That would be this very day
which we were now wasting at Jaffa. Having thus made my
calculations, I returned to Smith to give him such consolation as it
might be in my power to afford.
He seemed to be dreadfully afflicted by all this. "He will have
traced me to Jerusalem, and then again away; and will follow me
immediately."
"That is all very well," I said; "but let even a young man do the
best he can, and he will not get from Jerusalem to Jaffa in less
than twelve hours. Your uncle is not a young man, and could not
possibly do the journey under two days."
"But he will send. He will not mind what money he spends."
"And if he does send, take off your hat to his messengers, and bid
them carry your complaints back. You are not a felon whom he can
arrest."
"No, he cannot arrest me; but, ah! you do not understand;" and then
he sat up on the bed, and seemed as though he were going to wring
his hands in despair.
I waited for some half hour in his room, thinking that he would tell
me this story of his. If he required that I should give him my aid
in the presence either of his uncle or of his uncle's myrmidons, I
must at any rate know what was likely to be the dispute between
them.
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