at looked capable of seeing things on
either side of him while he stared straight forward. Even in
that dark corner you could see they had the alligator-hue that
one associates with cruelty. He had the massive shoulders and
forward-stooping position as he sat cross-legged on the seat that
suggest deliberate purpose devoid of hurry.

They all resented what he said, but none seemed disposed to
quarrel with him. One or two remonstrated mildly, but he ignored
their remarks, busying himself with digging out a cigarette from
a gold case set with jewels; after he had lighted it very
thoughtfully and examined the end once or twice to make sure that
it burned just right, he let it hang between his lips in a way
that accentuated the angle of his bulbous nose. You wondered
whether he owned a harem, and what the ladies thought of him.

"Will you sit and brag in here all day?" he asked after a few
minutes. "Yussuf must be getting rich, you sip so much coffee.
It is not particularly good for Yussuf to get rich; it will make
him lazy, as most of you are."

The chattering had ceased, although there were several attempts
to break that uncomfortable silence with inane remarks. His
ravenish, unpleasant voice seemed to act on the company like a
chill wind, depriving treason of its warm sociableness but
leaving in the sting.

"I said you are good for propaganda," he resumed, tossing away
ash with a reflective air. "But even that has no value within
four walls. If Noureddin Ali should come and learn from me how
much talking has been done in here, and how little done outside,
I can imagine he will not be pleased. Are there no other
kahawi?* Why is that story about the Zionists and their offer to
buy the Dome of Rock not being spread diligently? You like the
safety of this place with its four thick walls. But I tell you
the jackal has to leave his hole to hunt." [*Coffee-shops]

They did not like taking orders, even when they were expressed
more or less indirectly; no follower of the new political
freedom does like it, for it rather upsets the new conceit. But
he evidently knew his politicians, and they him. They got up one
by one and made for the door, each offering a different excuse
designed to cover up obedience under a cloak of snappy independence.
Not one of them drew a retort from him, or as much as a farewell nod.

When the last one was gone, and the process took up all of half-
an-hour, he sat and looked down