The Brass Bottle

by F. Anstey

  CHAPTER XVIII

  A GAME OF BLUFF

  "Thy second question, O pertinacious one?" said the Jinnee, impatiently.He was standing with folded arms looking down on Horace, who was stillseated on the narrow cornice, not daring to glance below again, lest heshould lose his head altogether.

  "I'm coming to it," said Ventimore; "I want to know why you shouldpropose to dash me to pieces in this barbarous way as a return forletting you out of that bottle. Were you so comfortable in it as allthat?"

  "In the bottle I was at least suffered to rest, and none molested me.But in releasing me thou didst perfidiously conceal from me thatSuleyman was dead and gone, and that there reigneth one in his steadmightier a thousand-fold, who afflicteth our race with labours andtortures exceeding all the punishments of Suleyman."

  "What on earth have you got into your head now? You can't mean the LordMayor?"

  "Whom else?" said the Jinnee, solemnly. "And though, for this once, by adevice I have evaded his vengeance, yet do I know full well that eitherby virtue of the magic jewel upon his breast, or through that malignantmonster with the myriad ears and eyes and tongues, which thou callest'The Press,' I shall inevitably fall into his power before long."

  For the life of him, in spite of his desperate plight, Horace could nothelp laughing. "I beg your pardon, Mr. Fakrash," he said, as soon as hecould speak, "but--the Lord Mayor! It's really too absurd. Why, hewouldn't hurt a hair on a fly's head!"

  "Seek not to deceive me further!" said Fakrash, furiously. "Didst thounot inform me with thy own mouth that the spirits of Earth, Air, Water,and Fire were subject to his will? Have I no eyes? Do I not behold fromhere the labours of my captive brethren? What are those on yonderbridges but enslaved Jinn, shrieking and groaning in clanking fetters,and snorting forth steam, as they drag their wheeled burdens behindthem? Are there not others toiling, with panting efforts, through thesluggish waters; others again, imprisoned in lofty pillars, from whichthe smoke of their breath ascendeth even unto Heaven? Doth not the airthrob and quiver with their restless struggles as they writhe below indarkness and torment? And thou hast the shamelessness to pretend thatthese things are done in the Lord Mayor's own realms without hisknowledge! Verily thou must take me for a fool!"

  "After all," reflected Ventimore, "if he chooses to consider thatrailway engines and steamers, and machinery generally, are inhabited byso many Jinn 'doing time,' it's not to my interest to undeceivehim--indeed, it's quite the contrary!"

  "I wasn't aware the Lord Mayor had so much power as all that," he said;"but very likely you're right. And if you're so anxious to keep infavour with him, it would be a great mistake to kill me. That _would_annoy him."

  "Not so," said the Jinnee, "for I should declare that thou hadst spokenslightingly of him in my hearing, and that I had slain thee on thataccount."

  "Your proper course," said Horace, "would be to hand me over to him, andlet _him_ deal with the case. Much more regular."

  "That may be," said Fakrash; "but I have conceived so bitter a hatred tothee by reason of thy insolence and treachery, that I cannot forego thedelight of slaying thee with my own hand."

  "Can't you really?" said Horace, on the verge of despair. "And _then_,what will you do?"

  "Then," replied the Jinnee, "I shall flee away to Arabia, where I shallbe safe."

  "Don't you be too sure of that!" said Horace. "You see all those wiresstretched on poles down there? Those are the pathways of certain Jinnknown as electric currents, and the Lord Mayor could send a messagealong them which would be at Baghdad before you had flown farther thanFolkestone. And I may mention that Arabia is now more or less underBritish jurisdiction."

  He was bluffing, of course, for he knew perfectly well that, even if anyextradition treaty could be put in force, the arrest of a Jinnee wouldbe no easy matter.

  "Thou art of opinion, then, that I should be no safer in mine owncountry?" inquired Fakrash.

  "I swear by the name of the Lord Mayor (to whom be all reverence!)" saidHorace, "that there is no land you could fly to where you would be anysafer than you are here."

  "If I were but sealed up in my bottle once more," said the Jinnee,"would not even the Lord Mayor have respect unto the seal of Suleyman,and forbear to disturb me?"

