"And me--where am I in it, pasha?"

"Thou hast great influence with his Excellency."

"I am his servant--I don't meddle with his prejudices, pasha."

"But if it were for his own good, to save his work here."

Lacey yawned almost ostentatiously. "I guess if he can't save it himself
it can't be saved, not even when you reach out the hand of perfect
friendship. You've been reaching out for a long time, pasha, and it
didn't save the steamer or the cotton-mills; and it didn't save us when
we were down by Sobat a while ago, and you sent Halim Bey to teach us to
be patient. We got out of that nasty corner by sleight of hand, but not
your sleight of hand, pasha. Your hand is a quick hand, but a sharp eye
can see the trick, and then it's no good, not worth a button."

There was something savage behind Nahoum's eyes, but they did not show
it; they blinked with earnest kindness and interest. The time would come
when Lacey would go as his master should go, and the occasion was not far
off now; but it must not be forced. Besides, was this fat, amorous-
looking factotum of Claridge Pasha's as Spartan-minded as his master?
Would he be superior to the lure of gold? He would see. He spoke
seriously, with apparent solicitude.

"Thou dost not understand, effendi. Claridge Pasha must have money.
Prestige is everything in Egypt, it is everything with Kaid. If Claridge
Pasha rides on as though nothing has happened--and money is the only
horse that can carry him--Kaid will not interfere, and his black mood