For the hour was at hand when he would be tried by tests that few men
might endure. Treading close on the heels of his guide, he emerged from
a cramped arch into a spacious parade-ground. A regiment of
_bersaglieri_ was assembling for drill during the comparatively cool
interval before sunset, and, on the seaward side of the plain, a squat
fort pointed its guns at town and harbor.
Mulai Hamed hastened towards the nearest gate. He did not enter, but
his gestures showed that the Governor's residence stood inside the
fortifications. Royson went on alone, and was stopped by a sentry, who
called a corporal; the latter conducted him to a lieutenant, and
thenceforth Dick's progress was simplified, because the officer not
only spoke English but was ready to display his erudition, though, not
exactly in the manner desired by his questioner.
When Royson said he wanted to communicate with two gentlemen who had
called on the Governor some two hours earlier, the Italian smiled
darkly.
"They landed from the English yacht out there?" he asked, with a hand-
flourish that indicated the Red Sea generally and the _Aphrodite_ in
particular.
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