i8 
LAND & WATER 
September 7, 1916 
AH that 1 coold loam was that he and his followers were 
comiiifi from the \\V>^t. 
\'ou will say, what about Kasredin. That puzzled me 
dreadfully fur no one used the j)hrase. The Home of the 
Spirit ! It is an obvious cliche, just as in England some new 
sect might cill itself the Church of Christ. Only no one 
seemed to use it. 
" But by and by I discovered that there was an inner and 
an outer circle in this mystery. There is always an esoteric 
side to any creed which is kept from the common herd. 1 
struck this side in Constantinople. Now there is a very 
famous Turkish sJuika called Kasredin, one of those old half- 
comic miracle-plays, with an allegorical meaning, which 
takes a week to hear. That tale tells of the coming of a 
prophet, and I found that the .select of the faith spoke of the 
new revelations in terms of it. The curious thing is that in 
that tale the prophet is aided by one of the few women who 
play much part in the hagiology of Islam. That is the 
jx)int of the tale, and it is partly a jest but mainly a religious 
ID\-stery. The prophet, too, i.s" not called Emerald." 
" I know," I said. " he is called Greenmantle." 
Sandy >crambled to his feet, letting his pipe drop in the fire- 
place. 
" How on earth did you find out that ? " he cried. 
Then I told them of Stumm and (iaudian and the whispered 
words I had not been meant to hear. Blenkiron was giving 
me the benefit of a steady stare, unusual from one who seemed 
always to have his ej-es abstracted, and Sandy had taken to 
ranging up and down the room. 
■■ Germany's in the heart of the plan. That is what I 
always thought. If we're to find the Kasba-i-hurrij-eh it is 
no good fossicking among the Committee or in the Turkish 
provinces. The secret's in Germany. Dick, you should not 
have crossed the Danube." 
" That's what I half feared," I said. " But. on the other 
hand, it is obvious that the thing must come east, and sooner 
rather than later. I take it they can't afford to delay too 
long before they deliver the goods. If we can stick it out here 
we must hit the trail. . . . I've got another bit of evi- 
dence. I have solved Harry Bullivant's third puzzle." , 
Sandy's eyes were very bright and I had an audience on 
wires. 
" Did you sav that in the tale of Kasredin a woman is the 
ally of the prophet ? " 
" Yes," said Sandy. " Wliat of that ? " 
" Only that the same thing is true of Greenmantle. I can 
give you her name." 
I, fetched a piece of paper and a pencil from Blenkiron's 
desk and handed it to Sandy. 
" Write down Harrv Bullivant's tliird word." 
He promptly wrote down " V. I." 
^ Then I told them of the other name Stumm and Gaudian 
had spoken. I told of my discovery as I lay in the wood- 
man's cottage. 
'• The ' I ' is not the letter of the alphabet but the numeral. 
The name is Von Einem— Hilda von Einem." 
" Good old Harr\'," said Sandy softlv. " He was a dashed 
clever chap. Hilda von Einem ! Who and where is she ?— - 
for if we find her we have done the trick." 
Then Blenkiron spoke. " I reckon I can put vou wise on 
that, gentlemen." he said. " I saw her no later "than yester- 
day. She is a lovely lady. She happens also to be the 
owner of this house." 
Both Sandy and I began to laugh. It was too comic to 
have stumbled across Europe and lighted on the very head- 
quarters of the puzzle 'we had set out to unriddle. 
But Blenkiron did not laugh. At the mention of Hilda 
von Einem he had suddenlv become very solemn, and the 
sight of his face pulled me up short. 
" I don't like it gentlemen," he said. " I would rather 
you had mentioned any other name on God's eartii 1 haven't 
been long in this city, but 1 have been long enough to size up 
the various political bosses. They haven't much to them 
1 reckon they wouldn't stand up against what we could show 
them in the United States. But I have met the J-rau von 
Einem and that lady s a very different proposition. The man 
that will understand her has got tg take a biggish size in hats." 
Who is she .-- I asked. 
