The Baroque Cycle - The Confusion Part 18

This inspector turned out to be a hospitable soul, who importuned Moseh to come in and share an evening meal-making the reasonable a.s.sumption that the galleot would remain tied up to his pier all night. And indeed this would have been easiest. But a French sloop-of-war had been dispatched from Alexandria and was halfway to them now, her triangular sail apricot-colored in the late afternoon sun, and no one liked the looks of that. Furthermore, according to this Jew, a fine high-road called the Canopic Way joined Alexandria to Abu Qir, and riders on good horses could easily make the trip in a couple of hours. Having no particular desire to be trapped between the French sloop and a hypothetical squadron of French night-riders, Nasr al-Ghurab ordered the galleot to put to sea about an hour before sunset. Under other conditions this would have been most unwise. But the current of the Nile would tend to push them away from the land, and according to the weather-gla.s.s that van Hoek had improvised from a gla.s.s tube and a flask of quicksilver, the skies would be clear for at least another day. So they abandoned themselves to the waves, and spent an uneasy night throwing the sounding-lead over the side and hauling it in again, over and over and over, lest they run aground in the Nile's s.h.i.+fting sands.

When the sun rose upon one tired and irritable Cabal, they found themselves in the center of a vast half-moon-shaped bay, contained between the headland of Abu Qir to the southwest, and a huge sand-spit to the northeast, some twenty miles farther along the coast from Abu Qir. This bay had no distinct sh.o.r.e, but rather smeared away into mud-flats that extended for many miles inland before they became worthy of supporting trees, crops, and buildings. It soon became plain that the galleot had been drifting in a lazy orbit, a vast whorl of current driven by the Nile. For according to the rais, rais, the sand-spit to the northeast had been constructed, one grain of silt at a time, by the Rosetta Mouth, which was bedded in it somewhere. And when the sun bubbled up from the horizon and shone as a red disk through the haze of floury dust sighing down from the Sahara, it silhouetted a skyline of mosque-domes and minarets, deep among those mud-flats, which was the city of Rosetta itself. the sand-spit to the northeast had been constructed, one grain of silt at a time, by the Rosetta Mouth, which was bedded in it somewhere. And when the sun bubbled up from the horizon and shone as a red disk through the haze of floury dust sighing down from the Sahara, it silhouetted a skyline of mosque-domes and minarets, deep among those mud-flats, which was the city of Rosetta itself.

The morning's peace was then broken by wailing and sobbing from the head of the galleot. Jack went forward to find Vrej Esphahnian kneeling on the heavy timber that had once supported the ram. The Armenian was now doing some ramming of his own, repeatedly b.u.t.ting his forehead against the timber and clawing at his scalp until blood showed. He did not appear to hear anything Jack said to him. So Jack lingered until he was certain that Vrej did not intend to hurl himself into the bay, and then returned to the quarterdeck, where tactics were being discussed.

As soon as it had grown light enough to see, they had turned the galley northwards and begun rowing out of this bay. Rosetta (or Ras.h.i.+d, as al-Ghurab called it) had been close enough that they'd heard the city's muezzins wailing at the break of dawn. But the rais rais explained that to reach the city they would have to go several miles north to the tip of the bar, and find their way in at the river-mouth, then work upriver for an hour or two. explained that to reach the city they would have to go several miles north to the tip of the bar, and find their way in at the river-mouth, then work upriver for an hour or two.

It was not long before the French sloop came into view; she had sailed out into deeper waters for the night and was now patrolling off the Rosetta Mouth. Fortunately a wind came up from the southwest, and by raising some canvas the galleot was able to run before it, overshooting the river-mouth and making excellent speed towards the east-as if she intended to go in at the Damietta Mouth, a hundred miles away, or to break loose altogether and make a run for some other port. The sloop's skipper had no choice but to bite down hard on that bait, and to chase them downwind. When she had drawn abeam of the galleot, and begun to converge toward them, al-Ghurab struck the canvas, wheeled about, and set the oar-slaves to work rowing upwind. The sloop came about in response. But lacking oars, she could only work upwind by tacking, and so she had no hope of keeping pace with the galleot. The gap between the two vessels was about half a mile to begin with, and grew steadily as they rowed towards the snarl of interlocking and ingrown sand-bars that guarded the Nile's Rosetta Mouth.

These maneuvers took up half the day, which gave Vrej Esphahnian time to calm down. When he seemed capable of speech again, Jack brought him a cup and a wineskin, and sat with him in the bow-now the least foul-smelling part of the s.h.i.+p, as they were working into the wind.