  "Why, of course he would!" cried Horace, hardly daring to believe hisears. "That's really a brilliant idea of yours, my dear Mr. Fakrash."

  "And in the bottle I should not be compelled to work," continued theJinnee. "For labour of all kinds hath ever been abhorrent unto me."

  "I can quite understand that," said Horace, sympathetically. "Justimagine your having to drag an excursion train to the seaside on a BankHoliday, or being condemned to print off a cheap comic paper, or eventhe _War Cry_, when you might be leading a snug and idle existence inyour bottle. If I were you, I should go and get inside it at once.Suppose we go back to Vincent Square and find it?"

  "I shall return to the bottle, since in that alone there is safety,"said the Jinnee. "But I shall return alone."

  "Alone!" cried Horace. "You're not going to leave me stuck up here allby myself?"

  "By no means," said the Jinnee. "Have I not said that I am about to castthee to perdition? Too long have I delayed in the accomplishment of thisduty."

  Once more Horace gave himself up for lost; which was doubly bitter, justwhen he had begun to consider that the danger was past. But even then,he was determined to fight to the last.

  "One moment," he said. "Of course, if you've set your heart on pitchingme over, you must. Only--I may be quite mistaken--but I don't quite seehow you are going to manage the rest of your programme without me,that's all."

  "O deficient in intelligence!" cried the Jinnee. "What assistance canstthou render me?"

  "Well," said Horace, "of course, you can get into the bottlealone--that's simple enough. But the difficulty I see is this: Are youquite sure you can put the cap on yourself--from the _inside_, youknow?" If he can, he thought, "I'm done for!"

  "That," began the Jinnee, with his usual confidence "will be the easiestof--nay," he corrected himself, "there be things that not even the Jinnthemselves can accomplish, and one of them is to seal a vessel whileremaining in it. I am indebted to thee for reminding me thereof."

  "Not at all," said Ventimore. "I shall be delighted to come and seal youup comfortably myself."

  "Again thou speakest folly," exclaimed the Jinnee. "How canst thou sealme up after I have dashed thee into a thousand pieces?"

  "That," said Horace, with all the urbanity he could command, "isprecisely the difficulty I was trying to convey."

  "There will be no difficulty, for as soon as I am in the bottle I shallsummon certain inferior Efreets, and they will replace the seal."

  "When you are once in the bottle," said Horace, at a venture, "youprobably won't be in a position to summon anybody."

  "_Before_ I get into the bottle, then!" said the Jinnee, impatiently."Thou dost but juggle with words!"

  "But about those Efreets," persisted Horace. "You know what Efreets_are_! How can you be sure that, when they've got you in the bottle,they won't hand you over to the Lord Mayor? I shouldn't trust themmyself--but, of course, you know best!"

  "Whom shall I trust, then?" said Fakrash, frowning.

  "I'm sure I don't know. It's rather a pity you're so determined todestroy me, because, as it happens, I'm just the one person living whocould be depended on to seal you up and keep your secret. However,that's your affair. After all, why should I care what becomes of you? Ishan't be there!"

  "Even at this hour," said the Jinnee, undecidedly, "I might find it inmy heart to spare thee, were I but sure that thou wouldst be faithfulunto me!"

  "I should have thought I was more to be trusted than one of your beastlyEfreets!" said Horace, with well-assumed indifference. "But never mind,I don't know that I care, after all. I've nothing particular to live fornow. You've ruined me pretty thoroughly, and you may as well finish yourwork. I've a good mind to jump over, and save you the tr
ouble. Perhaps,when you see me bouncing down that dome, you'll be sorry!"

  "Refrain from rashness!" said the Jinnee, hastily, without suspectingthat Ventimore had no serious intention of carrying out his threat. "Ifthou wilt do as thou art bidden, I will not only pardon thee, but grantthee all that thou desirest."

  "Take me back to Vincent Square first," said Horace. "This is not theplace to discuss business."

  "Thou sayest rightly," replied the Jinnee; "hold fast to my sleeve, andI will transport thee to thine abode."

