"Because Odessa was in my way. Had Odessa not been a stage in my journey, I should not have come here. Is not that so, Van Mitten?"
The Dutchman contented himself by assenting with a nod.
"Ah, yes, by-the-bye, you have not been introduced. I must present you." Then, addressing Selim, Kéraban continued,—
"My friend Van Mitten, my correspondent at Rotterdam, whom I am bringing to dine with me at Scutari."
"At Scutari!" exclaimed the banker.
"It seems so," said Van Mitten.
"And Bruno his servant," continued Kéraban; "a brave follower who does not wish to be separated from his master."
"It seems so," said Bruno, like an echo.
"Now, let us be off," said the impetuous Turk.
"If it must be so, uncle," said Ahmet, "we will not endeavour to detain you. But if you are only here because Odessa happens to be in your way, may I inquire what route you are taking for Scutari?"
"The route which leads round the Black Sea."
"Around the Black Sea!" exclaimed Ahmet.
A dead silence supervened for a few seconds, and then Kéraban said, "Well, if you please, what is there so very surprising in that? Is there anything so very extraordinary in our going from Constantinople to Scutari by the sea-coast route?"
Selim and Ahmet looked at each other significantly. Was the rich merchant of Galata going mad?
"Friend Kéraban," said the banker at length, "we do not wish to oppose you in any way." This was the usual phrase, and a prudent one when dealing with the obstinate Kéraban. "We have no wish to contradict you at all, only it appears to us that you might have perhaps reached Scutari more directly by crossing the Bosphorus."
"There is no longer any Bosphorus!" said Kéraban.
"No longer any Bosphorus!" exclaimed Ahmet.
"Not for me—which is the same thing. There is a strait for such people as will submit to pay an iniquitous tax of four paras a head; a tax which these new Turks have imposed upon waters which have hitherto been free as air."