"Forgive my weakness," said Vrej in a hoa.r.s.e voice. "When I saw Rosetta, I could think only of the tales my father told me, of how he pa.s.sed through that place with his boat-load of coffee. He had nursed that boat through countless narrow seas and straits, ca.n.a.ls and river-courses, and when he pa.s.sed through customs at Rosetta and sailed down to the river's mouth, suddenly the vast Mediterranean opened up before him: to some, an emblem of terror and harbinger of wild storms, but to him a vista of freedom of opportunity. From there he sailed direct to Ma.r.s.eille and-"

"Yes, I know, introduced coffee to France," said Jack, who knew the rest of the tale at least as well as Vrej himself. "Now excuse me for tacking upwind, as it were, against the general direction of your narration. But according to your brother's version of this story, your father acquired that boat-load of coffee in Mocha."

Vrej, taken aback: "Yes-Mocha is where coffee from Ethiopia, silver from Spain, and spices from India all come together."

"I have seen maps," said Jack impressively, "maps of the whole world, in a library in Hanover. And I seem to recollect that Mocha lies on the Red Sea."

"Yes-as Nyazi can tell you, it lies in Arabia Felix, across the Red Sea from Ethiopia."

"And furthermore I am under the impression that the Red Sea empties into the ocean that extends to Hindoostan."

Vrej said nothing.

"If it is true that Cairo is the end of the line-that no vessel can go farther east than that-then how did your father manage to get his s.h.i.+p from Mocha, on the Red Sea, to here here?"

Vrej was now sitting with his eyes tightly shut, cursing under his breath.

"There must be a way through!" Jack said, then stood up to shout the news to the others. As he did, he noticed, in the corner of his eye, a movement of Vrej's hand. It was subtle. Yet any man in the world would notice it, and many would step away in response, or even reach across toward his sword-hilt, because Vrej was unmistakably reaching towards the handle of the dagger that was bound in his waist-sash. His hand moved no more than a finger's breadth before he mastered the impulse and moved it back. But Jack noticed it, and faltered, and looked into the eyes of Vrej Esphahnian, red and swollen from weeping. He saw sadness there (of course), but he did not see murderous pa.s.sions; only a kind of surrender. "That's the spirit, Vrej!" he said, giving him a hearty shoulder-slap, and then Jack stepped away and called the Cabal to council.

THAT NIGHT THE PEACE of the Street of the Wigmakers in the of the Street of the Wigmakers in the souk souk of Rosetta was wrecked by the sound of a pistol-b.u.t.t being hammered against an old wooden door. The head of an angry man was thrust out between shutters above, and became much less angry when he saw that two of the three visitors were Turks (or at least dressed that way), and one of those a Janissary. Pieces of eight jangled in a purse improved his mood even more. Door-bolts were removed, the visitors admitted. of Rosetta was wrecked by the sound of a pistol-b.u.t.t being hammered against an old wooden door. The head of an angry man was thrust out between shutters above, and became much less angry when he saw that two of the three visitors were Turks (or at least dressed that way), and one of those a Janissary. Pieces of eight jangled in a purse improved his mood even more. Door-bolts were removed, the visitors admitted.

The dwelling was clean and well-tended, but it smelt as if the floor-sweepings of every barbershop in the Ottoman Empire had been stuffed into its back room and left to ripen. Tea was brewed and tobacco proffered. After some half an hour of preliminaries, the visitors made a business proposal. Once the owner got over his astonishment, he accepted it. A boy was sent off to the Street of the Barbers at a dead run. While they waited, the wigmaker lit some lamps and displayed his wares. The finished products were big wigs mounted on wooden block-heads, destined for export to Europe; but they looked almost as strange to the European visitors as they did to any Arab, for during the years that they had spent pulling oars, fas.h.i.+ons had been changing: wigs were now tall and narrow, no longer flat and broad.

Deeper in the shop were the raw materials, and here choices had to be made. Even the finest Barbary horse-hair was too coa.r.s.e for tonight's project. At the other end, hanks of fine, l.u.s.trous human hair from China were available-but these were the wrong color and it would take too long to dye them.

A bleary-eyed Turkish barber came in and began heating water and stropping razors. The customers settled on some sandy brown goat hair, intermediate in price.

The Janissary's head and face were now shaved clean by the barber, and the fine fuzz on the upper cheeks burned away, dramatically but painlessly, using spirits of wine soaked into wads of Turcoman cotton. The barber was paid off and sent home. The wigmaker then went to work, painting the naked skin with pine gum one tiny patch at a time and stabbing tufts of goat hair into the goo. After two hours, the Janissary smelled overpoweringly of goats and pine-trees, and looked like he hadn't had a shave or haircut in years. And when he was stripped to the waist, revealing a back ridged with whip-scars, anyone would have identified him not as a Janissary but as a wretched oar-slave.