  "Not till you promise to play fair," said Horace, pausing on the brinkof the ledge. "Remember, if you let me go now you drop the only friendyou've got in the world!"

  "May I be thy ransom!" replied Fakrash. "There shall not be harmed ahair of thy head!"

  Even then Horace had his misgivings; but as there was no other way ofgetting off that cornice, he decided to take the risk. And, as itproved, he acted judiciously, for the Jinnee flew to Vincent Square withhonourable precision, and dropped him neatly into the armchair in whichhe had little hoped ever to find himself again.

  "I have brought thee hither," said Fakrash, "and yet I am persuaded thatthou art even now devising treachery against me, and wilt betray me ifthou canst."

  Horace was about to assure him once more that no one could be moreanxious than himself to see him safely back in his bottle, when herecollected that it was impolitic to appear too eager.

  "After the way you've behaved," he said, "I'm not at all sure that Iought to help you. Still, I said I would, on certain conditions, andI'll keep my word."

  "Conditions!" thundered the Jinnee. "Wilt thou bargain with me yetfurther?"

  "My excellent friend," said Horace quietly, "you know perfectly wellthat you can't get yourself safely sealed up again in that bottlewithout my assistance. If you don't like my terms, and prefer to takeyour chance of finding an Efreet who is willing to brave the Lord Mayor,well, you've only to say so."

  "I have loaded thee with all manner of riches and favours, and I willbestow no more upon thee," said the Jinnee, sullenly. "Nay, in token ofmy displeasure, I will deprive thee even of such gifts as thou hastretained." He pointed his grey forefinger at Ventimore, whose turbanand jewelled robes instantly shrivelled into cobwebs and tinder, andfluttered to the carpet in filmy shreds, leaving him in nothing but hisunderclothing.

  "That only shows what a nasty temper you're in," said Horace, blandly,"and doesn't annoy me in the least. If you'll excuse me, I'll go and puton some things I can feel more at home in; and perhaps by the time Ireturn you'll have cooled down."

  He slipped on some clothes hurriedly and re-entered the sitting-room."Now, Mr. Fakrash," he said, "we'll have this out. You talk of havingloaded me with benefits. You seem to consider I ought to be grateful toyou. In Heaven's name, for what? I've been as forbearing as possible allthis time, because I gave you credit for meaning well. Now, I'll speakplainly. I told you from the first, and I tell you now, that I want noriches nor honours from you. The one real good turn you did me wasbringing me that client, and you spoilt that because you would insist onbuilding the palace yourself, instead of leaving it to me! As for therest--here am I, a ruined and discredited man, with a client whoprobably supposes I'm in league with the Devil; with the girl I love,and might have married, believing that I have left her to marry aPrincess; and her father, unable ever to forgive me for having seen himas a one-eyed mule. In short, I'm in such a mess all round that I don'tcare two straws whether I live or die!"

  "What is all this to me?" said the Jinnee.

  "Only this--that unless you can see your way to putting things straightfor me, I'm hanged if I take the trouble to seal you up in that bottle!"

  "How am _I_ to put things straight for thee?" cried Fakrash, peevishly.

  "If you could make all those people entirely forget that affair in theGuildhall, you can make my friends forget the brass bottle andeverything connected with it, can't you?"

  "There would be no difficulty in that," Fakrash admitted.

  "Well, do it--and I'll swear to seal you up in the bottle exactly as ifyou had never been out of it, and pitch you into the deepest part of theThames, where no one will ever disturb you."

  "First produce the bottle, then," said Fakrash, "for I cannot believebut that thou hast some lurking guile in thy heart."

  "I'll ring for my landlady and have the bottle brought up," said Horace."Perhaps that will satisfy you? Stay, you'd better not let her see you."

  "I will render myself invisible," said the Jinnee, suiting the action tohis words. "But beware lest thou play me false," his voice continued,"for I shall hear thee!"

  "So you've come in, Mr. Ventimore?" said Mrs. Rapkin, as she entered."And without the furrin gentleman? I _was_ surprised, and so was Rapkinthe same, to see you ridin' off this morning in the gorgious chariot and'osses, and dressed up that lovely! 'Depend upon it,' I says to Rapkin,I says, 'depend upon it, Mr. Ventimore'll be sent for to BuckinhamPallis, if it ain't Windsor Castle!'"

