“He is a wise man,” quoth Sidney, “though he seemeth somewhat mad; but he will not be the first to lag behind.” “But,” interrupted Aali, “how have you arranged, Hassan, with the camel-drivers to change their loads and let us proceed with the dromedaries without exciting suspicion?” “It was hard work,” said Hassan, “and it has occupied all day. I began by increasing their loads with the assistance of the Tergiman Mohammed, who stands our friend in this business. I had bundles of straw and sand ready, which I pretend are smuggled goods.” “Thou art very prudent, O Hassan!” exclaimed Aali. “We had a long dispute,” continued Hassan, lighting a fresh pipe. “The sheikh of my dromedaries made a private offer to take the baggage of the Ferenks for half the price they pay to Abdallah, and to share in an adventure of beans--and then the matter only required time.” “Thou art very active,” again exclaimed Aali. “I should have found that no prudence and no activity could have brought matters to a conclusion this evening,” said the straightforward Hassan, “had the Ferenk Sheitan, with a voice like a Kisslar Agassi, and a tongue like a wind-mill, not helped me through. He quarrelled first with one sheikh then with another; drew a pocket-pistol with seven barrels, and killed seven crows, swore he would go back to Alexandria and bring El Kebir[2] himself to hang the sheikhs and ride with him to El Arish; and in short, frightened them into an agreement;--for Mohammed Tergiman says he is a Ferenk Elchi in disguise, and as we all know that Ferenk Elchees are always mad, I believe he is right.” This last axiom of the prudent Hassan, concerning the unequivocal symptoms of madness displayed by all Ministers Plenipotentiary and Ambassadors Extraordinary, rather astonished Sidney, who was aware that Hassan could not have read the printed certificates of the fact presented to the Houses of Parliament from time to time in the form of blue books. It was announced as a fact generally known in Africa and Asia, from the sands of Sahara to the deserts of Kobi. As there was no time for investigating the organs of public opinion by which European statesmanship had been so unhappily condemned, Sidney deferred the inquiry until he should reach Gaza, where he proposed, if not forestalled by his literary companion, to extract from Hassan valuable materials for a work on public opinion in the deserts of Arabia, with a view of its influence on the ultimate settlement of the Eastern question. He only asked Hassan, for the present, if the Ferenk Kisslar Agassi, as he called him, spoke Arabic. Hassan replied without hesitation-- “Better than I do; he speaks like a learned Moolah.”