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When he had read this missive Ogle sat staring at it as he held it in his hand; then he asked her, "Is that the word you meant?"

"Yes. What he calls 'Koos Koos.' What in the world could he have meant?"

Ogle frowned as he explained. "Cous-cous is a dish of chopped meats and rice sprinkled with a kind of powder. I think the powder itself is called cous-cous. The Arabs are said to be fond of it—I loathe it myself." But there he spoke ungratefully, for when Mme. Momoro had taken him to eat cous-cous in Algiers just before their departure, he had praised the dish with honest fervour.

Olivia looked at him anxiously. "You see why his note might make my mother feel rather upset, don't you, Mr. Ogle?"