The Palace of Dust
Abbas Hindi's hand in the game; France wishing to see England turned out of control; Turkey, Russia,—Egypt herself,—quite willing—faith, here we have the ingredients of a first-class conspiracy, with the trimmings of battle, murder, and sudden death."
He smiled engagingly upon the woman. He had probed her secret; he now taxed her with his knowledge straightway.
"Ye are hand-in-glove, mam'selle, with the men who conspire against English occupation."
She mutely bowed assent; O'Rourke found it difficult to read what lay in her eyes—an art, too, wherein the man was somewhat skilled.
"Ye are with those," he went on, even a trifle bitterly, "who would raise again that old, deluding cry, 'Egypt for the Egyptians!'"
"I am!" she proclaimed passionately.
"I am not," he stated as quietly. "And ye brought me here, mam'selle. Faith, I begin to sense your motive. 'Twas not for me neck's sake ye did this. What is one man's life to ye more than another? Sure, if ye accomplish your purpose, the next Nile inundation will be out of all season, brought about by the oceans of English blood that'll sweep through the sands to swell the flood! Have ye thought on that, mam'selle? I see ye have—or believe ye have. What does a woman reck of war, and what stalks hand-in-hand with war? Faith, for ye 'tis all glitter and gold and glory—'Egypt for the Egyptians!' (which means for the Russians and the Turkish and the French!), 'and divvle take the English!'"
He paused. The woman's eyes had widened; for the moment she was spellbound by his rude eloquence. Her breath came quickly, and she hung upon his words; though, in point of fact, the next were to sting her like the lash of a whip.
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