American fiction -- 19th century; Dime novels; Popular literature
Nothing of the sort occurs, however. He takes her hand and says
something that causes Dorothy to hang her head, but as to the nature
of her emotion the Canadian is utterly in the dark. While he is musing
Phœnix is gone.
Upon turning his head Aleck discovers that Bob Rocket has also
disappeared. The man from Colorado does not mean to allow any chance to
slip through his fingers. All he awaits is the receipt of a telegram.
The two women have not yet gone on, but stand where Phœnix has left
them. Can it be possible they wait for his return? Craig chances to
look beyond and catches a glimpse of a figure there, a figure he
knows. It is the fortune teller of Cairo Street, who hovers near by,
as though eager to approach Dorothy, yet restrained by a fear lest the
girl should repulse her. Thus, in the agony of doubt she reaps the sad
harvest of the past.
It is an open question whether the women have seen or paid the least
attention to this figure in black that hovers near by, just as a poor
moth flutters around a candle that will singe its bright wings.
They talk together and as Aleck observes closer, he becomes assured
that something else claims their attention, something that lies between
them and the exit.
Before he can discover what this can be, his companion says in a
surprised tone:
“Why, there’s the Turk--the pasha.”
“That explains it. She has discovered him in her way, too late to call
Phœnix back, and is now trying to convince her companion that they had
better seek another exit,” Aleck says hastily.
“And as the woman is in the employ of the Turk, as this very affair
has all been arranged while the others were in the Japanese bazaar,
or viewing the scenery of the Alps, her words fall upon deaf ears,”
continues Wycherley.
“But Scutari dare not attempt violence.”
“You forget he is a Turk, and naturally brings some of his Bosphorus
habits here with him. Samson Cereal ran away with his bride in a manner
just as bold. More than one person has come to the World’s Fair and
never been heard of again. It’s a great maelstrom of humanity, and a
single person could be sucked out of sight without being noticed.”
Craig is fully aroused.
It comes to him with full force that Heaven has again been kind. Should
Dorothy need help, to what better use can his muscular ability be put
than in defending her against this relentless enemy, this Oriental
whose one mission in life, after this lapse of years, seems to be
revenge upon the daring speculator who robbed him of the bride his gold
had bought on Georgian soil?
He, too, has, by this time, discovered the pasha, who does not appear
to be alone, since several men hover around him, men wearing the fez,
but whether Turks or not remains to be seen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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