suspicion, and to gain time, added quickly: "Ah, it is a trick! He is
not a prisoner--you lie!"

"I have not a reputation for lying," rejoined Dicky quietly. "But see!"
he added; and throwing open a door, pointed to where the Chief Eunuch
stood with Mahommed Yeleb, Mustapha Bey gagged and bound between them.
Dicky shut the door again, as Selamlik Pasha shrank back among the
cushions, cowardice incarnate.

"You thought," said Dicky with a soft fierceness" you thought that I
would stoop to bargain with Selamlik Pasha and not know my way out of the
bargain? You thought an Englishman would beg, even for a life, of such
as you! You thought me, Donovan Pasha, such a fool!"

"Mercy, Excellency!" said Selamlik, spreading out his hands.

Dicky laughed. "You called me names, Selamlik--a dog, and the son of a
dog with a dog's heart. Was it wise?"

"Is there no way? Can no bargain be made?"

Dicky sat down, lighting a cigarette.

"To save a scandal in Egypt," answered Dicky drily, "I am ready to grant
you terms."

"Speak-Excellency."

"The life of the Englishman for the life of your son and your own. Also,
the freedom of the six Circassian slaves whom you house now at Beni