Page:Ballantyne--The Pirate City.djvu/206

186 the end of his little finger—"by the way, you ain't related, are you, to the famous Ally Babby as was capting of the forty thieves?"

"No, nuffin ob de sort," replied Ali, shaking his head.

"Well, no matter, you deserve to be; but that's neither here nor there. What I was agoing to say is, that it's my opinion that fellow Seedy Hassan ain't all fair an' above board."

Ted glanced keenly at his companion, for he had made the remark as a sort of feeler.

"Wat de matter wid um?" asked Rais carelessly.

"Oh, nothin'—I only thought you might know somethin' about him. I doesn't, only I'm a dab at what's called in Ireland fizzyognomy, an' I don't like the looks of him. Why, bless ye, I knows a feller by the cut of his jib directly. I could have taken my davy, now, that you were a sly, clever sort o' chap, even before I was introduced to 'ee, d'ee see?"

Whether he saw or not remains to this day an uncertainty, for it was at that moment that, as before stated, Mariano rushed in at the gate, and, unintentionally, into the arms of Rais Ali, who uttered a loud cry and flung him off with a kick that unfortunately took effect on the youth's shin.

Supposing that he was intercepted, afraid lest his mission should miscarry, and angered by the