"I am quite sure."
"Very well. Amongst men like ourselves I am of opinion that there is no necessity for any written agreement. I give you my word that I will faithfully, and to the letter, carry out these engagements. Will you give me yours?"
"I will."
"Then I propose to burn this document."
"I agree, and thank you for your proposal."
In an instant the flames of the taper, brought for the purpose of lighting their cigars, had reduced the contract to ashes.
CHAPTER XI.
The same evening the new doctor of the expedition was presented to Madame de Guéran. M. Delange, as long as his passion for play left him at rest, was an exceedingly nice fellow, a pleasant companion, with a fund of agreeable conversation, and very well informed. He impressed the Baroness very favourably, and she at once endorsed the choice made by M. de Morin.
The chief parts in the expedition were thus filled up, and there was nothing now to do but to select the subordinates. The application of the trusty Joseph-Mohammed was then taken into consideration, and, after a short discussion, accepted. It was determined, at the same time, to add to him some other European servant. In Egypt, according to custom, a few Arabian attendants were to be engaged, who might not, in every way, be all that could be wished, but whose familiarity with the usages of the country would be of great use in many contingencies.
An exception was, however, made to this limit in favour of a female companion whom the Baroness desired to have with her. As soon as the expedition had been decided on, Madame de Guéran had written to her friends in London to find out for her a lady of irreproachable respectability, who had already travelled and was willing to travel again, and the result was the immediate offer of a Miss Beatrice Poles. She had, it was said, accompanied the celebrated Dutch traveller, Mdlle. Alexina Tinne, throughout the greater part of her explorations in Africa, and with the courage and determination so remarkable in the case of many female travellers, she only asked to be allowed to expose herself to fresh fatigue, and to encounter new dangers.