  "Never mind that now," said Horace, impatiently; "I want that brassbottle I bought the other day. Bring it up at once, please."

  "I thought you said the other day you never wanted to set eyes on itagain, and I was to do as I pleased with it, sir?"

  "Well, I've changed my mind, so let me have it, quick."

  "I'm sure I'm very sorry, sir, but that you can't, because Rapkin, notwishful to have the place lumbered up with rubbish, disposed of it on'ylast night to a gentleman as keeps a rag and bone emporium off theBridge Road, and 'alf-a-crown was the most he'd give for it, sir."

  "Give me his name," said Horace.

  "Dilger, sir--Emanuel Dilger. When Rapkin comes in I'm sure he'd goround with pleasure, and see about it, if required."

  "I'll go round myself," said Horace. "It's all right, Mrs. Rapkin, quitea natural mistake on your part, but--but I happen to want the bottleagain. You needn't stay."

  "O thou smooth-faced and double-tongued one!" said the Jinnee, after shehad gone, as he reappeared to view. "Did I not foresee that thou wouldstdeal crookedly? Restore unto me my bottle!"

  "I'll go and get it at once," said Horace; "I shan't be five minutes."And he prepared to go.

  "Thou shalt not leave this house," cried Fakrash, "for I perceiveplainly that this is but a device of thine to escape and betray me tothe Press Devil!"

  "If you can't see," said Horace, angrily, "that I'm quite as anxious tosee you safely back in that confounded bottle as ever you can be to getthere, you must be pretty dense! _Can't_ you understand? The bottle'ssold, and I can't buy it back without going out. Don't be so infernallyunreasonable!"

  "Go, then," said the Jinnee, "and I will await thy return here. But knowthis: that if thou delayest long or returnest without my bottle, I shallknow that thou art a traitor, and will visit thee and those who are dearto thee with the most unpleasant punishments!"

  "I'll be back in half an hour, at most," said Horace, feeling that thiswould allow him ample margin, and thankful that it did not occur toFakrash to go in person.

  He put on his hat, and hurried off in the gathering dusk. He had somelittle trouble in finding Mr. Dilger's establishment, which was a dirty,dusty little place in a back street, with a few deplorable old chairs,rickety washstands, and rusty fenders outside, and the interior almostcompletely blocked by piles of dingy mattresses, empty clock-cases,tarnished and cracked mirrors, broken lamps, damaged picture-frames, andeverything else which one would imagine could have no possible valuefor any human being. But in all this collection of worthless curios thebrass bottle was nowhere to be seen.

  Ventimore went in and found a youth of about thirteen straining his eyesin the fading light over one of those halfpenny humorous journals which,thanks to an improved system of education, at least eighty per cent. ofour juvenile population are now enabled to appreciate.

  "I want to see Mr. Dilger," he began.

  "You can't," said the youth. "'Cause he ain't in. He's attending of anauction."

  "When _wi
ll_ he be in, do you know?"

  "Might be back to his tea--but I wasn't to expect him not beforesupper."

  "You don't happen to have any old metal bottles--copper or--or brasswould do--for sale?"

  "You don't git at me like that! Bottles is made o' glorss."

  "Well, a jar, then--a big brass pot--anything of that kind?"

  "Don't keep 'em," said the boy, and buried himself once more in his copyof "Spicy Sniggers."

  "I'll just look round," said Horace, and began to poke about with asinking heart, and a horrid dread that he might have come to the wrongshop, for the big pot-bellied vessel certainly did not seem to be there.At last, to his unspeakable joy, he discovered it under a piece oftattered drugget. "Why, this is the sort of thing I meant," he said,feeling in his pocket and discovering that he had exactly a sovereign."How much do you want for it?"

  "I dunno," said the boy.

  "I don't mind three shillings," said Horace, who did not wish to appeartoo keen at first.

  "I'll tell the guv'nor when he comes in," was the reply, "and you canlook in later."

