They held a whispered conference, and Yussuf nodded; then he came over to the front door and locked it, removing the key.
"Tell him to hand over that letter!" he ordered Suliman.
"Mafish mukhkh!" said the boy, tapping his forehead once more.
Suliman's notion was the right one after all--at any rate the only one available.

Old alligator rolled off his perch and started for me.

Yussuf timed his own assault to correspond.
They would have landed on me simultaneously, if Suliman had not reminded me that madness is a safe passport nearly anywhere in the East.
So I went stark, raving mad that minute.

I once spent a night in the room of an epileptic who had delirium tremens, and learned a lot from him; some of it came to mind just when I needed it.

If ever a man got ten piastres' worth of unexpected side-show it was that old Syrian with the alligator eyes.