Suppose this American--and I am sure he is one--should also be a special, perhaps for the _World_ or the _New York Herald_, and suppose he has also been ordered off to do this Grand Asiatic.

That would be most annoying! He would be a rival! My hesitation is prolonged.

Shall I speak, shall I not speak?
Already night has begun to fall.

At last I was about to open my mouth when my companion prevented me.
"You are a Frenchman ?" he said in my native tongue.
"Yes, sir," I replied in his.
Evidently we could understand each other.
The ice was broken, and then question followed on question rather rapidly between us.

You know the Oriental proverb: "A fool asks more questions in an hour than a wise man in a year." But as neither my companion nor myself had any pretensions to wisdom we asked away merrily.
"_Wait a bit_," said my American.
I italicize this phrase because it will recur frequently, like the pull of the rope which gives the impetus to the swing.
"_Wait a bit_! I'll lay ten to one that you are a reporter!" "And you would win! Yes.