PIERRE DE J JONZAC RETURNED to the bank of the Nile an hour after dawn, just as he had promised or threatened to, and he brought with him his entire squadron of dragoons. Yesterday they'd galloped headlong to the very edge of the quay and pulled up just short of charging across the gangplanks, all panting and sweaty and dust-caked from having galloped up and down the Canopic Way for a night and a day trying to follow the maneuvers of the galleot. to the bank of the Nile an hour after dawn, just as he had promised or threatened to, and he brought with him his entire squadron of dragoons. Yesterday they'd galloped headlong to the very edge of the quay and pulled up just short of charging across the gangplanks, all panting and sweaty and dust-caked from having galloped up and down the Canopic Way for a night and a day trying to follow the maneuvers of the galleot.

Using Monsieur Arlanc as interpreter, Nasr al-Ghurab complimented de Jonzac on the splendid appearance of his self and his troops this morning-for it was obvious that the menials at the French Consulate had been up all night grooming, scrubbing, starching, and polis.h.i.+ng. The rais rais went on to apologize for the contrastingly dismal state of his s.h.i.+p and crew. Some of them were "enjoying the shade of the vines," which was a poetic way of saying they were in the bazaar (which had a leafy roof of grapevines) buying provisions. Others were "sipping mocha in the Pasha's house." De Jonzac looked on this (as he was meant to) as a cras.h.i.+ngly unsubtle way of claiming that members of the Cabal were inside the stone fort built by the Turks to control the river, showering went on to apologize for the contrastingly dismal state of his s.h.i.+p and crew. Some of them were "enjoying the shade of the vines," which was a poetic way of saying they were in the bazaar (which had a leafy roof of grapevines) buying provisions. Others were "sipping mocha in the Pasha's house." De Jonzac looked on this (as he was meant to) as a cras.h.i.+ngly unsubtle way of claiming that members of the Cabal were inside the stone fort built by the Turks to control the river, showering baksheesh baksheesh upon officialdom. The fort was nearby enough to literally overshadow them, and scores of resplendent Janissaries were peering down from its battlements, casting a cold professional eye on the French dragoons. The point being that Rosetta was very different from Alexandria; upon officialdom. The fort was nearby enough to literally overshadow them, and scores of resplendent Janissaries were peering down from its battlements, casting a cold professional eye on the French dragoons. The point being that Rosetta was very different from Alexandria; here here the French might have a consulate, and some troops, but (as the saying went) that and a few the French might have a consulate, and some troops, but (as the saying went) that and a few reales reales would buy them a cup of Mocha. would buy them a cup of Mocha.

This point was entirely sound, but al-Ghurab had spoken only lies so far. The real reason that only a few Cabal members were visible on the galleot's quarterdeck was that four of them (Dappa, Jeronimo, Nyazi, and Vrej) had been riding south, post-haste, all through the night, hoping to cover the hundred and fifty miles to Cairo in two days. And another of them was chained to an oar.

"It was uncommonly humane of you to set free a third of your oar-slaves last night," de Jonzac commented, "but since my master owns part interest in them, we have made arrangements, among our numerous numerous and and highly placed highly placed Turkish friends in yonder Fort, to have them all rounded up and sent back to Alexandria." Turkish friends in yonder Fort, to have them all rounded up and sent back to Alexandria."

"I hope that your Navy will be able to find benches for them to sit on," shouted van Hoek.

De Jonzac's face grew red and stormy-looking, but he ignored the cruel words of the Dutchman and continued: "Some of them were eager to talk to us, even before we put thumbscrews on them. So we know that you have been hiding certain metallurgical information from us."

The night before-needing some ready cash to pay wigmakers and horse-traders-they'd broken open a crate, and pulled out a gold bar, in full view of certain oar-slaves who'd later been set free. This had been done in the hope and expectation that they'd later divulge it to de Jonzac.

The rais rais shrugged. "What of it?" shrugged. "What of it?"

De Jonzac said, "I've sent a message to Alexandria informing my master that certain numbers mentioned in the Plan must now be multiplied by thirteen."

"Alas! If only the calculation were that simple, your master could relax in the splendor of his Alexandrian villa while you went to Cairo to balance the books. In fact it is much more complicated than that. Our friend in Bonanza turns out to have diversified his portfolio far beyond the usual metal goods. The h.o.a.rd will require a tedious appraisal before we can reckon its value."

