African and European Addresses | Page 6

pound the beads. Evidently he was accustomed to being doubted, and
carried his materials for proof around with him. Then, in one motion,
the hammer disappeared, the beads were snatched up, and again offered,
unharmed, for inspection.
"Are those good tests for genuineness?" we asked the professor, aside.
"As to that," he replied regretfully, "I do not know. I know of coral
only that is the hard calcareous skeleton of the marine coelenterate
polyps; and that this red coral iss called of a sclerobasic group; and
other facts of the kind; but I do not know if it iss supposed to resist
impact and heat. Possibly," he ended shrewdly, "it is the common
imitation which does not resist impact and heat. At any rate they are
pretty. How much?" he demanded of the vendor, a bright-eyed
Egyptian waiting patiently until our conference should cease.
"Twenty shillings," he replied promptly.
The professor shook with one of his cavernous chuckles.
"Too much," he observed, and handed the necklace back through the
window.
The Egyptian would by no means receive it.
"Keep! keep!" he implored, thrusting the mass of red upon the
professor with both hands. "How much you give?"
"One shilling," announced the professor firmly.
The coral necklace lay on the edge of the table throughout most of our
leisurely meal. The vendor argued, pleaded, gave it up, disappeared in
the crowd, returned dramatically after an interval. The professor ate

calmly, chuckled much, and from time to time repeated firmly the
words, "One shilling." Finally, at the cheese, he reached out, swept the
coral into his pocket, and laid down two shillings. The Egyptian deftly
gathered the coin, smiled cheerfully, and produced a glittering veil, in
which he tried in vain to enlist Billy's interest.
For coffee and cigars we moved to the terrace outside. Here an
orchestra played, the peoples of many nations sat at little tables, the
peddlers, fakirs, jugglers, and fortune-tellers swarmed. A half-dozen
postal cards seemed sufficient to set a small boy up in trade, and to
imbue him with all the importance and insistence of a merchant with
jewels. Other ten-year-old ragamuffins tried to call our attention to
some sort of sleight-of-hand with poor downy little chickens. Grave,
turbaned, and polite Indians squatted cross-legged at our feet, begging
to give us a look into the future by means of the only genuine
hall-marked Yogi-ism; a troupe of acrobats went energetically and
hopefully through quite a meritorious performance a few feet away; a
deftly triumphant juggler did very easily, and directly beneath our
watchful eyes, some really wonderful tricks. A butterfly-gorgeous
swarm of insinuating smiling peddlers of small things dangled and
spread their wares where they thought themselves most sure of
attention. Beyond our own little group we saw slowly passing in the
lighted street outside the portico the variegated and picturesque
loungers. Across the way a phonograph bawled; our stringed orchestra
played "The Dollar Princess;" from somewhere over in the dark and
mysterious alleyways came the regular beating of a tom-tom. The
magnificent and picturesque town car with its gaudy ragamuffins
swayed by in train of its diminutive mule.
Suddenly our persistent and amusing entourage vanished in all
directions. Standing idly at the portico was a very straight, black
Soudanese. On his head was the usual red fez; his clothing was of trim
khaki; his knees and feet were bare, with blue puttees between; and
around his middle was drawn close and smooth a blood-red sash at
least a foot and a half in breadth. He made a fine upstanding Egyptian
figure, and was armed with pride, a short sheathed club, and a great
scorn. No word spoke he, nor command; but merely jerked a thumb

towards the darkness, and into the darkness our many-hued horde
melted away. We were left feeling rather lonesome!
Near midnight we sauntered down the street to the quay, whence we
were rowed to the ship by another turbaned, long-robed figure, who
sweetly begged just a copper or so "for poor boatman."
We found the ship in the process of coaling, every porthole and
doorway closed, and heavy canvas hung to protect as far as possible the
clean decks. Two barges were moored alongside. Two blazing braziers
lighted them with weird red and flickering flames. In their depths, cast
in black and red shadows, toiled half-guessed figures; from their depths,
mounting a single steep plank, came an unbroken procession of natives,
naked save for a wisp of cloth around the loins. They trod closely on
each other's heels, carrying each his basket atop his head or on one
shoulder, mounted a gang-plank, discharged their loads into the side of
the ship, and descended again to the depths by way of another plank.
The lights flickered across their dark faces, their gleaming teeth and
eyes.