If, as the Italian
physician more than hinted, his life hung by a thread, did it matter
whether the barbarian came to Cairo? That was the business of those who
came after. If Sharif was right, and his life was saved, there would be
time enough to set things right.
"I will not pour water on the sands to make an ocean," he answered. "Will
a ship sail on the Sahara? Bismillah, it is all a dream! Harrik was
right. But dost thou think to do with me as thou didst with Harrik?" he
sneered. "Is it in thy mind?"
David's patience broke down under the long provocation. "Know then,
Effendina," he said angrily, "that I am not thy subject, nor one beholden
to thee, nor thy slave. Upon terms well understood, I have laboured here.
I have kept my obligations, and it is thy duty to keep thy obligations,
though the hand of death were on thee. I know not what has poisoned thy
mind, and driven thee from reason and from justice. I know that, Prince
Pasha of Egypt as thou art, thou art as bound to me as any fellah that
agrees to tend my door or row my boat.
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