In other
circumstances his vanity would have shrunk under this whip of words, but
his native reason and his quick humour would have justified David. In
this black distemper possessing him, however, only outraged egotism
prevailed. His hands clenched and unclenched, his lips were drawn back on
his teeth in rage.
When David had finished, Kaid suddenly got to his feet and took a step
forward with a malediction, but a faintness seized him and he staggered
back. When he raised his head again David was gone.
CHAPTER XXX
LACEY MOVES
If there was one glistening bead of sweat on the bald pate of Lacey of
Chicago there were a thousand; and the smile on his face was not less
shining and unlimited. He burst into the rooms of the palace where David
had residence, calling: "Oyez! Oyez! Saadat! Oh, Pasha of the Thousand
Tails! Oyez! Oyez!"
Getting no answer, he began to perform a dance round the room, which in
modern days is known as the negro cake-walk. It was not dignified, but it
would have been less dignified still performed by any other living man of
forty-five with a bald head and a waist-band ten inches too large.
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