“What news?” he questioned.

“May Allah turn it to thy good!” the spy replied, with his profoundest reverence. “I have it from a member of the new Committee that your Highness is marked down as a suspected notable. They say it may mean destitution, even death.”

“I thank thee,” murmured Yûsuf and dismissed the man. Directly he was gone he called Ghandûr and said:

“Didst thou not tell me, O beloved, that thou hadst some relative a member of the new Committee for the Public Safety?”

“Yes, O my lord! The person is my father’s brother, a small merchant.”

“Where is their place of meeting?”

“I can show it thee.”

“Do they meet every day?”