I was tired, utterly tired of all the dangers and trials I had been going through for the last months.

From depression I sank into despair and out of despair came, strange to say, a great serenity, the serenity of despair.
On the quay I ran into Hassan Bey, commandant of the police, who was superintending the embarkation of refugees.

I knew him and he knew me.
Half an hour later I was in police headquarters under examination by Hassan Bey.

I was desperate, and answered him recklessly.

A seasick man is indifferent to shipwreck.