was in the whole thing--and all for what?”

”What doth it signify why the whole populace should come forth to acclaim thee and do thee honour, so long as they did so?” said Fakrash, sullenly. ”For the report of thy fame would reach Bedeea-el-Jemal.”

”That's just where you're mistaken,” said Horace. ”If you had not been in too desperate a hurry to make a few inquiries, you would have found out that you were taking all this trouble for nothing.”

”How sayest thou?”

”Well, you would have discovered that the Princess is spared all temptation to marry beneath her by the fact that she became the bride of somebody else about thirty centuries ago. She married a mortal, one Seyf-el-Mulook, a King's son, and they've both been dead a considerable time--another obstacle to your plans.”

”It is a lie,” declared Fakrash.

”If you will take me back to Vincent Square, I shall be happy to show you the evidence in your national records,” said Horace. ”And you may be glad to know that your old enemy, Mr. Jarjarees, came to a violent end, after a very sporting encounter with a King's daughter, who, though proficient in advanced magic, unfortunately perished herself, poor lady, in the final round.”

”I had intended _thee_ to accomplish his downfall,” said Fakrash.

”I know,” said Horace. ”It was most thoughtful of you. But I doubt if I should have done it half as well--and it would have probably cost me an eye, at the very least. It's better as it is.”

”And how long hast thou known of these things?”

”Only since last night.”

”Since last night? And thou didst not unfold them unto me till this instant?”

”I've had such a busy morning, you see,” explained Horace. ”There's been no time.”

”Silly-bearded fool that I was to bring this misbegotten dog into the august presence of the great Lord Mayor himself (on whom be peace!),”

cried the Jinnee.

”I object to being referred to as a misbegotten dog,” said Horace, ”but with the rest of your remark I entirely concur. I'm afraid the Lord Mayor is very far from being at peace just now.” He pointed to the steep roof of the Guildhall, with its dormers and fretted pinnacles, and the slender lantern through which he had so lately made his inglorious exit.

”There's the devil of a row going on under that lantern just now, Mr.

Fakrash, you may depend upon that. They've locked the doors till they can decide what to do next--which will take them some time. And it's all your fault!”

”It was thy doing. Why didst thou dare to inform the Lord Mayor that he was deceived?”

”Why? Because I thought he ought to know. Because I was bound, particularly after my oath of allegiance, to warn him of any conspiracy against him. Because I was in such a hat. He'll understand all that--he won't blame _me_ for this business.”

”It is fortunate,” observed the Jinnee, ”that I flew away with thee before thou couldst p.r.o.nounce my name.”

”You gave yourself away,” said Horace. ”They all saw you, you know. You weren't flying so particularly fast. They'll recognise you again. If you _will_ carry off a man from under the Lord Mayor's very nose, and shoot up through the roof like a rocket with him, you can't expect to escape some notice. You see, you happen to be the only unbottled Jinnee in this City.”

Fakrash s.h.i.+fted his seat on the cornice. ”I have committed no act of disrespect unto the Lord Mayor,” he said, ”therefore he can have no just cause of anger against me.”