Ali himself had been trained through his childhood in the Koran and the traditions, and, though the shifting policies of Persia had flung him for awhile into the army and afterwards into the diplomatic service his mind moved with most ease in the romantic regions of myth. Suleiman ben Daood, he knew, was a historic figurethe ruler of a small nation which, in the momentary decrease of its two neighbours, Egypt and Assyria, had attained an unstable pre-eminence. But Suleiman was also one of the four great world-shakers before the Prophet, a commander of the Faithful, peculiarly favoured by Allah. He had been a Jew, but the Jews in those days were the only witnesses to the Unity. "There is no God but God," he murmured to himself, and cast a hostile glance at a crucifix which stood as a war memorial in the grounds of a church near the Embassy. " 'Say: for those who believe not is the torment of hell: an evil journey shall it be.' " With which quotation he delivered the car to a servant and went in to find the Ambassador, whom he discovered half-asleep over the latest volume of Memoirs. He bowed and waited in silence.

"My dear Ali," the Ambassador said, rousing himself. "Did you have a good evening?"

"No," the young man answered coldly.

"I didn't expect you would," his chief said. "You orthodox young water-drinkers can hardly expect to enjoy a dinner. Was it, so to speak, a dinner?"

"I was concerned, sir," the Prince said, "with the Crown of Suleiman, on whom be the Peace."

"Really?" the Ambassador asked. "You really saw it? And is it authentic?"

"It is without doubt the Crown and the Stone," Ali answered. The Ambassador stared, but Ali went on.

"And it is in the hands of the infidel. I have seen one of these dogs- "

His chief frowned a little. "I have asked you," he said, "even when we are alone-to speak of these people without such phrases."

"I beg your Excellency's pardon," the Prince said. "I have seen one of them use it-by the Permission: and return unharmed. It is undoubtedly the Crown."

"The Crown of a Jew?" the Ambassador murmured. "My friend, I do not say I disbelieve you, but-have you told your uncle?"

"I reported first to you, sir," the Prince answered. "If you wish my uncle-" He paused.

"O by all means, by all means," the Ambassador said, getting up. "Ask him to come here." He stood stroking his beard while a servant was dispatched on the errand, and until a very old man, with white hair, bent and wrinkled, came into the room.

"The Peace be upon you, Hajji Ibrahim," he said in Persian, while the Prince kissed his uncle's hand. "Do me the honour to be seated. I desire you to know that your nephew is convinced of the authenticity of that which Sir Giles Tumulty holds." He eyed the old man for a moment. "But I do not clearly know," he ended, "what you now wish me to do."

Hajji Ibrahim looked at his nephew. "And what will this Sir Giles Tumulty do with the sacred Crown?" he asked.

"He himself," the Prince said carefully, "will examine it and experiment with it, may the dogs of the street devour him! But there was also present a young man, his relation, who desires to make other crowns from it and sell them for money. For he sees that by the least of the graces of the divine Stone those who wear it may pass at once from place to place, and there are many who would buy such power at a great price." The formal phrases with which he controlled his rage broke suddenly and he closed in colloquial excitement, "He will form a company and put it on the market."

The old man nodded. "And even though this destroy him -" he began.

"I implore you, my uncle," the young Prince broke in, "to urge upon his Excellency the horrible sacrilege involved. It is a very dreadful thing for us that by the fault of our house this thing should come into the possession of the infidels. It is not to be borne that they should put it to these uses; it is against the interests of our country and the sanctity of our Faith."

The Ambassador, his head on one side, was staring at his shoes. "It might perhaps be held that the Christians derive as much from Judah as we," he said.

"It will not so be held in Tehran and in Delhi and in Cairo and in Beyrout and in Mecca," the Prince answered. "I will raise the East against them before this thing shall be done."

"I direct your attention," the Ambassador said stiffly, "to the fact that it is for me only to talk of what shall or shall not be done, under the sanction of Reza Shah who governs Persia to-day."

"Sir," the Prince said, "in this case it is a crown greater than the diadem of Reza Shah that is at stake."

"With submission," the old man broke in, "will not your Excellency make representations to the English Government? This is not a matter which any Government can consider without alarm."

"That is no doubt so," the Ambassador allowed. "But, Hajji Ibrahim, if I go to the English Government and say that one of their nationals, by bribing a member of your house, has come into the possession of a very sacred relic they will not be in the mind to take it from him; and if I add that this gives men power to jump about like grasshoppers they will ask me for proof." He paused.