He Took The Hint, And Muttering, "It Is
No Matter!"-"It Is Not Necessary!"-"By Allah It Is Not Required!"
Extended His Fingers, And Brought The "Musculus Guineorum" To Bear Upon
Three Dollars.
Poor man!
I believe it was his necessity that consented to be paid for
the doing a common act of Moslem charity; he had a wife and children,
and the calling of an Alim[FN#22] is no longer worth much in Egypt.
My departure from Cairo was hastened by an accident. I lost my
reputation by a little misfortune that happened in this wise.
[p.132]At Haji Wali's room in the Caravanserai, I met a Yuzbashi, or
captain of Albanian Irregulars, who was in Egypt on leave from
Al-Hijaz. He was a tall, bony, and broad-shouldered mountaineer, about
forty years old, with the large bombe brow, the fierce eyes, thin lips,
lean jaws, and peaky chin of his race. His mustachios were enormously
long and tapering, and the rest of his face, like his head, was close
shaven. His Fustan[FN#23] was none of the cleanest; nor was the red
cap, which he wore rakishly pulled over his frowning forehead, quite
free from stains. Not permitted to carry the favourite pistols, he
contented himself with sticking his right hand in the empty belt, and
stalking about the house with a most military mien. Yet he was as
little of a bully as carpet knight, that same Ali Agha; his body showed
many a grisly scar, and one of his shin bones had been broken by a
Turkish bullet, when he was playing tricks on the Albanian hills,-an
accident inducing a limp, which he attempted to conceal by a heavy
swagger. When he spoke, his voice was affectedly gruff; he had a sad
knack of sneering, and I never saw him thoroughly sober.
Our acquaintance began with a kind of storm, which blew over, and left
fine weather. I was showing Haji Wali my pistols with Damascene barrels
when Ali Agha entered the room. He sat down before me with a grin,
which said intelligibly enough, "What business have you with
weapons?"-snatched the arm out of my hand, and began to inspect it as a
connoisseur. Not admiring this procedure, I wrenched it away from him,
and, addressing myself to Haji Wali, proceeded quietly with my
dissertation. The captain of Irregulars and I then looked at each
other. He cocked his cap on one side, in token of excited pugnacity. I
twirled my moustachios to display a kindred emotion. Had he been armed,
and in Al-Hijaz,
[p.133]we should have fought it out at once, for the Arnauts are
"terribili colla pistola," as the Italians say, meaning that upon the
least provocation they pull out a horse-pistol, and fire it in the face
of friend or foe. Of course, the only way under these circumstances is
to anticipate them; but even this desperate prevention seldom saves a
stranger, as whenever there is danger, these men go about in pairs.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 92 of 302
Words from 48136 to 48646
of 157964
