"008 (B018) - The Sargasso Ogre (1933-10) - Lester Dent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

Just now, Pasha Bey was about to close a deal. He was easing up a dark street just off the Place Mehemet Ali, the center of the life of Alexandria



Pasha Bey was a large bag of bones. He wore a flowing burnoose. The burnoose was more flowing than the usual one, so as to conceal the fact that two long-bladed singas were in sheaths strapped to Pasha Bey's bony, naked upper arms.



He also carried two modern, silenced American sixshooters, one on either hip. A silk cord, excellent for strangling purposes, was fastened inside the burnoose with a single thread; so it could be wrenched free quickly.



Pasha Bey always went well heeled with tools of his trade.



He turned, stepping silently, into an entry. This place was like a dark tunnel. Some thirty feet deep, it terminated in a heavy wooden door. A small, barred hole pierced the door.



"Ya intal," he called softly through the bars.



"What?" growled a harsh Yankee voice from the other side of the grille.



"Holloa there!" said Pasha Bey, putting his call into English. "By the life of your father, your servant is here. He awaits your command."



"Are you ready to pull the croak?" asked the unseen man.



"Na'am, aywa!" murmured Pasha Bey.



"Speak English. you bony camel!"



"Yes. I am ready!"