Harris Dickson

“ Lykoff did not know this; but to offset his ignorance, he saw something else which Gargarin never suspected. He alone saw the veiled inspection which the beggar made of Old Reliable. A pair of shrewd Arab eyes searched the negro's face, gray hat, woolen suit, heavy shoes—and the beggar knew it could only be the man with the message; for Zack's like was not in the land of Egypt. The beggar groveled, and whined, and waited. Time is nothing to a beggar. The British soldier marched in, between the chairs and tables, and saluted Lyttleton Bey, "Here is your man, sir." ”

“ Lyttleton agreed with Zack. It might save an awkward situation for the strangers to travel at once. When the boat took them away, the Sheikh Tabira and his tribe gathered on the bank, howling at the departure of their long Expected One.
From Wadi Haifa to Khartum the lean Sudan flattens like a famished tiger, with lips against the Nile, sucking greedily at the chocolate colored water that is meat as well as drink. Gaunt from a million years of sun, the starveling creature falls prone at the river's brink. Yonder a knoll uprises; on the far horizon lies a reddish ridge. ”

“ After testing each stick before he risked his precious weight, Old Reliable drew a long breath when Said met him at the open space where that Donkey of Great Importance had his quarters. Anybody could see that it was a Most Important Donkey. Top-Knot kept him shiny, shaven like a gentleman, with delicate designs clipped along his legs and back. Effusively Top-Knot welcomed the Black Effendi, with a smirk upon his face—and a knife up his sleeve. Zack sized up the smirk as being in recognition of various cigar stumps, a certain piaster, and future hopes. ”

“ Zack's feelings had been lacerated in the very beginning, because the white folks didn't provide him with a camel.
"I kin ride plenty o' dese little ole roan ponies at home," he grumbled. Yet, not being seasoned to horseback, his feelings kept on being chafed by the nervous, wiry Abyssinian stallion; until old Zack finally climbed down as stiffly as a man with glass legs.
"It is a revelation, sir—a revelation," remarked the Colonel. "I never saw lands lie better—nor better lands."
"Oh, the land is all right enough; it is the people," Cameron spoke wearily. ”

“ The Sirdar sat down, trembling; and Colonel Spottiswoode began to catch the infection of his excitement. They leaned over the table, put their heads together, and straightened out the knotted links of brass. It took shape as a necklace, curiously wrought, an interlacing of many-sized rings. Zack shuffled around from one side of the table to the other; neither of the white men looked up. Lyttleton Bey and McDonald hurried in. They had heard of Zack's disappearance, but seeing him standing there so quietly, at once transferred their curiosity to the recovered heirloom. ”

“ A widening crevasse yawned between deck and dock. The jagged skyline of New York became visible, a vague and spectral city against a vague and spectral sky. Miss Stanton wormed her small self away from the rail, got clear, and fled with her precious violin. On the way to her modest cabin she passed an open door; the odor of flowers stopped her. She paused and stared inside, at a wilderness of roses, masses of carnations, beds of violets—a profusion of orchids, silk hangings, silver trappings. The singer's maids were setting things to rights. ”

“ Colonel Spottiswoode was beginning to understand this horizon fever. "Seven palms," he mused; then he caught sight of Zack puffing at a cigar, and displaying himself before the servants, particularly the attentive Said, who jumped whenever his worshipful black Effendi shouted: "Whar he!"
Colonel Spottiswoode smiled and called, "Zack! Oh Zack!"
"Comin', suh." Zack marched like a soldier, for McDonald had hinted to the negro that Arab traders in Wadi Haifa mistook him for a certain famous Sudani officer, who had fought in Mexico under Marshal Bazaine. So Zack touched his helmet and saluted. ”

“ Even as Zack stood ready to dish up one hundred and fifteen portions of fried fish—even as Said was drying out his net for another successful day—even at that moment of triumph, some evil Jinn sent Fudl running to the Bimbashi with tidings that his hippos were in sight. McDonald hurried towards the river; it was true. Two huge black bodies, puffed up like balloons, were drifting close inshore. An inspiration seized Mr. Bim. He would prove the white man's generosity—he would feed the multitude. ”

