"Come, never mind twaddle about my money--we'll see about that. Those
twenty men--my men?"

"Your men, saadat el bey."

"They're seized?"

"They are in prison."

"Where?"

"At Abdin Palace."

Kingsley Bey had had a blow, but he was not dumfounded. In Egypt, the
wise man is never surprised at anything, and Kingsley had gone from
experience to experience without dismay. He realised the situation at
once. The Khedive had been worked upon by some one in the circle, and
had put on this pressure, for purposes of backsheesh, or blackmail, or
whatever it might be called. His mind was made up at once.

"Very well, Pasha. Though there's no reason why I should go with you
except to suit myself. You'll excuse me for a moment, please." He
turned back. Meanwhile, Dicky had been distracting the mind of the lady
with evasive and cheerful suggestions of urgent business calling Kingsley
to Cairo. He saw the plot that had been laid, and it made him very
angry, but nothing could be done until he met the Khedive.

He guessed who had filled the Khedive's mind with cupidity. He had seen
old Selamlik Pasha, who had lent the Khedive much money, entering the