' ^^l'^' *')''l'l^'i''* y^^^ ^ '^^"■^ tell you: She was a great 
excavator of Babylonish and Hittite ruins, and she- married 
a diplomat who went to giorv three years back. It isn't 
what she has been but what she is, and that's a mighty clever 
woman. ^ •' 
Blenkiron's respect did not depress me. I felt as if at last 
\\e had got our job narrowed to a decent compass for I had 
hated casting about in the dark. I asked where she lived 
that 1 don t know, " said Blenkiron. " You won't find 
people unduly anxious to gratify your natural curiosity about 
rrau yon Einem. 
" I can find that out," said Sandy. " That's the advan- 
tage of having a push like mine. Meantime. I've got to clear 
Dick, you and Peter must go to bed at once." 
" Why .' " I asked in amazement. Sandy spoke hke a 
medical adviser. 
" Because I want your clothes — the things you've got on 
now. I'll take them off with me and you'll never see them 
again." 
" You've a queer taste in souvenirs," I said. 
" Say rather the Turkish police. The current in the 
Bosporus is pretty strong and these sad relics of two mis- 
guided Dutchmen will be washed up to-morrow about Seraglio 
Point. In this game you must drop the curtain neat and 
pat at the end of each .scene, if you don't want trouble later 
with the missing heir and the family lawyer." 
CHAPTER XI 11 
I Move in Good Society 
I WALKED out of that house next morning with Blen- 
kiron's arm in mine, a different being from 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 hump at the toe, and a brown 
bowler. Over that I wore a great coat lined with wolf fur 
I had a smart inalacca cane and one of Blenkiron's cigars in 
my mouth. Peter had been made to trim his beard and 
dressed in unassuming pepper-and-salt, looked with his 'docile 
eyes and quiet voice a very respectable servant. Old Blenk- 
iron had done the job in style, for, if you'll believe it he had 
brought the clothes all the way from "London, I realised now 
why he and Sandy had been fossick-ing in my wardrobe 
Peter s suit had been of Sandy's procuring, and it was not the 
fit of mine. I had no difficulty about the accent. Any man 
brought up in the colonies can get his tongue round American 
and I flattered myself I made a very fair shape at the Ungo 
of the Middle West. *' 
The wind had gone to the south and the snow was melting 
fast. There was a blue sky over Asia, and away to thS 
north masses of white cloud drifting over the Black Sea. 
What had seemed the day before the dingiest of cities now • 
took on a strange beauty, the beauty of unexpected horizons 
and tongues of grey water winding below cypress-studded 
shores. A man s mind has a lot to do with the appreciation 
of scenerN-. I felt a free man once more, and could use my 
eyes. ^ 
That street was a jumble of every nationality on earth. 
There were Turkish regulars in their queer comical khaki 
helmets, and wikl-looking levies, who had no kin with Europe. 
There were squads of Germans in flat forage caps staring 
vacantly at novel sights, 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 
come out of the Ark. But it was the rabble that caught the 
eye—a very wild, pinched, miserable rabble. I never in 
iny life saw such swarms of beggars, and you walked down 
that street to the accompaniment of entreaties for alms in all 
the tongues of the Tower of Babel. Blenkiron and I behaved 
as If we were interested tourists. We would stop and laugh at 
one fellow and give a penny to a second, passing comments 
m high-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 man cried down blessings and 
picked up three. Blenkiron very swiftly swept the other two 
mto his pocket. 
That seemed to me queer, and I remarked that I had never 
before seen a beggar who gave change. Blenkiron said 
nothing, and presently we moved on and came to the harbour 
side. 
There were a number of small tugs moored alongside, and 
one or two bigger craft— fruit boats I judged, which used to 
ply in the Agean. They looked pretty well moth-eaten from 
disuse We stopped at one of them" and watched a fello-.7 
in a blue nightcap splicing ropes. He raised his eyes once 
and looked at us and then kept on with his business. 
L.lenkiron asked him where he came from, but he shook 
ins head, not understanding the tongue. A Turkish police- 
man came up and stared at us suspiciously till Blenkiron 
opened his coat as if by accident and displayed a tiny bit of 
ribbon a.t which he saluted. Failing to make conversation 
with the sailor, Blenkiron flung him three of his black cigars. 
. |uess you can smoke, friend, if you can't talk," he said. 
1 he man grinned and caught the three neatly in the air. 
1 hen to my amazement he tossed one of them back. 
^ 1 he donor regarded it quizzically as it lay on the pavement. 
inat boys a c(mnoisseur of tobacco," he said. As we 
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