Then he left Dick in the old Jew’s hands, saying he would hasten to complete the necessary arrangements and then return for the transformed boy. Less than an hour later the aged sheik again knocked at the Jew’s door and was admitted. He was informed that the boy would soon be ready to accompany him, but that he would have to wait a few minutes while the finishing touches of the disguise were being put on. The Jew asked him if he had any objections to waiting in a room with a young lady customer, and Ras al Had soon found himself in a small apartment, in a corner of which sat a girl in street costume. Apparently she was a foreigner, for her flesh was dazzlingly fair, and her clothes, from the beautiful hat on her head to the high-heeled boots on her feet, had a distinct Parisian touch. The sheik remained standing, quite aware that the girl was surveying him with evident interest or curiosity. His one glance had shown him that she was unusually handsome, with dark hair and eyes. Finally she heaved a sigh and moved impatiently. “Dear me!” she said, in perfect English. “This is very tiresome. I’ve waited nearly an hour. Won’t you sit down, sir?” Ras al Had bowed very low and took a seat upon the floor. “How funny!” laughed the girl, with a fetching little shrug of her shoulders. “All you dark gentlemen decline to sit on chairs. You always sit on the floor or the ground, and cross your legs.” Again he bowed, without speaking. “Don’t you understand English?” “Very well, madam.” “I’m no madam; I’m a miss. I’m looking for a husband. I don’t suppose you know where I can find a man with plenty of rocks? I’m out for the coin.” The Arab glanced at her keenly, wondering if she could be in earnest. She fluttered her fan and smiled over the top of it with a bewitching look. “You’re not much of a talker, are you?” she went on. “Well, never mind. American girls can speak for themselves, and the men, too.” “Are you from America, miss?” “Sure thing. I’m from Cleveland, Ohio. Really, I started out to travel round the world, writing newspaper letters for the home papers; but all the papers have cut me off, and I’m stranded. I don’t care about going back home, for I made up my mind to catch a rich husband on the trip. Now, if you could put me next with some old gazabo who has lots of the needful, and I succeeded in raking him in, I’d willingly make it worth your while.” Ras al Had drew a deep breath of wonderment. Although he did not fully understand her, he comprehended that this was one of the free-and-easy young ladies of the Western world of whom he had heard. She was young and bewitching in appearance, but her manner of talk seemed to betray a knowledge of the world one would not suspect her to possess. The sheik shook his head. “I can give you no assistance,” he declared. She laughed and sprang up, crossing the floor toward him. He rose hastily.