forwardness--and an appeal too, not humble, but still eager and
downright. Ismail's fury was great, for the blue devils had him by
the heels that day; but on the instant he saw the eyes of Sadik the
Mouffetish, and their cunning, cruelty, and soulless depravity, their
present search for a victim to his master's bad temper, acted at once on
Ismail's sense of humour. He saw that Sadik half suspected something, he
saw that Dicky's three companions suspected, and his mind was made up on
the instant--things should take their course--he would not interfere.
He looked Dicky squarely in the face, and Dicky knew that the Khedive's
glance said as plainly as words:

"Fool of an Englishman, go on! I will not kill you, but I will not save
you. The game is in your hands alone. You can only avert suspicion by
letting the Sheikh of the Dosah make a bridge of your back. Mecca is a
jest you must pay for."

With the wild cry of a dervish fanatic Dicky threw himself down, his
head on his arms, and the vengeful three threw themselves down beside
him. The attendants pulled off their slippers and thrust them under
their faces, and now the siais of the Sheikh ran over their bodies
lightly, calling out for all to lie still--the Sheikh was coming on his
horse.

Dicky weighed his chances with a little shrinking, but with no fear:
he had been in imminent danger for four long months, and he was
little likely to give way now. The three men lying beside him had only
suspected him for the last three days, and during that time they had
never let him out of heir sight. What had roused their suspicion he
did not know: probably a hesitation concerning some Arab custom or
the pronunciation of some Arab word--the timbre of the Arab voice was
rougher and heavier. There had been no chance of escape during these
three days, for his three friends had never left his side, and now they
were beside him. His chances were not brilliant. If he escaped from the
iron hoofs of the Sheikh's horse, if the weight did not crush the life
out of his small body, there was a fair chance; for to escape unhurt
from the Dosah is to prove yourself for ever a good Mussulman, who has
undergone the final test and is saved evermore by the promise of the
Prophet. But even if he escaped unhurt, and the suspicions of his
comrades were allayed, what would the Khedive do? The Khedive had
recognised him, and had done nothing--so far. Yet Ismail, the chief
Mussulman in Egypt, should have t