"That is a routine matter-you forget my master is well acquainted with the workings of the Corsair trade," de Jonzac sniffed. "He has trusted appraisers who can be dispatched hither-" is a routine matter-you forget my master is well acquainted with the workings of the Corsair trade," de Jonzac sniffed. "He has trusted appraisers who can be dispatched hither-"

"Dispatch them instead to Cairo," said the rais, rais, "for that is where "for that is where our our trusted appraisers dwell. And send for your master, too. For there is one treasure here whose value only trusted appraisers dwell. And send for your master, too. For there is one treasure here whose value only he he can weigh." can weigh."

De Jonzac smiled thinly. "My master is a man of ac.u.men ac.u.men-I a.s.sure you he leaves appraisals to experts, experts, save, sometimes, when it comes to Barbary stallions." save, sometimes, when it comes to Barbary stallions."

"How about English geldings?" the rais rais asked, and nodded to Yevgeny and Gabriel Goto. asked, and nodded to Yevgeny and Gabriel Goto.

Down on the oar-deck, Jack began to rattle his chains and to scream in English: "You b.l.o.o.d.y b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! Sell me out to the Frog, will you? Motherless wog sc.u.m! May G.o.d's curse be on your heads!"

Calmly ignoring this and further curses, Yevgeny came up behind Jack, pinioned his elbows together behind his back, and lifted him up off the bench so that de Jonzac could get a good look at him. Gabriel Goto then grabbed Jack's drawers and yanked them down so they hung around the knees.

De Jonzac observed a long moment of silence as a frisson frisson ran through his dragoons. ran through his dragoons.

"Perhaps it is Ali Zaybak-perhaps some other English wretch who stood too close to a fire," the rais rais said drily. "Can said drily. "Can you you recognize Jack Shaftoe?" recognize Jack Shaftoe?"

"No," de Jonzac admitted.

"Having recognized him, could you place a value on his head?"

"Only my master could do that."

"Then we will see you, and your master, in Cairo, in three days," said Nasr al-Ghurab.

"That is not enough time!"

"We have been slaves for years, years," said Moseh, who had been standing quietly, arms folded, the whole time, "and we say that three more days is too long."

LATER THAT DAY they set off upriver, mostly under sail-power. The main channel was a few fathoms deep and perhaps a quarter-mile wide-which meant that they were never more than an eighth of a mile from French dragoons. For de Jonzac had sent out two pairs of riders to shadow them, one pair on each riverbank. they set off upriver, mostly under sail-power. The main channel was a few fathoms deep and perhaps a quarter-mile wide-which meant that they were never more than an eighth of a mile from French dragoons. For de Jonzac had sent out two pairs of riders to shadow them, one pair on each riverbank.

As soon as the galleot got clear of Rosetta-which was a sprawl of mostly humble dwellings with no wall to mark its boundary-Jack was dragged away from his bench and draped about in diverse neck-collars, manacles, and leg-irons, then taken back to the concealment of the quarterdeck where Yevgeny devoted a quarter of an hour to smiting an anvil, rattling chains, and producing other noises meant to convince anyone listening that Jack was being securely fettered. Meanwhile Jack-never one to stint on dramaturgy-screamed and cursed as if Yevgeny were bending red-hot irons directly around his wrists. In fact, the reason for his cries of agony was that he was ripping handfuls of goat-hair from his scalp and head. The skin was left covered with a scaly crust of hardened pine-gum. Various scrubbings with turpentine and lamp-oil got that off, taking several layers of skin and leaving him raw from the collarbones upwards. He wrapped his burning head in a turban, got dressed, belted on his sword, and strolled out into view looking every inch a Janissary; then paused, turned around, and shouted some abuse in Sabir at an imaginary chained wretch behind him.

He dared not look directly at his audience during this performance, but van Hoek was spying on the dragoons through an oar-lock, and reported that they'd witnessed most of it. They did not have much leisure for spying, though. The river was at its highest now, filling its channel and frequently spilling out into surrounding countryside, and so the galleot did not have to work her way around shallows as she would have in other seasons. Yet the current was gentle and she could easily make seven miles an hour upstream. Jack had been expecting a desert, and he could tell one was out there somewhere from the way everything collected a film of yellow dust. But Egypt, seen from here, was as moist and fertile as Holland. And as crowded. Even in the most remote stretches they were never out of sight of several dwellings. They pa.s.sed villages a few times an hour, and large towns several times a day. For as far as they could see to both sides of the river, the flat countryside was covered with golden fields of corn and rice, and veined with wandering lines of darker green: the countless water-courses of the Delta, lined, and frequently choked, with reeds and rushes as high as a man's head. Palm trees grew in picket-lines along waterways, and towns were belted with orchards of figs, citrus, and ca.s.sia.

