I well remember the morning that Nabi surrendered. His name and his fame had preceded him to Bijar, and, as he strode down the Bazaar with a belt full of lethal weapons, his very appearance inspired terror in the breasts of the pusillanimous Persian traders, and they bolted for cover like so many scared animals. In addition to his stature, Nabi was a man of handsome appearance. He had a bold, open countenance, and was brief and blunt of speech. Brushing past the startled Persian janitor, whom he disdained to notice, he made a dramatic entry into the Political Office at Bijar. Flinging his weapons on the table, he exclaimed, "I have been {242} foolish; aye, misguided by evil counsellors; I have lost, and am here to pay the price. Do with me what you will. But you may tell your Shah that I regret the past and am willing to make amends." Peace was arranged with Nabi Khan, and the pact he kept very faithfully, becoming one of our most ardent partisans in the difficult country and amongst the turbulent folk over whom he held sway. He policed his district, and did it very thoroughly, proving a veritable terror to evildoers; and he suppressed Turkish propaganda with a vigour that demonstrated his real earnestness in the British cause. After the manner of his kind, as a further evidence of his good faith, and in order to set a time-enduring seal upon his treaty of friendship, he was anxious to negotiate a Kurdish-British matrimonial alliance. After a good deal of preliminary verbal manoeuvring, he definitely broached the project, and suggested the giving in marriage of his daughter, a very comely damsel, to the Political Officer. The latter was completely taken aback and, not being a Moslem, had visions of all sorts of unpleasant legal complications should he ever set foot in England with a supplementary wife. However, he faced the trying situation with commendable fortitude, and cast about for a means whereby he might be enabled to retreat with honour, and without offending Kurdish susceptibilities. Nabi was tactfully informed that, while the offer was much appreciated, the acceptance {243} of a Kurdish bride would entail no end of complications for at least one of the parties concerned, as an unsympathetic British law had long set its face against bigamy. In fact, isolated enthusiasts in khaki who, as a relief from the tedium of trench life, had sought to popularize plural marriages in England had been rewarded by a term of imprisonment. This was news indeed for the benevolent-minded Nabi, but he did not insist further, and the incident terminated happily.