Then also I saw, or rather heard, some one in the verandah of the
hotel above me, and was conscious that I was being viewed from
thence. I walked and walked, and nobody came to me, and I perceived
by my watch that it was seven o'clock. The noise, too, had come
nearer and nearer, and I was now aware that wheels had been drawn up
before the front door of the hotel, and that many voices were
speaking there. It might be that Mahmoud should wait for some other
friend, but why did he not send some one to inform me? And then, as
I made a sudden turn at the end of the quay, I caught sight of the
retreating legs of the Austrian interpreter, and I became aware that
he had been sent down, and had gone away, afraid to speak to me.
"What can I do?" said I to myself, "I can but keep my ground." I
owned that I feared to go round to the front of the hotel. So I
still walked slowly up and down the length of the quay, and began to
whistle to show that I was not uneasy. The Arab sailors looked at
me uncomfortably, and from time to time some one peered at me round
the corner. It was now fully half-past seven, and the sun was
becoming hot in the heavens. Why did we not hasten to place
ourselves beneath the awning in that boat.
I had just made up my mind that I would go round to the front and
penetrate this mystery, when, on turning, I saw approaching to me a
man dressed at any rate like an English gentleman.
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