All of it was scenery to the Cabal, and an obstacle course to the French riders. They fell behind the galleot when they had to swing wide around river-bends and flooded fields, then caught up when they found a way to cut across one of the river's vast meanders. Fortunately for them they had left Rosetta trailing strings of fresh horses; and Egypt, like most of the Turks' empire, was a settled and orderly country. Traveling along her high-roads was not as easy as in England, but it was easier than in France, and so they were able to keep pace during the day. This gave Moseh, Jack, and the others confidence that the four who'd gone ahead-Nyazi's group-had reached Cairo without difficulty.

At night the wind fell. Rather than attempting to row through the dark, and perhaps run aground or stray into some backwater, the rais rais simply tied the galleot to a palm tree along the riverbank and then organized the Cabal into watches. The dragoons actually served as an outlying guard-post, as they were not keen to see the galleot's cargo fall into the hands of some local Ali Baba and his forty thieves. simply tied the galleot to a palm tree along the riverbank and then organized the Cabal into watches. The dragoons actually served as an outlying guard-post, as they were not keen to see the galleot's cargo fall into the hands of some local Ali Baba and his forty thieves.

In the middle of the second day, the wind failed and the rais rais sent a dozen slaves ash.o.r.e to pull the galleot by ropes-which was why they had not released all of the slaves in Rosetta. In this way they came, late in the afternoon, to the place where the Nile diverged into its two great branches: the one that they had just navigated, and another that ran to Damietta. Here, as night fell on the second day, they tied the galleot up again, and bided during the hours of darkness. Jack stood an early morning watch, then climbed into a hammock on the quarterdeck and fell asleep in the open air. sent a dozen slaves ash.o.r.e to pull the galleot by ropes-which was why they had not released all of the slaves in Rosetta. In this way they came, late in the afternoon, to the place where the Nile diverged into its two great branches: the one that they had just navigated, and another that ran to Damietta. Here, as night fell on the second day, they tied the galleot up again, and bided during the hours of darkness. Jack stood an early morning watch, then climbed into a hammock on the quarterdeck and fell asleep in the open air.

When he awoke, the sun was rising, the s.h.i.+p was under way, and he could see a strange terrain of angular mountains off to the west. Sitting up for a better look, he recognized them as Pyramids. When he had got his fill of gawking at those-which took a good long while-he turned around to face the rising sun and gazed across the Nile into the Mother of the World.

Now this was like trying to comprehend all the activity of an anthill, and read all the words in a book, and feel all the splendor of a cathedral, in one glance. Jack's mind was not equal to the demands that Cairo placed on it, and so for a long while he fixed his attention on small and near matters, as if he were a boy peering through a hollow reed. Fortunately there were many such matters to occupy him: the Nile here was at least as big as the Danube at Vienna, and its course was crowded with boats laden with grain that had been brought down out of Upper Egypt. The captains of those boats had been shooting cataracts and beating back crocodiles for weeks, and were in no particular mood to make way for the unwieldy galleot. Many enemies were made as they worked their way in to the east bank of the river and made the galleot fast to a quay.

Almost immediately they were engulfed in camels, which is never pleasant, and rarely desirable-especially when they are being ridden and led by fierce-looking armed men. Jack thought they were under a.s.sault by wild nomads until he began noticing that all of them looked like Nyazi, and many were smiling. Then he heard Jeronimo bellowing in Spanish, "If I had a copper for every fly that swarms on you, beast, I'd buy the Spanish Empire! You smell worse than Vera Cruz in the springtime, and there is more filth clinging to your body than most animals s.h.i.+t in a year. Truly you must have sprung fully formed from a heap of manure, as flies and Popes do-may G.o.d have mercy on my soul for saying that! Jack Shaftoe is there smiling at me, thinking that you, camel, and I are well matched for each other-later I'll make him your wife perhaps and you can take him out into the desert and do with him what you will."

Dappa and Vrej were off seeing to other matters, but shortly Jack caught sight of Nyazi. He had had a joyous reunion with his clan-members. Jack was glad he had not been there to endure it.

Nasr al-Ghurab now unchained all of the galley-slaves at once-some two score of them-and told them that they could go now into Cairo, and never come back; or they could join in with the Cabal, and never leave it; but these were their only two choices. Within moments, all but four of them had vanished. Those who remained were a Nubian eunuch, a Hindoo, the Turk who had been at the head of Monsieur Arlanc's oar, and an Irishman named Padraig Tallow. The first three had somehow made the calculation that their chances were better with the Cabal, while Padraig (Jack suspected) just wanted to see how it would all come out. Monsieur Arlanc was offered the same choice as the others, and to Jack's delight he elected to throw his lot in with the Cabal.

