"As to Pertaub, I have absolute faith in him, but he himself is liable
to be seized at any moment. However, I should say we had better
consult him. If we were to bury them, say, under the floor of his
house, we might leave them there for a time. If we saw any chance of
this place being, someday, captured by our people, we could wait till
then for their recovery. But the war may not be renewed for years.
Possibly Pertaub may be able to arrange to send them down, only
entrusting a portion at a time to a messenger, so that, if he got into
trouble, we should only lose what he had upon him.
"We will put the caskets into our box, and lock it up for the present,
and take them down to Pertaub tomorrow evening, after it gets dark. It
will be as well to get them off our minds, as soon as possible, for
although just at present we are in high favour, there is no saying how
long it may last, or when it may be necessary for us to move."
Chapter 13: Officers Of The Palace.
The next morning, just as they had finished their early breakfast,
they were sent for by Fazli Ali.
"You had better accompany me on my rounds," he said. "I shall not
commit any special duties to you, until I see whether the sultan
intends that you shall remain with me, or whether, as is far more
likely, he assigns other work to you.
Pages:
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338