“ Fish possessed an irresistible attraction for Zack. He left the white men to their argument about Egyptian staples, and trudged morosely towards the catfish stand. From a distance nobody would have recognized the humble Said, who had come cringing and wheedling to Wadi Okar, for the Dongalawi now moved with a springy step and air of jubilation. The Black Effendi was really going to-morrow, and the riches of the catfish stand would all be his. It was befitting an independent merchant like Said to hold his head erect, and look with eyes of scorn upon meaner beings. ”

“ Everybody jumped up. The youngest woman saw Top-Knot staggering to regain his footing; she screamed, dropped her mirror into the river and started to run. But when she saw the Sultan stepping down from his ladder, she fell to her knees and furiously attacked the dhurra. Things whirled round so swift that Old Reliable got a swimming in the head. He wasn't conscious of having popped up, like a Jack-in-the-Box, and didn't know what to do until he saw Top-Knot coming with the Golo who looked bigger than a skinned mule. Then Zack knew precisely what he wanted to do. ”

“ All of this was very curious, and tensely interesting to Colonel Spottiswoode. They sat their horses together, watching the half-orderly mob which pressed onward with the sun shining in their faces.
"I say, Spottiswoode"—Cameron spoke out suddenly, and earnestly—"can you imagine what it means to spend twenty-two years in that solitude, brooding on religion? A man goes daft with a fanatical, murderous madness. Can't you see how old Tabira might fancy himself inspired to run amuck with his tribe, and send a few Christians ahead of him to Paradise?" ”

“ A sailor with rubber mop scraped the water from the deck, a deck as clean as Selina's kitchen table. Zack scarcely dared to step upon it. Other sailor men were beginning to hang strips of sail-cloth from the roof, and lash their flapping bottoms to the rail. The deck looked like those dripping lanes of canvas which led from the main circus to the side show. Zack couldn't remember a time when it hadn't rained on circus day in Vicksburg. Suddenly he straightened himself, and paid no more attention to the water; Miss Stanton came tripping along with a violin case under her arm. ”

“ Hot gasps blew into the faces of three white men who strolled along the embankment beside the river—Lyttleton Bey, McDonald Bimbashi and Colonel Beverly Spottiswoode of Vicksburg, Mississippi. A black shadow followed the planter, three paces behind, the shadow being one Zack Foster, Effendi, in white linens and a Panama hat, which had once belonged to the boss. Zack, in turn, had a shadow of his own, the faithful Said, who also carried a broad grin when donkey boys belabored their animals into a trot and stopped eagerly before the party. ”

“ Doris Stanton wore a fur turban, so softly brown it seemed a part of her eyes and hair, and sun-tanned face. Zack rambled along behind her to the music room, stepped one foot inside the door and halted. The room was all white and gold and crimson, sparkling with pendants and mirrors; the furniture was so gilt and bench-legged, the carpet so crimson and Zack's foot sank so deep, that he instinctively drew back. "Huh! mighty few white folks oughter go in dere—an' no niggers a tall!" ”

“ With his long neck craned ahead, Achmet's beast split the Street of the Bazaars, scattering Arabs who knew better than to get in the way of a bolting camel.
"I wants to git off," Zack yelled. Then he got off. There was nothing deliberate or dignified about the dismounting. Neither man nor beast seemed to have a premonition of it. When a bolting camel stops, he stops, totally and completely—flat as a wet rag hurled upon the floor. All at once, like the collapse of a step-ladder, Achmet's camel stopped. Zack did not. He proceeded—over the camel's head. ”

“ Zack kept wiping the grit from his face and eyeing the bottle—"Side, ax dis feller how do he sell dat lemonade."
Achmet left off beating his camel and engaged in disputation with Hamuda. "He is wise," said Achmet, "this Black Effendi is very wise. That is known. He did but fall so that he might show displeasure with my beast and cheapen its price. He will buy. I speak the truth."
"Not so, not so," contended Hamuda; "he but turned to the camel for a deception, so that I would sell my donkey for less. He is more wise than thou." ”

“ Lyttleton settled deep into his wicker chair; he loved the desert, and loved to talk of it. "These Ababdeh Arabs know every foot of Nubia. They have regular routes, uncharted, like the course of a vessel at sea; yet they travel almost infallibly from well to well. Of course, if they veer to right or left and miss a well, their nerves go to fiddle-strings; they die and shrivel up. Well-known landmarks become invisible, distorted or unrecognizable. ”

