never says now--not since thee went south a year ago, 'Well, give my love
to the girls.' Something has left its mark, friend," he added teasingly;
for his spirits were boyish to-day; he was living in the present. There
had gone from his eyes and from the lines of his figure the melancholy
which Hylda had remarked when he was in England.

"Well, now, I never noticed," rejoined Lacey. "That's got me. Looks as
if I wasn't as friendly as I used to be, doesn't it? But I am--I am,
Saadat."

"I thought that the widow in Cairo, perhaps--" Lacey chuckled. "Say,
perhaps it was--cute as she can be, maybe, wouldn't like it, might be
prejudiced."

Suddenly David turned sharply to Lacey. "Thee spoke of silver mining
just now. I owe thee something like two hundred thousand pounds, I
think--Egypt and I."

Lacey winked whimsically at himself under the rim of his helmet. "Are
you drawing back from those concessions, Saadat?" he asked with apparent
ruefulness.

"Drawing back? No! But does thee think they are worth--"

Lacey assumed an injured air. "If a man that's made as much money as me
can't be trusted to look after a business proposition--"

"Oh, well, then!"

"Say, Saadat, I don't want you to think I've taken a mean advantage of