It seemed that he was content, for he continued: 'How should I know what the word means?
I have heard a story, but whether it is true or not, who shall say ?'" Hatch paused for a moment and lighted his cigar again.
"Well, the account which he gave me was this.

Among the pilgrims who come up to Mecca, there are at times Hottentots from South Africa who speak no language intelligible to anyone in Mecca; but they speak English, and it is for their benefit that the sign was hung up." "What a strange thing!" said Shere Ali.
"The explanation," continued Hatch, "is not very important to my story, but what followed upon it is; for the very next day, as I was walking alone, I heard a voice in my ear, whispering: 'The Englishwoman would like to see you this evening at five.' I turned round in amazement, and there stood the shopkeeper of whom I had made the inquiries.

I thought, of course, that he was laying a trap for me.

But he repeated his statement, and, telling me that he would wait for me on this spot at ten minutes to five, he walked away.
"I did not know what to do.

One moment I feared treachery and proposed to stay away, the next I was curious and proposed to go.