  "I want it at once," insisted Horace. "Come, I'll give you three-and-sixfor it."

  "It's more than it's wurf," replied the candid youth.

  "Perhaps," said Horace, "but I'm rather pressed for time. If you'llchange this sovereign, I'll take the bottle away with me."

  "You seem uncommon anxious to get 'old on it, mister!" said the boy,with sudden suspicion.

  "Nonsense!" said Horace. "I live close by, and I thought I might as welltake it, that's all."

  "Oh, if that's all, you can wait till the guv'nor's in."

  "I--I mayn't be passing this way again for some time," said Horace.

  "Bound to be, if you live close by," and the provoking youth returned tohis "Sniggers."

  "Do you call this attending to your master's business?" said Horace."Listen to me, you young rascal. I'll give you five shillings for it.You're not going to be fool enough to refuse an offer like that?"

  "I ain't goin' to be fool enough to refuse it--nor yet I ain't goin' tobe fool enough to take it, 'cause I'm only 'ere to see as nobody don'tcome in and sneak fings. I ain't got no authority to sell anyfink, and Idon't know the proice o' nuffink, so there you _'ave_ it."

  "Take the five shillings," said Horace, "and if it's too little I'llcome round and settle with your master later."

  "I thought you said you wasn't likely to be porsin' again? No, mister,you don't kid me that way!"

  Horace had a mad impulse to snatch up the precious bottle then and thereand make off with it, and might have yielded to the temptation, withdisastrous consequences, had not an elderly man entered the shop at thatmoment. He was bent, and wore rather more fluff and flue upon his personthan most well-dressed people would consider necessary, but he came inwith a certain air of authority, nevertheless.

  "Mr. Dilger, sir," piped the youth, "'ere's a gent took a fancy to this'ere brass pot o' yours. Says he _must_ 'ave it. Five shillings he'd gotto, but I told him he'd 'ave to wait till you come in."

  "Quite right, my lad!" said Mr. Dilger, cocking a watery but sharp oldeye at Horace. "Five shillings! Ah, sir, you can't know much about thesehold brass antiquities to make an orfer like that."

  "I know as much as most people," said Horace. "But let us say sixshillings."

  "Couldn't be done, sir; couldn't indeed. Why, I give a pound for itmyself at Christie's, as sure as I'm standin' 'ere in the presence o' myMaker, and you a sinner!" he declared impressively, if ratherambiguously.

  "Your memory is not quite accurate," said Horace. "You bought it lastnight from a man of the name of Rapkin, who lets lodgings in VincentSquare, and you paid exactly half a crown for it."

  "If you say so I dare say it's correct, sir," said Mr. Dilger, withoutexhibiting the least confusion. "And if I did buy it off Mr. Rapkin,he's a respectable party, and ain't likely to have come by itdishonest."

  "I never said he did. What will you take for the thing?"

  "Well, just look at the work in it. They don't turn out the like o' thatnowadays. Dutch, that is; what they used for to put their milk andsuch-like in."

  "Damn it!" said Horace, completely losing his temper. "_I_ know what itwas used for. _Will_ you tell me what you want for it?"

  "I couldn't let a curiosity like that go a penny under thirtyshillings," said Mr. Dilger, affectionately. "It would be robbin'myself."

  "I'll give you a sovereign for it--there," said Horace. "You know bestwhat profit that represents. That's my last word."

  "_My_ last word to that, sir, is good hevenin'," said the worthy man.

  "Good evening, then," said Horace, and walked out of the shop; rather tobring Mr. Dilger to terms than because he really meant to abandon thebottle, for he dared not go back without it, and he had nothing abouthim just then on which he could raise the extra ten shillings, supposingthe dealer refused to trust him for the balance--and the time wasgrowing dangerously short.

  Fortunately the well-worn ruse succeeded, for Mr. Dilger ran out afterhim and laid an unwashed claw upon his coat-sleeve. "Don't go, mister,"he said; "I like to do business if I can; though, 'pon my word andhonour, a sovereign for a work o' art like that! Well, just for luck andbein' my birthday, we'll call it a deal."

