"How many wives should you suppose he has?" asked Jack, with an air of deep gravity.
"Don't know," replied the orphan, quietly.
"Ninety-eight living."
Mr. Figgins jumped up and dropped his chibouk.
"Never."
"A fact," asserted Jack, with gravity.
"Why, the man must be a regular Bluebeard."
"You've hit it, sir," responded Jack; "that's the sort of man he is."
"Well, that is all very well for the Turks and for these old sinners the pashas, but I am an Englishman."
"This is the way it will most likely be done," continued Jack. "On your presentation to his excellency the pasha, you are expected to make some present. The pasha makes a return visit of ceremony, and leaves behind him some solid evidence of his liberality."