crackle round you, but he'd believe, till he saw your contract signed
with the Devil--and then he'd think the signature forged. But he's got
to know now. We are not going out of Egypt, though you may be going to
the Nile; but we are going to the Soudan, and with Kaid's blessing, too.
You've put up the bluff, and I take it. Be sure you've got Kaid solid,
for, if you haven't, he'll be glad to know where you keep the money you
got from the slave-dealers."

Nahoum shrugged his shoulders. "Who has seen the money? Where is the
proof? Kaid would know my reasons. It is not the first time virtue has
been tested in Egypt, or the first time that it has fallen."

In spite of himself Lacey laughed. "Say, that's worthy of a great
Christian intellect. You are a bright particular star, pasha. I take it
back--they'd learn a lot from you in Mexico. But the only trouble with
lying is, that the demand becomes so great you can't keep all the cards
in your head, and then the one you forget does you. The man that isn't
lying has the pull in the long run. You are out against us, pasha, and
we'll see how we stand in forty-eight hours. You have some cards up your
sleeve, I suppose; but--well, I'm taking you on. I'm taking you on with
a lot of joy, and some sorrow, too, for we might have pulled off a big
thing together, you and Claridge Pasha, with me to hold the stirrups.
Now it's got to be war. You've made it so. It's a pity, for when we
grip there'll be a heavy fall."

"For a poor man thou hast a proud stomach."

"Well, I'll admit the stomach, pasha. It's proud; and it's strong, too;
it's stood a lot in Egypt; it's standing a lot to-day."