She who sleeps A romance of New York and the Nile
exquisite enamel necklaces to mummied cats. At sight of the treasures
contained there, Barry was transported in spirit to a similar room
high above the turmoil of New York, where once he had sat in
conference with Horace Pain, Dr. Rittenburg, and others.
Leaning upon a mantelpiece composed of carved red granite fragments
adapted to the purpose was a tall man, the collar of whose white shirt
fell open at the neck, while the sleeves were rolled up on muscular
arms. One elbow rested on the ledge; the clenched fist supported a
handsome, leonine head. A scarab ring glittered on his finger, as,
raising the other hand to remove a cigar which he was smoking, he
bowed in courteous greeting.
“Danbazzar!” cried Barry.
A roll of distant thunder from the moving storm echoed and reëchoed
over Paris.
“Paul Ahmes, at your service, sir!” Danbazzar corrected him. “But the
former, if you prefer it. One’s as much mine as the other! Sit down
and let’s talk this thing over.”
Fascinated against his will, as he had always been fascinated by this
man’s extraordinary personality, Barry dropped onto a divan,
silenced--stupefied--by the entire self-possession of the speaker.
Here was no recognition of wrongdoing; this was not a detected
impostor; this was the masterful man to whom obstacles were merely
stepping stones, who was fearless as he was unscrupulous. This was
Danbazzar.
“Margot told me what she had said in her letter,” he went on. “I
agreed. Get that clear. She did nothing behind my back. What she wants
goes with me, and she wanted you to know the truth. You’d never have
known if you hadn’t followed her to Paris. But I’m not sorry, anyway.
I have retired from business. Zalithea was my last deal. I regretted
it long before the end came, because I found out that John Cumberland
was white clean through. So, listen. Tell him if you like. I’ll hand
you a complete list of all the stuff he’s got that isn’t right, and he
can sell it back to me for just what he paid. I’m not playing tin
angels: I’ve got a market for it at big profit!”
Barry was unable to restrain a smile.
“If you ask me,” Danbazzar added, “he’d be happier left alone. But do
as you damn’ please. There’s no committee of experts in the world
would say any piece from my workshop was faked--and you can lay your
last dollar _I’m_ not going to say it! As for the job at the
tomb--we’re all in the dock together. Pirates can’t afford to quarrel!
And now I’m going to talk to you about Margot. I’m going to talk
straight, and I expect you to talk straight.…”
He talked, and talked straight, for the better part of an hour. He
displayed a side of his complex, twisted character, that Barry had
never suspected to exist. And, at one point, when he spoke of
Marguerite’s remorse for the part she had played, the words of Hassan
es-Sugra recurred to Barry: “Be not angry with her.” Finally:
“Now we’ve got it all set,” said Danbazzar. “I’ve quit the United
States for keeps. You know where I stand. We’re agreed about the bunch
in New York. And I know where you stand. Settle the rest with the
kid.”
He walked out of the room, stately, unperturbed; the Great Ahmes,
master of the situation. Barry stood up. Suddenly, he had grown
appallingly nervous. He paced up and down once or twice, among those
priceless relics of an age whose loves and hates were forgotten before
Paris arose from the forests. On one long, low wall, Pharaohs, gods,
and goddesses made mysterious signs to one another, signalling: It was
so in our day; it is so in this.
The rustle of the tapestry portière told him to turn.
He faced Marguerite.…
She stood on the threshold watching him. Her long dark eyes held the
same expression as on that night when, unseen by Barry, she had stolen
to the library door to take her last look at him.
Yet something else was there, and slowly she came forward to where he
stood. When she was close to him:
“My darling!” he whispered.
His arms went around her very tightly but very gently--not as in that
first fierce embrace. And when he kissed her it was a lingering tender
kiss.
THE END
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
Minor spelling inconsistencies (e.g. El Kasr/El-Kasr, Kûrna/Kurna,
etc.) have been preserved.
Alterations to the text:
Abandon the use of drop-caps.
Punctuation: fix some quotation mark pairings/nestings and missing
periods.
[Chapter I]
Change “with never a word of _farwell_, urged by a sudden irrational”
to _farewell_.
“_Same_ classic analogy cropped up in his mind” to _Some_.
[Chapter XI]
“and ponds and gardens of _flourishng_ trees” to _flourishing_.
[Chapter XII]
“Hassan es-_Sufa_ extended his palms and softly intruded” to _Sugra_.
[Chapter XIII]
“He seemed _scarely_ to have closed his eyes before” to _scarcely_.
[Chapter XIV]
(“By _jove_!” John Cumberland exclaimed.) to _Jove_.
[Chapter XV]
“His _foosteps_ might be heard receding along the wâdi” to
_footsteps_.
[Chapter XVI]
“_It_ we had known, sir, with a little more time and trouble we” to
_If_.
[Chapter XX]
(This was _Kyphi_, mentioned in the “Papyrus _Embers_,” and) to
_Ebers_.
[Chapter XXIV]
“set upon Barry with an _expresison_ of childish eagerness” to
_expression_.
[Chapter XXVI]
“_Priness_ Zalithea has very little English, so excuse her” to
_Princess_.
[Chapter XXVII]
“he saw the _long repressed_ tears gathering under the dark fringe” to
_long-repressed_.
“Do they drown one of twins in those parts?” add _the_ after _of_.
[Chapter XXXI]
“who drove you to the hospital and took care of _you_ car” to
_your_.
“suggests that the theory--now generally _acepted_, I believe” to
_accepted_.
[End of text]