And then, with what quiet dignity she had ignored his
fierce repudiation of von Kerber's offer of recompense. In that bitter
hour how might he foresee the turn of fortune's wheel which in two
short months would bring that dainty girl to his lover's embrace! How
delightful it was to hear his nickname from her lips! King Dick! Well,
such bold wooing ran in the blood, and it would go hard with any man,
whether Frank or Saracen, who barred the way between him and his chosen
lady. What if her grandfather were fifty times a millionaire! What had
millions to do with love? Precious little, quoth Richard, if all he had
read of rich men's lives were even partly true. He had a twinge or two
when he reflected that, at present, he occupied the position of second
mate on Fenshawe's yacht. He pictured himself asking the old gentleman
for Irene's hand in marriage, and being told that he was several sorts
of a lunatic. But the memory of Irene's kisses rendered her
grandfather's anticipated wrath quite bearable, and Dick laughed aloud
at the joy and folly of it all, until Sheikh Abdur Kad'r was moved to
say sharply:
"At night, in the desert, Effendi, the ears carry farther than the
eyes, so it behooves us to make no more noise with our tongues than our
camels make with their feet.
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