le substitute for my brother."

Scotty asked bluntly, "Why is the cat so important?"

Moustafa spread his hands wide. "Why not? The creature will open a new
industry in Cairo. It will employ a number of people. It will make a
profit for the Moustafa-Bartouki enterprises. It will please the
tourists. Obviously the cat is important."

Rick tossed in his loaded question. "How did you know the cat in the
pyramid wasn't the cat we brought from America?"

Kernel Moustafa's thick eyebrows went up. "It was obvious, was it not?
The broken cat was made of colored concrete. The cat Bartouki took such
pains to develop was of a plastic that does not have the graininess of
concrete. If you tell me the one in the pyramid was indeed the original,
I will be very disappointed. Such a model would not be suitable."

"It wasn't," Rick said briefly.

"Ah. And where is the original?"

Rick's smile was every bit as warm and friendly as Kemel Moustafa's.
"Perhaps the answer to that had better wait until we have talked to
Bartouki."

The Egyptian's smile broadened. "Discretion in one so young," he
proclaimed, "is a rare and precious thing." He put money on the table
for their coffee and rose.

"You will excuse me? I have business in the city. But tonight at seven I
will come to your hotel and we will phone our friend in New York. It
will then be noon in New York, and we will find him reading the Koran at
home. This is his custom. Until then, _Assalamo alaikum_, which is to
say, 'Good day to you.'"

As the boys walked to where Hassan waited, Scotty grinned at Rick.
"'Discretion in one so young,'" he quoted, "'is a rare and precious
thing.' He should know you as I do. Discretion has nothing to do with
it. You just don't want to part with that cat until you know everything
there is to know about it."

Rick shrugged. "I haven't heard you volunteering to hand the poor
creature over. Besides, our pal Kemel is not all that he seems."

"And how do you know?"

"Easy. Did he ask us who jumped us in the pyramid, or why? Did he
explain why he carries a Luger? Nope, to both. He carries a Luger
because there's danger in this business. And he knows why those Arabs
jumped us. He may not know them by name, but he knows what they were
after, and he knows why."

"Which is more than we know," Scotty concluded.

"For now," Rick agreed. "But we'll find out before we're through, one
way or another!"

CHAPTER XII

Third Brother Stops Smilin