Page:Harris Dickson--Old Reliable in Africa.djvu/112

 with the down-going of the sun. Colonel Spottiswoode snapped his watch, "Isn't it time for that hackman to be getting back with my servant? I'm worried about old Zack."

McDonald laughed, "Patience, my dear Colonel Spottiswoode; nobody hurries in Egypt. 'Haste! haste!' we urge, and the Arab answers 'Bukra.

"That must be like the Italian 'domani'?"

"No, it's worse; 'Domani' means 'to-morrow'; 'bukra' signifies a vague and indeterminate future which will never come. Tarry in the Orient for a while; you'll get used to it, and like it."

Lyttleton Bey clapped his hands. "Wahid," he called. Instantly a slim yellow man appeared at his elbow with the respectful and scarcely uttered "Effendi?" A few words in Arabic sent Hassan the servant hastening to sentinel the approach of Old Reliable.

Everything was so new to the American that he took his eager chance to learn. "What was that you called out?" he asked—having already heard the word a dozen times.

Wahid.' It is the Arabic numeral meaning 'one'; we use it to summon a servant, one servant, any servant, the first servant who may hear."

"Oh! that's it. I was wondering if all these yellow men were named 'Wahee'"

"W-a-h-i-d," Lyttleton spelled the word and