was received with careless
consideration by the Prince. Behind his long, harsh face and sullen eyes
a devil was raging, because of all his plans that had gone awry, and
because the man he had sought to kill still served the Effendina,
putting a blight upon Egypt. To-morrow he, Achmet, must go into the
desert with the army, and this hated Inglesi would remain behind to have
his will with Kaid. The one drop of comfort in his cup was the fact that
the displeasure of the Effendina against himself was removed, and that
he had, therefore, his foot once more inside the Palace. When he came
back from the war he would win his way to power again. Meanwhile, he
cursed the man who had eluded the death he had prepared for him. With
his own eyes had he not seen, from the hill top, the train plunge to
destruction, and had he not once more got off his horse and knelt upon
his sheepskin and given thanks to Allah--a devout Arab obeying the
sunset call to prayer, as David had observed from the train?

One by one, two by two, group by group, the unveiled dancers came and
went; the singers sang behind the screen provided for them, so that none
might see their faces, after the custom. At last, however, Kaid and his
guests grew listless, and smoked and talked idly. Yet there was in the
eyes of Kaid a watchfulness unseen by any save a fellah who squatted in
a corner eating sweetmeats, and a hidden singer waiting until she should
be called before the Prince Pasha. The singer's glances continually
flashed between Kaid and Achmet. At last, with gleaming eyes, she saw
six Nubian slaves steal silently behind Achmet. One, also, of great
strength, came suddenly and stood before him. In his hands was a
leathern thong.

Achmet saw, felt the presence of the slaves behind him, and shrank back
numbed and appalled. A mist came before his eyes; the voice he heard
summoning him to stand up seemed to come from infinite distances. The
hand of doom had fallen like a thunderbolt. The leathern thong in the
hands of the slave was the token of instant death. There was no chance
of escape. The Nubians had him at their mercy. As his brain struggled
to regain its understanding, he saw, as in a dream, David enter the
court-yard and come towards Kaid.

Suddenly David stopped in amazement, seeing Achmet. Inquiringly he
looked at Kaid, who spoke earnestly to him in a low tone. Whereupon
David turned his head away, but after a moment fixed his eyes on Achmet.

Kaid mot