“At first Almansor only thought how very curious it all was, but after a while he began to think of what great advantage to him the hours spent with the old man might be. At the doctor’s he was forced to converse in the French tongue, but at the old man’s house he was encouraged to speak the Egyptian language. On entering he was expected to give the Eastern greeting, to which the old man solemnly responded; then he was told to sit down, and the host conversed with his guest in a mixture of Persian, Arabic and Coptic. He had a servant beside him, who on these occasions was called a slave, and this slave held an enormous dictionary, and whenever the old man was at a loss for a word, he beckoned to the slave to turn over the leaves of the book until he came to the word he wanted, and then he went on talking again. “The pretended slaves served sherbet and such-like drinks in Turkish drinking-vessels, and if Almansor wanted to please the old man very much he used to tell him that everything looked as it did in his own home in the East. Almansor could read Persian very well, and this was of great use to the old man, for he made the boy read aloud from Persian manuscripts, and repeated the words carefully after him, and so learnt the correct pronunciation. [Illustration: _THE STORY OF ALMANSOR_ _The slave held an enormous dictionary_ (_p. 168._)] “These were happy days for poor Almansor, for the professor never sent him away empty-handed, but gave him sometimes money, and sometimes underwear, and other useful things with which the doctor would not provide him. And so he lived for some years in the capital of France, without his longing for home ever growing less. When he was about fifteen years of age something happened which had a great influence upon his fortunes. The Franks, or the French as he was taught to call them, chose for their Emperor the general who had once made a pet of Almansor in Egypt. “Although Almansor knew that one of the generals had been proclaimed Emperor, he did not know it was the one he had so frequently spoken to before he left his native land. “One day, when he was crossing one of the bridges which span the wide river flowing through the city, he saw a man, dressed in simple uniform, leaning against the parapet, gazing down into the water. “The man’s features seemed familiar to him and, quickly reviewing the past, he remembered where he had last seen him. He was the French general who had been so kind to him in Egypt. He did not know his right name, only the nickname by which the soldiers spoke of him, but, taking courage, he advanced towards him, crossed his arms upon his breast, and said ‘Salem aleicum, Little Corporal.’ “The man turned in astonishment, stared hard at the youth for a few moments, and then said: ‘Is it possible, _you_ here, Almansor? How is your father, and how are things going on in Egypt? How do you come to be in France?’