Behind him was
his servant, bending under the load of a
crate of mud toys. The two were loading
up two camels, and the inhabitants of the
Serai watched them with shrieks of laughter.
???The priest is mad,??? said a horse-dealer to
me. ???He is going up to Kabul to sell toys
to the Amir. He will either be raised to
honor or have his head cut off. He came
in here this morning and has been behaving
madly ever since.???
???The witless are under the protection of
God,??? stammered a flat-cheeked Usbeg in
broken Hindi. ???They foretell future events.???
???Would they could have foretold that my
caravan would have been cut up by the
Shinwaris almost within shadow of the
Pass!??? grunted the Eusufzai agent of a Rajputana
trading-house whose goods had been
feloniously diverted into the hands of other
robbers just across the Border, and whose
misfortunes were the laughing-stock of the
bazar. ???Oh?©, priest, whence come you and
whither do you go????
???From Roum have I come,??? shouted the
priest, waving his whirligig; ???from Roum,
blown by the breath of a hundred devils
across the sea! O thieves, robbers, liars,
the blessing of Pir Khan on pigs, dogs, and
perjurers! Who will take the Protected of
God to the North to sell charms that are
never still to the Amir? The camels shall
not gall, the sons shall not fall sick, and the
wives shall remain faithful while they are
away, of the men who give me place in
their caravan.
Pages:
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30