They all got busy pulling the gold-crates out of the galleot and loading them onto the camels, which took no more than half an hour. The rais, rais, accompanied by van Hoek, Jeronimo (who'd had enough of camels), the Turk, the Nubian, and several of Nyazi's clansmen (who wanted to see what it was like to ride on a boat), cast off the galleot's lines and took her downriver, heading for an isle in midstream a few miles distant where boats were bought and sold. The camel-caravan meanwhile formed up and prepared to move out. accompanied by van Hoek, Jeronimo (who'd had enough of camels), the Turk, the Nubian, and several of Nyazi's clansmen (who wanted to see what it was like to ride on a boat), cast off the galleot's lines and took her downriver, heading for an isle in midstream a few miles distant where boats were bought and sold. The camel-caravan meanwhile formed up and prepared to move out.

SOME OF THOSE GALLEY-SLAVES, as they had considered the choice that they'd been given, had asked searching questions about the Plan. The most frequently heard was: "Why do you not simply ride out of town with your treasure? Why bother waiting for this Investor-who has made obvious his intention to cheat you?" Jack was not unsympathetic to this line of questioning. But in the end he had to agree with Moseh and Nasr al-Ghurab, who answered by pointing with their chins across the Nile, toward the city that the Turks had built up there, called El Giza. It had mosque-domes, leafy gardens, baths, and houses of pleasure. But, too, it had dungeons, and high walls with iron hooks on them, and a as they had considered the choice that they'd been given, had asked searching questions about the Plan. The most frequently heard was: "Why do you not simply ride out of town with your treasure? Why bother waiting for this Investor-who has made obvious his intention to cheat you?" Jack was not unsympathetic to this line of questioning. But in the end he had to agree with Moseh and Nasr al-Ghurab, who answered by pointing with their chins across the Nile, toward the city that the Turks had built up there, called El Giza. It had mosque-domes, leafy gardens, baths, and houses of pleasure. But, too, it had dungeons, and high walls with iron hooks on them, and a Champs de Mars Champs de Mars where thousands of Janissaries drilled with muskets and lances. There would be judges in there, too, and some of them would probably be sympathetic to a French Duke who complained that he was being robbed by a rabble of slaves. where thousands of Janissaries drilled with muskets and lances. There would be judges in there, too, and some of them would probably be sympathetic to a French Duke who complained that he was being robbed by a rabble of slaves.

The Turkish authorities had already been alerted by a couple of exhausted French dragoons who had galloped up on half-dead horses as the camels were being loaded. So as the caravan left the Nile behind and began winding through the 2,400 wards and quarters of Cairo, it was carefully followed by Janissaries, not to mention hundreds of beggars, Vagabonds, pedlars, courtesans, and curious boys.

Now Cairo was a sort of accomplice in everything that happened there. It was large enough to engulf any army, and wise enough to comprehend any Plan, and old enough to've outlived whole races, nations, and religions. So nothing could really happen there without the city's consent. Nyazi's caravan, three dozen horses and camels strong, armed to the teeth, laden with tons of gold, was nothing here. The train of men and animals was frequently chopped into halves, thirds, and smaller bits by yet stranger processions that burst out from narrow ways and cut across it: gangs of masked women running and ululating, columns of Dervishes in high conical hats pounding on drums, wrapped corpses being paraded around atop stilts, squadrons of Janissaries in green and red. Every so often they would stumble upon a shavush shavush in his emerald-green, ankle-length robe, red boots, white leather cap, and stupendous moustache. Then every camel in the procession had to be made to kneel, every man had to dismount, until he had wandered past; and as long as they had stopped, Vagabonds would run up and spray rose-water at them and demand money for it. in his emerald-green, ankle-length robe, red boots, white leather cap, and stupendous moustache. Then every camel in the procession had to be made to kneel, every man had to dismount, until he had wandered past; and as long as they had stopped, Vagabonds would run up and spray rose-water at them and demand money for it.

Even if Jack had not known, when he'd disembarked from the galleot, that Egypt was the world's oldest country, he'd have figured it out after an hour's slow progress through Cairo's streets. He could see it in the faces of the people, who were a mixture of every race Jack had ever heard about, and some he hadn't. Every face told as many tales as a whole galley full of oar-slaves. Likewise their houses, which were made partly of stone, partly of timbers so old and gnarled they looked petrified, and mostly of bricks, hand-made and rudely baked, some looking as if they might bear the hand-prints of Moses himself. As many buildings were being torn down, as built up; which only stood to reason, as all the s.p.a.ce had been claimed, and there was nothing to do but s.h.i.+ft the available materials from one site to another, much as the Nile continually built and dissolved the sand-bars of the Delta by pus.h.i.+ng grains of sand from place to place according to its whim. Even the Pyramids had had a gnawed look about their corners, as if people had been using them for quarries.

