deaths than go
crooked. Say, I've been among the Dagos before--down in Mexico--and I'm
onto you. I've been onto you for a good while; though there was nothing
I could spot certain; but now I've got you, and I'll break the 'perfect
friendship' or I'll eat my shirt. I'll--"

He paused, realising the crisis in which David was moving, and that
perils were thick around their footsteps. But, even as he thought of
them, he remembered David's own frank, fearless audacity in danger and
difficulty, and he threw discretion to the winds. He flung his flag
wide, and believed with a belief as daring as David's that all would be
well.

"Well, what wilt thou do?" asked Nahoum with cool and deadly menace.
"Thou wilt need to do it quickly, because, if it is a challenge, within
forty-eight hours Claridge Pasha and thyself will be gone from Egypt--or
I shall be in the Nile."

"I'll take my chances, pasha," answered Lacey, with equal coolness. "You
think you'll win. It's not the first time I've had to tackle men like
you--they've got the breed in Mexico. They beat me there, but I learned
the game, and I've learned a lot from you, too. I never knew what your
game was here. I only know that the Saadat saved your life, and got
you started again with Kaid. I only know that you called yourself a
Christian, and worked on him till he believed in you, and Hell might
crackle round you, but he'd believe, till he saw your contract signed
with the Devil--and then he'd think the signature forged. But he's got
to know now. We are not going out of Egypt, though you may be going to
the Nile; but we are going to the Soudan, and with Kaid's blessing, too.
You've put up the bluff, and I take it. Be sure you've got Kaid solid,
for, if you haven't, he'll be glad to know where you keep the money you
got from the slave-dealers."

Nahoum shrugged his shoulders. "Who has seen the money? Where is the
proof? Kaid would know my reasons. It is not the first time virtue has
been tested in Egypt, or the first time that it has fallen."

In spite of himself Lacey laughed. "Say, that's worthy of a great
Christian intellect. You are a bright particular star, pasha. I take it
back--they'd learn a lot from you in Mexico. But the only trouble with
lying is, that the demand becomes so great you can't keep all the cards
in your head, and then the one you forget does you. The man that isn't
lying has the pull in the long run. You are out against us, pasha, and
we'll see how