"Is there anything else, my brothers?"
And at that Gordon, who had not spoken before, turned to him and
answered, in the style as well as the language of the Arabs--
"Listen, I beg of you, to my words, and forgive me if what I say is not
pleasing to you or yours."
"Speak, Omar Benani, speak," said Ishmael, laying his right hand, with
an affectionate gesture, on Gordon's left.
There was a moment of silence, in which Gordon could distinctly hear the
sound of Helena's breathing. Then lie said--
"Reverse your order, O my brother, and let me go first into Cairo."
A tingling electrical current seemed to pass through the air of the
room, and again Gordon heard the sound of Helena's laboured breathing,
but no one spoke except Ishmael, who said in a soft voice--
"But why, Omar, why?"