abic,
when they lied to him, or by the sweep of his stick over the mastaba and
through the chattels of some vile-mouthed pedlar who insulted English
ladies whom he was escorting through the bazaar. They knew his face,
his tongue, and the weight and style of his arm; and though they would
cheerfully have seen him the sacrifice of the Jehad to the cry of Alldhu
Akbar! they respected him for himself, and they feared him because he
was near to the person of Ismail.

He was the more impressive because in the midst of wealth and splendour
he remained poor: he had more than once bought turquoises and opals and
horses and saddlery, which he paid for in instalments, like any little
merchant. Those, therefore, who knew him, were well inclined to leave
him alone, and those who did not know him were impressed by his speech.
If it was true that he was friend to Abdalla, then his fate was in the
hand of God, not theirs. They all had heard of little Donovan Pasha,
whom Ismail counted only less than Gordon Pasha, the mad Englishman, who
emptied his pocket for an old servant, gave his coat to a beggar, and
rode in the desert so fast that no Arab could overtake him.

"Call off your terriers, effendi," said Dicky again in French; for
Renshaw was restive under the hands that were laid on his arm, and the
naboots that threatened him. "My friend here is American. He stands for
the United States in Egypt."

Abdalla had not moved a muscle during the disturbance, or during Dicky's
speech. He seemed but the impassive spectator, though his silence and
the look in his eyes were ominous. It would appear as though he waited
to see whether the Englishman and his friend could free themselves
from danger. If they could, then it was God's will; if they could not,
Malaish! Dicky understood. In this he read Abdalla like a parchment,
and though he had occasion to be resentful, he kept his nerves and his
tongue in an equable mood. He knew that Abdalla would speak now. The
Egyptian raised his hand.

"In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful, go your ways," he
said loudly. "It is as Donovan Pasha says, he stayed the hand of Ismail
for my sake. Noor-ala-Noor, the Light from the Light, saw into his
heart, and it was the honest heart of a fool. And these are the words
of the Koran, That the fool is one whom God has made His temple for a
season, thereafter withdrawing. None shall injure the temple. Were not
your hearts bitter against him, and when