against Western
character and directness, and loyalty to the terms of a bargain, the
demoralised cunning of the desert folk; the circuitous tactics of those
who believed that no man spoke the truth directly, that it must ever
be found beneath devious and misleading words, to be tracked like a
panther, as an Antipodean bushman once said, "through the sinuosities
of the underbrush." Nahoum Pasha had also a rich sense of grim humour.
Perhaps that was why he had lived so near the person of the Prince, had
held office so long. There were no Grand Viziers in Egypt; but he was
as much like one as possible, and he had one uncommon virtue, he was
greatly generous. If he took with his right hand he gave with his left;
and Mahommedan as well as Copt and Armenian, and beggars of every race
and creed, hung about his doors each morning to receive the food and
alms he gave freely.

After one of David's answers to Kaid, which had had the effect
of causing his Highness to turn a sharp corner of conversation by
addressing himself to the French consul, Nahoum said suavely:

"And so, monsieur, you think that we hold life lightly in the East--that
it is a characteristic of civilisation to make life more sacred, to
cherish it more fondly?"

He was sitting beside David, and though he asked the question casually,
and with apparent intention only of keeping talk going, there was a
lurking inquisition in his eye. He had seen enough to-night to make
him sure that Kaid had once more got the idea of making a European
his confidant and adviser; to introduce to his court one of those
mad Englishmen who cared nothing for gold--only for power; who loved
administration for the sake of administration and the foolish joy of
labour. He was now set to see what sort of match this intellect could
play, when faced by the inherent contradictions present in all truths or
the solutions of all problems.

"It is one of the characteristics of that which lies behind
civilisation, as thee and me have been taught," answered David.

Nahoum was quick in strategy, but he was unprepared for David's
knowledge that he was an Armenian Christian, and he had looked for
another answer.

But he kept his head and rose to the occasion. "Ah, it is high, it is
noble, to save life--it is so easy to destroy it," he answered. "I saw
his Highness put his life in danger once to save a dog from drowning. To
cherish the lives of others, and to be careless of our own; to give
that of