by he would have been less confident.

David was standing where Kaid must see him, but the Effendina gave no
sign of recognition. This was so significant that the enemies of David
rejoiced anew. The day of the Inglesi was over. Again and again did
Kaid's eye wander over David's head.

David remained calm and watchful, neither avoiding nor yet seeking the
circle in which Kaid moved. The spirit with which he had entered the
room, however, remained with him, even when he saw Kaid summon to him
some of the most fanatical members of the court circle, and engage them
in talk for a moment. But as this attention grew more marked, a cloud
slowly gathered in the far skies of his mind.

There was one person in the great assembly, however, who seemed to be
unduly confident. It was an ample, perspiring person in evening dress,
who now and again mopped a prematurely bald head, and who said to
himself, as Kaid talked to the reactionaries:

"Say, Kald's overdoing it. He's putting potted chicken on the butter.
But it's working all right-r-i-g-h-t. It's worth the backsheesh!"

At this moment Kaid fastened David with his look, and spoke in a tone so
loud that people standing at some distance were startled.

"Claridge Pasha!"

In the hush that followed David stepped forward. "May the bounty of the
years be thine, Saadat," Kaid said in a tone none could misunderstand.

"May no tree in thy orchard wither, Effendina," answered David in a firm
voice.

Kaid beckoned him near, and again he spoke loudly: "I have proved thee,
and found thee as gold tried seven times by the fire, Saadat. In the
treasury of my heart shall I store thee up. Thou art going to the Soudan
to finish the work Mehemet Ali began. I commend thee to Allah, and will
bid thee farewell at sunrise--I and all who love Egypt."

There was a sinister smile on his lips, as his eyes wandered over
the faces of the foreign consuls-general. The look he turned on the
intriguers of the Palace was repellent; he reserved for Sharif a moody,
threatening glance, and the desperate hakim shrank back confounded from
it. His first impulse was to flee from the Palace and from Cairo; but he
bethought himself of the assault to be made on Kaid by the tent-maker,
as he passed to the mosque a few hours later, and he determined to
await the issue of that event. Exchanging glances with confederates, he
disappeared, as Kaid laid a hand on David's arm and drew him aside.

After viewing the great