“ Hear the music? Ambassadors are mustering on the Sultan's barge! Hurry up, Zack! Put on your dry clothes—quick."
They were none too quick. Lyttleton Bey of the Anglo-Egyptian service wheeled into a commanding position at the head of the companionway—hand on hilt, helmet strap under chin, and the medals of seven wars glittering across his breast. McDonald Bimbashi, none the less erect and solemn, flanked his left, while Colonel Spottiswoode laughed: "I will abide at thy right side—in the whitest of white linens."
"Try to make a show before these people," Lyttleton whispered. "They love it." ”

“ Zack Foster, Effendi, dined in lonely grandeur at a table apart, with a Nubian servant of his own. Zack dined diligently. Said slunk outside along the darkened avenue and peeped over the mud wall to see what his master was about. Then he scurried back and reported to other Arabs beyond the gates, "He breaks no bread with the unbeliever. He eats alone. May Allah burn my eyes if I speak not truth." ”

“ A white-hot sun slanted across the narrow, dusty gardens when Old Reliable emerged from the great front door of the hotel, and the wind immediately began to flirt with speckled streamers on his helmet. There was never a helmet so white, nor streamers so long and blue, with such a dancing of polka-dots upon them. ”

“ Every negro toted away his half-bushel of cotton seed, with explicit instructions how to plant. Not a seed was planted wrong—or right. On the first plowing day Shilluks, Dinkas and Nyam-Nyams had swarmed about, watching Zack Foster open up his long, straight rows; Shilluks wrangled with Dinkas for turns at holding the plow handles. McDonald's face beamed. He became optimistic and romantic as he slapped Colonel Spottiswoode on the back, and exclaimed, "That furrow, sir, marks a new era in the history of empire. The plow point of civilization is overturning the sloth of ages. ”

“ THE Olga was nearing Alexandria, and emigrants from Russia, Greece, Roumania, were piling their plunder on the deck. Few of them smiled. Turkish children went stolidly about their work. Zack sniffed at their dirty bedding and evil-odored bundles that were being brought up from the hold. "Huh! dem things don't smell like no jewraniums; nigger as I is, dey makes me sick."
A sudden desire possessed Zack to be near the Colonel—where he could touch him with his hand when the crisis came. He started for the promenade deck, but Guinea cut him off at the steps with a caution, "Keep your mouth shet." ”

“ Ignorant of the suppressed attention which Old Reliable attracted, three sauntering white heretics turned in at the Sirdar's latticed gate in a yellow mud-wall, and passed along a feathery avenue of what might have been huge asparagus plants. Arab servants at the gate rose, salaamed, then dropped on their haunches again. Bidding their own servants to remain behind, McDonald beckoned for Zack to follow. Old Reliable tilted his nose high in the air and marched in; Said nodded triumphantly. ”

“ Zack's inquiry was a prayer, yet Miss Stanton shook her head and glanced around at the shaded lights, through the crimson-and-gold silence of that deserted room. Outside the fog gathered like twilight; when twilight had settled in the valleys at home she always played her violin. ”

“ Durham paced up and down the room, unconvinced. "Now he's getting us into trouble. I don't like that affair at Beni Yeb. There's a madness in this Sudan sun that addles the brains of men. Two of Tabira's Nigerines have followed him to Khartum. Do you know what that means? I do. No doubt they were in the crowd at Omdurman, spreading news amongst the people. Suppose your negro should take it into his head to start a row? There'll be plenty of fanatics to hail him as a prophet."
Colonel Spottiswoode laughed outright, then stopped short: "General Durham, you don't seem to understand negroes." ”

“ On the sand beside Old Reliable lay the overturned and empty treasure box. The stricken Dongalawi stood mute, confronting a nightmare of triumphant black faces sneering into his; a hideous vision of jewels, jewels, jewels which mocked him with their sparkle. ”

“ BRUISED and humiliated, Old Reliable was picking up his helmet and wiping the gritty sweat from his face when Said arrived. If every bone in his body were broken he wouldn't let those folks suspect that it hurt. They shouldn't grin at him; Zack did all the grinning himself. "Huh!" he remarked. "Dis here camel ridin' sho' is swif'."
Hamuda galloped up on his donkey, and jeered at Achmet, who fell to beating his beast, while a rabble gathered. ”