This hotel had no dining room and it was necessary to rustle a cheap but sanitary eating place. Perhaps this was where Cairo deserved its reputation for being an expensive city. I left the hotel determined to be the first man to live on a reasonable amount in the Egyptian capital. I had hardly walked a block when I saw in an alley a sign which read, "Soldiers' Club." I directed my steps toward it, entered the place and in a minute was studiously reading the daily menu, which was posted on a bulletin board in the hallway. Steak, potatoes, vegetables and tea for three piastres (fifteen cents); tarts and pudding—one piastre, and other eatables were listed at equally low prices. As I stood gazing at the bill of fare, almost paralysed with delight over such a fortunate discovery, an Englishman approached.
"What are you looking for?" he asked.
"For something to eat," I replied. "I am making a sort of tramp trip around the world and expect to be in Cairo a few days. Money is rather a scarce article with me and I would like to know what my chances are of eating here."
"Are you a British soldier?" enquired the Englishman.
"No, sir."
"Are you an ex-soldier?" asked the man, sizing up the hungry-looking traveller.
"No, sir," was my honest reply.
"All right," said the club man with a smile. "You may eat here."
"Thanks," I added and immediately sat down and ate one of the finest meals ever served anywhere for fifteen cents. The Soldiers' Club, an institution of the British soldiers in Cairo, served as a sort of home for me during my stay in the city. I had just left the club when two blocks farther up the street I came across a sign with the inscription "Soldiers' Home" and in this place I found a similar reception and similar prices. To accuse Cairo of being expensive was slander. I labelled it one of the most inexpensive places I had visited.
It was now eighteen days since I had left Richardson on the wharf in Bombay and during this time I had not heard a word from him. Shortly after my arrival in Cairo I called at the office of the American Consul, the Y.M.C.A. and Thomas Cook and Son and left in each place my address with instructions to direct Richardson to me in the event that he came in and enquired. I also met an occasional train coming in from Port Said. It was on one of these that I found him.