  Horace handed over the coin, which left him with a few pence. "Thereought to be a lid or stopper of some sort," he said suddenly. "What haveyou done with that?"

  "No, sir, there you're mistook, you are, indeed. I do assure you younever see a pot of this partickler pattern with a lid to it. Never!"

  "Oh, don't you, though?" said Horace. "I know better. Never mind," hesaid, as he recollected that the seal was in Fakrash's possession. "I'lltake it as it is. Don't trouble to wrap it up. I'm in rather a hurry."

  It was almost dark when he got back to his rooms, where he found theJinnee shaking with mingled rage and apprehension.

  "No welcome to thee!" he cried. "Dilatory dog that thou art! Hadst thoudelayed another minute, I would have called down some calamity uponthee."

  "Well, you need not trouble yourself to do that now," returnedVentimore. "Here's your bottle, and you can creep into it as soon as youplease."

  "But the seal!" shrieked the Jinnee. "What hast thou done with the sealwhich was upon the bottle?"

  "Why, you've got it yourself, of course," said Horace, "in one of yourpockets."

  "O thou of base antecedents!" howled Fakrash, shaking out his flowingdraperies. "How should _I_ have the seal? This is but a fresh device ofthine to undo me!"

  "Don't talk rubbish!" retorted Horace. "You made the Professor give itup to you yesterday. You must have lost it somewhere or other. Nevermind! I'll get a large cork or bung, which will do just as well. AndI've lots of sealing-wax."

  "I will have no seal but the seal of Suleyman!" declared the Jinnee."For with no other will there be security. Verily I believe that thataccursed sage, thy friend, hath contrived by some cunning to get theseal once more into his hands. I will go at once to his abode and compelhim to restore it."

  "I wouldn't," said Horace, feeling extremely uneasy, for it wasevidently a much simpler thing to let a Jinnee out of a bottle than toget him in again. "He's quite incapable of taking it. And if you go outnow you'll only make a fuss and attract the attention of the Press,which I thought you rather wanted to avoid."

  "I shall attire myself in the garments of a mortal--even those I assumedon a former occasion," said Fakrash, and as he spoke his outer robesmodernised into a frock-coat. "Thus shall I escape attention."

  "Wait one moment," said Horace. "What is that bulge in yourbreast-pocket?"

  "Of a truth," said the Jinnee, looking relieved but not a little foolishas he extracted the object, "it is indeed the seal."

  "You're in such a hurry to think the worst of everybody, you see!" saidHorace. "Now, _do_ try to carry away with you into your seclusion abetter opinion of human nature."

  "Perdition to all the people of this age!" cried Fakrash, re-assuminghis green rob
e and turban, "for I now put no faith in human beings andwould afflict them all, were not the Lord Mayor (on whom be peace!)mightier than I. Therefore, while it is yet time, take thou the stopper,and swear that, after I am in this bottle, thou wilt seal it as beforeand cast it into deep waters, where no eye will look upon it more!"

  "With all the pleasure in the world!" said Horace; "only you must keep_your_ part of the bargain first. You will kindly obliterate allrecollection of yourself and the brass bottle from the minds of everyhuman being who has had anything to do with you or it."

  "Not so," objected the Jinnee, "for thus wouldst thou forget thycompact."

  "Oh, very well, leave _me_ out, then," said Horace. "Not that anythingcould make me forget _you_!"

  Fakrash swept his right hand round in a half circle. "It isaccomplished," he said. "All recollection of myself and yonder bottle isnow erased from the memories of every one but thyself."

  "But how about my client?" said Horace. "I can't afford to lose _him_,you know."

  "He shall return unto thee," said the Jinnee, trembling with impatience."Now perform thy share."

  Horace had triumphed. It had been a long and desperate duel with thissingular being, who was at once so crafty and so childlike, so credulousand so suspicious, so benevolent and so malign. Again and again he haddespaired of victory, but he had won at last. In another minute or sothis formidable Jinnee would be safely bottled once more, and powerlessto intermeddle and plague him for the future.

