This was a thing that could not be allowed to pass, and we demanded the arrest and imprisonment of the thief, who was known to the robbed man. At first the governor professed inability to do anything in the matter, and did not see that any duty was incumbent on him. However, an appeal to the _Vali_ at Mosul produced an order, and in due course Abdurrahman was lodged in the town gaol. "Get him imprisoned here, not at Mosul, Rabbi!" had been the advice of one of our servants. "It is no punishment to be imprisoned at Mosul; they give bread to the captives there _almost every day_." In more primitive Amadia your friends are at liberty to supply you; but if they omit that attention, you do not eat. Abdurrahman had plenty of friends, so he did not fare badly in the prison; but when he had been there about a week, we received a message from the _kaimakam_. Would we mind saying if our thirst for vengeance was glutted yet? For if so, our victim might be released. We sent a reply to the effect that it was no case of private vengeance, but of the peace of his Majesty the Sultan; and that if, as we presumed, Abdurrahman had now served his full sentence, of course he could be released. "Oh no," replied the ever-courteous but bored Governor, "our wisdom was labouring under a misapprehension in this. As for the peace of the Sultan, his Majesty had not got any; and as for sentence, he had never even tried the man yet. In fact, he had been at some pains to explain to our victim's relations (a fairly wild sept of Kurds) that it was not his fault that their kinsman was in durance, but purely the doing of that Englishman, who had insisted on it so." "Then release him with our blessing," said we. "Ten days in the hole you call a prison is more than enough for a trifling indiscretion such as he committed." "Then please," came the message in reply, "would we mind coming up to the town to sign a document to that effect?" It had been already prepared, and only needed signature, and a man of our wisdom would understand that this was necessary, and that in a civilized and constitutional land like Turkey, the formalities of law must be observed. It seemed to us that no great formality could be needful for the release of a man who had never been tried; but presently we sacrificed a day's work, rode up to the citadel and after the usual compliments asked for the necessary document.