After hours of working deeper into the city they reached the Khan el-Khalili: a shambolic market, bigger in itself than all but a few European cities. Nyazi bade Jack take his shoes off and led him into an ancient mosque and up a steep spiral staircase that was dark and cool as a natural cave. Finally they stepped out on the roof and Jack looked out upon the city. The river was too far away to be seen from here and so what he saw was a million dusty flat rooves piled with bales, barrels, bundles, mounds, and household detritus. Each roof had its own peculiar height, and the lower ones seemed in danger of becoming buried.

Cairo was like the bottom of a vast pit whence the inhabitants had been madly trying to escape for thousands of years, and the only way out was to dig up clay, quarry limestone, and tear down empty houses and defenseless monuments, and pile the proceeds ever higher. Who had lately been winning the race could be judged by whose roof was highest. The losers could not keep pace with their neighbors, or even with the drifting dust that a.s.siduously covered anything that failed to move, and so gradually sank from sight. Jack had the phant'sy that he could go into any house in Cairo, descend into the cellar, and find an entire house buried beneath, and yet another house beneath that one, and so on, miles down. Never had the preachers' line "He will come to judge the quick and the dead" been so clear to Jack; for here in this Bible-land, Quick and Dead were the only two categories, and the distinction between them the only Judgment that mattered.

So he drew comfort from being in the Khan el-Khalili, which appeared to be the quickest part of the city. The caravan wound through market-streets devoted to every good imaginable, from slaves to b.u.t.ter to live cobras, and eventually reached a place that, Jack thought, must be the dead center of the entire metropolis. It was a yard, or perhaps an alley: a rectangle of dirt, a bow-shot in length, but not above five yards in width, hemmed in by four-and five-storey buildings. Above, a narrow aperture provided light, but something translucent had been thrown across between the parapets of the buildings: caravan-tents and tarpaulins, Jack suspected. These formed a continuous roof overhead, letting in dusty light but sealing the place off from eavesdroppers. The surrounding buildings were astonis.h.i.+ngly quiet-the quietest place in Cairo-and they smelled of hay. s.h.i.+ps coming down the Nile had replenished the place with food for the horses and camels that were stabled here.

"This is where it began," remarked Nyazi. "This was the seed."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"A hundred generations ago, some men like me camped here-" stomping the dirt with one sandal "-for the night with their camels, and in time the camp put down roots, and became a caravanserai. The market of Khan el-Khalili grew up around it, and Cairo around it. it. But you see the caravanserai remains, and still we come here to sell our camels." But you see the caravanserai remains, and still we come here to sell our camels."

"It is a good place to meet the Duke," Moseh said. "The Plan was sound all along. For, according to what Nyazi has said, not a single day has gone by in this place, since the very beginning of the world, when silver and gold have not pa.s.sed from hand to hand here. Its presence was not dictated by any king, nor was it prophesied by any creed; it emerged of its own accord, and endures regardless of what the Sultan in Constantinople or the Sun King in Paris might prefer."

Friends.h.i.+p is a Vertue oftener found among Thieves than other People, for when their Companions are in Danger, they venture hardest to relieve them.-Memoirs of the Right Villanous John Hall The ground floors of the caravanserai's buildings had high ceilings so that without having to duck, or doff their turbans, men could ride camels into them, and that was just what the clan of Nyazi did. That night, Nasr al-Ghurab came back with his contingent, and with Dappa and Vrej, whom they hadn't seen since Rosetta.

"Truly the forkings and wanderings of the Nile are as unknowable as the streets of Cairo," said Dappa, blinking his eyes in amazement, "but Vrej found an Armenian coffee-trader, no more than five minutes' walk from this place, who knew all about the way to Mocha. You go downstream to the great fork, and take the Damietta branch, and after a few miles there is a village on the right bank where a water-course strays off eastwards. In time that stream goes all the way to the Red Sea."

"Then much traffic must pa.s.s through it!" Moseh exclaimed.

"It is jealously guarded by the head men of the villages that bestride it, and by the Turkish officials," Dappa agreed.