  And yet, in the very moment of triumph, quixotic as such scruples mayseem to some, Ventimore's conscience smote him. He could not help acertain pity for the old creature, who was shaking there convulsivelyprepared to re-enter his bottle-prison rather than incur a whollyimaginary doom. Fakrash had aged visibly within the last hour; now helooked even older than his three thousand and odd years. True, he hadled Horace a fearful life of late, but at first, at least, hisintentions had been good. His gratitude, if mistaken in its form, wasthe sign of a generous disposition. Not every Jinnee, surely, wouldhave endeavoured to press untold millions and honours and dignities ofall kinds upon him, in return for a service which most mortals wouldhave considered amply repaid by a brace of birds and an invitation to anevening party.

  And how was Horace treating _him_? He was taking what, in his heart, hefelt to be a rather mean advantage of the Jinnee's ignorance of modernlife to cajole him into returning to his captivity. Why not suffer himto live out the brief remainder of his years (for he could hardly lastmore than another century or two at most) in freedom? Fakrash had learnthis lesson: he was not likely to interfere again in human affairs; hemight find his way back to the Palace of the Mountain of the Clouds andend his days there, in peaceful enjoyment of the society of such of theJinn as might still survive unbottled.

  So, obeying--against his own interests--some kindlier impulse, Horacemade an effort to deter the Jinnee, who was already hovering in airabove the neck of the bottle in a swirl of revolving draperies, likesome blundering old bee vainly endeavouring to hit the opening into hishive.

  "Mr. Fakrash," he cried, "before you go any farther, listen to me.There's no real necessity, after all, for you to go back to your bottle.If you'll only wait a little----"

  But the Jinnee, who had now swelled to gigantic proportions, and whoseform and features were only dimly recognisable through the wreaths ofblack vapour in which he was involved, answered him from his pillar ofsmoke in a terrible voice. "Wouldst thou still persuade me to linger?"he cried. "Hold thy peace and be ready to fulfil thine undertaking."

  "But, look here," persisted Horace. "I should feel such a brute if Isealed you up without telling you----" The whirling and roaring column,in shape like an inverted cone, was being fast sucked down into thevessel, till only a semi-materialised but highly infuriated head wasleft above the neck of the bottle.

  "Must I tarry," it cried, "till the Lord Mayor arrive with his Memlooks,and the hour of safety is expired? By my head, if thou delayest anotherinstant, I will put no more faith in thee! And I will come forth oncemore, and afflict thee and thy friends--ay, and all the dwellers in thisaccursed city--with the most painful and unheard-of calamities."

  And, with these words, the head sank into the bottle with a loud clapresembling thunder.

  Horace hesitated no longer. The Jinnee himself had absolved him from allfurther scruples; to imperil Sylvia and her parents--not to mention allLondon--out of consideration for one obstinate and obnoxious old demon,would clearly be carrying sentiment much too far.

  Accordingly, he made a rush for the jar and slipped the metal cover overthe mouth of the neck, which was so hot that it blistered his fingers,and, seizing the poker, he hammered down the secret catch until the lidfitted as closely as Suleyman himself could have required.

  Then he stuffed the bottle into a kit-bag, adding a few coals to give itextra weight, and toiled off with it to the nearest steamboat pier,where he spent his remaining pence in purchasing a ticket to the Temple.

  * * * * *

  Next day the following paragraph appeared in one of the evening papers,which probably had more space than usual at its disposal:

  "SINGULAR OCCURRENCE ON A PENNY STEAMER

  "A gentleman on board one of the Thames steamboats (so we are informedby an eye-witness) met with a somewhat ludicrous mishap yesterdayevening. It appears that he had with him a small portmanteau, or largehand-bag, which he was supporting on the rail of the stern bulwark. Justas the vessel was opposite the Savoy Hotel he incautiously raised hishand to the brim of his hat, thereby releasing hold of the bag, whichoverbalanced itself and fell into the deepest part of the river, whereit instantly sank. The owner (whose carelessness occasioned considerableamusement to passengers in his immediate vicinity) appeared no littledisconcerted by the oversight, and was not unnaturally reticent as tothe amount of his loss, though he was understood to state that the bagcontained nothing of any great value. However this may be, he hasprobably learnt a lesson which will render him more careful in future."