Allah yifazak, effendi!" (Good night.

God keep you, effendi!) With that he stalked out, and the door slammed shut behind him.

Everybody, including Abdul Ali, laughed.
The banquet was a boresome business--an interminable competition to see who could eat and drink the most.

With my interpreter gone, and everybody else too busy guzzling to trouble to speak distinctly for my benefit, I had to depend on my ayes for information and naturally used them to the utmost.

I noticed that Abdul All of Damascus, Jimgrim Suliman ben Saoud and myself were the only men in the room, servants included, who ate and drank within the bounds of decency and reason.