Chapter 9

"From quiet inquiries made, Dick--since our little episode in the bar, we have found out that the beggar had been drinking before he came in. And when he gets into the condition of 'drink-taken'--I gather he never gets drunk--he is a very ugly customer. He man-handled a sailor who annoyed him on his _dahabeah_ the other night and nearly killed him. And his principal hatred is for the English. I trust most fervently that we shall renew our friendship in Khartoum." And the grin had faded from his face. * * …