"And for that very reason," said Vrej, picking up the narrative, "other Egyptians, in neighboring precincts, have been at work with picks and shovels, scooping out short-cuts that bypa.s.s the larger villages and toll-stations. These look like nothing more than stagnant dead-ends, or reed-choked sewer-ditches, when they are visible at all; and you may be sure that they are guarded by the farmers who dug them, every bit as jealously as the main channel. So we shall not make it through to the Red Sea without crossing the palms of innumerable peasants with baksheesh baksheesh-the total expense will be dumb-founding, I fear."

"But we will have a boat-load of gold," said Yevgeny.

"And we will be running for our lives," added Jack, "which always makes spending money not quite so painful."

"And those farmers will want to keep it all a secret from their Turkish overlords just as badly as we will," predicted Jeronimo.

"Not quite as badly," Moseh demurred, "but badly enough."

"Very good then," said Surendranath, the Hindoo galley slave who had chosen to throw in his lot with them. "You have shown extreme wisdom in establis.h.i.+ng your batna. batna."

"Avast! We are all People of the Book here, and have no use for your idolatrous claptrap," said Jeronimo.

"Steady there, Caballero," said Jack, "I know from personal experience that Books of India contain much of interest. What else can you tell us about this batna, batna, Surendranath?" Surendranath?"

"I learnt it from English traders in Surat," said the befuddled Surendranath, "It stands for Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement."

A recess, now, as the phrase was translated into diverse languages.

Moseh said, "Be it English or Hindoo, there's still wisdom in it. Our friend, born and raised a banyan, banyan, understands that escaping over the flooded fields and through the wadis to the Red Sea is an understands that escaping over the flooded fields and through the wadis to the Red Sea is an alternate alternate plan-a plan-a contingency contingency and nothing more." As Moseh was saying these words, he gazed deliberately into the eyes of those members of the Cabal he deemed most impetuous. But he began and ended with his eyes locked on Jack's. Moseh concluded, "To have a and nothing more." As Moseh was saying these words, he gazed deliberately into the eyes of those members of the Cabal he deemed most impetuous. But he began and ended with his eyes locked on Jack's. Moseh concluded, "To have a batna batna is good and wise, as Surendranath has pointed out. But the is good and wise, as Surendranath has pointed out. But the Negotiated Agreement Negotiated Agreement is much better than this is much better than this Best Alternative. Best Alternative."

"Moseh, you have sat next to me for years and heard all of my stories, and so you know that I only love one thing in the world, even in spite of this," said Jack, pulling up the loose sleeve of his garment to display the track of the harpoon in his arm. "There should be no doubt in your mind that I would rather be on a s.h.i.+p bound for Christendom tomorrow, than fleeing for my life towards the Red Sea, like some miserable Hebrew of yore. But like those Hebrews I'll not be a slave any longer."

"We are all in accord there, there," said Dappa.

"Then, as I have been chosen to represent the Cabal in our final negotiation with the Investor, I must ask you all to do one thing. I am a Vagabond, and was never one for swearing pompous oaths and prating about honor. But this undertaking is no longer a Vagabondish sort of enterprise-so every man among you must now swear, by whatever he considers holiest, that you are with me tomorrow. That, whatsoever happens in my dealings with the Duke-whether I show foolishness or wisdom-whether I remain collected, or lose my temper, or p.i.s.s my breeches-whether or not the Imp of the Perverse comes to pay me a visit-you are with me, and will accept my decision, and live or die with me."

Here Jack had been expecting a long, awkward pause, or even laughter. But the sword of Gabriel Goto was out of its sheath before Jack's words had stopped echoing round the narrow yard. The newcomers flinched. In a simple swift movement Gabriel reversed his sword and presented its hilt to Jack, and in the light of the fire the blade s.h.i.+mmered like a swift stream of clear water beneath the rising sun. "I am samurai," he said simply.

Padraig, the big Irishman, stepped forward and spat into the fire. "We've a saying," he said to Jack in English. "Is this a private fight, or can anyone join in? Well, I'm in, which ought to suffice. But if you want me to swear by something, then I do swear on my mother's grave above the sea in Kilmacthomas, and d.a.m.n you if you think that's not as good as being a samurai."

Moseh took the sc.r.a.p of Indian bead-work from around his neck, kissed it, and tossed it to Jack. "Throw that into the fire if I fail you," he said, "and let it become part of the dust of the Khan el-Khalili."

Vrej said, "I have followed you thus far, Jack, seeking to make good on the debt that my family owes you. I swear on my family that I will pay you back."

Monsieur Arlanc said, "I do not believe in swearing oaths. But I do believe that I am destined to see the matter through to its proper end."

Van Hoek said, "I swear by my right arm that I'll never be taken by pirates again. And this Investor is a pirate in the eyes of G.o.d."