down dismayed. The trumpet said that
a million once lost in Mexico was returned, with a small flock of other
millions; for a mine, in which it was sunk, had burst forth with a stony
stream of silver. And behold! Thomas Tilman Lacey, the despised waster
of his patrimony and of other people's treasure, is now, O son of the
fig-flower, richer than Kaid Pasha and all his eunuchs."

Suddenly Mahommed Hassan leaned forward, then backward, and, after the
fashion of desert folk, gave a shrill, sweet ululation that seemed to
fill the palace.

"Say, that's A1," Lacey said, when Mahommed's voice sank to a whisper
of wild harmony. "Yes, you can lick my boots, my noble sheikh of
Manfaloot," he added, as Mahommed caught his feet and bent his head upon
them. "I wanted to do something like that myself. Kiss 'em, honey; it'll
do you good."

After a moment, Mahommed drew back and squatted before him in an
attitude of peace and satisfaction. "The Saadat--you will help him? You
will give him money?"

"Let's put it in this way, Mahommed: I'll invest in an expedition out of
which I expect to get something worth while--concessions for mines
and railways, et cetera." He winked a round, blue eye. "Business is
business, and the way to get at the Saadat is to talk business; but you
can make up your mind that,

"'To-morrow, we are pulling stakes for Shendy!
Are you coming to my party, O Nahoum?'"

"By the prophet Abraham, but the news is great news," said Mahommed with
a grin. "But the Effendina?"

"Well, I'll try and square the Effendina," answered Lacey. "Perhaps the
days of backsheesh aren't done in Egypt, after all."

"And Nahoum Pasha?" asked Mahommed, with a sinister look.

"Well, we'll try and square him, too, but in another way."

"The money, it is in Egypt?" queried Mahommed, whose idea was that money
to be real must be seen. "Something that's as handy and as marketable,"
answered Lacey. "I can raise half a million to-morrow; and that will do
a lot of what we want. How long will it take to ride to the monastery?"

Mahommed told him.

Lacey was about to leave the room, when he heard a voice outside.
"Nahoum!" he said, and sat down again on the divan. "He has come to see
the Saadat, I suppose; but it'll do him good to see me, perhaps. Open
the sluices, Mahommed."

Yes, Nahoum would be glad to see the effendi, since Claridge Pasha was
not in Cairo. When would Claridge Pasha return? If, then, the effendi
expected to